Jadon Sancho (£7.5m), Marcus Rashford (£6.5m) and Ivan Toney (£7.0m) were amongst the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) names in action on Saturday as more pre-season friendlies were staged.
We’ve got all the goal, assist and line-up information you need in this latest Scout Notes article.
We’re also keeping tabs on the minutes played in all of these warm-up fixtures, with Premium Members of Fantasy Football Scout able to access this information at the bottom of this article.
READ MORE – Monday scout notes: Haaland, Jesus and Neto score
READ MORE – Friday scout notes: Darwin scores four off the bench
READ MORE – Thursday scout notes: Guardiola on Haaland’s fitness and “sharp” De Bruyne
ASTON VILLA 2-2 MANCHESTER UNITED
- Goals: Leon Bailey, Calum Chambers; Jadon Sancho, Matty Cash (own goal)
- Assists: Emiliano Buendia, Leon Bailey; Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford
More FPL midfield options have emerged in recent weeks, thanks to the two sides that faced off in Perth during the early hours of Saturday morning.
An in-form Jadon Sancho put Manchester United 1-0 up after an overlapping Luke Shaw (£5.0m) picked out the 22-year-old by the six-yard box. It’s his third goal of the summer, following a big £2.0m FPL price drop.
Yet it’s teammate Marcus Rashford with the higher ownership and bigger drop in value. He likely would have tapped in a Sancho assist, had the unfortunate Matty Cash (£5.0m) not interfered to make it an own goal.
Those Fantasy managers wanting to take a punt on Leon Bailey (£5.0m) were quickly brought down to earth when he wasn’t included in Steven Gerrard’s strong starting XI. And, just as quickly, hopes were again raised when he came on and immediately scored a brilliant solo effort. Furthermore, his stoppage time corner was headed in by Calum Chambers (£4.5m).
“It was more than an impact. He changed the game, he showed energy, he showed speed and a hunger to cause problems. He’s come back from pre-season as a different player, not just from a technical point of view, his demeanour, his body language. He’s sending a massive message to me that he wants to be in the XI so he needs to have a strong two weeks.” – Steven Gerrard on Leon Bailey
Despite his preferred system not particularly needing wingers, Gerrard’s post-match quotes suggest Bailey may have forced himself into the Gameweek 1 line-up.
It should also be noted that both right-back Diogo Dalot (£4.5m) and forward Anthony Martial (£7.0m), two of United’s most impressive pre-season performers and another pair of potential bargain buys, were handed another start.
Aston Villa XI (4-3-1-2): Martinez (Olsen 46′); Cash (Hayden 64′), Carlos (Chambers 64′), Mings (Konsa 46′), Digne (Young 64′); J. Ramsey (Douglas Luiz 46′), Kamara (Sanson 64′), McGinn (Iroegbunam 64′); Coutinho (Buendia 46′); Watkins (Archer 64′), Ings (Bailey 46′)
Manchester United XI (4-3-3): De Gea; Dalot (Wan-Bissaka 67′), Maguire (Bailly 67′), Lindelof (Varane 67′), Shaw (Malacia 67′); van de Beek (Garner 67′), Fred (Telles 67′), Fernandes (Iqbal 67′); Sancho (Chong 67′), Rashford (Elanga 67′); Martial (Hannibal 67′)
WOLFSBURG 4-0 BRENTFORD
Brentford suffered their second pre-season loss to German opposition and this time it was a heavy 4-0 scoreline.
A strong line-up saw David Raya (£4.5m) play all 90 minutes, with versatile Aaron Hickey deployed at right-back and cheap midfield enabler Josh Dasilva (£4.5m) also getting a start.
“There are two reasons that we didn’t do that well. The first is defensive set-pieces, we conceded three goals that way. It’s something we’ve been discussing. We know we need to be really good at it, we are normally much better at it but today we weren’t up to those standards. Secondly, it was the quality on the ball. Everything from the little touch, playing forward, the weight of pass, protecting the ball and hitting a man. All of those things weren’t good enough on the ball.” – Brentford head coach Thomas Frank
As explored in last week’s round-up of recent transfers, it will be interesting to see whether Keane Lewis-Potter (£5.5m) is a bigger threat to the minutes of Yoane Wissa (£5.5m) or Bryan Mbeumo (£6.0m). This time, he came on to replace Wissa after 62 minutes.
The community is likely keeping an eye on which Brentford assets to buy for their brilliant fixture run between Gameweeks 3 and 11 – ranked as the best, according to our Season Ticker – so will be concerned by such a loss.
The Bees lost nine of the 11 outings before Christian Eriksen (£6.5m) arrived and, now that he has departed, could forward Ivan Toney therefore lose some FPL appeal?
Brentford XI (4-3-3): Raya; Hickey (Roerslev 76′), Jansson (Crama 76′), Bech, Henry (Stevens 76′); Onyeka (Janelt 62′), Jensen, Dasilva (Baptiste 71′); Wissa (Lewis-Potter 62′), Toney, Mbeumo (Dervisoglu 76′)
QUEENS PARK RANGERS 0-3 CRYSTAL PALACE
- Goals: Eberechi Eze, Wilfried Zaha (x2)
- Assists: Wilfried Zaha, Christien Benteke (x2)
After departing Loftus Road for Selhurst Park in a £16m deal two years ago, Eberechi Eze (£5.5m) marked his return by scoring a lovely long-range goal to begin Saturday’s proceedings.
Main man Wilfried Zaha (£7.0m) added two of his own strikes, including a penalty, to seal a comfortable win for the Eagles.
It was a Crystal Palace line-up without the likes of Vicente Guaita (£4.5m), Tyrick Mitchell (£4.5m), Michael Olise (£5.5m), Odsonne Edouard (£5.5m) or Jean-Philippe Mateta (£5.5m), so it’s hard to take much away from an FPL standpoint.
That’s been the case throughout pre-season, with the Palace squad split down the middle and separated by 9,000 miles over the last fortnight.
Regardless, Palace have a tough run of opening fixtures. Otherwise Zaha – whose 14 goals were the ninth-most of last season – would surely be a very popular Fantasy asset, with no price change.
Crystal Palace XI (4-3-3): Whitworth; Ferguson (McArthur 46′), Tomkins (Boateng 46′), Guéhi (Bartley 86′), Riedewald (Watson 60′); Doucouré, Eze, Schlupp; Plange (Hughes 46′), Benteke, Zaha
READING 1-2 BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
- Goals: Pascal Gross, Solly March
- Assists: Tariq Lamptey, Danny Welbeck
Graham Potter made only one change from the win over Estoril, suggesting he knows his best line-up ahead of the Gameweek 1 trip to Man United.
That new face belongs to the man of everlasting FPL potential, Tariq Lamptey (£4.5m). The wing-back’s cross was headed home by Pascal Gross (£5.5m) to open the scoring at Reading before Danny Welbeck (£6.5m) set up a sweet strike by Solly March (£5.0m).
Still at Brighton, Marc Cucurella (£5.0m) was played at centre-back rather than down the left, similar to the closing weeks of last season.
“In the first half we played with real intensity, good control, won the ball back quickly when we lost it and scored a good goal. We created some good opportunities, so it was a really good work-out for us. I really liked the game.” – Graham Potter
Potter’s team was completely different by the 70th minute, with Deniz Undav (£5.5m) amongst those getting a brief showing.
Brighton XI (3-5-2): Sanchez (Steele 70′); Veltman (Webster 45′), Dunk (Clarke 70′), Cucurella (Duffy 70′); Lamptey (Mwepu 45′), March (Alzate 70′), Gross (Lallana 70′), Mac Allister (Mitoma 70′), Caicedo (Enciso 70′); Trossard (Undav 70′), Welbeck (Maupay 70′)
BOURNEMOUTH 0-1 BRISTOL CITY
With expectations already low for the Cherries, a home defeat to Championship side Bristol City will not tempt FPL managers to invest in their assets.
Perhaps forward Dominic Solanke could become an option, given his £6.0m price tag and 29 goals of last season. He has notched twice in pre-season goals but failed to do so here.
Bournemouth XI (4-3-3): Travers; Smith, Mepham (Moore 62′), Hill, Zemura; Lerma, Cook (Anthony 62′), Billing; Christie (Stanislas 73′), Rothwell (Stacey 73′), Solanke
PRE-SEASON MINUTES TRACKER
1 year, 9 months agoWhich:
A) Martinelli and Grealish
B) Bailey and Kulu/Mount