For Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, player preservation and damage limitation may be more important than summer silverware when Liverpool face Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley.
Both managers are concerned by a constellation of stars barely recovered from their recent exertions in the Africa Cup of Nations and Copa America, many of whom made it to the latter stages of those faraway competitions.
The chance to draw a first trace of blood in a season that could last ten months, then, has understandably not been high among their proclamations in the build-up. Yet neither is naive enough to expect anything less than hastily-drawn critical conclusions should their sides suffer defeat a week before the start of what could well prove a repeat of last season's title race.
Liverpool
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If credence is to be given to pre-season competitions, Liverpool have already picked up an honour, concluding a winless three-match US tour by drawing 2-2 with Sporting Lisbon, meaning they shared the Western Union Cup.
On paper, Liverpool's preparatory results have gone much the way you might expect for a squad whose competitive season ended little more than two months ago with that Champions League victory over Tottenham.
Sporting were only denied victory by an excellent display from Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet after his early blunder gifted their opponents the lead at Yankee Stadium.
Aside from a ten-minute spell against the team who finished third by 11 points in last season's Portuguese Primeira Liga, Liverpool were not ahead in any of their Stateside showpiece matches this summer.
Missing Roberto Firmino, Alisson, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, they fell 3-1 behind after the interval against Borussia Dortmund in their opening game, making a series of defensive errors before prospect Rhian Brewster's late consolatory penalty.
They suffered a last-minute 2-1 defeat to Sevilla, and matters became no better back in Britain.
A 3-0 friendly defeat to Napoli in Edinburgh left Klopp bemoaning the concession of "simple goals", although he did point out that Liverpool had "heavy legs", and that the Serie A season starts three weeks after the Premier League begins.
There were better signs in Geneva, where a rare Alisson mistake gave Lyon the lead before a goal from the returning Firmino and an excellent strike by youngster Harry Wilson contributed to a comfortable 3-1 win.
Recent form: WLLDLW
Man City
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Attempting to read much into City's pre-season is also potentially futile. Like Liverpool, they have spent much of the time trying to build fitness and sharpen their readiness in searing heat - heading to China for a tour that was heavily commercially entwined.
There was a hitch when they were beaten on penalties by Wolves in the final of the Premier League Asia Trophy at the Hongkou Football Stadium, Guardiola sinking his head into his hands in the dugout as Raheem Sterling missed a spot kick in normal time.
The champions hardly suggested unheralded generosity in ceding the final, affording dangerous Wolves a single shot on target during the match.
Guardiola has some tricky decisions to make at a stadium that has become as familiar as the homes of many of their rivals to City fans. In common with his counterpart for the day, international competitions have prevented him from naming a first-choice side in any of the warm-ups he has overseen so far.
City scored nine goals in their final two matches in China, with Sterling, David Silva, Leroy Sane and Kevin De Bruyne - playing a full part in the tour, to the relief of fans fretting over his injury-strewn previous season - among the scorers.
Sane was on target twice against Hong Kong Premier League club Kitchee, but continues to be heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich, who are rumoured to be facing an asking price in the region of £137m for the 23-year-old Germany international.
At the same time, Guardiola appears to have his eye on Juventus full-back Joao Cancelo in a transfer potentially sending City's Danilo the way of the Serie A champions.
Even if Guardiola is more focused on business than table-topping rivals right now, he will be shrewd enough to know that a loss to Liverpool at this stage could be at least a minor psychological blow.
City won their last 14 matches of last season to hold off their relentless chasers as part of a run of 18 victories from 19 games. Enhancing that imperious record would assert their near-invincibility in a season when marginal factors could make all the difference.
Recent form: WWWDWW
Team News
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The imprints of international competitions are likely to make their mark on the team sheets. AFCON participants Mane and Salah are both lacking sharpness for Liverpool, as is Firmino, who was on Copa America duty.
Mane, who was part of the Senegal team to lose in the final in Cairo, is especially unlikely to feature after only returning to Liverpool's Melwood training ground this week.
Naby Keita captained Guinea at AFCON, so the midfielder could be given extra time to prepare for the visit of Norwich City on the opening day of the Premier League season.
Riyad Mahrez was on the winning side in the final with Algeria, meaning he is not expected to be available for City.
Guardiola has an enviable list of returning South American shining lights to call upon should he deem them ready. Strikers Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus and defender Nicolas Otamendi are all back in full training following their international obligations.
The shield could come too soon for Aguero and Jesus, in which case England forward Sterling, who has been in fine form in pre-season, could play alone in attack for City.
Sane's involvement could be compromised should any transfer moves develop with intent over the weekend, and there is a dilemma over the influential Fernandinho, who played with a knee problem at Copa America.
An integral part of City's sleek engine, the Brazil midfielder could be rested to ensure he is ready for the trip to West Ham United next week - or, perhaps more vitally, the visit of Spurs a week later.
Brazilian goalkeepers Alisson and Ederson are back in contention on either side. City defender Benjamin Mendy is targeting a September return following a knee operation.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Mignolet; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Milner; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Origi, Lallana
Man City possible starting lineup:
Bravo; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Rodri, Foden; Bernardo, Sterling, Sane
Head To Head
Indomitable by most teams, City certainly count Liverpool as a bogey team, having lost this encounter on seven of nine occasions in the Premier League and Champions League before last season.
The most memorable of those Liverpool triumphs was a 3-0 Champions League quarter-final win at Anfield in 2018, followed up by a 2-1 second-leg victory at the Etihad Stadium.
City fans will have forgotten that unhappy run during their vital results in this fixture last season. They kept a clean sheet at Anfield for the first time since 1986 to earn an away point in October, then handed Liverpool their only defeat of the season in a crucial 2-1 win in Manchester in January.
We say: Liverpool 0-2 Man City
The headlines in the build-up will probably over-emphasise Klopp's off-the-cuff reflections on the importance of the Community Shield, but Liverpool's lack of fully-firing strikers gives City an important advantage against opponents still seeking top form ahead of the new season.
City look a more complete, ready squad at the moment, and Liverpool may feel they can bide their time with their first match against obviously threatening opponents not arriving until the visit of Arsenal nearly three weeks after their visit to Wembley.
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