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Community Shield: Man Utd to start the season as they mean for it to continue

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TQ has waited a long three months since his last fix of domestic football. It's back as Man Utd clash with Portsmouth in the Community Shield and he expects Paul Scholes and co to walk away with the Shield in a match containing a fair few goals...

It has been three painful months since we last had the pleasure of some serious domestic football action. The long wait is finally over as the Football League gets underway at the weekend, whilst the followers of all things Premier League will be delighted by the prospect of Sunday's Community Shield encounter at Wembley. League winners Man Utd take on FA Cup winners Portsmouth in what promises to be an riveting clash between two of the more entertaining teams in the English top flight.

The summer for Man Utd has not passed as they would have liked with virtually all the talk around the club surrounding the future of one Cristiano Ronaldo. Considering we are talking about the recently crowned champions of Europe this can only be construed as a negative close season for United. Portsmouth have had an up and down summer with the arrival of Peter Crouch giving them a potent strikeforce but the surprise departure of Muntari is a big blow to their midfield.

The Community Shield is notoriously a game where punters are a little wary of diving in without too much knowledge of the form the teams are in and the fitness levels. However, with just one week to go before the start of the Premier League you will have to take it for granted that everyone playing is fit and ready to go.

Incredibly, it is the first time since 1996 that we have had a team appear in this fixture that isn't part of what is now known as the Big Four. On that occasion Newcastle got thrashed 4-0 by a rampant Man Utd and Pompey will be hoping they can avoid that kind of result. With Rooney unwell and Ronaldo injured this is as good a time as any to take them on.

Certainly Man Utd are under strength and Pompey will be buoyant at the prospect of returning to Wembley, but will that be enough to see a surprise result? I really don't see a shock on the cards despite the potential weakness of the United side.

They are the European champions and have enough strength in depth to deal with a Portsmouth side that for me over-achieved last season and they are not short of team problems themselves. Diarra may or may not play but he certainly isn't fully fit and with Muntari missing and Kranjcar a little behind the others in terms of fitness, they have the look of a team that won't quite be ready for a unit like United on Sunday afternoon. It is not exactly a banker bet of the season but at [1.7] you must back Man Utd in the Match Odds market.

In recent years there has been an increasingly carefree attitude towards this game and I fully expect that kind of approach to be carried forward this weekend. Three of the last four Community Shields have had three goals or more and with the prospect of an open game I see that trend being repeated at Wembley on Sunday. There are plenty of areas where the goals could come from and I do have a small temptation to back Over 3.5 goals but I feel the more sensible option is to go in on the Over 2.5 Goals option at current odds of [2.14].

The Correct Score market is always a very popular market and if you make the right choice it is usually a very rewarding investment. I have to say that it isn't a market that I regularly play too much on but this week I am tempted. I have a strong belief that United will prevail in an open game with a few goals and for that reason I will make the recommendation to back two of the options in the market.

Four of the last nine Community Shield matches have ended 2-1 and at [9.8] that has to be the safe bet in favour of Man Utd. My second recommendation would be for United to win 3-1 at seemingly large odds of [17.0]. Play on both those runners and I am confident that you won't be disappointed.

One of my favoured markets has to be the Bookings markets. I would be tempted into the Corners market but they can be just that little bit too unpredictable for my liking. There is no certainty with bookings but you do have a fair idea of how a game will pan out and I really don't see any real potential for a card frenzy on Sunday afternoon.

In all reality it's not much more than a pre-season friendly and with the season so close nobody will want to risk injury or suspension and that will most definitely be the message sent out by the managers too. My advice here is to wait until pretty close to kick-off before making you move. In the majority of cases you will see a slight increase in price in the 5pts and Under option in the Bookings Odds market just prior to kick-off, and this is when I suggest you move in to back this runner.

Whatever happens on Sunday we all know that it is just the appetizer before the main course is served up to all football fans eagerly awaiting the start of another Premier League extravaganza.