Saturday brought a whole raft of pre-season friendlies with many of the Premier League top guns stretching sinews.
Gervinho’s brace on his Arsenal debut offered an early warning sign to the chaos he can cause defences – enough to have Arsene Wenger purring in post-match anticipation. Fantasy Managers will be stroking chins, pondering the merits of the Ivorian, perturbed no doubt by his classification as a Fantasy forward.
United overcame the heat to earn another stateside victory over Chicago Fire – Wayne Rooney again on the scoresheet. Liverpool meanwhile, slipped to a surprising reversal on Humberside, Nigel Pearson’s Hull City humbling the Liverpool revolution despite debuts for Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson.
Rafael Van der Vaart’s abilities and Fantasy potential is undoubted; his brace in Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Orlando Pirates will surely have him blink brighter on our pre-season radars. Enough to cause an initial squad overhaul? Tottenham’s early fixtures cause concern but the Van der Vaart pre-season form may yet force a rethink.
There were plenty of other sides in action, including Everton, Sunderland, Norwich and Swansea. With an array of friendly matches pouring in today, it pays to keep up to date with the pre-season trends.
Our pre-season form guide is up to date with all yesterday’s action, scorers and team lineups.
