Liverpool have been very poor in pre-season football this summer going by their high standards. The reigning Champions League finalists have already lost one game in pre-season and they were beaten again to make it two pre-season defeats following the 1-0 loss to hosts Red Bulls Salzburg of Austria.

In pre-season football this summer, Liverpool have now won two and lost two from four games after the narrow defeat at the hands of the Austrian champions. Young Slovenian forward Benjamin Sesko proved to be the recipient of the winning goal just after the half-hour mark. He had missed a decent opportunity to give his team the lead before he made amends some minutes later with his goal comingone minute on the side of the half-hour mark.

Frenchman Anthony Martial has been the go-to man for Manchester United in terms of goals during this summers pre-season games, but he was unable to find the back of the net during the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa in an all-Premier League encounter played in Australia this weekend. Martial failed to register a goal as Manchester United were pegged back by their Premier League opponents from a strong position at the end of the first 45 minutes.

Manchester United opened the floodgate of goals through England national team star Jadon Sancho on 25 minutes before the advantage was doubled by the own goal from Villa defender Matty Cash three minutes from the half-time interval. The goals from Sancho and Cash (own goal) gave the Red Devils a 2-0 lead at the half-time break.

Premier League club Manchester United are preparing to make a fresh bid for FC Porto attacker Evanilson. This is according to Monday's edition of Jornal de Noticias. Manchester United initially made an offer worth €60m plus add-ons for Evanilson, but it was rejected by his Portuguese team. The offer turned down by the Portuguese champions was the opening bid from the Red Devils. It was reported that Manchester United are ready to make a second bid of €70m.

FC Porto striker Evanilson is a target for Manchester United after they missed out on signing Uruguayan star Darwin Nunez from Benfica. The Red Devils were beaten to the signing of Nunez by arch rivals Liverpool in a deal worth €100m. Benfica agreed a deal worth €75m in initial fee and €25 in add-ons for the Uruguayan to sign for Liverpool.

Leeds United have reportedly lodged enquiries with Manchester United over the availability of midfielder James Garner in the summer transfer window. According to The Athletic, Leeds United are plotting a raid on arch-rivals Manchester United for the signing of midfield prodigy James Garner this summer and have submitted an enquiry for the 21-year-old already.

Garner came through the youth ranks at Manchester United and made his senior debut for the Red Devils in 2019. He made a handful of appearances for the first team before being loaned out to Watford in the summer of 2020. The youngster spent six months with the Hornets before returning to Old Trafford, following which he joined Nottingham Forest for the second half of the 2020/21 season

The downfall of Merseyside giants Everton has been one of the stories of the season on the Premier League stage. The most pessimistic of Everton fans won’t have predicted what has happened to the club this season when Spanish manager Rafael Benitez was appointed as their new manager at the start of this season.

Everton began the season well under Benitez and they were in fourth spot after some games before the wheels fell off. Benitez was given a lot of time to turn the situation around before he was eventually sacked at the start of this year to usher in the reign of Chelsea legend Frank Lampard at the club. Everton have struggled to improve under Lampard especially away from home and they have relied on home points to stay in the Premier League till date.

After Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in November, Ralf Rangnick leading the team on an interim basis did not steady the ship. Instead, reports circulated that players struggled to buy into the tactics and vision of the German manager. Poor performances and inevitably missing out on Champions League football next season only justifies why a major rebuild is required at Old Trafford. Therefore, the appointment of a manager with a reputation for significant rebuilds and the ability to reshape a team should fill the squad with confidence.