The Community Shield matters more than some of these cups hoisted aloft with varying levels of enthusiasm in pre-season. Harry Kane wasn’t interested in Tottenham’s.
Arsenal – Emirates Cup
The Gunners collected their seventh Emirates Cup by beating Monaco on penalties at the Emirates, Obvs. On Declan Rice’s first game in front of home fans, Eddie Nketiah equalised after Youssouf Fofana headed Monaco in front. To penalties they went and Gabriel slotted in the winner after Takumi Minamino’s miss proved decisive. Sort of. It was Arsenal’s seventh triumph in their own tournament, if you can call it that. It was originally a four-team, two-day event but the last three have featured only Arsenal and one other visitor. Five teams have taken the Emirates Cup away from the Emirates. Who are they?
*Answer at the bottom of the page…
Chelsea – Premier League Summer Series
Arguably the least tin-point of the pre-season pots, Chelsea came out on top of a group of six Premier League clubs in the USA. Mo Po’s Blues beat Brighton and Fulham while drawing with Newcastle to top the table. Aston Villa finished second on goal difference, just ahead of Newcastle, with Brighton and Fulham ahead of bottom-placed Brentford, who were the only club not to win a game. Chelsea won the trophy by two points from second-placed Villa.
Tottenham – Tiger Cup
Spurs came from behind in Singapore to beat Lion City Sailors 5-1, with Richarlison bagging a hat-trick. Only the Brazilian and Emerson Royal bothered to handle the trophy. Despite scoring, Harry Kane had no time for any of it…
Newcastle – Sela Cup
One sponsor isn’t enough for Newcastle’s answer to the Emirates Cup, with the Sela Cup, presented by VisitMalta, taking place over two days at St James’ Park. On day one, Newcastle beat Fiorentina 2-0 with goals either side of half-time from Miguel Almiron and Alexander Isak. Villarreal drew with Nice before facing the Magpies the following day, with the hosts running out 4-0 winners. Harvey Barnes bagged a brace before Jacob Murphy went full Jordan Henderson…
🤣 Jacob Murphy is the gift that keeps on giving! #NUFC #SelaCup
— NUFCblog.co.uk (@NUFCblogcouk) August 6, 2023
Liverpool – Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy
After beating Crystal Palace a year ago, the Reds retained their trophy by smashing four past Leicester, three of the goals coming in eight first-half minutes from Darwin Nunez, Bobby Clark and Diogo Jota. Ben Doak added a fourth after the break, allowing Virgil van Dijk to collect his second gong as Reds skipper following on from the massive-but-seemingly-unnamed pot they picked up by beating Bundesliga.2 side Karlsruher 4-2.
Aston Villa – Trofeo Naranja
Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendia bagged in each half to give Villa a 2-1 win over Valencia at the Mestalla to win their first Orange Trophy. They have to win 28 more to match the Spaniards’ tally, but only one more to draw level with Real Madrid. No other English side has claimed this particular honour, which was first presented in 1959.
Read more: Every Premier League club’s 2023 pre-season schedule and results so far…
*Lyon, Valencia, Galatasaray, Hamburg, New York Red Bulls.
