Crystal Palace can achieve something not done since 1981 if they beat Liverpool in the Community Shield

Crystal Palace stunned the football world when they won the FA Cup in May, lifting their first ever major honour in the process.

And one title could soon become two when Crystal Palace face Liverpool in Sunday’s Community Shield at Wembley, backed by over 30,000 noisy Eagles fans.

Palace have had a frustrating summer in the transfer market, only adding left-back Borna Sosa and goalkeeper Walter Benitez. However, they have so far managed to keep hold of their star players like Eberechi Eze.

Photo by Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images

Liverpool, on the other hand, have enjoyed a strong window, and will therefore pose a formidable test, more so than when Crystal Palace beat Manchester City to lift the FA Cup.

If the Eagles do overcome the Reds, however, they will make history at Wembley once again.

Crystal Palace look to break 44-year curse and become the newest Community Shield winners

Long the traditional curtain raiser to the English top flight season, the Community Shield sees the Premier League champions of the previous campaign face the FA Cup winners. If a club completes the double, the side that finished second in the league contest the game instead.

Naturally, after winning their first major trophy, Palace are also competing in the Community Shield for the first time ever.

In contrast to the Eagles, Liverpool have 16 Community Shield wins. Victory on Sunday would see them draw them level with Arsenal on 17 and only behind Manchester United’s 21 triumphs (including four shared titles).

Club Community Shield wins Manchester United 21 Arsenal 17 Liverpool 16 Everton 9 Manchester City 7 Tottenham 7 Clubs with the most Community Shield wins.

Such has been the dominance of these three sides, alongside Manchester City and Chelsea, over the years, the last time a club won the Community Shield for the first time was Aston Villa in 1981.

Thus, if Palace manage to upset the odds at Wembley on Sunday once again, they will break a 44-year record to become the newest first-time winners of the trophy.

The last club to come close to achieving this feat was Wigan in 2013, but they lost 2-0 to Manchester United.

Liverpool also hope to break recent Community Shield history if they beat Crystal Palace

In total, 22 clubs have won the Community Shield, and Palace could join the likes of Newcastle, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest with one win in the competition.

However, history shows they are up against it: of all Community Shield games that have been played between league champions and FA Cup winners, the former hold a 54-29 record.

Based on how they ran away with the Premier League last season, Liverpool are therefore big favourites to make that 55-29.

They are also firm favourites to retain their domestic title after their impressive summer business.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images/Getty Images For The Premier League

However, recent history doesn’t bode well for the winners of the Community Shield, as only eight winners of the season opener in the Premier League era have gone on to win the league title in the same season.

Moreover, the last five Community Shield matches have been won by a side that did not then win the Premier League title in the same campaign, with the last team to win both in the same season being Manchester City in 2018/19.

Looking further back, City’s success in 2018/19 is the only time in the last 14 years that the winners of the Community Shield have won the Premier League in the same season.

If Liverpool do beat Crystal Palace, they will therefore have to buck this trend if they want to retain their league title.

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