We round up the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from more of Saturday’s pre-season matches in our latest Scout Notes article.
Already we have provided a summary of the Community Shield and a recap of games involving Brighton and Hove Albion, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United, Norwich City and Watford.
Now we focus on Manchester United, Everton and Brentford.
Don’t forget to check out our comprehensive pre-season page for more information on the action taking place ahead of Gameweek 1.
MANCHESTER UNITED 4-0 EVERTON
- Goals: Mason Greenwood (£7.5m), Harry Maguire (£5.5m) Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m), Diogo Dalot
- Assists: Luke Shaw (£5.5m), Nemanja Matic (£4.5m), Fred (£5.0m)
Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) said he was “ready” for the upcoming Premier League season after scoring a superb free-kick in Manchester United’s 4-0 demolition of Everton on Saturday.
The Portuguese schemer had a disrupted pre-season thanks to his involvement at Euro 2020 but his country’s relatively early exit from the competition at least allowed him more of a break than United’s English contingent, and he looked sharp in an hour-long run-out against the Toffees.
“I’m feeling ready, honestly. It was a good break for me, I enjoyed it. I’ve come back and had two weeks of training and I’m feeling fresh and ready to start the season.
“Of course, we know now that that game [Leeds] is the one that counts for the league. Today was about doing the right things, taking some minutes in the legs, start doing the right things and try to put in what we are training all week in Scotland.
“Now we have one more week to prepare for the game and we have to prepare well because it’s a different game, different intensity, different team, different way to play. We know what to expect and I hope we can have the same result as today.” – Bruno Fernandes
A glimpse of the much-hyped new 4-3-3 shape was in evidence at Old Trafford (even if it was much more of a tweak to the usual 4-2-3-1), with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said to be keen on evolving United into a more attack-minded unit this season and moving away from a double-pivot in midfield.
It’s still early days to see how this newfound approach affects last season’s highest-scoring FPL asset, as Fernandes was as advanced against the Toffees as he usually he is.
United didn’t even have to draw on their attacking nous from open play to establish a 3-0 advantage; Mason Greenwood‘s (£7.5m) opener was gift-wrapped and Harry Maguire (£5.5m) headed home a Luke Shaw (£5.5m) corner before Fernandes conjured up his dead-ball brilliance.
Greenwood was originally stationed on the right of a United attack spearheaded by the fit-again Anthony Martial (£8.5m), although moved centrally after half-time.
Absent again were Edinson Cavani (£8.0m) and Jadon Sancho (£9.5m), while Dean Henderson (£5.0m) and Jesse Lingard (£7.0m) also missed out because of Covid-19.
Solskjaer said:
“Jesse, he feels okay, and hopefully it’ll stay that way but when you get the positive test you’ve got to isolate even if you’re feeling well.
“Dean, he was positive early on and then he’s negative in his testing but he’s not felt as energised or sharp as he has done. So he’s still fatigued and feeling the after-effects. So, you never know, you’ve seen so many effects of this virus, so he’s got a few days still to rest and then we’ll check up on him.
“The medical with Raphael Varane [still] has to be done. He’s isolating at the moment. He had to wait for visas, so unfortunately that took a few more days than expected but we’re going to follow the protocols and the rules, so it’s taken a few more days than we hoped for.
“Jadon is in for Monday and hopefully, then he’s in decent nick and can be involved [against Leeds].” – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Everton were deprived of the services of Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£8.0m) and Richarlison (£7.5m) against United, with the former suffering from a minor knock and the latter tasting Olympic Games success with Brazil.
That meant that lively new signing Demarai Gray (£5.5m) co-shared central attacking duties with James Rodriguez (£7.0m) in Stretford, with Benitez trialling a 4-4-2 again.
The ex-Liverpool boss bemoaned:
“Today, we didn’t have our strikers, the others did their jobs but it is totally different when we have specific players, especially good players, up front. They are not here, so that changed the dynamic of the team a little bit.
“We have to improve in some areas but the main thing is to be sure we have the team together, then we can manage the way we want to play, with the players who can normally make the difference.
“We want to play like we did in the [earlier pre-season] games. Trying to create chances, trying to move forward quickly.” – Rafael Benitez
Manchester United XI: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka (Dalot 60), Lindelof (Tuanzebe 60), Maguire (Garner 69), Shaw (Williams 60), Matic (Fred 46), van de Beek (Pogba 46), Greenwood, Fernandes (Andreas 60), James (McTominay 69), Martial (Mata 46).
Everton XI: Pickford (Begovic 46), Coleman (Kenny 60), Keane (Holgate 77), Godfrey (Mina 77), Digne, Allan (Davies 60), Doucoure (Delph 46), Iwobi, Rodriguez (Gordon 46), Townsend (Broadhead 68), Gray (Dobbin 78).
BRENTFORD 2-1 VALENCIA
- Goals: Ethan Pinnock (£4.5m), Frank Onyeka (£5.0m)
- Assists: Sergi Canos (£5.5m)
Brentford Thomas Frank gave a positive fitness update on Ivan Toney (£6.5m) after Fantasy Premier League’s most-owned forward missed the Bees’ final pre-season match through injury.
Speaking after he witnessed his side see off Valencia 2-1, Frank said:
I don’t think there is almost anything that can keep him out of the game on Friday night [against Arsenal]. I’m sure he’ll be available and ready to play.
For the second match running, Frank opted for a wing-back system – a strong indication, perhaps, that the Premier League rookies will be sent out in that set-up when Arsenal visit south-west London on Friday.
New signing Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) was part of the three-man central defence alongside Pontus Jansson (£4.5m) and Ethan Pinnock (£4.5m), the latter of whom underscored his threat from set plays with a headed goal from a Sergi Canos (£5.5m) corner.
The former Celtic stopper impressed at the back, with Valencia restricted to few efforts on target; the visitors’ goal stemming from a ball behind Ajer and Canos, something the big Norwegian is keen to avoid happening again:
“We will go back and learn from this, how to shuffle in a back three and how to press forward.
“If you look at the chances that a top side from Spain create here, there was almost nothing if you take away the goal. We delivered a top performance.” – Kristoffer Ajer
Cano and Rico Henry (£4.5m) were tasked with the wing-back roles, with FPL midfielder Bryan Mbeumo (£5.5m) ending up being stationed ‘out of position’ up front alongside Marcus Forss (£5.5m) – a likely Toney placeholder – in a 3-5-2.
This was a role that Mbeumo excelled in during the Championship play-offs and he had a chance to wrap up the scoring on Saturday, producing a tame effort when racing free of the Valencia backline late in the game.
Frank Onyeka (£5.0m) came on at half-time to form part of the central midfield three and lashed home the winner from the edge of the box.
With Norwich City and Watford’s pre-seasons not going smoothly, the Bees just might well be the best-prepared of the promoted trio of clubs heading into Gameweek 1.
Brentford XI, Raya, Ajer (Bech 74), Jansson, Pinnock; Canós, Norgaard (Bidstrup 82), Janelt (Peart-Harris 87), Henry (Roerslev 74), Ghoddos (Onyeka 46), Mbeumo, Forss (Dervişoğlu 74),
