Three days of friendly matches were notable for formation tweaking from Ancelotti, a first winning goal from Owen, a return from Rosicky and a defeat for Rafa’s men in Austria. Read on for the detail…

Starting on Friday evening, which saw Spurs put three goals past Bournemouth without reply. Keane, Defoe and Palacios grabbed the goals for Spurs, as Harry Redknapp again went with two elevens, rotating at half-time. Little to take from this then, other than the fact that Spurs will have growing confidence going into their Wembley pre-season tournament with Celtic and Barcelona, starting on Friday. They start by taking on the somewhat less illustrious Peterborough tomorrow evening.

Confidence will certainly be draining from Stoke’s squad right now, having slipped to a third pre-season defeat to St Pauli on Friday. Tony Pulis was another manager who rotated his eleven at half-time and it was a second-half sub, Dave Kitson, who got the Potters only goal. Stoke will continue their quest for a pre-season win when they take on Hapoel Tel Aviv on Tuesday, before visiting Preston North End on Saturday.

Saturday’s friendlies saw Mark Hughes put out an eleven that included forgotten City man, Tal Ben Haim, plus midfielder Michael Johnson who was making a belated return from injury. City slipped to a 2-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates, although I can’t imagine Hughes will be too concerned given the growing list of resources he’ll have to call upon in City’s latter pre-season games. They continue with a clash with Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday, followed by a trip to Barnsley on Saturday, when we might start seeing some recent signings on the teamsheet.

Ex-City striker Daniel Sturridge was on target for Chelsea as they eased to a 2-0 win over Seattle Sounders. Frank Lampard was a more familiar scorer, firing Chelsea’s second. Interestingly, there were already signs of a change in tactics in this one, with new boss Carlo Ancelotti switching formation from 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond. Deco started in the defensive role, with Lampard free to bomb forward from the front of the diamond. Michael Ballack and and Florent Malouda completed the midfield in the wide roles, playing in front of a first choice back four with Alex partnering John Terry. Sturridge started with Nicolhas Anelka up front.

Although Ancelotti made changes for the second period, the starting lineup was surprisingly strong. Chelsea take on both Milan clubs in the next five days and, given Ancelotti’s approach in this first friendly, it appears we should be handed plenty of clues as to his thinking for the coming season, well before the Community Shield game with United on August 9.

Talking of United, the Champions were also in action for the first time on Saturday – edging past a Malaysia XI thanks to a winning goal from debutant Michael Owen. Rooney and Berbatov started in partnership up front and it was Rooney who fired United in the lead, before providing the assist for Nani to make it two. Ferguson’s men were then clawed back, allowing Owen to enter stage left to calmly slot home from a Gibson through-ball. United face a rematch with Malaysia today, before taking on FC Seoul on Thursday.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Everton put four past Rochdale with Jo grabbing a brace. It was a strong eleven from Moyes, with Tim Cahill and Jolean Lescott earning starts and Marouane Fellaini making his first pre-season appearance. Arsenal had their usual pre-season run-out at Barnet and retuned with a 2-2 draw. Arshavin and Barazite got the Gunners goals but it was the inclusion of Tomas Rosicky in the starting eleven that drew the attention. This was his first start since January 2008. Clearly he is set to be a factor this season, competing with Walcott, Arshavin, Nasri and Eboue for a wide starting role. New signing Thomas Vermaelen also got a start here and completed the 90 minutes – partnering William Gallas.

Martin O’Neill’s Villa came away with a 3-0 win at Peterborough with goals from Austrian striker Andreas Weimann, Curtis Davies and Steve Sidwell. Hull City got their pre-season started with a 6-0 win over North Ferriby United. Trialist Jerome Thomas, impressing and opening the scoring for the Tigers, while Caleb Folan ended with a brace. Phil Brown’s side then faced Winterton Rangers 24 hours later, recording a 3-0 win. Tom Cairney, George Boateng and Dean Marney with the goals.

Sunday was most notable for Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Rapid Vienna. Rafa was still without his Spanish contingent for this one, while Glen Johnson also missed the game with a slight knock to his Achilles. It was a patched up Liverpool side then, although Gerrard skippered from midfield, while Carragher lent his experience to a young back four. Liverpool now leave for a tour of the Far East for two matches that should reveal more on Rafa’s thinking, with some familiar names set to return to the fold.

Finally, Steve Bruce kept a 100% record in charge of Sunderland with a 1-0 win over Portimonense in Portugal. Carlos Edwards notched the winner, as Bruce again appeared to go with a 4-5-1 formation. He now takes his unblemished record to the Amsterdam tournament to face Benfica and Atletico Madrid.

Staying with Sunderland, and it was revealed this morning that defender Paul McShane will require surgery on a knee injury sustained in the club’s last friendly at Darlington. McShane will be sidelined for around three months according to reports.