Pre-season friendlies in the US are a harbinger of football’s grueling future

Games in Philadelphia and Columbus are no longer harmless fun. They’re warm-ups for league matches being staged overseas

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On a sunny summer Saturday in Inglewood, California, two of the Premier League’s most historic rivals met on the pitch, and the biggest news had nothing to do with the score of the game. Rather, two key injuries for Manchester United (Rasmus Højlund and new addition Leny Yoro) drew headlines after Arsenal’s 2-1 win in which the London side’s two key Gabriels (Jesus and Martinelli) scored.

It is just pre-season. In all likelihood, the injuries were the biggest thing to come out of a game between these opponents in this location. But it may not be that way for much longer. Soon, games like this week’s Liverpool-Arsenal clash in Philadelphia or Chelsea-Man City in Columbus could actually have an impact on the league table.

This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Jonathan will return from his summer vacation next week with a mailbag edition ahead of the new season. You can email your questions to soccerwithjw@theguardian.com.