Premier League Pre-Season: Fixtures and Kick-off Times for Week of August 3

With the official start of the new Premier league season less than a week away, not many members of England's top flight will be on pre-season duty in the next few days. Indeed, most of those who are on duty find themselves merely completing exhibition tournament commitments.

That's the case for London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. The former feature in the marquee fixtures of this week, as they face both Real Madrid, followed by either Bayern Munich or AC Milan, in Germany.

Meanwhile, Chelsea will be busy playing the final game of their 2015 ICC fixtures. Manager Jose Mourinho's men will host Serie A outfit Fiorentina.

Here are the top-flight clubs in action this week:

Date	Match	Time (BST)	Venue
Monday, August 3	Dagenham & Redbridge vs. Crystal Palace	8:30 p.m.	Victoria Road
Tuesday, August 4	Tottenham Hotspur vs. Real Madrid	5:30 p.m.	Allianz Arena, Munich
Wednesday, August 5	Bayern Munich or AC Milan vs. Tottenham Hotspur	TBC	Allianz Arena, Munich
Wednesday, August 5	Chelsea vs. Fiorentina	8:00 p.m.	Stamford Bridge

Chelsea vs. Fiorentina

One of the main issues facing Chelsea ahead of the defence of their league title is the lack of firepower in Diego Costa's absence. The star striker continues to be beset by hamstring issues, a problem that makes him a doubt for the start of the new campaign, according to Mourinho.

He expressed his reservations about Costa's readiness after the Blues lost 1-0 to Arsenal in the FA Community Shield, per Sky Sports: "We have [Loic] Remy too, so if we don’t have Diego I am happy with the strikers I have."

Mourinho's faith in his other options may not be shared by many after both Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao failed to impress at Wembley. Remy consistently failed to hold his position in the first half, according to WhoScored.com:

His pace against Arsenal's plodding back line should have been a major advantage for the Blues. But Remy's lack of discipline and poor movement squandered any edge.

Falcao replaced him at halftime, but the Colombian hardly fared better. His performance earned criticism from ESPN's Miguel Delaney:

Mourinho will seek solutions against a Fiorentina side buoyed by beating Barcelona 2-1 in their most recent fixture, per ESPN FC. Manager Paulo Sousa's team is also striker-shy following the sale of Mario Gomez.

Yet the Italians are pacy and direct from the flanks, something Chelsea struggled to contain at Wembley.

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Real Madrid

Spurs are another team with issues to solve up front. Harry Kane isn't one of those issues, but keeping him at White Hart Lane might be.

Manchester United remain keen, something the Old Trafford club's manager, Louis van Gaal, recently made clear, per the Sun (h/t Daily Star's Alex Harris): "I think he is a great player, a great talent."

OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

Spurs are a good bet to keep Kane, at least for this season, but they may struggle to get him competent support. High-priced flop Roberto Soldado is set to return to Spain's La Liga, according to the Mirror's Adrian Kajumba.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino has some interesting options in attack, particularly Belgian winger Nacer Chadli, but he needs another natural striker to ease the burden on Kane.

Playing the mighty Real Madrid wouldn't normally seem like a time to experiment. But the 2015 Audi Cup does offer that chance.

As for Los Blancos, new manager Rafa Benitez needs to placate star forward Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese powerhouse has appeared agitated throughout this pre-season.

The two seemed to clash during a training session late last month, according to Spanish outlet AS (h/t Mirror's Liam Corless). Ronaldo's latest tantrum came courtesy of a foul-mouthed rant during an interview with CNN (h/t Goal.com).

Benitez will likely use this tournament to continue tinkering until he finds the right formula up front. It will be a similar story for both Chelsea and Spurs, as they each inch closer to the return of league action.