Pre-season is ramping up for Premier League sides with Arsenal and Manchester City back in action next Sunday in the Community Shield before the first weekend of the season starts in just 11 days, but it hasn’t been going to plan for a lot of sides.
Arsenal suffered a second friendly defeat in a week as more comical defending saw Mikel Arteta’s side beaten 3-2 by Borussia Dortmund in north London. The loss comes just days after Arteta said his team were “below the standard” in Wednesday’s defeat against Real Betis.
Speaking of Betis, the Spanish club are certainly proving to be a serious test after former Manchester United winger Antony and Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott were sent off in a 2-2 draw. The two were involved in a melee towards the end of the first half.
Moving on to another brawl, Newcastle and Valencia players came to blows when Anthony Elanga was on the end of a disgraceful tackle by Jose Gaya, with the Spanish left-back catching Elanga on the shin with a heavy challenge.
Elanga had to be stretchered off as new Magpies boss Matthias Jaissle sprinted onto the pitch to shield the Swede while Newcastle players confronted Gaya. Thankfully, the Swede reportedly avoided serious injury and was moving about the changing room at full-time.
Meanwhile, Leeds and Hull fans certainly got their money’s worth when both teams played a 120-minute friendly against RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt respectively.
Both games were played with 60 minute halves and a drinks break halted the games after 30 minutes. Leeds drew 2-2 through goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha while the Tigers were beaten 2-0 in Frankfurt.
Manchester United continued their pre-season work with a 1-1 draw against PSG in Gothenburg. Liverpool target Ibrahim Mbaye opened the scoring after just three minutes but Bryan Mbeumo levelled up 20 minutes later. Mason Mount was withdrawn with an injury but it doesn’t appear to be serious.
Andoni Iraola lost his first game at Anfield as Liverpool boss as Monaco staged a comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz were both on the scoresheet in the opening half hour but Monaco rallied in the second half.
Chelsea’s forgotten man Mykhailo Mudryk returned to the team for the first time in two years after being suspended for doping charges. The Ukrainian appeared late in a 3-3 draw which against Malaysian side Johor Darul Ta’zim, where Liam Delap scored two penalties.