UK Edition
Community Shield will trial ‘ABBA’ system if Arsenal vs Chelsea goes to a penalty shootout
Sunday afternoon’s Community shield will witness a trial of the so-called ‘ABBA’ system if the match goes to a penalty shootout.
A draw between Chelsea and Arsenal after 90 minutes at Wembley would see the outcome of the game settled from the spot, something that has been the case on six previous occasions.
This time, however, the order of penalties would see the the team going first in the shootout taking one spot-kick before their opponents take two in succession.
Each side would then continues to take two in a row until a winner is found.
Similar to the switch of serve during tennis tie-breaks, the format is being experimented worldwide in an attempt to address the fact teams which take the first kick in a shootout currently have a 60 per cent chance of winning.
In what is admittedly a small sample, the six Shield shootouts to date have witnessed three victories for the team going first and three for the team going second.
Sunday’s match will also be the first game between Premier League clubs that will see players retrospectively banned for two matches if they successfully con the referee to win a penalty or get an opponent sent off.