There were a whole host of pre-season friendly matches last night with the likes of Arsenal, United and Liverpool all in action.
As always you can set your browsers straight for our Pre-Season Form guide to get all the results, scorers, lineups and team news but here’s the salient points to be gained from all of last night’s encounters…
Samir Nasri was undoubtedly the star performer on the night, grabbing two goals in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Sturm Graz. The Austrians provided a step up from Barnet as a test for Wengers’s men but a curling free-kick from Nasri, preceded by a smart finish on 16 minutes, comfortably put them at arm’s reach before Henri Lansbury added a third. Nasri lined up behind the lone striker Marouane Chamakh, and it will be interesting to see if Wenger persists with this formation ploy over the coming games.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas also caught the eye with his pace and direct style troubling the Austrians, he came away with the assist for the Lansbury goal and, along with Jack Wilshere, is staking his claim for first team involvement. Talking of Wilshere, Wenger has indicated in his post-match reaction that the 18-year-old will remain at the Emirates this term with the Gunners boss looking to hand him more Premier League experience. While Wilshere is unlikely to gain enough starts to warrant Fantasy investment, this would temper any interest in other members of the Arsenal midfield aside from Cesc Fabregas and perhaps Andrey Arshavin.
Man United’s 1-0 win over Philadelphia Union came courtesy of a Gabriel Obertan strike which understandably pleased his manager. While Obertan is set to promote his reputation at Old Trafford in the season to come, it seems unlikely that he’ll be figure prominently in Ferguson’s plans or indeed our Fantasy thinking. Nevertheless he could take some minutes from Valencia and Nani over the season should his progress shift at pace.
Ferguson once again went with 4-4-2 last night, indication that he will perhaps settle on this formation for the season ahead rather than employ Rooney as the lone striker flanked by wingers. That would open the way for Dimitar Berbatov to earn more consistent starts, although it’s perhaps too early to be jumping to those conclusions. Ferguson will doubtless give us more clues as United’s American tour progresses.
There was very little to be gleaned from Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Grasshoppers with Hodgson opting to field a inexperienced side captained by Lucas in midfield. Elsewhere both Sunderland and Bolton earned 1-1 draws with Brighton and Toronto FC respectively, whilst Birmingham overcame Beijing Guoan 1-0 with Garry O’Connor on target for the second consecutive game.
Get details on those and all the pre-season matches so far right here.