Liverpool edge City, Arsenal maul Sevilla

Darwin Nunez introduces himself to the premier league audience with a fine header to seal the Shield Cup victory over Manchester City on Sat...

Darwin Nunez introduces himself to the premier league audience with a fine header to seal the Shield Cup victory over Manchester City on Saturday at Wembley. (Photo credit: Premierleague.com)

Pre-Season games aren’t the best yardstick for new season performances but cup games on Saturday shared one or two ideas on what to expect across leagues as most curtain raisers were played.

The Premier League opener, the Community Shield saw Liverpool beat Manchester City by 3-1 score line and that was the first time the Kops would land the shield trophy in a long while having lost to Arsenal and City twice in the last three years.

It was a game to showcase the new recruits and playing style and boy, it didn’t disappoint with usual suspects showing us the magic they’re known for; Trent Alexander Arnold opened scoring while Julio Alvarez drew the champions level before Mohammed Salah scored from the spot to put Liverpool back up.

It was always going to be a case of Erling Haaland against Darwin Nunez but it was the latter that shone brightly late on with a late goal after coming on as a substitute. Haaland missed a sitter that got social media ranting but one thins is certain, the Norwegian will score loads of goals this season.

Elsewhere, Arsenal mauled Sevilla in a six-goal romp with Gabriel Jesus scoring a hattrick. Bukayo Saka scored twice and Eddy Nketiah added the last goal late on off a selfless pass from Gabriel Martinelli. The Gunners can take pride in the sensational performance ahead of league kickoff on Friday.

Tottenham lost to AS Roma in their final warm up game in Israel while the highlight of the game would be the opportunity to witness how the new signings integrate into the team. Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma caught attentions and Richarlison also gave a good account of himself.

Bayern Munich rammed five past RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup; it was a game of two halves with the tiny club coming up strong in the second half but too little too late as the champions sealed the result with another Serge Gnabry goal at the death to end it 5-3.