Arsenal and Manchester United should share the spoils in tomorrow night's Community Shield - the traditional curtain-raiser to the English soccer season between the league champions and the FA Cup holders.
It has become almost as traditional for these two big rivals to contest the Shield - this is their fourth meeting in the past seven years.
Last year's match ended 1-1, but the previous two encounters (1998 and 1999) were won by Arsenal. Overall past results indicate that the Gunners take this fixture more seriously - they are unbeaten in their past six appearances, while United have appeared in nine of the last 11 Shields but have not won in 90 minutes since 1996.
Last year's match was competitive enough, with plenty of committed tackling and a sending-off for Arsenal's Francis Jeffers.
There is plenty of bad blood left over from last season's four encounters between the two sides, which produced three draws and a 1-0 United win in the FA Cup semi-final, so there should be no holding back here.
Last season's results show how closely matched the teams are, despite Arsenal's runaway league success.
Arsenal's unbeaten record in the league makes them hard to oppose, but they will be weakened by the absence of key players and the Patrick Vieira affair has been unsettling. A draw looks the best bet.
