Chelsea vs. Man City: Community Shield Could Offer Intriguing Peek into Season

It won't actually count for anything, but for both Chelsea and Manchester City, Sunday's Community Shield could really mean a lot.

The FA Community Shield serves annually as the curtain-raiser to the English football season, and while few would consider it a major trophy, the match has a history of exciting fans and can sometimes provide tantalizing clues about the upcoming campaign.

This year's edition could do just that.

Last August, Premier League champions Manchester United defeated FA Cup titlists Manchester City 3-2 in a pulsating match at Wembley. Nani struck the winner four minutes into second-half stoppage time, and though that didn't quite foreshadow City's title win the following May, it did hint at the competitiveness and drama the season had in store for the Manchester rivals.

This season's matchup could prove equally intriguing. City have returned, this time as Premiership champions, to play Chelsea, who pulled off a stunning FA Cup and Champions League double last May.

Both teams have nurtured a deserved reputation for spending big, and both should harbor optimism ahead of the season. But even so, they each enter the campaign with a fair dose of uncertainty.

Chelsea spent big again this summer, acquiring hotshot Belgian midfielder Eden Hazard from Lille (and his brother, Thorgan, from Lens), German midfielder Marko Marin from Werder Bremen and Brazilian playmaker Oscar from Internacional.

Those signings should make the Blues contenders for the title this season, even with the departure of talismanic striker Didier Drogba.

Yet Chelsea have shown indifferent form in the preseason (via London Evening Standard), and despite all the signings, pressing questions remain.

Who will score the goals now that Drogba gone, especially in the big games? Can Fernando Torres step up and warrant his £50 million transfer fee? Or will he keep finding new ways to inspire ridicule?

What of Roberto Di Matteo? Can he repeat his remarkable successes in his first full season as full-time manager? Or was last season a fluke?

Finally, can Roman Abramovich resist the urge to throw the monetary equivalent of a former Soviet Socialist republic's gross domestic product at the unattached Pep Guardiola?

As for Manchester City, the champions have been uncharacteristically quiet this summer. No major signings—read, Robin van Persie—have lit up the transfer wire from the blue half of Manchester, and that fact doesn't seem to be sitting well with manager Roberto Mancini.

"I am not happy but I won't say anything at the moment," Mancini said (per BBC Sport). "…After three months or four months, I don't know what to say about this situation."

Mancini also revealed that City received bids for mercurial Italian striker Mario Balotelli this summer. Those bids were turned down, and it now appears City and Mancini are focused on building with their existing pieces.

The problem is none of their rivals have stood still this offseason. Chelsea spent heavily, while Manchester United bought Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund and teenager Nick Powell from Crewe Alexandra.

Even penny-pinching Arsenal splashed the cash, bringing in attackers Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla.

So will City's existing talent be enough to repeat as champions, or is an assault on Europe the next objective? Or does Mancini have something else up his sleeve for the transfer deadline?

We won't learn the answers to half of those questions on Sunday, and in truth, all of the answers won't come until next spring.

But on Sunday, the Community Shield will give fans and neutrals a sneak peak at two of the clubs who should be right in the thick of the title race come spring.

For that fact alone, it's worth watching. If we're lucky, we might even see a good game.

Follow @MikeCummings37