Romelu Lukaku scores again as Man United’s impressive pre-season form continues, while fellow big ticket striker Alexandre Lacazette is on target in Arsenal’s loss to Sevilla.
Elsewhere, Bournemouth also suffer defeat, but give valuable pitch-time to their summer signings. Here are the notes from Sunday’s matches.
Valerenga 0 Manchester United 3
Romelu Lukaku notched his third goal of pre-season as Man United swept aside their Norwegian hosts with a swagger, much of which came from Paul Pogba.
Lukaku – with 47.9% ownership the most popular player in Fantasy Premier League – headed home an Andreas Pereira corner just after half-time as Jose Mourinho changed personnel and formations at the break.
One of the few to play more than 45 minutes was Pogba. His performance earned rave reviews and he was unlucky not to open the scoring when his shot hit the post.
That honour instead fell to Marouane Fellaini, his powerful header just before the interval coming from a Henrikh Mkhitaryan cross.
United youngster Scott McTominay rounded off the scoring, with the assist coming from Anthony Martial.
Ander Herrera and Juan Mata returned from injury as Mourinho rolled out a 4-1-4-1 first-half formation, in which Marcus Rashford was used as the lone striker, and a 3-5-2 after the break.
United’s most popular defensive pick in FPL, Victor Lindelof (12.1%), put in a more assured performance as part of a back three, with Mourinho declaring post-match that patience was required with his new centre-half.
“Benfica is one of the dominant teams, so he’s more used to playing with the ball than without the ball, so he needs his time and we are going to give him his time to develop. Such a young player needs time. Manchester United is a huge club with huge responsibility; the Premier League is the same. So let’s give him time, but we’re happy with what he is doing, step by step.”
With Phil Jones preferred alongside Eric Bailly in the first half, it would appear that Mourinho may well be leaning towards that pairing for the opening fixture at West Ham. Certainly, Lindelof’s start remains far from assured and the teamsheets against Sampdoria on Wednesday and Real Madrid in the Super Cup on August 8 will be key.
Elsewhere, Pogba – found in 19.9% of FPL squads – enjoys an even bigger ownership base. He continues to impress from a deep-lying midfield role which allows him a certain freedom to roam forward but he’s produced just one pre-season assist and is yet to score.
The news that Nemanja Matic is due to sign for United could well be vital to Pogba’s Fantasy potential.
The arrival of Matic will give Mourinho greater security in central midfield areas and allow him more freedom to grant Pogba license to join the attack with greater regularity. Matic will surely be handed the responsibility to screen the defence, with both Ander Herrera and Pogba relinquished of defensive duty – at least to some extent.
Mkhitaryan also remains a consideration and warrants tracking. He now has two goals and three assists as he looks to nail down regular starts, perhaps in the number ten role.
The Armenian’s 5.6% ownership marks him out as solid differential material to exploit United’s excellent early schedule – a trip to Liverpool looks like being the toughest test they’ll face across the first eight Gameweeks of the season.
Jesse Lingard, who had featured in every pre-season match prior to yesterday was absent with a knock.
United XI First half: Romero; Darmian, Bailly, Jones, Blind; Carrick; Fellaini, Pogba, Mata, Mkhitaryan; Rashford.
United XI Second half: Romero (J. Pereira 61); Lindelof, Smalling, Tuanzebe; Mitchell, Fosu-Mensah, Pogba (McTominay 61), Herrera, A. Pereira; Martial, Lukaku.
Arsenal 1 Sevilla 2
Arsenal’s record signing Alexandre Lacazette hit his first goal on home soil as the Gunners contrived to lose a match and yet still win a cup.
The French striker, owned by 18.3% of FPL managers, converted an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cross at the far post to level their Emirates Cup tie with Sevilla.
Lacazette was then substituted, with a number of reports suggesting he had picked up an injury.
Arsene Wenger was quick to scotch those rumours post-match, taking the chance to play down the expectations on his new signing while he was about it.
“No, he was okay. I did take him off, but it was not because he was injured. The only thing I must say with Lacazette, week after week he looks to adapt quickly but overall I think it will take him one or two months.”
The Sevilla match was the Gunners’ second in 24 hours, prompting Wenger to field a much-changed side in which Hector Bellerin, a 13.7%-owned FPL asset, and Oxlade-Chamberlain were used as wing-backs and midfielder Mohamed Elneny again found himself in the back three.
Elneny’s fellow defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin played no part in proceedings and Wenger confirmed that he is unlikely to be fit for the weekend’s Community Shield clash with Chelsea.
“He looks like he has a scan tomorrow (Monday) and I don’t think he will be available for the weekend. He doesn’t look bad, but he will not be available. (It is an) ankle problem, ligament.”
Sevilla won both their Emirates Cup matches and yet it was the hosts who lifted the trophy on goals scored – a strange state of affairs that had a slight ‘my ball, my rules’ feel to it.
Arsenal won’t enjoy such quirks when the season starts, but a relatively generous early schedule could compensate for that.
The Gunners end their pre-season with the Community Shield clash with Chelsea on Sunday. Wenger’s line-up at Wembley will surely give us clear indication of the likely XI to face Leicester City in Gameweek 1.
Arsenal XI: Cech; Koscielny, Elneny (Walcott 77), Monreal; Bellerin (Bramall 46), Ramsey, Willock (Xhaka 60), Oxlade-Chamberlain; Ozil, Welbeck; Lacazette (Iwobi 77).
Bournemouth 0 Valencia 1
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe started his new recruits as the Cherries fell just short against a strong Valencia side.
Jermain Defoe, Nathan Ake, Asmir Begovic and winger Connor Mahoney, signed on a free transfer when his contract expired at Blackburn Rovers, were all given more than an hour’s pitch-time.
Two Smiths – Adam and Brad – returned from injury to slot into a defence that performed well, and it took a fine second-half goal from Valencia’s Fabian Orellana to breach it.
Bournemouth had played just 24 hours before, against QPR, so the side Howe picked for the Valencia encounter was closing in on his strongest available, although the likes of Charlie Daniels and the in-form Jordan Ibe were rested and Josh King, Junior Stanislas and Callum Wilson are currently out with knocks or injuries.
And which of Begovic and Artur Boruc ends up claiming the starting goalkeeper role remains open, according to the post-match comments of Bournemouth’s assistant manager Jason Tindall.
“There’s no guarantee of who will start. There is healthy competition for the goalkeeper position this year with Artur playing yesterday and Asmir playing today. Artur has been an excellent goalkeeper for us over the last three years and Asmir has impressed us so far. They push each other at training which is good to see”.
Bournemouth XI: Begovic (Ramsdale 69); A Smith (Worthington 67), Cook, Ake, B Smith (Harfield 67); Mahoney (Whitfield 67), Arter, Gosling, Pugh, Fraser; Defoe (Cornick 67).
