Premier League champions <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/manchester-city/" target="_blank">Manchester City</a> and <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/liverpool/" target="_blank">Liverpool </a>are all ready to face off in the traditional curtain raiser for the new English top-flight season. The Community Shield match at the King Power Stadium on Saturday will offer both teams a chance to see exactly where they are in terms of preparation for the 2022-23 campaign. City have continued their upwards journey in the off-season bringing in some heavy-duty reinforcements. Norwegian striker <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/06/13/erling-haaland-is-in-the-right-place-after-completing-manchester-city-move/" target="_blank">Erling Haaland joined City from Borussia Dortmund</a> for €55 million in what was one of the most high-profile transfers of the summer. And the big Norwegian made an instant impression for his new club, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/07/24/haaland-makes-instant-impact-with-winner-for-man-city-against-bayern-munich-in-pictures/" target="_blank">scoring the winning goal</a> in the 1-0 pre-season win over Bayern Munich. Pep Guardiola's team have also brought in <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/07/04/kalvin-phillips-cant-wait-to-get-started-at-man-city-after-signing-six-year-deal/" target="_blank">England midfielder Kalvin Phillips</a> and German goalkeeper Stefan Ortega. Liverpool, who lost the league title to City last season by one point, have not had the smoothest of rides so far, with a h<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/07/12/manchester-united-start-eric-ten-hag-era-by-thrashing-liverpool-in-pre-season-friendly/" target="_blank">eavy defeat to Manchester United</a> in the pre-season and a chastening loss to RB Salzburg. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/07/16/sadio-mane-trains-with-his-new-bayern-munich-teammates-in-pictures/" target="_blank">Sadio Mane has left to join Bayern Munich</a> after six years at Anfield, however, the arrival of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/06/13/darwin-nunez-set-for-liverpool-switch-after-reds-reach-agreement-with-benfica/" target="_blank">Darwin Nunez from Benfica</a> for a fee that could rise to a club record €100 million has softened that blow. Nunez showed against RB Leipzig what he is capable of, scoring four out of the five Liverpool goals. But Klopp knows his <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/05/14/liverpool-lift-fa-cup-after-penalty-shoot-out-drama-against-chelsea/" target="_blank">FA Cup winning-team</a> is not quite ready. Following the match against City, they travel to Fulham for the league opener on August 6. Manager Jurgen Klopp, though, feels his squad are under-prepared and plans to continue playing friendlies into the season with another fixture to be added to the schedule after the trip to Craven Cottage. This weekend, he will be without Alisson Becker and Diogo Jota. Alisson has been struggling with an abdominal problem, while Portugal forward Jota has a hamstring injury. Liverpool v Manchester City, Community Shield Saturday, July 30, 2022, from 8pm (UAE time) King Power Stadium Saturday's match and the Premier League season can be watched on beIN Sports
