Fantasy Premier League managers can view the results of our pre-season research by reading another batch of minute counters.
That way you will find it easier to pick players for your squad who are the most likely to be involved for their respective clubs.
We’ve collated the game-time of every player over July and August and can bring you the numbers for the second five clubs in this part two.
If you don’t see a player’s name included it means they have played zero minutes. Furthermore, there are some players who have been involved enough in pre-season for us to draw attention to them, even if they haven’t been added to the game yet.
CHELSEA
Chelsea played five pre-season fixtures this summer. Four of them were friendlies while they were also involved in the Community Shield final last weekend. The maximum possible number of minutes that could have been accrued by one of their players was 450.
Goalkeepers
- Marcin Bulka – 221 minutes
- Willy Caballero (£5.0m) – 213 minutes
- Rob Green – 16 minutes
The signing of Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5.5m) is expected to supersede anything we’ve learned about the secondary goalkeepers at Chelsea this summer. Caballero was preferred for the Community Shield and could be chosen for Gameweek 1 if Kept is not considered ready.
Defenders
- David Luiz (£5.5m) – 289 minutes
- Marcos Alonso (£6.5m) – 278 minutes
- Ethan Ampadu (£4.5m) – 226 minutes [MIDFIELDER IN FPL]
- Davide Zappacosta (£5.5m) – 219 minutes
- Cesar Azpilicueta (£6.5m) – 214 minutes
- Antonio Rudiger (£6.0m) – 195 minutes
- Emerson Palmieri (£5.5m) – 172 minutes
- Andreas Christensen (£5.5m) – 145 minutes
- Gary Cahill (£5.5m) – 16 minutes
No Chelsea defender played more minutes than David Luiz over the summer, setting him up for a Gameweek 1 start. Alonso and Azpilicueta were used enough times in the summer for them to be assured of a place in the full-back positions, as they also played the full 90 at Wembley. In theory Ampadu has played enough in pre-season to warrant a start but Antonio Rudiger is the more senior and also played at Wembley.
Midfielders
- Jorginho (£5.0m) – 334 minutes
- Ross Barkley (£6.0m) – 320 minutes
- Pedro (£6.5m) – 279 minutes
- Callum Hudson-Odoi (£4.5m) – 271 minutes
- Cesc Fabregas (£6.5m) – 240 minutes
- Danny Drinkwater (£5.0m) – 179 minutes
- Tiemoue Bakayoko (£5.0m) – 161 minutes
- Victor Moses (£6.0m) – 132 minutes [DEFENDER IN FPL]
- Willian (£7.5m) – 99 minutes
- Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£5.5m) – 71 minutes
- N’Golo Kante (£5.0m) – 31 minutes
- Eden Hazard (£10.5m) – 22 minutes
It is no surprise to see Jorginho as the most-used Chelsea midfielder in pre-season. The former Napoli man arrives at Stamford Bridge clearly favoured by new manager Maurizio Sarri after they worked together in Italy. Barkley was not far behind him and is expected to play an important role in the central midfield trio. Pedro and Hudson-Odoi have the advantage on the wings in terms of minutes played, and they also started there for the Community Shield. How long-term that will prove with Moses, Willian and Hazard now back remains to be seen.
Forwards
- Alvaro Morata (£9.0m) – 257 minutes
- Tammy Abraham (£5.5m) – 171 minutes
- Olivier Giroud (£8.0m) – 22 minutes
Despite failing to impress in pre-season, Morata looks to still be the number one for now, simply based on how often he was used. Giroud will start to put pressure on that fairly soon now that he is back in match action.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Crystal Palace played seven first-team friendlies over the summer. The maximum number of minutes that could have been played by one of their players was 630.
Goalkeepers
- Vicente Guaita (£4.5m) – 360 minutes
- Wayne Hennessey (£4.5m) – 225 minutes
- Julian Speroni (£4.0m) – 45 minutes
New signing Guaita appears to have won out in the fight for the Crystal Palace number one spot. He played the full 90 minutes in the final two friendlies to take him past Hennessey’s game-time for pre-season.
Defenders
- Mamadou Sakho (£5.0m) – 373 minutes
- James Tomkins (£4.5m) – 373 minutes
- Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.0m) – 366 minutes
- Patrick van Aanholt (£5.5m) – 326 minutes
- Joel Ward (£4.5m) – 290 minutes
- Jairo Riedewald (£4.5m) – 283 minutes
- Pape Souaré (£4.5m) – 268 minutes
- Martin Kelly (£4.0m) – 167 minutes
Palace have one of the most settled back-fours of the Premier League going into Gameweek 1. It’s largely the same as it was towards the end of last season with Sakho and Tomkins the most-used at centre-back and van Aanholt and Wan-Bissaka the most frequently deployed full-backs over the summer.
Midfielders
- James McArthur (£5.0m) – 354 minutes
- Jeffrey Schlupp (£4.5m) – 352 minutes [DEFENDER IN FPL]
- Sullay Kaikai (£4.5m) – 331 minutes
- Andros Townsend (£6.0m) – 294 minutes
- Jason Puncheon (£4.5m) – 279 minutes
- Jonny Williams – 169 minutes
- Luka Milivojevic (£6.5m) – 135 minutes
McArthur is probably the most secure of a start after being the most-used midfielder in pre-season. Schlupp could still feature on the left wing, as he has done extensively in pre-season, but his place is at risk from potential new signings up front.
Forwards
- Alexander Sørloth (£5.0m) – 358 minutes
- Wilfried Zaha (£7.0m) – 302 minutes
- Christian Benteke (£6.5m) – 135 minutes
- Conor Wickham (£5.0m) – 78 minutes
Sørloth has been the most-used forward of pre-season but that was largely due to Benteke’s injury. With the later now returning to fitness his lack of game-time may not be as much of a hindrance to a Gameweek 1 start. Some reinforcements are expected in this area too.
EVERTON
Everton played seven pre-season matches this summer. The maximum number of minutes that it was possible for one of their players to accrue was 630.
Goalkeepers
- Maarten Stekelenburg (£4.0m) – 585 minutes
- Mateusz Hewelt – 45 minutes
Stekelenburg is the obvious stand-in for Pickford if he is deemed not ready to face Wolves. The Dutchman has registered 585 pre-season minutes from a possible 585, missing only the second-half against ATV Irdning and playing every moment since. Pickford has not played for Everton at all in July and August.
Defenders
- Michael Keane (£5.0m) – 405 minutes
- Seamus Coleman (£5.5m) – 405 minutes
- Phil Jagielka (£4.5m) – 390 minutes
- Leighton Baines (£5.5m) – 360 minutes
- Antonee Robinson – 225 minutes
- Jonjoe Kenny (£4.5m) – 225 minutes
- Ashley Williams (£4.5m) – 219 minutes [ON LOAN AT STOKE]
- Matthew Pennington – 180 minutes
- Mason Holgate (£4.5m) – 66 minutes [INJURED]
- Lucas Digne (£5.0m) – 45 minutes
- Cuco Martina (£4.5m) – 39 minutes
Keane and Jagielka’s extensive pre-season minute counts look set to see them start Gameweek 1 at centre-back, barring any last-minute additions. Coleman should have the right-back slot nailed down while Baines’ large number of minutes may give him a few weeks at left-back before new singing Digne takes over. Outside of those names, very few options look viable based on their pre-season minutes.
Midfielders
- Morgan Schneiderin (£4.5m) – 405 minutes
- Tom Davies (£4.5m) – 264 minutes
- Kevin Mirallas (£5.5m) – 262 minutes
- Kieran Dowell – 257 minutes
- Muhamed Besic – 225 minutes
- Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.5m) – 222 minutes
- Richarlison (£6.5m) – 216 minutes
- Nikola Vlasic (£5.0m) – 199 minutes
- Idrissa Gueye (£5.0m) – 194 minutes
- Davy Klaassen – 124 minutes [HAS JOINED WERDER BREMEN]
- Theo Walcott (£6.5m) – 60 minutes
- Ademola Lookman (£5.5m) – 54 minutes
Schneiderlin looks the most assured of a start in the Everton midfield with a lot of the obvious first-choice players a little behind every one else. There has been plenty of game-time for Davies, Mirallas, Dowell and Besic, while Sigurdsson, Richarlison and Gueye have only been involved in the second-half of the pre-season campaign. Walcott only made his first appearance in the final match, managing 60 minutes.
Forwards
- Sandro Ramirez (£5.5m) – 450 minutes
- Cenk Tosun (£7.0m) – 374 minutes
- Oumar Niasse (£5.5m) – 243 minutes
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.5m) – 16 minutes
Like the midfielder, the most-used option is unlikely to feature in Gameweek 1, although it’s worth noting how often Sandro played. In fact, it was more than any outfield player. Tosun should not find too much competition for his place elsewhere, managing 131 more minutes than Niasse.
FULHAM
Fulham played a total of eight pre-season friendlies this summer. The maximum possible number of minutes that could have been played by one of their players was 720.
Goalkeepers
- Fabri (£4.5m) – 270 minutes
- Marek Rodak – 170 minutes
- Marcus Bettinelli (£4.5m) – 115 minutes
New signing Fabri has featured in every match since he arrived and, consequently, was the most frequently used shot-stopper for Fulham this summer.
Defenders
- Cyrus Christie (£4.5m) – 386 minutes
- Denis Odoi (£4.5m) – 384 minutes
- Tim Ream (£4.5m) – 340 minutes
- Steven Sessegnon – 303 minutes
- Maxime Le Marchand (£4.5m) – 300 minutes
- Marlon Fossey – 264 minutes
- Calum Chambers (£4.5m) – 186 minutes [PLAYED AT ARSENAL]
Odoi and Ream were looking like the first-choice centre-backs based on their pre-season game-time, until Chambers and Mawson signed this week. Le Marchand and Christie look to have played enough minutes at full-back to be considered first-choice.
Midfielders
- Ryan Sessegnon (£6.5m) – 402 minutes
- Tom Cairney (£5.0m) – 354 minutes
- Stefan Johansen (£5.5m) – 343 minutes
- Neeskens Kebano (£4.5m) – 345 minutes
- Jean Michael Seri (£5.5m) – 270 minutes
- Luca de la Torre – 269 minutes
- Kevin McDonald (£5.0m) – 225 minutes
- Andre Schürrle (£6.0m) – 174 minutes
Reinforcements at the back should allow Sessegnon to continue as a regular feature in attacking midfield. He was largely deployed there in pre-season, as the joint most-used Fulham player in pre-season but did have spells at left-back.
Forwards
- Aboubakar Kamara (£4.5m) – 402 minutes
- Alexsandar Mitrovic (£6.5m) – 108 minutes
Mitrovic was obviously first-choice at Fulham last season and he will probably stay that way for Gameweek 1, even if Kamara was the joint most-used Fulham player this summer.
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
Huddersfield Town played 90 pre-season friendlies but two of them lasted just 45 minutes. For that reason, the most any Terriers player could have registered was 720 minutes.
Goalkeepers
- Ben Hamer (£4.0m) – 450 minutes
- Joel Coleman – 180 minutes
- Jonas Lössl (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
Hamer is looking like the most viable £4.0m goalkeeper ahead of the 2018/19 season, having registered more minutes than any other Huddersfield player. There has been some doubt over whether Lössl is ready for the season according to David Wagner, even though he did not feature for Denmark in Russia, with Kasper Schmeichel the number one.
Defenders
- Christopher Schindler (£4.5m) – 442 minutes
- Terence Kongolo (£4.5m) – 419 minutes
- Tommy Smith (£4.5m) – 396 minutes
- Chris Löwe (£4.5m) – 356 minutes
- Florent Hadergjonaj (£4.5m) – 330 minutes
- Jon Stanković – 299 minutes
- Michael Hefele – 270 minutes
- Jordan Williams – 162 minutes
- Scott Malone (£4.0m) – 162 minutes
- Mathias ‘Zanka’ Jorgensen (£4.5m) – 119 minutes
- Erik Durm (£4.5m) – 16 minutes
Schindler is the most secure of a start at centre-back, with his usual partner Zanka the least-used defender in pre-season following his involvement with Denmark at the World Cup. Löwe is by far the most-used left-back, with popular £4.0m option Malone playing considerably fewer minutes. Smith should hold onto right-back for now with new signing Durm playing just 16 minutes in pre-season.
Midfielders
- Jonathan Hogg (£4.5m) – 419 minutes
- Philip Billing (£4.5m) – 389 minutes
- Alex Pritchard (£5.0m) – 360 minutes
- Rajiv van La Parra (£5.0m) – 351 minutes
- Abdelhamid Sabiri (£4.5m) – 329 minutes
- Adama Diakhaby (£5.0m) – 207 minutes
- Ramadan Sobhi (£5.0m) – 193 minutes
- Aaron Mooy (£5.5m) – 182 minutes
Hogg and Billing both look ready for the season as the most-used central midfielders but one of them may still have to make way for Mooy. Pritchard was deployed extensively as a number 10 with little competition in that role. The wide midfield roles are harder to call with van La Parra and Sobhi probably the favourites.
Forwards
- Steve Mounié (£6.0m) – 390 minutes
- Laurent Depoitre (£5.5m) – 330 minutes
- Elias Kachunga (£5.0m) – 267 minutes
Mounié is definitely the number one Huddersfield forward for Gameweek 1 having started more matches and registered more minutes than team-mate Depoitre this summer.
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5 years, 8 months agoMan Utd not being able to land transfer targets. Pretty dire times.