An Everton club statement confirmed: "The midfielder is set to undergo a medical with the Premier League champions on Sunday."

In the meantime, Manchester City have only gone and agreed an undisclosed fee with Everton to sign midfielder Jack Rodwell:

Preamble: Too soon? Probably but I'm sure most fans of Chelsea and Manchester City won't be thinking that way. City, of course, played in last year's Community Shield as the FA Cup holders, losing 3-2 to the neigbours. Their last victory in this match came at this ground in 1972 when Derby and Leeds turned down the FA's invitations to play and Francis Lee's penalty defeated Aston Villa 1-0. Chelsea's last win came in 2009, beating Manchester United on penalties.

It has been a contrasting summer of recruitment for both clubs – Chelsea spending more than £60m on Eden and Thorgan Hazard, Oscar and Marko Marin, City spending nowt till today, much to the ire of Roberto Mancini. He'll be pleased to hear that Everton have agreed to sell him Jack Rodwell for £20m. Rodwell won't play, it's too soon, but neither will Joe Hart who has back knack nor David Silva and Mario Balotelli who only resumed training a fortnight back.

Each side won 2-1 at home last season in this fixture, which tells us little. Brian Mullen is one absentee. "At rhythmic gymnastics at Wembley Arena," he writes. "Missing the match. Not happy."

Your starting XIs:

Chelsea: (4-2-3-1) Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Lampard, Mikel; Ramires, Mata, Hazard,; Torres.

Man City (3-4-3) Pantilimon; Savic, Kompany, Zabaleta; Milner, De Jong, Y Touré, Kolarov; Nasri, Agüero, Tevez.

City teams correction – now amended

City start with Kolarov, not Clichy. Sorry, got blindsided by rogue official tweet.

Substitutes:

Chelsea: Turnbull, Essien, Meireles, Sturridge, Cahill, Bertrand, Piazon.

City: Holmen Johansen, Dzeko, Adam Johnson, Silva, Clichy, Toure, Razak.

Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)

Another debutant: ITV field new signing Lee Dixon, a canny bit of recruitment. Does this mean Robbie Savage will be elevated as the first choice punditry sub for Match of the Day when one of the Alans is off?

Give your head a shake: Me. Torres in both teams. The shame. I meant Tevez. This game shall be my penance.

Out come the teams: City in their new burgundy away kit. They've been introduced to David Bernstein, former City chairman, in his role at the FA. The anthem has been sung. Off we go to an ad break …

1 min: City kick off and Luiz intercepts a mishit rolled pass from Nasri to move Chelsea forward, first up the left and then backwards and up the other flank. City win the ball back after a Chelsea free-kick just inside City's half.

3 min: Nasri skips his way through the inside-right channel, wriggling past Luiz until Cole steps in. Kolarov crosses and the ball comes out to the left where Luiz concedes the foul right at the corner of the box. Tevez curls in a shot at the left post that Cech parries to his right and Chelsea get hold of it at the second attempt.

5 min: Luiz cuts out what could have been a very dangerous dinked through ball up the middle from Yaya Touré and knocks the ball up to Torres. Zabaleta slides in to tackle him, pushing the ball wide to Lampard and Zabaleta has another bite, sliding in again and giving away the free kick.

7 min: A strong challenge from De Jong stalls Chelsea's progress but they shuffle the ball out to Hazard who the referee thinks goes to ground too easily when he controls it and tries to cut infield before the tackle. Then Luiz evens up the foul count.

9 min: Corner to City, taken by Nasri, to the far post where Ivanovic back-heads it out for another. Kolarov takes this one, puts it on Savic's head who connects well but Luiz blocks and Chelsea clear their lines.

11 min: City are looking slick and confident over the first 10 minutes in central midfield, Nasri buzzing about and Tevez dropping deep, too, taking advantage of Mikel's dithering. Tevez has just been robbed by Terry. Savic is booked for a heel-clipper from behind on Hazard on halfway.

13 min: City fans are baiting John Terry while Mata lines up a free kick wide on the right and 35 yards from goal that goes nowhere. "I assumed (as I'm sure others did) that your bungled team selection was a clever commentary on the effectiveness, or otherwise, of Torres," writes Matt Dony. "Depending on his mood, he could pretty much be playing for either team!" I'm not that clever, Matt, though he is looking pretty isolated so far.

15 min: Milner's doing OK wide on the right. They keep calling him a wing-back but I'm not sure that's accurate in a 3-4-3, 3-4-1-2. Where's Wilson?

17 min: Opening for City, strangled by Agüero's hesitancy in slipping it through to Nasri as he cut into the box from the left, which allowed Cech to dive and smother the prodded shot.

19 min: Another City corner, viciously inswinging from Kolarov, hit so hard that it was almost a shot. Cech backpedals and swipes it away for another with his palm. "If there are any empty seats can we blame the greater attraction of rhythmic gymnastics?" asks Ian Copestake. There are a fair few, Ian. And we can.

21 min: City, champions, and ready to be crowned corner kings have just had another, swung in by Milner on to Kompany's head who flicks it straight at Cech. Up the other end, Hazard essays a flashy backheel that doesn't come off and the City fans laugh uproariously. A propos of which, here's Colin Ward: "I feel grubby inside for watching the Community Shield today when the weather's good and there's 'proper sport' (© London 2012) on the other channel. I haven't seen that much of Eden Hazard before today, but is he just an ever-so-slightly better, younger - and Belgian - version of Joe Cole?" Bloody hell, that was quick, Colin.

23 min: Important tackle from De Jong, not his first today, tees up Milner who hits an early diagonal cross towards the penalty spot where Agüero has made a subtle run but glances it wide on the dive.

25 min: Chelsea create their best chance through Ramires, who does everything right down the right flank, except his centre, which is a fraction behind the run of Lampard. The midfielder manages to check and shoot bit if it had have been rolled into his path that probably would have been a goal, against the run of play.

28 min: Chelsea corner after a good pass on the run from Hazard switches play to Ivanovic on the right. His cross is strong and too deep but Milner is taking no chances and glances it behind. Chelsea take the corner short but City crowd them out on the flank.

30 min: Shot on the run from Hazard, cutting in from the left on to his right foot when Cole's clever overlapping run drew Milner and Savic to open the space. He belts it from 25 yards and it skims across the turf, bouncing three times into the hands of the City goalkeeper whose name I can't spell without checking.

32 min: Cut back from Nasri who is in a free role and making inroads between the centre-halfs and full-backs, to Tevez whose shot from 15 yards is blocked by Terry.

34 min: "Can we take it that there is still resistance from the football mbm-ers to the swanky new technologically advanced mbm format as used during the Olympics (and for a while now on other parts of the site)?" asks Cian Mulligan. It won't be long, I'm told … but I don't know why we're starting the season in the old style. Chelsea fans sing: "We are the champions, champions of Europe." Accurately but WACCOErs won't be chuffed.

36 min: Chelsea have been more prominent going forward this past five minutes, Hazard and Mata linking up well and looking for Ramires to burst into the box from the right. One overhit hooked pass over the top just eludes Mata before Pantilimon runs out to snaffle it.

GOAL!! Chelsea 1-0 Man City (Torres) Ramires cuts across the box from right to left then spins the ball back out to the right, three yards inside the box with the outside of his right foot. Mata either dummied it or minimally flicked it on and Torres finished beautifully with the outside of his left foot.

Red card!! Chelsea's Ivanovic is sent off A sliding tackle, and he clips Kolarov, knocking him off his feet. Reckiless or excessive force? Andy Townsend thinks neither. A minute earlier Savic looked to have brought down Torres and he was on a booking but the ref gave it the other way.

44 min: As we're in old school mbm mode you might have to hit f5 or refresh to get those last two descriptions. Milner takes the free kick from the left, 25 yards from goal, and tamely loops a shot into Cech's hands.

45 min: Lampard now gets his name into the book for a sliding foul on Milner when the ball had gone and Lampard lifted his foot. Townsend thinks the red card is "a shame" and that he won the ball. Not the point. I'll have to look at it again but on one look I thought it was justified. His left leg went studs first into Kolarov's shin.

Half time: Back in a few minutes. Go watch the boxing with Smelling Salts Baz.

The sending off verdict: Lee Dixon and Gareth Southgate both agree that Ivanovic deserved it. "The referee's name is Friend," writes Rotimi Obisesan. "But with the number of cards issued in first half already, is he really a friend?" What's this, the Golden Girls?

46 min: Substitution for City at half-time. Clichy on for Savic. Zabaleta moves over to the right of the back three. Ramires, who is playing at right-back since Ivanovic's expulsion hooks a pass up and over Kolarov on the right but Clichy reads it and blocks the advance.

47 min: Torres goes storming through the middle, toes it beyond Clichy and beats the City defender to the ball on the run then skews his shot.

48 min: Torres gets the better of De Jong who tries to grapple him off the ball from behind and then Kompany decides to stop his marauding run by stepping into him and gets booked for the naked bodycheck.

50 min: Cole brings down Milner on the right of City's attack. Kolarov takes the free-kick, curling it beyond the back post. "What exactly would Andy Townsend give a red for?" asks Adrian Miller. "Would Kolarov have to be out for six months first?" I know – he's flaming ridiculous.

GOAL!! Chelsea 1-1 Man City (Yaya Touré) Touré finds Milner with a fine pass out to the right touchline for the Yorkshireman to run on to. Milner's cut-back cross is intercepted by Terry on the slide and he deflects the ball to Touré who shifts it wide of Luiz on to his right foot and whips his shot from 20 yards past Cech. Excellent finish.

55 min: Nasri is all over the place, in a good way, popping up now on the left and chipping a cross into the centre for Milner to meet but Cech is wise to the run and marshals his defences to block.

GOAL!! Chelsea 1-2 Man City (Tevez) The ball is tapped to him on the left corner of the penalty area and he opens his body to move it across the 18-yard line, getting shooting space ahead of Luiz and he spanks it home from the middle of the goal. He lifts his shirt to show the legend Fuerte Apache, his home.

60 min: Refresh if the goal descriptions aren't showing. Cole fouls Tevez. "No need for that," says Townsend, censoriously for him. City shovel it backwards , having taken a decisive grip on the game in the second half. "Townsend or Beglin," asks Paul Ruffley. "Neither adds anything to the commentary, but I enjoy Townsend more because I quite like shouting at the telly." Ha.

GOAL!! Chelsea 1-3 Man City (Nasri) That's City's third in 14 minutes. Without a proper right-back, Kolarov makes hay down the left, crosses it in to Nasri who steers it in past Cech.

65 min: Ashley Cole is told by Kevin Friend to calm down after another lunge should have brought him his second yellow card. Nasri tries to score the goal of the season with a left-foot volley from a bobble off the chest of Ramires from a corner and slices it wildly.

68 min: Poznan alert. City fans bounce after singing "we score when we like". Chelsea look tired, Cole especially, passing straight to De Jong to set up Touré almost to free Milner or Agüero for a run on goal.

70 min: Chelsea substitution. Hazard off, Bertrand on.

72 min: Very interesting this City formation at the back. At times Kompany is in the middle of the pitch with Zabaleta and Clichy pushed up high on the touchlines in a V shape. That allows De Jong and Touré to slot in alongside him when Chelsea break, rather than Kolarov and Milner, as Clive Tyldesley maintains, as orthodox wing-backs. Well, that's my take any way.

74 min: Chelsea substitution. Mata off, Strurridge, the former City man on, greeted by predictable "one greedy ba$tard" choruses.

76 min: City substitution. David Silva for Samir Nasri.

78 min: Lampard, who has already been booked, gets a life when he should have had a second for thrashing Milner's shins with his right studs when the ball had gone.

GOAL!! Chelsea 2-3 Man City (Bertrand) An assist from Pantilimon. Sturridge hits a powerful shot from the edge of the area, from the left across goal. The keeper dived to smother and the ball squirmed out of his grasp to the right where Bertrand leapt in to knock it into the net. The keeper and Bertrand are booked for a wrestle for the ball after the goal.

82 min: Chelsea corner after a good cross from Cole, the space made for him by a decent overlapping run from Bertrand. The corner breaks down when Bertrand slips in the box when Sturridge cuts it back to him with his back to goal.

85 min: "Lampard gets a life?" asks Philip Podolsky. "As a Daily Mail reader I thought he already had one." B'dum tish. Sir Geoff Hurst names Yaya Touré as the man of the match. Chelsea keep fighting and Sturridge looks lively and, on this evidence, less selfish than last season.

88 min: Barry Praag lights the fuse … and seeing I'm out of here in five minutes, here goes: "Just think what we would have done to them if we had Ivan on the pitch. Lucky, lucky, lucky, City." But … but … but … but … but. He deserved to get sent off. It was entirely his fault.

90 min: Now City defend with wing-backs, a line of five as the clock ticks down. Sturridge crosses from the right to the far post and erans a corner. Up comes Cech. Pantilimon catches it and launches it – Ramires blocks Silva to kill the attack with Cech out of goal. He's been booked too – that's four Chelsea could have had sent off if friendly Kev had been consistent and Savic for City in the first-half.

Full time: City have won the Community Shield. They played very well in the second half against 10-man Chelsea to score three goals, Nasri took up some great positions and Tevez and Agüero linked well but Chelsea also showed signs that they have added more guile in Hazard to their fortitude and Sturridge looks to have kicked on. It was an enjoyable match despite the inconsistent refereeing.