Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is to go head to head with Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez as the English Premier League title rivals unveil their expensive new recruits in the Community Shield.
Heading into today’s curtain-raiser to the Premier League season, the pressure is on Haaland and Nunez to provide evidence they can justify their hefty price tags over the coming months.
The pair represent more than ￡110 million (US$134 million) of goalscoring firepower as the rivalry between City and Liverpool intensifies.
Photo: AFP
Much has changed at City and Liverpool since Pep Guardiola’s side pipped the Reds to the title by one point after a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Aston Villa on the final day of last season.
City’s fourth title in five seasons was just reward for their incredible consistency, but Guardiola’s perfectionist personality ensured he would not rest on his laurels.
Guardiola sanctioned the sales of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal, while Raheem Sterling joined Chelsea and Fernandinho returned to Athletico Paranaense.
Aware that City’s success last season was achieved despite their lack of a natural central striker, Guardiola made a blockbuster move for one of Europe’s brightest young stars as he landed Norway international Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for ￡51 million.
The 22-year-old’s ability to mesh with City’s array of creative talents is one of the key story lines that is to define the title race.
The early signs are promising as Haaland took just 12 minutes to score on his City debut in a friendly against Bayern Munich.
“As you probably all know, I’ve been watching a lot of City games for the last years,” Haaland said. “The last years [they] have been without a striker, so of course I’ve been seeing myself in these kind of situations. I’m not surprised. The quality is good.”
Signing England midfielder Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United for ￡42 million further underlined City’s dynastic ambitions.
While City start the season as title favorites whatever the result this weekend at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium, Liverpool’s threat to their supremacy remains clear and present.
Juergen Klopp’s team came within two games of immortality after spending the second half of the season engaged in a thrilling chase to win an unprecedented quadruple.
With history in touching distance, Liverpool fell painfully short as City won the title, before Real Madrid beat them 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League final.
Beating Chelsea on penalties in the FA Cup and EFL Cup finals was scant consolation.
The months since that agonizing finale have seen Liverpool finally end speculation over Mohamed Salah’s future by tying the Egypt star to a new contract.
The departure of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich was a blow, but Klopp filled the void left by the Senegal forward when he paid an initial ￡64 million, that could rise to a club record ￡85 million, to sign Nunez from SL Benfica.
Nunez, 23, has endured a roller-coaster pre-season, with an embarrassing miss against Manchester United followed by a four-goal demolition of RB Leipzig, then a blank in a defeat against Red Bull Salzburg.
Klopp was quick to defend the Uruguay striker.
“He needs much more support around him. You keep other players busy so they cannot focus on him. It is like it is, it doesn’t feel great, but we take it and go from here,” Klopp said.
Victory in the Community Shield would be a footnote when the major prizes are handed out, but Klopp knows the psychological significance of any win over England’s pre-eminent force.
“The situation is that it’s a very important game, but the situation is that we still have to prepare a season, so we cannot ignore that,” he said. “Will it show a lot about the season? I expect two good teams.”
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
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