Liverpool march on with goals coming from all over the pitch as they fire another four goals to see off Valerenga. Zaki “the pie-eating Egyptian” as Wigan’s official site are cruelly labelling him, hits his second winning goal in two games, while Stoke get three (count ’em) goals to nick a win against Championship Southampton.

Here’s the notes and teams from last night’s games…

Valerenga 1 Liverpool 4

Liverpool’s strong pre-season continued as they moved to seven pre-season games unbeaten with another fine win against Valerenga in Olso.

Goals from Alonso, Torres, Benayoun and Ngog did the damage as Rafa fielded a strong side in preparation for next Wednesday’s Champions League Qualifier with Liege.

Alonso got things started with a beautiful curling effort after Keane had fed the Spaniard 20-yards out. Liverpool lost skipper Steven Gerrard to a thigh strain shortly after but Rafa’s side continued to dominate regardless. They failed to add to their lead however and, against the odds, were pegged back by the Norwegians minutes after half-time.

That sparked Liverpool into life and prompted Torres to fire them back in front just a minute later. The striker got on the end of Kuyt’s header before finishing cooly. Benayoun then added to his pre-season account with another fine individual goal – beating three defenders before firing past the keeper. Ngog wrapped things up with his second goal in as many games.

Rafa’s selection at last offered us major clues as to his thinking for the forthcoming tie with Liege and the Premiership outing to Sunderland. Cavalieri got his chance in goal but surely Rafa will keep faith with Reina as his number one.

The back four of Arbeloa, Dossena, Carragher and Agger looks settled, although Skrtel was forced out of this one with a knock. Benayoun must surely be in line for a start after consecutive goals and some fine form in pre-season – although his future is in doubt with Roma sniffing around. With Babel, Mascherano and Lucas out it also appears that Alonso will get starts if he stays at Anfield.

The Gareth Barry situation could change things of course, as could tonight’s injury to Gerrard. We will doubtless know more in a weeks time when Liverpool take on Liege.

Liverpool vs Valerenga:
Cavalieri, Arbeloa (Darby 68), Dossena (Insua 68), Carragher (Hyypia 45), Agger, Benayoun (Pacheco 68), Gerrard (Spearing 24), Alonso (Plessis 54), Kuyt (El Zhar 76), Torres (Ngog 68), Keane (Nemeth 68).

Darlington 0 Middlesbrough 5

Southgate fielded the younglings in Boro’s penultimate game of the pre-season.

A brace from Adam Johnson and goals from Emnes and McMahon plus a Darlington own goal, gave Boro the victory.

While the Boro lineup offered few clues as to Southgate’s thinking for the opening game against Spurs, Johnson’s goals and performance will act as another reminder as to his potential both to Southgate and to fantasy managers looking for a cheap midfield option.

Johnson will hope for another opportunity to impress in Boro’s last friendly as they take on Sparta Rotterdam on Friday evening.

Middlesbrough vs Darlington:
Jones; McMahon, Johnson J (Saiko 67), Williams, Bennett; Owens, Shawky, Walker, Johnson A (Smallwood 80); Emnes (Craddock 59), Porritt (Franks 67).

Havant & Waterlooville 0 Portsmouth 4

A brace from Ben Sahar and goals from Johnson and Mvuemba saw a Portsmouth side breeze past their non-league opponents.

Sahar opened his Portsmouth account after just 7 minutes, receiving a Mvuemba through ball to fire past the keeper. He then grabbed his second from a Little delivery just before half time.

The final two goals arrived in the closing minutes as Mvuemba blasted a long range effort from a Utaka pass and Johnson fired home after being put in by Hughes.

Redknapp made a host of changes to the side that faced Oxford just 24 hours earlier with Davis, Johnson, Utaka, Hreidarsson and Little coming into the side. It’s likely that very few of these players will be in the starting lineup for the Community Shield on Sunday, so there’s little to be gleaned from this one.

Portsmouth vs Havant & Waterlooville:
Ashdown; Johnson, Primus, Wilson (Duffy 46), Hreidarsson; Little, Davis (Christophe 74), Hughes, Mvuemba; Sahar, Utaka

Hibernian 0 Wigan 1

Amr Zaki is quickly becoming a hero figure with the Wigan fans after scoring his second goal in as many games to hand Wigan the victory at Hibs.

Zaki benefited from some great work by Sibierski who broke up a Hibs attack and set Valencia on his way. He found Zaki in the penalty area who duly fired the ball home with a clinical finish.

Wigan dominated throughout and looked particularly dangerous from wide areas – Kapo and Figueroa on the left and Melchiot and Vanlencia on the right, proved a real handful all night.

Zaki is clearly emerging as a very decent gamble for a budget striker. He boasts a superb scoring record in Egypt and has clearly hit the ground running at Wigan. Much will depend on how quickly he can open his account in the Premiership but he is certainly worth watching in the first few weeks if you’re not keen on a gamble from the off.

Figueroa meanwhile appears to have made the left back spot his own. He was a menace in this game, bombing forward to supply a number of crosses and also demonstrated his shooting ability with one thunderous drive. Given Wigan’s defensive form at the JJB, he looks like a very decent alternative to Scharner.

The Austrian missed tonight’s game through injury, as did Kirkland, Taylor and Koumas. Steve Bruce will be hoping to have Kirkland and Scharner back for Wigan’s final friendly, against Utrecht on Sunday. If they fail to make that one, they both look major doubts for the season opener at West Ham.

Wigan vs Hibernian:
Nash; Melchiot (Montrose 45), Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa; Valencia, Palacios, Brown (Sibierski 58), Kapo (de Ridder 45); Zaki (Thomas 70), Heksey (King45).

Southampton 2 Stoke City 3

Dave Kitson grabbed his first goal in Stoke colours as Tony Pulis’ outfit earned their fifth win in six pre-season games.

Kitson wasted no time in this one, firing Stoke into a lead after just 2 minutes, smashing home from Sidibe’s flick on. McGoldrick levelled things up for the Championship side by half-time as both managers rang the changes at the break.

Pericard, who replaced Cresswell on 37 minutes, handed Stoke back the lead, skipping round a Southampton defender to fire home from range. Two minutes later however, John headed an a second equaliser for Southampton.

With the game heading for a draw, it was smart work from Pericard that helped seal the win for Stoke. His mazy run caused panic in the Southampton defence and Hatch knocked the ball into his own net in all the confusion.

Stoke suffered injuries to both Dickinson and Shawcross and Pulis will need to check on their fitness prior to Stoke’s final friendly against Osasuna on Friday. Leon Cort’s return from an Achilles problem in this game was at least some compensation for those knocks.

Liam Lawrence travelled with the team for this one but wasn’t fit enough to play a part. He was close to a return though and Pulis will hope to have both him and Fuller back in the side when Stoke play their final pre-season game against Osasuna.

Stoke City vs Southampton:
Simonsen (Sorensen 46); Griffin, Cort (Buxton 63), Shawcross (Cort 79), Dickinson (Wilkinson 28); Delap, Olofinjana (Diao 49), Pulis, Cresswell (Pericard 34); Sidibe (Pugh 49), Kitson (Parkin 49)