Thank heavens for the Community Shield.

In an age of 24/7/365 football – when seasons, competitions and opinions blur into one headache-inducing mass – the role of the Community Shield as the curtain raiser for the new English season is more important than ever.

The reality is more complicated, that’s true, but we’re not here for that.



We’re here to watch FA Cup winners Crystal Palace meet runaway champions Liverpool on a sweltering afternoon at Wembley.

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In different ways, both teams have had difficult summers.

Palace were demoted to the Conference League, have spent around £3m on players and could lose Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze before the transfer window closes at the start of September.

Liverpool have spent like never before, signing Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong for a combined fee of around £250m.

They recouped more than half of that with the sales of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Jarell Quansah and others.

But the summer of 2025 will always be remembered for the shocking death of Diogo Jota, aged 28, in a car crash.

Life goes on, football goes on, but today’s game will be played in shadow.

Kick off 3pm.