Weekend friendly round-up: Arnautovic bags brace, Valencia injured

Marko Arnautovic (£7.0m) furthered his case for inclusion in Fantasy managers’ frontlines with a brace in West Ham United’s pre-season friendly against Preston North End on Saturday.

Jack Wilshere (£5.0m) made his debut in the same match, as the Hammers were held to a 2-2 draw by the Championship club.

Wilfried Zaha (£7.0m), who like Arnautovic has been reclassified as a forward in Fantasy Premier League this season, was also on target in Crystal Palace’s 3-1 win over Oxford United.

Andrew Robertson (£6.0m) set up Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m) for Liverpool’s opening goal in the 3-1 defeat by Borussia Dortmund in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday evening. Joel Matip (£5.0m) was forced off early in the first half with a thigh injury.

Dortmund had beaten Manchester City 1-0 a day earlier, with Riyad Mahrez (£9.0m) and Leroy Sane (£9.5m) both getting run-outs for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Manchester United were also in action in the USA, taking on San Jose Earthquakes in California. Jose Mourinho’s side drew the match 0-0 as Antonio Valencia (£6.5m) limped off with a calf problem. Alexis Sanchez (£10.5m) and Anthony Martial (£7.5m) both started the match as part of a front three with youngster Tahith Chong.

Rui Patricio (£4.5m) and Raul Jimenez (£5.5m) made their Wolverhampton Wanderers debuts in the 0-0 draw with Bochum on Sunday. Patricio saved two penalties in the subsequent shoot-out defeat.

A largely second-string Everton side also lost on penalties over the weekend after a goalless draw with Lille. A stronger-looking line-up then drew another blank in the 1-0 loss to Porto on Sunday night.

Jonny Evans (£5.0m) and James Maddison (£6.5m) made their Leicester City debuts in the Foxes’ 4-1 win over Notts County, with Demarai Gray (£5.5m) among the scorers.

A Fulham side that featured Ryan Sessegnon (£6.5m), Tom Cairney (£5.0m) and debutant Jean Michael Seri (£5.5m) were hammered 4-0 by Lyon.

AFC Bournemouth highlighted their attacking aptitude – and defensive frailties – in a 4-3 win over Levante, with Jermain Defoe (£6.0m) among the Cherries’ scorers.

Shane Duffy (£4.5m) and Jurgen Locadia (£5.5m) limped off as Brighton and Hove Albion slumped to a 2-1 defeat to AFC Wimbledon. Oliver Norwood was on target for the Seagulls from the spot.

Huddersfield Town and Burnley both played two friendlies over the weekend. The Terriers lost 2-0 to Real Betis and 1-0 to Werder Bremen (both matches lasting 45 minutes) in Germany, while Sean Dyche split his squad for the encounters with Macclesfield Town and Curzon Ashton. Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£6.0m) was on target in the 2-0 victory at Moss Rose, while Robbie Brady (£5.5m) returned from injury in the 5-1 win over the National League North side. Ben Mee (£5.0m) found the back of the net in this second match, with Sam Vokes (£5.5m) grabbing a brace.

Summer signing Josh Murphy (£5.0m) scored Cardiff City’s only goal in the 1-1 draw with Torquay United.

Our Scout Notes on Monday will analyse the weekend’s friendlies in greater depth, taking a closer look at personnel and formations and detailing every single goal-scorer and assist-maker.

Read more with Scout

Visit our PRE-SEASON PAGE to get the latest pointers from pre-season friendlies and read scout reports on new players by CLICKING HERE.

Pick your FPL team for 2018/19 using our list of best available players, sorted for your convenience by position and price:

• Goalkeepers
• Defenders: Budget
• Defenders: Mid-Price and Premium
• Midfielders: Budget
• Midfielders: Mid-Price
• Midfielders: Premium

Also check out our detailed statistical analysis articles on every team comparing data for the last two seasons to highlight the players to sign and the players to avoid:

• Arsenal
• Bournemouth
• Brighton & Hove Albion
• Burnley
• Cardiff City
• Chelsea
• Crystal Palace
• Everton
• Fulham
• Huddersfield Town
• Leicester City
• Liverpool
• Manchester City
• Read them all in one place

Become a Member and access our data

Memberships for the 2018/19 campaign are now available for the pre-season price of just £12.50. This will increase to the regular price of £15 after the first Gameweek of the season.

Join now to get the following:

• Plot your transfer strategies using the fully interactive Season Ticker.
• Get projections for every Premier League player provided by the Rate My Team statistical model.
• Use Rate My Team throughout the season to guide your selections and transfers.
• Get access to over 130+ exclusive members articles over the season.
• Analyse our OPTA-powered statistic tables specifically tailored for Fantasy Football Managers.
• Use our exclusive tool to build custom stats tables from over 100 OPTA player and team stats.
• View heatmaps and expected goals data for every player.
• Use our powerful comparison tool to analyse players head-to-head.

CLICK HERE TO BECOME A FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT MEMBER