Scout Notes – Pre-Season

Liverpool impress yet again, although Daniel Sturridge picks up another injury, while Javier Hernandez makes his debut for ten-man West Ham.

Burnley, Huddersfield, West Brom and Brighton all draw, Joselu scores another brace but Stoke City lose and Leicester City’s dismal summer goes on.

Here are the notes from a busy Tuesday.

Bayern Munich 0 Liverpool 3

Liverpool’s impressive pre-season continued apace with a fine win over Bayern in which Daniel Sturridge came off the bench, scored and then went off injured all in the space of a busy 20 minutes.

The England international had just chipped in the Reds’ third goal, from a Ben Woodburn through ball, when he pulled up with a thigh issue and was substituted by coach Jurgen Klopp, who could only state post-match that ‘I hope this is just a small injury’.

Sadio Mane and the in-form Mohamed Salah also scored, with assists coming from Roberto Firmino and Alberto Moreno, to earn Liverpool an Audi Cup final against Atletico Madrid this evening.

There has been much Fantasy fretting over who can nail down a place in the Reds’ highly competitive midfield, but, based on pre-season, Mane and Salah look almost untouchable given their threat in the final third.

It was certainly instructive that Klopp, while talking about one of them, referenced the other as well.

“I think Mo (Salah) has been very good ever since he was at Basel. This year, we could get him. He’s a really great player for us. We knew Mane was the main player for tempo, we have a lot of tempo, a lot of fine creative players, but not in the same kind of rhythm. There are a few younger players, so I think it was sensible to get him and a very good thing.”

Another who looks assured of a starting berth is, of course, Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian, who played the full 90 minutes, started in a slightly deeper role before moving out wide.

“He began in the centre and then he switched to the left side because he is good at that, and then we thought we’d do both things and he played very well.”

Coutinho (30.3%) and Salah (16.9%) are currently the two most popular Liverpool picks in Fantasy Premier League, with Mane’s growing ownership base now up to 7.4%.

Sandwiching that trio is striker Roberto Firmino (16.2%).

The Brazilian has had a steady pre-season, providing three assists. But he is yet to score, which will be a cause for concern as Firmino’s price – 8.5 in FPL, 11.6m in the Sky game – puts him in a crowded bracket that includes the likes of Jermain Defoe, Christian Benteke and West Ham’s new signing Javier Hernandez

Liverpool’s opening schedule involves a mix of the tough – Arsenal and both Manchester clubs – and the rather more inviting – Watford and Newcastle away, Crystal Palace and Burnley at Anfield – over the first eight Gameweeks.

The jury remains out on both the fixtures and the value of owning Firmino in his current form and at his current price.

Amid all the talk of who, if any, to pick from the Reds’ attacking riches, their backline has rather slipped under the radar.

Loris Karius returned from injury to take over in goal and help Liverpool to their third clean sheet in five summer matches, while the impressive Trent Alexander Arnold deputised for Nathaniel Clyne, who continues to be sidelined by a muscle issue.

Should the young right-back cement his place for the start of the season, he would represent an initial bargain route – 4.5 in FPL, 6.8m in Sky – into an improving defence.

Remarkably, even Moreno impressed on the opposite flank, but competition at left-back is considerably more intense. New signing Andrew Robertson was an unused substitute in Munich, while James Milner has returned to training following a recent thigh problem.

Liverpool remain unbeaten in pre-season and their side is starting to take shape.

Tonight’s match with Madrid is likely to involve a change in much of the personnel, but Saturday’s final run-out of the summer, against Athletic Bilbao, should give us very strong pointers as to the XI who will kick off their domestic campaign away at Watford.

Liverpool XI: Karius; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Matip (Klavan 67), Moreno; Henderson (Grujic 67), Can (Lallana 46); Salah (Sturridge 67 (Solanke 87)), Coutinho, Mane (Wijnaldum 46); Firmino (Kent 67).

Altona 93 3 West Ham United 3

Javier Hernandez was given his first minutes for his new club as ten-man West Ham salvaged a draw against their German fourth division opponents.

The Mexican striker came on for the last 20 minutes and looked lively. Fellow new boy Pablo Zabaleta started the match, but Joe Hart was an unused sub.

Slaven Bilic’s side drew the hard way, coming from behind three times and playing the entire second-half a man down after skipper Winston Reid was sent off for dissent.

Reid returned from injury for his first pre-season appearance and had earlier set up Toni Martinez for the Hammers’ first goal. Andre Ayew was also on the scoresheet before a late own goal, following a Nathan Holland shot, spared West Ham’s blushes.

The Hammers were without Manuel Lanzini and skipper Mark Noble with injuries, while James Collins also missed out with a knock.

Manchester City are their final pre-season opponents on Friday before they travel to Old Trafford for the season opener.

West Ham XI: Adrian; Zabaleta (Byram 57), Reid , Ogbonna (Rice 57), Cresswell (Masuaku 46); Obiang, Fernandes; Arnautovic (Holland 67), Snodgrass (Fonte 46), Ayew (Makasi 70); Martinez (Chicharito 70).

Burnley 2 Celta Vigo 2

Robbie Brady hit his third goal of the summer as Burnley managed a creditable draw against tough La Liga opposition.

Sean Dyche again utilised a 4-5-1 formation, with Steven Defour and Jack Cork in the double pivot, in an attempt to address possession issues that were all too clear last season – only two teams saw less of the ball than Burnley, who managed an average of just 39.3% possession in 2016/17.

The Clarets were certainly rather more cultured against their Spanish opponents and Brady hit a fine goal as a result, ending a flowing move by picking out the top corner from a Jeff Hendrick lay-off.

Brady then returned the favour when his set-piece broke kindly for Hendrick to smash home from close range.

Burnley have a tough start to the season, and only two players – both at the back – enjoy more than 10% ownership in FPL.

Brady (0.4%) has some form, and set-piece duties, to offer, but remains a punt at best.

There is still some doubt on Dyche’s preferred centre-back pairing following the departure of Michael Keane to Everton. Ben Mee and James Tarkowski would appear to be in the boxseat, although the Clarets’ final friendly with Hannover 96 on Saturday will tell us more.

Burnley XI: Pope; Lowton (Bardsley 46), Long (Tarkowski 82), Taylor, Ward (Mee 46); Brady (Gray 88), Defour, Cork (Arfield 65), Hendrick (Barnes 65), Gudmundsson; Vokes (Walters 75).

Stuttgart 3 Huddersfield Town 3

Defender and skipper Tommy Smith played his first minutes of pre-season for Huddersfield after recovering from the fracture he suffered in the Championship play-off final win over Reading.

Aaron Mooy and Michael Hefele also made their first summer starts for the Terriers, the latter after finally overcoming an Achilles injury.

Huddersfield came from 3-1 down to grab a draw, with goals from Rajiv van La Parra, Collin Quaner and Sean Scannell. Joe Lolley, Van La Parra and Quaner provided assists.

Coach David Wagner would have welcomed the return of more key players, but he was without Jonathan Hogg (ankle), Martin Cranie (hip) and Christopher Schindler (illness), although the trio all travelled with the squad to Austria.

Huddersfield Town XI First half: Lössl, Löwe, Hefele, Zanka, Smith; Mooy, Williams; Ince, Palmer, Kachunga; Mounié.

Huddersfield XI Second half: Coleman; Malone, Hudson, Zanka (Scannell 74), Cavaré; Billing, Whitehead; van La Parra, Lolley, Quaner; Depoitre.

Burton Albion 2 Leicester City 1

It’s only pre-season, but Leicester City’s parlous form is becoming a bit of an issue.

The Foxes have drawn one and lost two of their last three matches, scoring just twice – and all against lower league opposition.

Craig Shakespeare went with a 4-3-3 formation to try and address his side’s problems, with Riyad Mahrez and Ahmed Musa up in support of Leonardo Ulloa up front.

But there were few positives to be had, although Harry Maguire scored his first goal for the club when he converted a Yohan Benalouane back-post header after a scramble in the box, while Demarai Gray again caught the eye when he replaced Mahrez in the second half.

New signing Eldin Jakupovic played the first half of an encounter in which Leicester’s frustrations were encapsulated by Benalouane’s awful lunge on Stephen Warnock late in the match. Shakespeare immediately subbed the defender off and didn’t mince his words post-match.

“It was reckless, would have been a red card. My decision was to take him off, sit him down and show him because he has got to learn from that. If he doesn’t, he won’t be involved.”

Leicester City XI: Jakupovic (Hamer 46); Amartey, Morgan (Maguire 46), Benalouane (Johnson 77), Chilwell; Iborra, James (Ndidi 60), King (Ndukwu 85); Mahrez (Gray 59), Ulloa, Musa.

St Pauli 4 Stoke City 2

Mark Hughes again rolled out a three at the back, but tweaked his formation to play two strikers in a high-scoring defeat in Germany.

Peter Crouch was fielded alongside Joselu up front, and the latter bagged another brace to make it four goals in his last two outings for the Potters.

The striker has not yet been added to the FPL game, but if he continues his recent fine form that will surely be corrected soon. It remains to be seen if his price is inflated by this recent scoring run.

Mame Diouf set up both goals, with the first arriving after Joselu converted his own rebound off the post.

In an experimental line-up, Diouf and Josh Tymon started as wing-backs, though Hughes switched to a back four for the second-half. Tymon departed with a foot injury after the interval and is due to have scans.

Charlie Adam wore the captain’s armband and played next to Giannelli Imbula in the middle, while Bojan was used as a number 10 behind the two strikers.

Stoke XI: Grant; Souttar (Edwards 46), Wollscheid, Muniesa; Diouf (Verlinden 89), Tymon (Sweeney 57), Adam, Imbula; Bojan (Ramadan 68); Joselu, Crouch.

Port Vale 1 West Bromwich Albion 1

Eight senior players West Brom were missing for the trip to the Potteries, including Matt Phillips, who is nursing a hamstring problem.

Salomon Rondon and Craig Dawson were absent, with the striker rested and Dawson left out as a precaution, with head coach Tony Pulis avoiding any risks.

“Craig’s got a little niggle, again it’s just one of them we don’t want to take a chance with.”

That meant Hal Robson-Kanu and young full-back Kane Wilson earned pitch-time, while Jake Livermore, Chris Brunt, James McClean, James Morrison and Gareth McAuley all missed out with injuries of varying severity.

Robson-Kanu scored Albion’s goal after capitalising on a defensive error, while striker Jay Rodriguez – a relatively popular Baggies pick with 3.3% FPL ownership – was used as part of a five-man midfield.

West Brom XI: Foster (Myhill 46); Nyom (Melbourne 62), Evans (O’Shea 47), Hegazi (Howkins 47), Wilson; Leko, Yacob (Harper 47), Field, Chadli (Tulloch 46), Rodriguez (Roberts 47); Robson-Kanu (Edwards 62).

Girona 0 Brighton and Hove Albion 0

Manager Chris Hughton declared himself happy with the performance as Brighton practised playing against a side who dominated possession – a state of affairs the Seagulls are likely to be well used to by season’s end.

“It’s the sort of style that we’re going to come up against and we’ll play teams that are going to have a lot more possession than us. What we’ve got to be able to do is stick in there, try to keep some clean sheets and put in good enough performances to win games.”

And the Brighton boss even found the time to back the actions of veteran striker Glenn Murray, who was sent off for two bookable offences despite only joining the action late on, declaring that he ‘didn’t see anything wrong’ with the challenge that led to the dismissal following an earlier card for dissent.

Hughton also confirmed that Murray will not miss a match for his indiscretion.

“I’ve been told by the referee we will be fine, because it’s two yellows.”

Brighton XI: Ryan (Maenpaa 73); Rosenior (Goldson 73), Dunk (Huenemeier 73), Duffy, Bong (Suttner 73); Brown (LuaLua 81), Stephens (Bruno 46), Kayal, Murphy (March 77), Gross (Skalak 77); Hemed (Murray 73).