Pre-season analysis: Haaland hits hat-trick, Liverpool beat Man Utd

Premier League clubs' preparations for the 2024/25 season continued, with Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and AFC Bournemouth all in action. Here, Adrian Kajumba looks at the key talking points.

Man City 4-2 Chelsea

What happened?
Chelsea were blown away by Man City and Erling Haaland before bringing some late respectability to the score. The damage done to Chelsea was largely self-inflicted as three of City’s goals came after the Londoners played themselves into trouble by giving the ball away in their own defensive third.

The first giveaway led to Haaland winning and scoring a penalty. He pounced on two more to net his second and third goals. Oscar Bobb was Man City’s other scorer while late goals from Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke halved City's margin of victory. 

What did we learn?
Chelsea open their Premier League campaign against Man City in a fortnight so there will be a swift chance for Enzo Maresca’s players to show what they learned from this loss. He will hope that by then their passing out from the back is far better.

It is a key part of his philosophy and Chelsea made more mistakes attempting it in this friendly against Man City. Maresca already admitted errors were to be expected as his new squad get used to his demands. Equally, though, the need to quickly improve how careful they are in possession was evident in Ohio. The importance of steadying themselves after conceding was another takeaway.

Twice City scored two goals in a minute, allowing the match to get away from Chelsea before they even had the chance to think about how to get back into it. For Man City, just a few days ago Pep Guardiola insisted Haaland was dealing with some discomfort and niggles. Yet he looked as sharp and clinical as ever against Chelsea.

The sight of the back-to-back Golden Boot winner in such form, taking his pre-season tally to five goals in four encoutners is ominous for the rest of the league. 

What did the managers say? 
Pep Guardiola: “Now the real preparation with an important game already, the season starting in seven days, simple as that. It’s the mentality and desire to help the team and resilience to suffer because we aren’t in our best condition will dictate the first month of the season.”

Enzo Maresca: "We need to learn things. Probably more than the goals we conceded, we need to learn that when you concede one, you cannot concede after two minutes another one. This is something that I just said to the players; we need to learn. We need to become stronger.”

Who do they play next?
Man City head to Wembley Stadium to face Man Utd again, this time in the FA Community Shield on Saturday 10 August, aiming to avenge their FA Cup final defeat to their city rivals at the end of last season. Meanwhile, Chelsea have another high-profile friendly to look forward to as they face Real Madrid on Tuesday in the final match  of their US tour. 

Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool 

What happened?
Liverpool came out on top in this Stateside meeting of the two big north west rivals. Fabio Carvalho fired Arne Slot’s side into a 10th minute lead, which Curtis Jones doubled after good work down the right from Mohamed Salah. Kostas Tsimikas added a third for Liverpool from close range just after the hour mark. 

Jones' goal v Man Utd

What did we learn?
Man Utd need Joshua Zirkzee to hit the ground running. The Red Devils paid the price for failing to take the chances they created against Liverpool, highlighting their lack of ruthlessness. On the plus side, they do have summer signing and striker Zirkzee to add to the mix.

With Rasmus Hojlund out injured they could do with Zirkzee starting well. Man Utd’s need for defensive reinforcements also increased after Harry Maguire missed the game as a precaution, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof came off at half-time while Will Fish and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were also forced off injured, adding to the previous loss of new centre-back Leny Yoro. 

As for Liverpool, their tour of the US has vindicated Slot’s decision to bide his time and assess his squad before delving into the transfer market. Three wins from three, including two against Premier League rivals - Arsenal were also beaten - confirms he has plenty to work with in the squad he has inherited. 

What did the managers say? 
Erik ten Hag: “We created many chances and I would be concerned if we didn't create chances. I'm pleased with the way we created chances out of open play but also from good pressing situations and good counter-pressing situations.

"I think in the end it's like fatigue. We have been here for 12 or 13 days and in the end it was a tough game and maybe you miss the freshness and don't have the power to be clinical."

Arne Slot: “We are very happy with the result. We scored some really nice goals but I don't think we had enough control over the game because United were threatening us more than a few times.

"It's a 3-0 win but the score could have been different tonight as well."

Who do they play next?
Man Utd’s preparations will step up a gear when they face Man City in the Community Shield on Saturday. Liverpool take on Spanish side Sevilla the following day in their final pre-season friendly. 

Crystal Palace 3-1 West Ham

What happened?
Crystal Palace got their hands on the Stateside Cup after getting the better of their fellow Londoners West Ham United in Tampa. Tyrick Mitchell volleyed Palace ahead inside the first minute though a Joachim Andersen error presented Michail Antonio with a first-half equaliser.

Goals after the break from Jeffrey Schlupp and Odsonne Edouard saw Crystal Palace run out winners.

Schlupp's goal v West Ham

What did we learn?
Oliver Glasner showed his ability to inspire players to new heights last season following his arrival. Could Schlupp join the list? He stated his case for a bigger role in with his latest impressive display in America by adding a decisive performance against West Ham, with a goal, assist and other key involvements, to go with his eye-catching chipped effort against Wolves last Thursday, which put Palace ahead in another 3-1 win.

West Ham may have been beaten in both matches of this pre-season mini tournament but took encouragement from signs they are adapting to new head coach Julen Lopetegui’s approach. Scorer Antonio said: “We’re changing the philosophy, tactics, how we played from last season so things are going to take us time.

"We’re showing that we can start pressing high and sometimes people are going to find pockets and play through us, but there were a lot of positives and we keep moving forward to the season.”

What did the managers say? 
Oliver Glasner: "It's nice to win a trophy and winning is always better than losing. But it's just pre-season, so we stay humble, we know we still have to work hard and we have many things to improve.” 

Julen Lopetegui: “Tonight was to show us that we have 15 days in front of us to keep on working very hard and to try to evolve the players we have as soon as possible, and the new players, too."

Who do they play next?

Palace host French side Nantes on Sunday in their last friendly ahead of the resumption of competitive action. West Ham complete their pre-season campaign against Celta Vigo on Saturday.

RB Leipzig 0-3 Wolves

What happened?
Wolves produced their best pre-season performance to round off their three-matchs US tour by comfortably beating Bundesliga side RB Leipzig thanks to a Lukas Klostermann own goal plus strikes from Pablo Sarabia and summer signing Rodrigo Gomes.

What did we learn?
If Wolves’ final goal against RB Leipzig is anything to go by, their supporters will be in for a treat this season. A fine passing team move from back to front and full of one and two-touch sequences was given a fitting finish by Gomes when he made it 3-0, adding to his two goals earlier in the tour against West Ham.

Gomes' goal v RB Leipzig

What did the manager say? 
Gary O’Neil: “He’s a winger from Portugal so people like to make comparisons [with Pedro Neto], but he’s different. Pedro does a lot of his good work driving with the ball, whereas Rodrigo links and makes runs without it.

"He covers a lot of ground without the ball and arrives in key areas. It’s been good to see how he fits in and he’s had a good week.”

Who do they play next?
Wolves host LaLiga side Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

Club America 1-0 Aston Villa 

What happened? 
Villa were edged out again in the US, this time by Mexican side Club America who came out on top in an even game when Illian Hernandez sprung the Premier League side's offside trap to run through and score. 

Villa had their chances too, among them Leon Bailey and John McGinn each hitting the post in the same first half attack. 

What did we learn? 
Aston Villa have two friendly games left to find some winning form to take into the new season after suffering defeat in all three games in America.

Club America exploited Aston Villa’s high line to score their winning goal but that was mainly in the second half after Unai Emery had made changes and his backline was even more experimental than the one which started the game.

What did the manager say? 
Unai Emery said: “We played trying to get fit and to work on things tactically, trying to show with our performance where we’re going with different players. The result was not good, but it gave me a lot of information."

Who do they play next?
Aston Villa will host Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday night, with the game taking place at Walsall’s Poundland Bescot Stadium. 

AFC Bournemouth 1-0 Rayo Vallecano 

What happened? 
After back-to-back 1-1 draws in America against Wrexham and Arsenal, Bournemouth secured their first pre-season victory thanks to Luis Sinisterra’s first-half effort in a game which saw recent signing, centre-back Dean Huijsen, make his first Cherries appearance.  

What did we learn? 
There was nothing untoward about Dominic Solanke’s absence from Andoni Iraola’s team, with the striker, who has been at the centre of recent transfer talk, missing out due to a foot injury suffered in a challenge during training from team-mate Illya Zabarnyi.

What did the manager say? 
Andoni Iraola: “He [Solanke] couldn’t even put his boots on comfortably. The truth is Dom came today, we checked him and in the end it didn’t make any sense to take risks.” 

Who do they play next? 
Bournemouth will welcome Spanish opposition to Vitality Stadium for the second weekend running when they face Champions League qualifiers Girona on Saturday evening.