Community Shield bet builder: Best free football tips and predictions

The Community Shield is meant to be a high-profile curtain-raiser for the new Premier League season.

Man City vs Man Utd, Pep Guardiola vs Erik ten Hag, and Erling Haaland vs Andre Onana, most probably.

We'll pretend that this isn't just another pointless trip for Wembley and an unwanted extension of pre-season as we look to compile a winning Bet Builder.

Saturday’s Community Shield Bet Builder is priced at 9/1 with Bet365.

 

Community Shield Bet Builder

 - Man City to win 

-  Under 3.5 goals

-  Both teams shown a card

-  Rico Lewis to make a tackle

-  Man City: Over 6.5 corners

 

Man City to win

Phil Foden, Rodi, Kyle Walker and John Stones are among those unavailable for selection.

However, that pales in comparison to Man Utd’s absentees, which could see at least 10 players miss out including Harry Magure, Leny Yoro, Rasmus Hojlund, Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo.

United may have upset City in last year’s FA Cup final, but they’re short of bodies and even if some of their potential absentees do feature, this game just feels like an extension of pre-season.

Guardiola’s side has more depth to work with and looked considerably better in their final pre-season game than Ten Hag’s team.

 

Under 3.5 goals

The last six Community Shield matches played at Wembley Stadium have resulted in under 2.5 goals.

Four of those have featured Man City and if they control this game as well as we expect, then it should be prime for another under.

Both teams will be handing out their first minutes of pre-season to a host of players, and neither side will want to be working too hard on a warm day in the capital.

City should settle into their usual possession and we don’t expect the tempo of the game to cause either side too many problems defensively.

 

Both teams shown a card

This may be an extension of pre-season, but the combination of the rivalry between these sides and some tired legs later in the match could lead to the referee flashing his cards.

Still, we should note that there’s been a lack of cards in recent meetings, and the Community Shield isn’t known for being a feisty affair.

On the other hand, there will come a time when the intensity of the game picks up, and the first game of the season is often the time for referees to parade their shiny new rulebook.

 

Rico Lewis to make a tackle

Guardiola won’t hesitate to hand Rico Lewis a start if necessary and it seems as if City are short of bodies in areas where Lewis can operate.

Any opportunity he gets is a chance to impress the boss, so expect an energetic performance on both sides of the ball if he does feature.

 

Man City: Over 6.5 corners

City have averaged more than seven corners across five meetings with United, recently wracking up 12 at Old Trafford.

They’ll have plenty of opportunity to dominate the ball around the box and with United’s injury list, they may find it fairly easier to exploit spaces in wide areas and force the Reds to defend the six-yard box.

 

READ MORE: Football accumulator tips: Today's best free acca bets