Community Shield kick-off time and date for Man City vs Man Utd clash confirmed as key change made for curtain-raiser

The date and kick-off time for this year's season-opening Community Shield fixture has been confirmed.

The match takes place at Wembley between the winner of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup, meaning Manchester City will take on Manchester United.

It will be held the week before the Premier League gets underway, making it the traditional curtain-raiser for the campaign ahead.

Last year, due to City winning the Premier League and FA Cup, Pep Guardiola's side took on Arsenal, who finished in second place in the English top flight in the previous season.

This year's fixture will be held on Saturday, August 10, with a 3pm kick-off time.

Traditionally, the Community Shield used to be held on a Sunday, but that changed when the 2020 event moved to a Saturday.

Since then, the 2021 and 2022 editions were also held on a Saturday, before the 2023 clash moved back to Sunday.

The scheduling of this year's fixture could prove to be a logistical nightmare for fans, with the EFL season kicking off on the same weekend.

Fixtures are spread out between Friday and Monday due to the new launch of Sky Sports+, which will see every EFL game on the opening weekend televised. The Saturday 3pm blackout still applies to the Championship and League One fixtures.

Queens Park Rangers, Millwall and Leyton Orient all have home games scheduled in the capital on Saturday. Crawley, who are situated 28 miles south of London, are also in action.

City will aim to win their seventh Community Shield, having won the trophy three times either side of their 2008 takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group.

United, meanwhile, are the most successful team in the history of the Community Shield, winning it 17 times outright. They also shared it four times, in 1965, 1967, 1977 and 1990.