Manchester United and Chelsea lock horns at Wembley on Sunday in the annual curtain raiser to the new season, a match that can be seen live on Sky Sports 2 and HD2.

There have been plenty of changes since the end of last term when United defended their Premier League title and Chelsea triumphed in the FA Cup final with a 2-1 victory over Everton.

A typically busy summer has seen Carlo Ancelotti come in to replace Guus Hiddink as Blues manager, while Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Real Madrid in a record-breaking transfer.

Both sides will still be confident of adding more silverware to ever-expanding trophy cabinets and the Community Shield also provides the opportunity to gain a slight psychological edge at the start of a nine-month marathon.

United news

Sir Alex Ferguson may have lost Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez but the United squad remains one of the strongest in Europe, let alone England, and he has added a number of reinforcements including winger Antonio Valencia and striker Michael Owen.

Valencia and Owen have both caught the eye in a positive pre-season campaign for United and could feature at Wembley, although Ferguson has several other options in attack such as Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and youngster Federico Macheda.

The United manager's injury concerns are all at the back, with Nemanja Vidic set to be sidelined for another fortnight with a calf problem and Wes Brown and Gary Neville also missing.

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is also facing up to eight weeks out following finger surgery and Ferguson has yet to decide between Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak.

Ancelotti will be looking forward to pitting his wits against Ferguson and is set to employ a 4-4-2 formation, with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka up front.

Chelsea news

Joe Cole is the only definite absentee as he continues to recover from a knee injury, while summer signing Yuri Zhirkov (knee) is doubtful.

Michael Ballack has battled back to fitness following a fractured toe and is available for selection, leaving Ancelotti with plenty of options for a midfield berth.

The Italian must also decide between Ricardo Carvalho and Alex in central defence, with John Terry an almost certain starter after committing his future to the club to end weeks of speculation.

Sir Alex Ferguson would love to see Michael Owen make England's 2010 World Cup squad because it would mean he'd have enjoyed a successful debut season at Old Trafford.

The Reds' summer acquisition has not represented his country since the 1-0 defeat to France in March 2008 and has not figured in any of Fabio Capello's squads to date.

But following his surprise switch to Old Trafford last month, Owen has already caught the eye thanks to four goals in as many games during United's Asia Tour.

Capello was in the stands to see the 29-year-old in action against Valencia on Wednesday and although Owen didn't make it onto the scoresheet, Capello will have been encouraged by his movement and link-up play with fellow England striker Wayne Rooney.

Sir Alex has been delighted with Owen's match and training performances so far and feels, providing he can produce the goods for United, he has a great chance of booking a spot on the plane to South Africa should England qualify.

"England are not endowed with a bunch of top strikers. Rooney has been the only consistent one over the last few years; they've tried Heskey, Crouch, even Walcott, but there really is a dearth of top English strikers. So that gives Michael Owen a chance," explained the boss on Friday.

"We've just told him to enjoy himself here. He's not missed one training session and has operated really well in games and shown some clever stuff which has been very pleasing.

"That's really only what Fabio can look at because he has to pick the best players; Michael's name and reputation from the past will not get him into the World Cup squad. It's about what he does with us in the coming season which will hopefully get him in."