Manchester City take on Leicester City in the Community Shield on 7 August, as Wembley Stadium prepares for what could be the first capacity club game since before the pandemic.

On 19 July, Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed in England, with no limits on how many people can meet or attend events. In theory, football grounds could well return to full capacity – or at least near-full.

The ultimate decision of how many fans are permitted into Wembley Stadium for the Community Shield, however, rests with the local council rather than government. It has been speculated that Wembley could be at 75% capacity – around 67,000 fans – but this figure is yet to be confirmed.

In last year’s Community Shield, Arsenal beat Liverpool on penalties in front of an empty stadium. This season, the Shield will be contested between title-winners Manchester City and FA Cup-holders Leicester City.

Both teams may be short of stars with a number of players returning late to pre-season after Euro 2020. Leicester fans may though get a first glimpse at new signings Boubakary Soumare and Patson Daka, while Man City adapt to life after the iconic Sergio Aguero.

City have won the Community Shield on six occasions, their most recent victory coming in 2019, when they beat Liverpool on penalties. That season, City had qualified as both the title winner and the FA Cup holder, while the Reds were there as the second-placed team from the Premier League the previous season.

Leicester have only ever been to one Community Shield before – the 2016 edition, after winning the Premier League title. They lost that day to Manchester United, the FA Cup winners of the previous season.