With the Olympics coming to an end it’s fortunate timing that the English football season officially gets under way this afternoon when Manchester City and Chelsea contest the FA Community Shield.

The opening exchanges of any new campaign are always littered with potential downfalls for punters: how will the summer signings fit in? Will player X leaving affect team morale? Or will player Y’s arrival herald a new direction, and so forth.

So with that in mind today’s match outcome should be approached tentatively. City are 5/4 favourites with Chelsea 11/5 and the draw 9/4.

The Premier League champions have a few injury concerns and will be without the services of Gareth Barry and Micah Richards today, while captain Vincent Kompany is also doubtful after he flew home early from the club’s pre-season tour with a calf complaint.

Chelsea’s only absentee is new signing Marko Marin, who misses out with a hamstring injury, and the FA Cup holders could prove to be priced too high.

By their recent standards City have been quiet on the transfer front this summer whereas, buoyed by the Champions League win, Roman Abramovich has opened his wallet and splashed the rubles to strengthen Chelsea’s ageing squad.

First Belgian play-maker Eden Hazard signed for over £30m and he has been joined at Stamford Bridge by Brazil’s Oscar for another £25m to add an unknown dimension to the Blues going into the season.

However it is Fernando Torres, an overlooked blockbuster signing, who has been tipped to impress this season by manager Roberto Di Matteo. The Spaniard is a best price of 5/2 to find the net at anytime during the 90 minutes and those odds are hard to ignore.

Whether or not Torres does score the match is unlikely to remain goalless. The last three Community Shield finals have produced a total of 13 goals, including City’s 3-2 loss last year to Manchester United, and the price of 4/5 for over 2.5 goals today looks to be a good value punt.

 

Tipster’s Best Bets

Over 2.5 goals at 4/5 with BetVictor (4pts)

2-2 at 14/1 with BetVictor (1pt)

Fernando Torres to score anytime at 5/2 with BetVictor (3pts)

 

We made a winning start to the domestic football season yesterday when Mathias Pogba scored for Crewe to fulfil our tip on Twitter at odds of 8/5. Follow us @thevipgambler for more winning tips and latest odds.

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