Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham continued their stunning starts to life at their new clubs with multi-goal performances over the weekend.
Bellingham’s brace fired Real Madrid to victory over Barcelona in El Clasico while Kane hit a hat-trick in Bayern Munich’s 8-0 rout of Darmstadt in the Bundesliga.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the England duo’s season to date.
Goals galore
Kane kick-started the second-half scoring in Bayern’s wild win on Saturday, in a game which at half-time was goalless with Bayern playing with 10 men to Darmstadt’s nine.
His eventual treble, completed in the 88th minute and including one from his own half, sees him one ahead of Bellingham in the scoring stakes this season but the latter’s contribution on Saturday stands out as all the more impressive.
With Real trailing to Ilkay Gundogan’s early goal for Barca, Bellingham blasted a stunning 30-yard equaliser midway through the second half before popping up with a close-range volley in stoppage time to give his side the Clasico spoils and a four-point lead over their rivals in LaLiga.
It is the third time this season he has scored twice in a game, following the wins over Almeria and Osasuna, giving him a goal-a-game record in his first 13 games for the Spanish giants.
Kane, in the same number of matches, has 14 goals, including another hat-trick in a 7-0 win over Bochum and a brace against Augsburg.
Both men scored in England’s 3-1 win over Scotland, one of three appearances this season for the national team as they sat out the friendly with Australia. That gives Bellingham 14 goals in 16 games for club and country and Kane, who added a brace against Italy, 17 in 16.
Bellingham, of course, has produced those numbers from an attacking midfield position and while acclimatising to a more advanced role than he had been used to with former clubs Borussia Dortmund and Birmingham, or with England. Kane leads the line and has already benefitted from four penalties for Bayern and another against Italy.
Brits abroad
Kane and Bellingham are already on their way to establishing themselves among the most prolific English or British players overseas.
Gary Lineker scored 20 goals in his debut LaLiga season with Barcelona, and 52 in 138 games for the club across three seasons in all competitions.
Michael Owen netted 16 times in his one season at Real, where David Beckham won a league title in his fourth and final season and Steve McManaman won two Champions Leagues, scoring in the 2000 final.
Wales’ record scorer Gareth Bale was another British star to ply his trade at the Bernabeu and scored over 100 goals for Real, with nine in his first 13 games – while often operating from the bench – setting up a tally of 22 in his debut season.
Kevin Keegan scored 12 in his first season at Hamburg in 1977-78, a total already surpassed by Kane and Bellingham, while Wales forward Mark Hughes managed only five goals alongside Lineker at Barca and seven in a season on loan at Bayern. Mark Hateley’s most prolific seasons at AC Milan and Monaco brought 11 and 14 goals respectively.
Jadon Sancho, a team-mate of Bellingham at Dortmund, took time to establish himself after moving from Manchester City’s youth academy. He did scored 13 goals in his first season as a regular starter, though eight of those came from December onwards. Tammy Abraham got 27 in his first season at Roma, albeit with nine in the unheralded Europa Conference League.
Bellingham himself scored only 12 league goals in three years with Dortmund – he is only two away from that already with Real, and more than halfway to his 24 in all competitions for the German side.
Liverpool 1-0 Real Betis: Szoboszlai gets Slot era up and running
Dominik Szoboszlai's goal was the difference as Arne Slot's first game in charge of Liverpool with spectators present ended in a 1-0 win over Real Betis in Pittsburgh.
Liverpool lost 1-0 in a behind-closed-doors meeting with Preston North End last week, but they were victors in sweltering conditions when their pre-season tour of the United States got under way on Friday.
Szoboszlai scored the only goal after 34 minutes, stroking his finish past Adrian after Mohamed Salah slipped a pass through to the Hungary international.
That goal came four minutes after Curtis Jones was forced off through injury, being replaced by 17-year-old Trey Nyoni.
Former Reds goalkeeper Adrian denied Conor Bradley as a strong Liverpool side chased a second, while Harvey Elliott nodded wide from a Kostas Tsimikas cross.
After Slot rang the changes with 63 minutes gone, Kaide Gordon missed Liverpool's best chance to make it 2-0 by dragging his effort wide, but it did not matter as a controlled performance saw the Reds home.
Data Debrief: Reds in cruise control
Slot had been expected to bring a slightly more measured approach than the "heavy metal football" preached by his predecessor Jurgen Klopp, and that was on full display on Friday as Betis were held at arm's length.
Liverpool enjoyed 62.7% of the possession throughout the match, though Slot will be looking for more penetration when they face Arsenal in the next game of their tour on Wednesday, having only recorded 12 touches in the penalty area to Betis' 10.
Sessegnon rejoins boyhood club Fulham after Tottenham departure
Ryan Sessegnon has resigned for Fulham on a free transfer, five years after leaving the club.
The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Cottagers with the option to extend for a further year following his departure from Tottenham last month.
In his first spell at the club, Sessegnon worked his way through the academy over 11 years, scoring 25 goals in 120 first-team appearances.
He then moved to Spurs in a £25million deal in 2019, though struggled to nail down a place in North London, making just 57 appearances in all competitions, and scoring three goals.
"It's amazing to be back. Emotional, as well," he told FFCtv. "It's where it started for me, where everything began, and it's amazing to be back.
"It will always be home for me. I think it had the feeling that it was meant to be, coming back here, so I'm delighted to get it done."
Sessegnon is Fulham's first signing of the transfer window, though they have seen plenty of first-team departures already, with Joao Palhinha, Tosin Adarabioyo and Bobby De Cordova-Reid all leaving the club.
Dewsbury-Hall: Maresca will surprise people at Chelsea
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall believes new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will "surprise a lot of people" when they watch the Blues this season.
The Italian led Leicester City straight back to the Premier League as Championship winners in his only season in charge and succeeds Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.
The Foxes topped the second division table with 98 points, with Dewsbury-Hall a key figure in his squad as he netted 12 goals and provided 14 assists last season – his best tally in a single campaign.
Dewsbury-Hall was also named Leicester's Player and Players' Player of the Year.
The midfielder made the switch to West London earlier this month for £30million and is confident that Maresca will have Chelsea challenging for trophies in no time.
"The manager was a big catalyst in wanting me to come," Dewsbury-Hall told BBC Sport.
"I knew from Leicester, a club that went down and had a lot of problems, how he managed to galvanise that if everyone manages to buy into the system.
"I genuinely think in a short space of time we can be pushing for minimum top four - but more than that.
"He may be unknown for a lot of people, but he is top, top level. He will surprise a lot of people."
Chelsea's pre-season got off to a frustrating start as they were held to a 2-2 draw by League One side Wrexham in Maresca's first game in charge on Wednesday.
Dewsbury-Hall did not play in that match but is training with the squad in the United States and could feature in their next outing against Celtic on Saturday.
The 25-year-old is confident the manager's tactics will come across soon, with the players buying into his style.
"We've only been doing it for two or three weeks, but the combination plays are really quick and tidy," he added.
"That's after two weeks. I remember he said to us at Leicester after six months or a year, there might be teething problems at the start, but it will improve.
"Within the first week at Leicester, I was convinced this was top, top level. I felt a bit stupid; I thought I knew a lot about football, but he was teaching me things on a daily basis that I didn't really know before. He has an aura, he can be strict, or gentle and soft - he has both sides.
"I am getting the same feedback here with the lads. They've bought into it here from minute one which is exciting. With a system and philosophy, you need everyone to buy in because, if they do, you can really achieve something."
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