Harry Kane (£11.5m), Son Heung-min (£12.0m) and James Maddison (£8.0m) 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.
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RANGERS 1-2 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
- Goals: Harry Kane (x2)
- Assists: Son Heung-min (x2)
A quickfire second-half double from Harry Kane was assisted by – you guessed it – partner Son Heung-min on Saturday afternoon.
For FPL managers, Gameweek 1 will be an uneasy watch without at least one of the Spurs’ premium duo – the most prolific goal combination in Premier League history.
They enter a home match against Southampton in prolific form, with both assisting once and netting twice in the 6-3 win over Team K League before Son set up Kane versus Sevilla. It happened twice more at Ibrox.
It ensured the north Londoners won the Walter Tull Memorial Cup and remain unbeaten in their first summer under Antonio Conte.
“I’m delighted because I have seen good intensity, I’ve seen many situations that we are trying in the training sessions, the pressure was good. For sure, especially in the first half, we created many, many chances to score.” – Antonio Conte
Six new faces took part, with all but Richarlison making their first appearances in a Spurs shirt. This includes Djed Spence (£4.5m), Clement Lenglet (£5.0m) and Ivan Perisic (£5.5m).
Having said that, the £60m signing from Everton played second fiddle to Dejan Kulusevski (£8.0m), ahead of his opening weekend suspension.
Meanwhile, Conte persisted with his new idea to convert Lucas Moura (£6.0m) into a right wing-back, just like he did to Victor Moses and Perisic. He came on for Emerson Royal (£5.0m) at half-time.
Tottenham XI (3-4-3): Lloris (Forster 71′); Romero (Tanganga 82′), Dier (Rodon 66′), Sanchez (Lenglet 71′); Emerson Royal (Lucas Moura 46′), Hojbjerg (Sarr 82′), Bentancur (Bissouma 46′), Sessegnon (Perisic 60′); Kulusevski (Richarlison 60′), Kane (Spence 71′), Son (Bryan 71′)
DERBY COUNTY 1-3 LEICESTER CITY
- Goals: Kelechi Iheanacho, Patson Daka, Callum Wright
- Assists: Timothy Castagne, Nampalys Mendy, Youri Tielemans
PRESTON NORTH END 1-2 LEICESTER CITY
- Goals: Jamie Vardy, Harvey Barnes
- Assists: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (x2)
The Foxes played two fixtures on the same day, each with a strong line-up that showcases their squad depth.
With assistant manager Chris Davies in charge at Pride Park and manager Brendan Rodgers at Deepdale, it may suggest that the Preston North End team is likely the favoured selection for Gameweek 1 at home to Brentford.
“People may be surprised at playing two different teams but we’re trying to get as many of them through 90 minutes. We’re at this stage where we have to keep building the fitness levels. I’m really pleased. In the first half, some of our football, the speed of our game and the tactical idea of the team was very, very good.” – Brendan Rodgers
This would solidify James Justin (£4.5m), Harvey Barnes (£7.0m) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.0m) as good picks, whilst Timothy Castagne (£4.5m) and Caglar Soyuncu (£4.5m) need to work their way in.
It brought a third pre-season goal for both Barnes and Patson Daka (£6.0m), with Jamie Vardy (£9.5m) rounding the Preston goalkeeper to notch his second of the summer. His 15 league goals of last season arrived in just 1,823 minutes and the 35-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down.
Vardy is currently on less than five per cent ownership, so could be a fantastic early differential.
Leicester XI vs Derby (3-5-2): Stolarczyk; Amartey, Soyuncu, Vestergaard; Castagne, Ndidi (Mendy 62′), Tielemans, Praet (Choudhury 77′), Thomas; Daka, Iheanacho (Wright 83′)
Leicester XI vs Preston (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel (Iversen 63′); Pereira, Fofana, Evans, Justin; Soumare, Dewsbury-Hall; Albrighton (Perez 63′), Maddison, Barnes; Vardy
LUTON TOWN 1-1 WEST HAM UNITED
- Goal: Tomas Soucek
- Assist: Aaron Cresswell
The second goal in two matches for Tomas Soucek (£5.5m) was pegged back in stoppage time, as West Ham had to settle for a draw. He headed home a cross from Aaron Cresswell (£5.0m), who was playing as the left centre-back in a three-man defence.
The 3-4-3 chosen by David Moyes had no orthodox striker until Michail Antonio‘s (£7.5m) second-half appearance.
Antonio started the last FPL season on fire but had a notoriously bad record afterwards, so the imminent signing of Italian international Gianluca Scamacca will severely restrict his appeal this time around.
Summer transfer Flynn Downes (£4.5m) made a cameo appearance, with Nayef Aguerd (£5.0m) forced into ankle surgery following last week’s Rangers friendly.
West Ham XI (3-4-3): Areola; Johnson, Zouma, Cresswell; Coufal, Soucek (Downes 83′), Rice (Coventry 75′), Masuaku (Ashby 64′); Benrahma (Antonio 46′), Fornals (Vlasic 46′), Bowen (Lanzini 64′)
WATFORD 0-0 SOUTHAMPTON
Ralph Hasenhuttl is also experimenting with a three-man back line and continued with it in the goalless draw at Watford.
Armel Bella-Kotchap (£4.5m), the 20-year-old signing from Bochum, was in defence, with Joe Aribo (£5.5m) and Romeo Lavia (£4.5m) joined in midfield by James Ward-Prowse (£6.5m).
“As a striker, he has more freedom for what he can do. He was driving with the ball. It’s not so dangerous when he loses it because you have enough players to defend. I like this position for him.” – Ralph Hasenhuttl on Stuart Armstrong
What may get FPL attention is the words of Hasenhuttl regarding bargain midfielder Stuart Armstrong (£5.0m) being used up front. Should Southampton not make a major forward purchase after youngster Sekou Mara’s arrival, perhaps Armstrong could be an option.
Southampton XI (3-5-2): Bazunu; Bella-Kotchap (Lyanco 46′), Bednarek, Salisu; Walker-Peters, Lavia, Ward-Prowse (Diallo 64′), Djenepo, Aribo (Romeu 70′); S Armstrong (Elyounoussi 70′), A Armstrong (Adams 46′)
UNION BERLIN 1-0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Forward Taiwo Awoniyi (£6.0m) made a quick return to Union Berlin, who he helped finish fifth in last season’s Bundesliga, but was unable to score in this Nottingham Forest defeat.
Lewis O’Brien (£5.0m) played his first minutes in a Forest shirt, with new additions Harry Toffolo (£4.5m) and Neco Williams (£4.0m) starting in wing-back positions.
One of the game’s most-selected forwards, bench fodder Lyle Taylor (£4.5m), was involved again and has now appeared in all five of Forest’s summer friendlies. Whether he can offer game-time in 2022/23 is still up for debate, however, with recent reports suggesting he was surplus to requirements.
Star signing Jesse Lingard (£6.0m), not involved here, will most likely fit in as the playmaker behind two forwards in Steve Cooper’s 3-4-1-2 formation.
Nottingham Forest XI (3-4-3): Henderson; Worrall, Cook (Niakhate 46′), McKenna (Mbe Soh 76′); N Williams (Biancone 76′), O’Brien (Cafu 62′), Colback, Toffolo (Laryea 76′); Johnson (D Taylor 76′), Awoniyi (Hammond 69′), Mighten (L Taylor 60′)
PRE-SEASON MINUTES TRACKER
