How competitive you view the Community Shield probably depends on whether your team wins it or not.
Manchester City have barely warmed up for their latest opportunity for a trophy, playing just one full 90-minute friendly so far this summer after their match with Bayern Munich was affected by the weather. But at the same time, Pep Guardiola was adamant that it counted for his team to claim a clean sweep of four domestic titles in the 2018/19 season.
As long as you don't take pre-season too seriously, there are significant markers that are laid out for the upcoming campaign. Even Jurgen Klopp had to laugh after his side had beaten City in a 2018 friendly when a reporter asked if they had landed a significant psychological blow on the Centurions - the Blues were so devastated they went on to win back-to-back titles.
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Yet the needle around that game in New Jersey was still important in how each club viewed both themselves and each other, and contributed towards the rivalry that has dominated the Premier League for years. However little importance there was in the result, it is always useful to see your biggest rival up close.
It was clear four years ago that City and Liverpool would be battling it out for the title, it was clear the following year when they met in the Community Shield and it looks to be clear again as they prepare to go head-to-head in Leicester. If pre-season is anything to go by, the race for the title will be a familiar two-horse race once again.
There were genuine concerns within the Etihad over Chelsea last summer after losing the Champions League final, and they were well-founded; Thomas Tuchel's side started the league well and topped the table until December, but could not recover from a crunch period of injuries and Covid. Chelsea managed to show both that it was possible to catch up with the top two, but also how difficult it is to sustain the level.
Despite the statement signing of Raheem Sterling, the West London club do not appear to be in a better position to challenge this season. Performances in pre-season have led Tuchel to hit out at the impact on the pitch from uncertainty around the squad and City had a front-row seat for a chaotic transfer window under new owner Todd Boehly during negotiations for Sterling and Nathan Ake that were anything but orthodox.
Tottenham and Arsenal both look to have kicked on in a way that Chelsea did last summer, but they are coming at it from fourth and fifth-placed finishes that were more than 20 points behind the top two. It would take unprecedented improvement from them, or unlikely drops from City or Liverpool, to bring them into play for a title race.
That adds to the significance of Saturday teatime for Guardiola and his City players. The result does matter if you are counting silverware, but it becomes more important to gauge where Liverpool are at and what they will bring this season in a prime opportunity to study the team most likely to cost City trophies this season.
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