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5th August 2018

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Today's Sports Betting Preview - By Rick Elliott

Chelsea Can Win The Curtain-Raiser

The Community Shield is a friendly that brings together the League champions and the winners of the FA Cup. It becomes a significant and meaningful fixture for the team that wins it and irrelevant in the context of the Premier League for the team that does not! Jose Mourinho counts it as a title but other managers have the perspective that it would be nice to win but it won’t change their life.

The last four winners won the FA Cup in the previous May and 10 of the 19 teams that have lifted the trophy this century won the Cup the season before the fixture. Manchester City meet Chelsea in today’s Community Shield at Wembley and Cup winners CHELSEA are the value option to win the match in 90 minutes at 11/4 with Coral.

The match is as much about the absent players than those on the pitch. The Belgian contingent who played in the semi-finals of the World Cup are still on holiday and Raheem Sterling is resting. After his ruthless finishing in Russia for England Sterling would have been the banker to score the first goal…..not! Chelsea have not won their last six last Community Shield fixtures in 90 minutes but the odds are too hard to resist because the Cup winners have a better than 50% record since 2000. If the real ALVARO MORATA turns up he’s a big price at 11/2 with Ladbrokes to score first.

The Galway Festival seems to have been going on for ever but it’s the final fixture today. At seven days it’s the longest meeting in British and Irish racing and much of the action is more about quantity in the number of runners than quality. The final race of the marathon provides the banker bet today because DORRELS PIERJI cannot be opposed in the 6pm race at Evens with William Hill.