Premier League clubs

Premier League clubs were this week given the all-clear to play friendlies ahead of the scheduled restart on June 17, following a three-month stoppage.

Arsenal hosted second-tier Charlton behind closed doors on Sunday (NZ time), with officiating roles carried out by club staff.

Alex Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored before halftime while academy graduate Eddie Nketiah grabbed a second-half hat-trick. Joe Willock was also on target.

Arsenal, who are ninth in the standings, are away to Manchester City on June 17.

In an extract from his new book published in the Guardian, Scholes picked out Manchester City trio Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva as being the only Premier League players he would place among the game's elite, and said that La Liga had more quality on offer.

Scholes, who won the Premier League 11 times with Manchester United and now works as a pundit, said: "You hear about people saying English football's the best football there is around. I think Spain's by far the best league. Germany has better teams.