Pre-Season Friendlies: Man City to add to Milan misery

Stephan El Shaarawy's fitness is one of few AC Milan positives

Michael Lintorn examines some stateside friendly action featuring Real Madrid, Tottenham and Man City...

Inter v Real Madrid
Saturday, 23:00
Live on Sky Sports 1

Match Odds: Inter 5.69/2, Real Madrid 1.635/8, The Draw 4.47/2

Inter and Real Madrid overhauled their squads this summer. One did so from the ultimate position of power, with Real adding Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez to their Champions League-winning side, while the other acted out of necessity, with Inter waving off Javier Zanetti, Walter Samuel, Esteban Cambiasso and Diego Milito following a fifth-place finish.

Real Madrid's activity has attracted more admiration. They are rated 5.04/1 favourites to retain the Champions League whereas the Nerazzurri are fourth in the Serie A betting alone at 15.5n/a. Carlo Ancelotti's men are worthy 1.635/8 favourites to triumph in this International Champions Cup opener in California too, having won the trophy with a flawless record in 2013.

Chicago Fire v Tottenham
Sunday, 01:00
Live on BT Sport 2

Match Odds: Chicago Fire 6.411/2, Tottenham 1.548/15, The Draw 4.84/1

Though their performances have been far from faultless, Tottenham fans will take many positives from this tour of North America, with early signs of Mauricio Pochettino's style being implemented and strong showings from several of the 4.77/2-ranked top-four hopefuls' 2013/14 underachievers.

Neutrals have been enthralled too by a 3-3 draw with Seattle and 3-2 victory over Toronto, so if you find yourself awake at 01:00, tune in to what appears a both-teams-to-score lock at 1.645/8. Chicago may be the weakest of Spurs' MLS opponents, but they have gone nine games without firing a blank.

Man City v AC Milan
Sunday, 21:00
Live on Sky Sports 1

Match Odds: Man City 1.84/5, AC Milan 4.84/1, The Draw 3.8514/5

It has been an unsettling summer for AC Milan, who axed rookie coach Clarence Seedorf despite a late flourish last term to recruit another novice in Pippo Inzaghi, while the boss that they discarded a few months earlier, Max Allegri, was surprisingly chosen by Juventus to replace Antonio Conte.

The freebie signings of Michael Agazzi, Alex and Jeremy Menez aren't viewed as enough to undo the damage inflicted by a series of awful transfer windows, so the Rossoneri are judged 22.021/1 non-entities in the Serie A scudetto race.

The seven-time European champions' 0-3 loss to Olympiacos in the International Champions Cup curtain-raiser highlights Man City are great value at 1.84/5. The Premier League holders are 3.55/2 second favourites to land that title again even after purchasing Willy Caballero, Bacary Sagna and Fernando.