Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho says the Premier League may take a while to hot up once it resumes next month.
The league is provisionally set to restart on June 17 after a three-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Teams are stepping up their training programmes, this week agreeing the protocols for limited contact training, with further advancements set to come into play soon.
But with only three weeks until the big kick-off – and uncertainty around the possibility of friendlies – Mourinho has warned fans not to expect the premier product straightaway.
“We’re going to make sure that progressively we’re going to arrive on matchday one and be ready,” the Portuguese, who confirmed fit-again quartet Harry Kane, Moussa Sissoko, Son Heung-min and Steven Bergwijn would all be involved in contact training on Monday, said.
“We say ready but you look at the Bundesliga and we can feel a difference in quality and intensity between the first match and the third match.
“When you saw Bayern against Dortmund in the third match you feel immediately, ‘Wow that’s a proper match’.
“I think the same will happen (here). Teams are going to progressively reach the level which is what happens in normal pre-season.