Community Shield tips: Five bets to consider backing as Man Utd meet Leicester
Lee Gormley | August 5, 2016
Five Community Shield tips
Not many fans would have predicted Leicester City to be involved in the traditional showpiece curtain-raiser to the English season, the Community Shield, at the start of last term.
Although, Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes made history by claiming Premier League success, despite beginning as 5000/1 outsiders, and they next take on a new-look Manchester United now under the guidance of Jose Mourinho. What are the best Leicester v Man Utd odds for this game though?
Ahead of Sunday’s encounter at Wembley, as both sides aim to gain momentum before the new 2016/17 Premier League campaign, Coral offer you five Community Shield tips for what could be an exciting clash in London…
Zlatan to produce the goods once more
There will be a host of new summer signings on show for both teams on the Wembley turf this weekend, but most eyes will be cast towards Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic, after his free switch from French giants PSG.
The all-time Sweden international goalscorer enters this clash after spectacularly opening his Red Devils account in pre-season, when finding the net against Galatasaray with a trademark, acrobatic bicycle kick.
Ibrahimovic will aim to showcase those impressive attacking attributes on English soil for the first time in red, and he is evens with Coral to dispatch past Leicester anytime.
Both sides to strike at Wembley
This fixture hasn’t disappointed in the last two seasons, with no less than 16 goals having been struck in four Premier League meetings between the pair, and that trend should continue on Sunday.
Both teams have netted in all of those last four successive meetings and odds of 5/6 are available for them to do so again here. One bigger price among our Community Shield tips is a more promising 4/1 for both outfits to dispatch in the first-half at Wembley.
In the two games last term, both sides netted in the opening 45 minutes and, with Mourinho and Ranieri hoping to start swiftly this weekend, it’s worth backing early goals again this time out.
Musa to add to impressive start in pre-season
Ahmed Musa arrived at the King Power Stadium this summer as the club’s record signing from CSKA Moscow and made an instant impact during pre-season, impressively coming off the bench against Spanish champions Barcelona to bag a quick-fire brace in Stockholm, Sweden.
The rapid Nigeria international forward is a new strike partner for Jamie Vardy and, after his pre-season heroics against the Catalan giants, he is 15/8 to get on the scoresheet anytime once again against the Red Devils.
Curtain raiser to end all square
Last term’s fixtures between these sides saw both encounters end level, as they played out two consecutive 1-1 draws at both the King Power and Old Trafford, and another stalemate after 90 minutes at Wembley is 23/10 to occur.
If that scenario does occur and the two teams cannot be separated following the full-time whistle in the capital, then Mourinho and Ranieri will have to pick their respective spot-kick takers for an immediate penalty shootout.
With neither top-flight outfit having enjoyed an ideal pre-season campaign, and there likely to be some teething problems before the big Premier League kick-off next week, a draw after 90 minutes looks very possible.
Vardy to bag game’s opener
Leicester’s 1-1 draw with the Red Devils on home soil last term was kick-started by their main marksman Vardy, who opened the scoring after just 24 minutes with a record-breaking strike.
Scoring in that clash saw him break Ruud van Nistelrooy’s previously long-standing record, as Vardy dispatched in an 11th straight top tier match. We’ve no hesitation including him among Community Shield tips at 13/2 to once again open proceedings this time around.
Vardy rejected the advances of Arsenal during the summer and will look to show them what they missed out on at Wembley, having also netted the late equaliser in England’s Euro 2016 win over Wales during the Euro 2016 group stages in France.
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