Harry Kane is at the double as Spurs thrash Inter. Burnley’s Andre Gray scores yet again, Arsenal put eight past their Norwegian opponents, whilst West Ham enjoy a winning house-warming party.
Spurs 6 Inter Milan 1
Harry Kane hit the ground running with a brace on his return to a Spurs side bolstered by a number of internationals back from their summer break.
The England striker scored an early penalty earned by the impressive Kyle Walker and doubled his tally from an Erik Lamela assist in the second half.
Owned by 10% of FPL managers, the Argentinian midfielder was influential throughout, scoring from a Kane assist and setting up Academy striker Shayon Harrison to complete the drubbing.
In between, new signing Vincent Janssen assisted a Dele Alli goal before the roles were reversed to make it 5-1.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino also gave Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose their first starts of the summer, while Hugo Lloris and Ben Davies made their return to the squad on the bench.
Intriguingly, Kane and Janssen were afforded 17 minutes up front together before the former’s withdrawal just after the hour-mark – this saw the England international drop deeper into the central support role, allowing the new boy to lead the line.
After the match, Kane was confident they have the potential to strike up a partnership up front:
“He’s a great player. He likes to hold the ball up and bring others into the game. I’m sure we will play together this season. You can see he’s very strong, he’s got a good finish when he’s given the chance. He’s a great addition to the squad, as both signings have been.”
Spurs XI: Vorm (Lloris 46), Walker (Trippier 46), Alderweireld, Carter-Vickers, Rose (Davies 46); Mason (Winks 46), Dier (Amos 85); Lamela (Edwards 81), Alli (Harrison 76), Eriksen (Janssen 46); Kane (Carroll 62).
Arsenal 8 Viking FK 0
Four goals in ten second half minutes underlined Arsenal’s superiority against Norwegian opponents who faded badly.
Santi Cazorla missed an early penalty but played the full 90 minutes as captain of a young side, with neither Alexis Sanchez nor Aaron Ramsey featuring at all.
The Spaniard made amends when his corner was headed by Mohamed Elneny into the path of Joel Campbell, who made no mistake from a yard out.
Cazorla doubled the lead after the break, Campbell provided Theo Walcott with his first goal of pre-season shortly afterwards and an own goal soon followed as things turned ugly for Viking.
Alex Iwobi set up Campbell for his second before scoring two of his own, with assists from Cazorla and Jeff Reine-Adelaide, before Chuba Akpom rounded off the rout late on.
Gabriel returned from a bout of tonsilitis to stake his claim for a centre-half spot, while David Ospina was again preferred to Petr Cech in goal.
With a rather more meaningful fixture to come tomorrow against Man City, Arsene Wenger is likely to field a considerably stronger side – the Gunners boss has already confirmed that Sanchez will feature.
Wenger also gave Fantasy managers an early heads-up on his Gameweek 1 options by admitting that next Sunday’s encounter against Liverpool “will come too early” for Laurent Koscielny, Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil following their late return to training due to Euro 2016.
The Gunners boss also took time to single out Cazorla – a player that only last week he had suggested could miss the start of the season due to a lack of fitness:
“It’s the first time he’s played 90 minutes for a long, long time because he’s basically been out since November. He played the last game of the season and 90 minutes today. Let’s see how he recovers from that. Of course we need him back in good shape. He’s a pleasure to watch, especially when it’s a demonstration like tonight. He’s one of the few players that you don’t know whether they’re right or left footed. It’s good that he came through well. We have no injuries tonight so that’s positive.”
Arsenal XI: Ospina, Debuchy (Bellerin 70), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Iwobi 45), Gibbs (Monreal 70), Elneny (Zelalem 70), Gabriel (Holding 45), Campbell (Akpom 70), Cazorla, Walcott (Willock 70), Bielik, Coquelin (Reine-Adelaide 45).
Burnley 1 Real Sociedad 1
Yet another Andre Gray goal – his ninth in six summer matches – earned Burnley a draw from an encounter manager Sean Dyche saw as something of a template for the season ahead.
Already trailing 1-0, Burnley had to make do with minimal possession in the second half, defending manfully until Gray pinched a late equaliser with a fine solo effort.
Dyche was certainly glad of the goal – and the way the match panned out:
“It’s good because some teams in the Premier League will play like that and you’re going to have spells without the ball. It’s how well you deal with those spells.”
Gray’s superb pre-season has now tempted just over 11% of FPL managers, even though he will have to face Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester and Arsenal in the first eight Gameweeks.
Dyche fielded the strongest side available to him against Sociedad, with new signing Johann Berg Gudmundsson making his first appearance in front of the Burnley fans. The Icelandic international was afforded the right wing role, with Scott Arfield on the left, as George Boyd dropped to the bench.
The loan signing of Liverpool full-back Jon Flanagan came too late for him to feature, while injuries also deprived Dyche of Stephen Ward and Ashley Barnes.
Burnley XI: Heaton; Lafferty, Mee, Keane, Lowton; Gudmundsson (Boyd 61), Marney (Ulvestad 83), Jones, Arfield; Gray, Vokes (Jutkiewicz 83).
Sunderland 1 Borussia Dortmund 1
Sunderland finished their six-match pre-season schedule unbeaten after earning a respectable draw against the Bundesliga big-hitters.
The Black Cats went behind early on but eventually pegged Dortmund back when Lamine Kone headed home a Jeremain Lens free-kick in the second half. Priced at 4.5 in FPL, the centre-half reminded us of the eye for goal that saw him score twice in 15 league outings after arriving in the 2015/16 winter transfer window.
Last night’s encounter was notable more for the number of key absentees than events on the pitch.
Injury had already deprived David Moyes of Jermain Defoe, Jan Kirchhoff, Sebastian Larsson and Billy Jones, while the absence of trialist Charles N’Zogbia suggests that his time at Sunderland is coming to an end.
Another trialist, Steven Pienaar, didn’t travel either, although the former Everton man is expected to continue training with the Black Cats.
After the stalemate, assistant manager Paul Bracewell issued an injury update as the Wearsiders prepare for their Gameweek 1 trip to Man City in seven days’ time:
“We’re hoping Billy will be fit for the start of the season. We left him and one or two others behind in the UK, but with a view to them joining back in on Monday, all being well. Jan is working over the weekend and we are hoping he will be back in. Billy as well. But we won’t know until Monday whether they have had any reactions from the work they have been doing. Again, Jermain has been working over the weekend and hopefully he will be back working with us next week. Seb’s picked up an injury and he is being assessed, so by Monday we will have a better picture.”
Moyes could at least call on the services of fit-again Patrick van Aanholt and Jack Rodwell, and he used John O’Shea in a holding role normally assigned to Kirchhoff, who is valued at 4.5 and designated as a midfielder in this year’s Fantasy Premier League game.
The Black Cats manager boosted his options at the back after making Chelsea defender Papy Djilobodji his first signing, with the club splashing out £8 million on the centre-half last night.
Sunderland XI: Mannone (Pickford 46), O’Shea, Kone, Kaboul, Van Aanholt, Cattermole (Greenwood 84), Rodwell (Gooch 78), Watmore (Asoro 67), Lens (Honeyman 72), Khazri (J Robson 46), Borini (Embleton 84).
West Ham 3 NK Domzale 0
Cheikhou Kouyate’s brace, from Sam Byram and Andy Carroll assists, steered West Ham into the final Europa League qualifying round.
Sofiane Feghouli, who has impressed throughout the summer, added a third when Mark Noble sent him through as the Hammers celebrated their London Stadium debut in style.
Coach Slaven Bilic was without Euro 2016 stars Dimitri Payet, James Collins and Angelo Ogbonna as well as injured duo Aaron Cresswell and Manuel Lanzini, and he gave Reece Oxford a full 90 minutes in midfield despite the teenager being consistently linked with moves away from the Hammers.
Once again, Michail Antonio lined up at right-back, with Byram stationed on the opposite side of defence to cover for the stricken Cresswell.
After the 3-0 win, the Croatian talked up his goal scorers, with Feghouli, in particular, coming in for praise after netting his second of pre-season:
“Cheikhou has a great engine and determination and quality and those large, long strides make the pitch look small when he’s covering it. He’s a great asset. Sometimes when he plays deeper it limits his movement up front. He’s a top player and he’s getting in good shape. Sofiane Feghouli is a special kind of player and that’s why we’re happy to get him. He scored a great goal and could have got more. He works hard for the team. He still isn’t in his best shape, which is normal for this stage, and when he does, we’re expecting great things from him”.
In terms of off the pitch activity, Swansea’s Andre Ayew is reportedly edging towards a move to the Hammers, particularly as the Swans have just signed Spanish striker Fernando Llorente.
One player who won’t be leaving is Diafra Sakho. The forward was due to move to West Brom for a club record fee, but the deal fell through after a back injury meant the Senegal international is almost certain to miss the start of the season.
West Ham XI: Randolph, Antonio, Reid, Oxford, Byram, Feghouli (Quina 88), Nordtveit, Noble, Kouyate (Obiang 78), Valencia, Carroll (Fletcher 90).
