Chelsea were in devastating form ahead of the Premier League restart as they thrashed west London rivals QPR 7-1 in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Stamford Bridge.
Midfield duo Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Billy Gilmour both bagged braces in the thumping victory on Sunday, while there were also goals for Mason Mount, Olivier Giroud and the soon-to-be out of contract Willian.
Key midfielder N’Golo Kante also started for Chelsea having recently returned to contact training after initially staying away due to coronavirus safety fears.
The return of the Premier League this week will see several players in action who were originally feared lost for most – if not all – of the season due to injury.
One such example is Harry Kane, who, like Tottenham team-mates Heung-min Son, Steven Bergwijn and Moussa Sissoko, recovered fully from serious injury during English football’s coronavirus-enforced shutdown.
The England captain has been training without issue and featured for Spurs in a two-hour friendly against Norwich City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Friday.
Defender Toby Alderweireld has now heaped praise on Kane’s work ethic and believes he will quickly be back on the goal trail.
“In training he looks fully fit, top fit, so we’re going to see the old Kane again,” Alderweireld told The Guardian.
“He has been out for a longer period so his desire to show everyone is unbelievable, so you’re going to see a very good Kane.”
Tottenham resume top-flight action at home to Manchester United on Friday night in a potentially key clash in the race for a top-four finish.
Sheffield United midfielder Chris Basham believes the new rules regarding substitutions could put Chris Wilder’s squad at a disadvantage as they look to continue their charge for European qualification.
In their first season back in the top-flight after a 12-year absence, the Blades currently sit seventh, level on points with Wolves, two behind Manchester United and only five adridt of fourth-placed Chelsea – who have all played a game more – as they prepare to travel to relegation-threatened Aston Villa in the opening match of the Premier League restart on Wednesday.
Managers will now be permitted to use five substitutes instead of three during any match during the remainder of the 2019/20 campaign as well as naming a nine-strong bench as part of rules adopted under Project Restart.
And Basham believes such a change is likely to benefit their more illustrious rivals, who boast greater strength in depth.
Basham told BBC Radio Five Live: “I think the substitutes thing that has come in will affect us a little bit because we are not going to be as strong as the top six sides.
“But we we are going to give it a good go and the manager would not let us do anything other than that.
“The manager said we can go from just being in the Premier League, staying up, or we can go and do something we’ve never done before and that is getting into Europe and getting into the Champions League.”
Basham admitted his team-mates, in common with most Premier League players, are still coming to terms with the new sterile environment as the game returns amid strict social-distancing procedures.
Referring to his side’s build-up games, Basham added: “It was an eye-opener getting used to playing in front of no fans and hearing the manager’s voice from the other side of the pitch.
“It is just getting used to the vulnerability of not getting changed together and doing team-talks outside. Everything is still a bit unknown at the moment.”
