Scout Notes – Pre Season – Part Two

Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho hand Liverpool some pre-season silverware, while Spurs put four past a Paris Saint-Germain side who have much to blame on their goalkeeper.

There are also draws for Newcastle United, Southampton and Swansea City, but Stoke City and Watford squeeze out narrow Saturday wins.

Here’s the second instalment of our Scout Notes from a bumper pre-season crop.

Leicester City 1 Liverpool 2

Liverpool came from behind to secure the Asia Trophy in a match that provided some possible answers to the conundrum of which players look like secure starters in the Reds’ highly competitive midfield.

Islam Slimani gave Craig Shakespeare’s side the lead, from a Christian Fuchs cross, before stunning goals from Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho secured the trophy for Jurgen Klopp’s men.

And it is that duo who are beginning to emerge as sure-fire starters for Liverpool – if the Brazilian remains at Anfield that is.

Salah’s goal, from a Coutinho assist, was his second pre-season strike. That form has persuaded 14.0% of Fantasy Premier League managers to take the plunge, and at 9.0 it’s currently looking like money well spent.

A massive 32.1% own Coutinho, who converted a Roberto Firmino pass for a superb long-range winner against the Foxes, and the 9.0-priced midfielder is another who Klopp will find very hard to ignore when Liverpool travel to Watford in Gameweek 1.

Firmino’s contribution was also welcome for the 19.0% of managers with him in their FPL front lines, but another popular pick, the 9.4%-owned James Milner, lasted just 40 minutes before coming off with a thigh problem.

Klopp was unsure as to the extent of the injury post-match.

“He felt it a little bit, a bit stiff. I hope nothing serious but we have to see.”

Bosses with the 6.5 man in their squads will be monitoring the situation studiously, particularly now that Andrew Robertson (5.0) has signed for the Reds to provide Milner with direct competition at left-back.

City boss Craig Shakespeare set his team up in a 4-4-2 formation, with Jamie Vardy up front alongside Slimani, before switching to a 4-5-1 with Andy King supporting the England international after the break.

Matty James (4.5) was handed a second successive start in midfield after enduring a 19-month lay-off with a serious knee injury.

Leicester City XI: Schmeichel; Amartey (Simpson 46), Maguire, Morgan (Benalouane 77), Fuchs; Mahrez (Musa 65), Drinkwater (Iborra 56), James (Ndidi 56), Albrighton (Lawrence 46); Slimani (King 46), Vardy (Ulloa 66).

Liverpool XI: Karius; Alexander-Arnold (Gomez 55), Matip (Klavan 46), Lovren (Flanagan 84), Milner (Moreno 41); Wijnaldum (Solanke 65), Coutinho (Woodburn 55), Lallana (Henderson 46); Salah (Kent 65), Firmino (Sturridge 46), Origi (Grujic 46).

Paris Saint-Germain 2 Tottenham Hotspur 4

Spurs got their pre-season underway with a fine win against PSG in which the French side’s keeper played a major part.

Christian Eriksen had lashed in a superb 30-yard effort to equalise before Eric Dier gave the Londoners the lead when the Parisian goalkeeper, Kevin Trapp, made an unholy hash of a clearance.

The hapless Trapp, whose performance suggested a bid to become Cockney rhyming slang, wasn’t finished either, as he was sent off in the second half for handling the ball outside his area.

Toby Alderweireld, with a shot from the edge of the box, and a late Harry Kane penalty rounded off the scoring for Spurs in Orlando.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino set up his side in a 4-2-3-1 in both halves, with midfielder Harry Winks given his first outing since a serious ankle injury picked up in April.

Spurs XI First half: Lloris; Walker-Peters, Carter-Vickers, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Dembele; Onomah, Eriksen, Nkoudou; Janssen.

Spurs XI Second half: Vorm; Trippier, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Davies; Wanyama, Dembele (Winks 60); Oakley-Boothe, Eriksen, Alli; Kane.

Preston North End 1 Newcastle United 1

Aleksandar Mitrovic was preferred to Dwight Gayle up front for Newcastle United, and he took his chance to score his first goal of pre-season.

Paul Dummett’s right-footed shot was saved, and Mitrovic followed up to slot in the rebound.

Magpies coach Rafa Benitez is reportedly keen on bringing in at least one more striker over the summer, so Mitrovic – and possibly even the 10.8%-owned Gayle (6.5) – remain far from assured Gameweek 1 starters.

Benitez handed Jacob Murphy and Javier Manquillo their debuts off the bench, while defender Florian Lejeune made his first start.

Full-back Manquillo (4.5) was given a mere 13 minutes to impress and was used on the right wing.

Speaking post-match, Benitez revealed that former Liverpool and Sunderland loanee Manquillo’s role is certainly not set in stone.

“…with Javier Manquillo he’s a player that can play in both positions. We needed some cover for the full-backs. So I think he has to improve from last season, but he has the potential. He can train and understand what we’re looking for. He can play in different positions and one who has experience in the Premier League.”

Lejeune, meanwhile, has made a strong start for Newcastle at centre-half, and could grow to be a popular pick in the 4.5 price bracket if he can cement his starting role.

Newcastle United XI First half: Elliot; Mbemba, Hanley, Lejeune, Dummett; Atsu, Diamé, Shelvey, Aarons, De Jong; Mitrović.

Newcastle United XI Second half: Darlow (Woodman 70); Yedlin, Mbemba, Lejeune (Manquillo 76), Clark; Murphy, Hayden, Colback, Pérez, De Jong (Roberts 62); Gayle.

Brentford 2 Southampton 2

Charlie Austin scored twice in eight second half minutes for Southampton, only for goalkeeper Fraser Forster’s error to hand their hosts a share of the spoils.

Austin pounced on a defensive mix-up to open his – and Southampton’s – pre-season account before latching on to a Sam McQueen cross to double his tally.

The 6.5-priced forward is owned by just 2.3% of FPL managers, while team-mate Manolo Gabbiadini (7.0) is currently in 5.0% of squads. The Italian saw action in the second half, but it was Austin who emerged in credit from the Griffin Park encounter.

Saints coach Mauricio Pellegrino stuck with his go-to 4-2-3-1 formation, with Dusan Tadic in the No. 10 role once again.

But there was no place for either James Ward Prowse or Nathan Redmond as they continue to recover from their Euro U21 exertions, while Cedric Soares also remains on extended leave following Portugal’s Confederations Cup campaign.

Southampton XI: Forster, Pied (Jones 77); Bednarek (Stephens 45), Yoshida (Gardos 77), Targett (McQueen 45), Davis (Wood 63), Romeu (Hojbjerg 63), Long, Tadic (Gallagher 63), Boufal (Johnson 71), Austin (Gabbiadini 63).

Amiens SC 0 Stoke City 1

Mame Diouf grabbed the only goal of a match which turned tasty after the break, with four Stoke City players shown yellow cards.

The forward, who was preferred to Saido Berahino in the lone striker role, notched his second consecutive pre-season goal for the Potters.

Manager Mark Hughes fielded a strong line-up, with Geoff Cameron alongside Ryan Shawcross at centre-half in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The arrival of Kurt Zouma on loan from Chelsea will surely limit Cameron’s prospects in that role.

With Darren Fletcher and Joe Allen deployed in the midfield pivot, Cameron’s best opportunity for starts may emerge at right-back where Glenn Johnson and Phil Bardsley are competing for minutes.

Elsewhere, Ramadan Shobhi is one to watch. He was handed a start and could get more opportunities now that Marko Arnautovic has left for West Ham.

The 5.0-priced midfielder might be hoping for increased pitch-time, but it would be a major surprise if Hughes doesn’t splash the cash on an Arnautovic replacement by the end of the transfer window.

Stoke City XI: Butland; Johnson (Edwards 46), Shawcross (c) (Muniesa 72), Cameron (Wollscheid 72), Pieters; Fletcher (Tymon 77), Allen (Imbula 77); Shaqiri (Verlinden 77), Bojan (Berahino 62), Ramadan (Adam 77); Diouf (Crouch 62).

SD Eibar 0 Watford 1

Etienne Capoue continued to build on his reputation for fast starts with the winning goal in Austria.

The Watford midfielder became last season’s early budget bandwagon on his way to a seven-goal, 131-point campaign, and he opened his summer account from an Isaac Success assist 12 minutes from time against the Hornets’ La Liga opponents.

Coach Marco Silva opted for his preferred 4-2-3-1 system with Ben Watson this time joined by Capoue in the pivot, while new signing Will Hughes was handed his first start as part of the attacking midfield three.

Forward Troy Deeney took no part in the tour of Austria and had what the club described as ‘minor surgery’ on a groin injury on Saturday.

Watford XI: Gomes (63, Bachmann); Janmaat, Kabasele, Prödl, Holebas; Watson (Chalobah 46), Capoue; Berghuis (Sinclair 46), Hughes (Doucouré 46), Amrabat; Okaka (Success, 63).

North Carolina 0 Swansea City 0

Leroy Fer and Jordan Ayew were particularly profligate as Swansea City completed their US tour with a goalless whimper.

Swans coach Paul Clement opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation in which Tammy Abraham started as the lone striker and midfielder Tom Carroll – a 4.3%-owned 4.5 option – again monopolised set-pieces in the continued (and almost certainly permanent) absence of Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Swansea City XI: Fabianski (Nordfeldt 62); Naughton (Rangel 62), Mawson (van der Hoorn 62), Fernandez, Olsson (Kingsley 62); Britton (Mesa 62), Carroll (Grimes 66); Fer (Fulton 66), Routledge (Narsingh 66), Ayew (Montero 66); Abraham (McBurnie 66).

A reminder that all the friendly results and key Scout Notes are being captured here, in our Pre-Season Guide.