The wait is almost over. After an interminable period without domestic football, Liverpool take on Crystal Palace in the Community Shield at 15:00 BST on Sunday 10 August to mark the imminent return of the top-flight season. Here is everything you need to know.
What is the Community Shield?
First played in 1908, the Community Shield – or Charity Shield, as it was then known – is the traditional curtain-raiser to the top-flight season.
The format of the competition varied throughout its early years, lacking prestige until 1974 when it was moved to Wembley Stadium and became a permanent fixture between the English champions and the FA Cup winners.
The name change came about in 2002 after the Charity Commission ruled that it could no longer be called the Charity Shield. However, funds raised from the game continue to be distributed by The FA to community initiatives and charities.
Manchester United are the most successful team in the competition’s history, lifting the shield 21 times, followed by Arsenal (17), Liverpool (16) and Everton (nine).
The match is officially classified as a friendly, meaning disciplinary sanctions do not carry over into the season, while goals and assists do not count towards individual tallies.
Who is playing in this year’s Community Shield?
Sunday’s match will be played between Premier League champions Liverpool and FA Cup winners Crystal Palace.
Liverpool secured their spot with their runaway league triumph in Arne Slot’s first season in charge. Their last Community Shield appearance came in 2022, when they beat Manchester City 3-1 at the King Power Stadium (Wembley was hosting the final of the UEFA Women’s Euros the next day).
Victory on Sunday would draw them alongside Arsenal as the second most successful club in the competition’s history.
Palace are making their Community Shield debut, having won the first trophy in the club’s history when lifting the FA Cup in May.
Oliver Glasner’s side beat Manchester City 1-0 in that game at Wembley, Eberechi Eze sweeping home Daniel Munoz’s cross after 16 minutes to secure the win following FA Cup final defeats in 1990 and 2016.
The victory also earned them a place in major European competition for the first time – initially the UEFA Europa League, before multi-club ownership rules shifted them to the UEFA Europa Conference League instead, a decision they are appealed against on Friday, with a decision expected on Monday.
How have the two clubs spent the summer?
It has been a summer of contrasts at the two clubs, with Liverpool experiencing one of the highest player turnovers in the Premier League, while Palace have stayed notably quiet.
The Premier League champions have reportedly spent more than £250million on the likes of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Giorgi Mamardashvili. Their incomings may not be done yet, with a reported bid for Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak rejected.
Going the other way, Slot’s side have said goodbye to Luis Diaz, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Caoimhin Kelleher, Jarell Quansah and Tyler Morton, with Darwin Nunez also seemingly on the brink of departing. Everyone at the club has also had to deal with the tragic death of Diogo Jota.
Player movement has been in short supply at Selhurst Park, where the only new first-team faces are left-back Borna Sosa and veteran goalkeeper Walter Benitez.
Aside from those the club chose to release at the end of last season, there have also been few departures, with much of the focus on attempting to retain the likes of Eze and Marc Guehi.
For both teams the match represents the culmination of pre-season fixtures. Liverpool beat Preston North End and Stoke City, before suffering their only pre-season defeat against AC Milan in Hong Kong. They then triumphed over Yokohama Marinos and won back-to-back games against Athletic Bilbao at Anfield on Monday.
Palace beat Millwall and Crawley Town, before heading to Austria where they played two matches on the same day against Mainz (one draw, one loss) and then Augsburg (one win, one loss).
Who are the players to watch?
Liverpool
Florian Wirtz: All eyes will be on the most expensive Premier League signing this summer (s0 far) as the German tries to show why Liverpool were prepared to spend a nine-figure sum to secure his signature. He arrived with a reputation as one of the finest young players in world football, and scored his first Liverpool goal in a 3-1 win over Yokohama Marinos.
Hugo Ekitike: Despite scoring 10 more Premier League goals than any other team last season, Liverpool have refreshed their front line with the signing of Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt. He may well start up top at Wembley as he looks to build on the 15 goals he scored in the German top flight last campaign.
Rio Ngumoha: Not 17 until later this month, Ngumoha has been one of Liverpool’s standout performers during pre-season, regularly impressing with his dribbling and trickery, while contributing two goals and two assists. Last season he became the youngest player ever to start a match for Liverpool. Will he be given a chance to break through at Wembley?
Crystal Palace
Eberechi Eze: Last season’s star performer, Eze is reported to be a wanted man by Palace's rivals, with some notable clubs linked with a move for the England international. It is not difficult to see why. He struck the winning goal in the FA Cup final, routinely serves as the brightest attacking spark in Palace’s line-up, and has already scored twice in pre-season.
Jean-Philippe Mateta: Mateta’s resurgence since Glasner took charge at Palace is remarkable. The Frenchman scored 30 Premier League goals across the past two campaigns and has been lethal so far in the build-up to this season, bagging two against Augsburg last week to take his tally to four for the summer.
Daniel Munoz: Named man of the match in last season’s FA Cup final, Munoz shone at right wing-back for Palace throughout the campaign, offering abundant attacking threat to go with his defensive duties. No Palace player made more tackles last season, while he was also the club’s fifth-highest scorer across all competitions, with six goals.
What the managers said
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot: "As someone who has followed English football all my life, I know how special a game at Wembley is. I had my first taste of this place as a head coach last season [in the EFL Cup final], and I am really looking forward to being back out there with my team.
“For us, this is the ideal game to complete our preparations for the new season. As a head coach, you want three things at this time of year: to get some good work in on the training ground, competitive and challenging games, and to steer clear of injuries.
“We know, of course, what we achieved last season, and it is important from our point of view that we maintain the standards we set during the past 12 months.”
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner: “We’ve had a good summer but in football – and not just in football but in life, also – the past is gone. We have great memories that will stay with us for ever, but that won’t help us when the new season begins.
“Now is not the time to lie back and say, great, we are the cup winners. It’s about defining new goals for us and aim to have a better season than we did last season.”
What the players said
Liverpool midfielder Cody Gakpo: “It’s going to be an important game for us to start the season well and that’s what we’re here for. We’re going to give it our best shot. Hopefully we come back with the Community Shield.
“If we can play a good game and a good performance, and get the trophy back home, then we have good momentum for the rest of the beginning of the season. To begin well is always very important.”
Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards: “We’re excited. It’s another chance to win a trophy, and any time you can play for silverware, it means a bit more.
“Every game we play in, we want to win – so that’s exactly how we're going to approach it.
“I think we’ve had a pretty good record [at Wembley] so far, so hopefully we can keep that going.”
What does victory mean for the season?
One team will depart Wembley on a high on Sunday evening, while the other may well regret missing the chance of winning another piece of silverware. But does the result have any impact on how things will play out over the season? History suggests not.
Since the creation of the Premier League in 1992, the average finishing position of Community Shield winners is 3.4, with the losing team going on to place an average of 3.8.
In fact, more Community Shield losers (10) have gone on to claim the Premier League title than winners (eight).
Only once in the last 15 years – Manchester City in 2018/19 – have a team completed the Community Shield and Premier League double.
By contrast, four of the last six Community Shield losers have gone on to lift the Premier League trophy that season.