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With the 2024/25 Premier League season kicking off in just three weeks time clubs are ramping up their preseason campaigns, travelling around the world for friendly matches as managers look to get to know their squads ahead of the new campaign.
This weekends flagship fixture will see Manchester United face Arsenal at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. Viewing may be challenging for UK based supporters, though, given the match will kick off at 1:00am on Sunday. This will be the third match of either club’s preseason tour.
The Red Devils started their summer with a 1-0 loss to relegation-threatened Norwegian side Rosenborg, heaping more pressure on the already highly scrutinised Erik Ten Hag, ahead of a 2-0 defeat of Rangers in Edinburgh. The Gunners, however, remain undefeated, recording a 2-0 win over Leyton Orient behind closed doors before downing Bournemouth via a penalty shootout.
Chelsea will also be in action, facing Celtic in Indiana after failing to beat newly promoted League One side Wrexham in the week, while new Liverpool manager will head up his first official match, taking on Real Betis.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will face AC Milan as they look to get back to winning ways following a 4-3 loss to Celtic. With a first chance at silverware just 15 days away in the form of the Community Shield, Guardiola will not want to waste time in turning his team around.
As ever in preseason, plenty of academy prospects and new signings are set to receive their first tastes of first team football, so here are five players to keep an eye on in this weekend’s fixtures.
Ethan Nwaneri, Arsenal
An Arsenal player since he was nine years old, Nwaneri is the latest jewel to come out of Hale End. He first made headlines in 2022 as he came off the bench to make his Premier League debut as a 15-year-old, making a one-minute cameo as he became the youngest-ever player to appear in England’s top division. While that would turn out to be the midfielder’s only appearance of the season, he has continued to flit between the first team and U21s, and seems intent on becoming a fixture in Mikel Arteta’s squad.
Now 17, Nwaneri impressed in a last week’s Bournemouth friendly, playing 84 minutes from central midfield and tracking back in defence while playing an integral role in Arsenal’s buildup, serving as the bridge between the front line and back four. With so many senior players still on holiday following the conclusion of Euro 2024 and the Copa America, Nwaneri has seized his opportunity to impress, staking a claim to a season of Premier League football.
Romeo Lavia, Chelsea
After signing for the Blues last summer, supporters have seen very little of Romeo Lavia. Since sustaining a serious thigh injury in preseason, the Belgian talent recorded just 32 minutes of competitive play in the entire campaign, leading many fans to consider him to effectively be a new signing in 2024.
Against Wrexham, though, it appeared that there might be light at the end of the tunnel for Lavia as he showed flashes of the brilliance which earned him his £58m move from the South Coast to West London. Lavia played the first half in a holding midfielder role, recording a pass accuracy of 95 per cent as he helped Chelsea to play around an intense Wrexham press. Provided he can stay fit, Lavia will become an important squad player for Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, who face will face a demanding schedule in 2024/25 after qualifying for the Europa Conference League.
Jadon Sancho, Manchester United
Jadon Sancho was in the news constantly last season, but for all the wrong reasons. He found himself separated from the Manchester United squad after publicly falling out with Erik ten Hag, eventually being sent on loan to Borussia Dortmund, where he lost in the Champions League final.
The player has reportedly made up with Ten Hag, though, and now finds himself back in the fold. Completing the customary half a match against Rangers, Sancho posed a constant threat on the right wing, and looked to be getting back to the form which won him his dream move to United in the first place. With quick feet and tricky dribbling he habitually skinned Rangers right-back Dujon Sterling, reintroducing himself to the United faithful with class as he made a statement of intent for the new season.
Ben Doak, Liverpool
There is yet another star in line to join the ranks of talent breaking into Liverpool’s first team after graduating from the club’s Kirkby academy: Scottish winger Ben Doak. Preparing to follow in the footsteps of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Jayden Danns and more, Doak made headlines ahead of Euro 2024 after being named in Scotland’s pretournament training squad. Though he did not make it onto the plane to Germany through injury, he now has as good a chance as ever to crack the Liverpool squad.
New manager Arne Slot deployed the Scot on the left wing in a behind-closed-doors preseason friendly against Preston North End opposite Mo Salah, linking up competently with fringe full-back Kostas Tsimikas and creating a pair of crucial chances for Liverpool, both of which went unfulfilled. Stuck in line behind the likes of Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota, on-pitch minutes will be hard to come by, though Doak will face another chance to impress Slot against Real Betis this weekend.
Maximo Perrone, Manchester City
Yet to appear for Manchester City since signing in 2023, midfielder Maximo Perrone has returned from a succesful loan spell at Las Palmas and immediately made a splash in Guardiola’s squad, finishing smartly with his only shot of the game barely a minute into the second half on the way to a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Celtic.
Despite the full time result, Perrone impressed in his time on the pitch, managing two key passes and 100 per cent pass accuracy. An efficient distributor and confident dribbler, the 21-year-old Argentine could be in with a shout for a stint in the squad, particularly if other midfielders make way. The AC Milan friendly could prove the perfect opportunity to build his standing in the squad before international players return from their holidays.
