Sport

A chance to strike early blow

Manchester United and Arsenal go into their Charity Shield clash at Wembley tomorrow with an early chance to snatch the psychological…

Sat Jul 31 1999 - 01:00

Manchester United and Arsenal go into their Charity Shield clash at Wembley tomorrow with an early chance to snatch the psychological high ground.

Last season's Treble winners and the team they relieved of the domestic Double are once again being tipped as the two sides likely to fight out the major honours.

Goalkeepers

Manchester United keeper Mark Bosnich has the unenviable task of filling the sizeable boots of Peter Schmeichel, But his time at Aston Villa revealed him to be highly capable. Opposite number David Seaman is out but his understudy Alex Manninger has impressed when deputising for England's number one.

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Defence

Jaap Stam and Henning Berg know they will have their hands full with Nwankwo Kanu, but the pair showed their quality in the glorious end-of-season run-in, and despite the absence of Gary Neville, brother Phil and the vastly-experienced Denis Irwin will complete a solid-looking quartet.

The loss of Tony Adams through injury will leave a huge hole at the heart of the Gunners' defence, but England Under-21 international Matthew Upson will relish the chance to prove himself.

Midfield

With Roy Keane and Ronny Johnsen both missing, United can still rely on Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt in the engine room for the crucial head-to-head clash with Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit.

All four like to get forward, and although the Arsenal pair may be a little more polished, the United duo have mixed it with the best of them and come out on top.

In fit-again Ryan Giggs and David Beckham and Gunners wide men Silvinho and Ray Parlour, there are likely to be four of the most exciting providers in the English game on the pitch.

Strikers

The Cole-Yorke partnership produced more than 50 goals last season and they will be keen to exploit the absence of Adams to kick-start the new campaign in style.

With the Nicolas Anelka saga seemingly no closer to resolution, and the brilliance of Dennis Bergkamp unavailable through injury it will be left to the exciting talent of Kanu to ensure a good test for the United back four.