Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has already been incredibly helpful for Fantasy Premier League managers after the Red Devils’ first pre-season match.
Following a 1-1 draw with Club America in Phoenix, Arizona he revealed who would be his back-four for Gameweek 1.
Elsewhere there were friendlies for Liverpool and Wolves.
We’ve got all the goals, assists and Fantasy talking points from another round of pre-season matches.
Blackburn Rovers 0-2 Liverpool
- Goals: Lazar Markovic, Daniel Sturridge
- Assists: Sturridge, Naby Keita (£7.5m)
Daniel Sturridge and Naby Keita (£7.5m) were the stand-out performers as Liverpool won 2-0 at Blackburn Rovers.
The English striker, not yet priced up by FPL, added his third goal of pre-season while new signing Keita put up his third assist.
It started slowly for the Reds as James Milner (£5.5m) missed a penalty following Dominic Solanke (£5.0m) being fouled in the area.
Adam Lallana (£7.0m) was the most influential player in the first-half, supplying Solanke with great delivery as well as hitting the crossbar and nearly scoring a lob on the goalkeeper himself.
Substitutes Keita and Sturridge combined twice early in the second-half, with a defence-splitting ball from the former putting the Englishman through only to drag wide before another was sent just over the bar.
The deadlock was broken when Sturridge was the provider, his pass lashed home by Lazar Markovic.
Shortly afterwards Sturridge made it 2-0 after yet another insightful pass from Keita.
LIVERPOOL FIRST-HALF XI (4-4-2): Karius; Moreno, Klavan, Matip, Clyne; Ojo, Lallana, Milner, Woodburn; Solanke, Origi.
LIVERPOOL SECOND-HALF XI (4-3-3): Karius; Robertson, Van Dijk, Phillips, Gomez; Jones, Keita, Fabinho; Markovic, Sturridge, Camacho.
Club America 1-1 Manchester United
- Goals: Juan Mata (£6.5m)
- Assists: Ander Herrera (£5.0m)
Juan Mata (£6.5m) rescued a draw for Manchester United in their first pre-season match after Jose Mourinho, as expected, named a largely second string side.
Lee Grant (not yet in FPL) began the match in goal while Anthony Martial (£7.5m) lined up as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 system.
The Frenchman could have had a penalty in the ninth minute but the referee waved away his appeals. Apart from an effort grazing the crossbar early on, it was a largely disappointing performance for Martial, who was too isolated up front. He was substituted on the hour-mark with a possible knock.
That was when Club America took the lead thanks to a strong Henry Martin header.
Having hit the post in the first-half, Mata scored the equaliser. Substitute Tahith Chong whipped in a lovely ball for Ander Herrera (£5.0m), whose header cannoned back off the woodwork for Mata slamming home the rebound on the volley.
After the match, Jose Mourinho said that the back-four who started it, Antonio Valencia (£6.5m), Chris Smalling (£6.0m), Eric Bailly (£5.5m) and Luke Shaw (£5.0m), would all likely line-up against Leicester City in Gameweek 1.
MANCHESTER UNITED XI (4-2-3-1): Grant (J Pereira 45’); Shaw (Greenwood 76’), Smalling, Bailly, Valencia (Fosu-Mensah 45’); Herrera, McTominay (Tuanzebe 87’); Mitchell (Darmian 60’), Mata (Gomes 87’), A Pereira; Martial (Chong 60’).
Wolves 1-1 Ajax
- Goals: Ruben Neves (£5.0m)
- Assists: Helder Costa (£5.0m)
Ruben Neves (£5.0m) got his first goal of pre-season in a 1-1 draw with Ajax at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium on Thursday.
He found the net from the penalty spot after Helder Costa (£5.0m) was fouled in the area.
FPL midfielder Diogo Jota (£6.5m) lined up as a centre-forward for the first time this summer, having spent one match on the flank and missing another so far.
The former Atletico Madrid man started 10 matches in the Championship as the striker in Nuno’s 3-4-3 system, furthering his appeal in FPL for 2018/19.
He was the focal point for Wolves’ attacking play in the match and had several chances to score in the first-half, although he could not find a breakthrough.
It was Ajax who went into the interval 1-0 up after Donny van de Peek cut inside and found the net from 15 yards.
Wolves levelled from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute when Costa was brought down in the area. Neves stepped up to smash in the equaliser from 12 yards.
WOLVES XI (3-4-3): Norris (Ruddy 45’); Boly, Coady, Bennett (Saiss 71’); Giles, Gibbs-White (Goncalves 71’), Neves, Doherty; Cavaleiro (Ashley-Seal 71’), Jota, Costa.
Arsenal 1-2 Brentford
- Goals: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m)
- Assists: None
Arsenal played another secret friendly on Thursday with little information available on it.
The Gunners lost 2-1 to Championship side Brentford after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m) made it five goals in three pre-season matches with his equaliser.
The Bees winner came from a Bernd Leno (£5.0m) error in which he failed to deal with a ball into the box.
Arsenal will now head to Singapore for more high-profile friendly matches against Paris Saint Germain and Atletico Madrid.
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5 years, 9 months agoMata or Martial for the first 2 gwks?