Chelsea v Man Utd

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FA Community Shield
Venue: Wembley Stadium Date: Sunday 9 August Kick-off: 1500 BST
Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live, Sky Sports

Both Chelsea and United have injury worries

Chelsea have two injury doubts ahead of Sunday’s game with midfielder Yuri Zhirkov doubtful with a knee injury.

Midfielder Joe Cole is still out with a knee ligament injury but Michael Ballack (toe) could be passed fit.

Manchester United are without defenders Nemanja Vidic (calf), Wes Brown (thigh) and Gary Neville (groin).

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson must decide whether to choose Ben Foster or Tomasz Kuszczak in goal with keeper Edwin Van der Sar out with a broken finger.

Ferguson is refusing to be drawn on who will replace Van der Sar on Sunday, and for the remaining eight weeks the Dutchman is absent for.

But in Kuszczak and Foster he knows he has two perfect understudies for the veteran Dutchman.

“I will speak to both of them about the situation,” said Ferguson.

“We have a selection dilemma as to who plays in goal on Sunday. It is not an easy one for me.”

With Vidic, Brown and Neville all injured a lot also rests on the shoulders of centre-back Rio Ferdinand to remain fit.

606: DEBATE Who will gain the upper hand on Sunday?

And despite the injury problems he encountered towards the end of last season, Ferdinand says he can be relied on to lead United’s defence.

“I am fine, there are no problems,” said Ferdinand.

“I have not missed any training sessions this pre-season, not missed any games and played a lot of minutes.

“I am delighted and feeling good. Long may that continue this season.

“The club have been really good. I’ve had rest and maintenance, a good pre-season tour and training. That’s the most important thing. ”

For new Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti the game will be the first time he has managed a side at Wembley.

Ancelotti took over as Chelsea manager in the summer having previously spent eight years as boss of AC Milan.

And the Italian is relishing the opportunity of facing the Premier League champions in English football’s traditional curtain raiser.

It will be the first time for me to be at Wembley. It is not a friendly game, it is very important for us. We play against a great team Carlo Ancelotti

“I think we are ready to start this season against Manchester United on Sunday,” said Ancelotti.

“It will be a very difficult match but we are excited and very happy to play at Wembley.

“It will be the first time for me to be at Wembley. It is not a friendly game, it is very important for us. We play against a great team. They were in the final of the Champions League last season.

“We have respect for this team but we want to win and play well. We want to put our quality on the pitch. It will be an interesting match.”

With Cole’s injury long-term, Zhirkov is likely to be the only absentee on Sunday from Ancelotti’s pre-season squad.

“Zhirkov is the only player with a problem,” said Ancelotti.

“He has a knee injury. He didn’t train in the last few days and I don’t know if he can play Sunday. He is the only one. Maybe we have to wait two days and then we will see if it is possible for him to play.”

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Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Turnbull, Belletti, Alex, Terry, Carvalho, Mancienne, Bosingwa, A Cole, Ballack, Sturridge, Mikel, Deco, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba, Ivanovic, Kalou, Ferreira, Malouda.

Man Utd (from): Foster, Kuszczak, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Anderson, Gibson, Nani, Giggs, Rooney, Owen, Berbatov, Macheda, Tosic, Fabio, Cleverley, De Laet.