FPL friendlies round-up: Odegaard and Doherty sharp, White returns

Fantasy Premier League (FPL) will soon be back – and Premier League clubs’ preparations for Gameweek 17 are ramping up with some mid-season friendlies.

All Premier League clubs bar Bournemouth, Manchester City and Southampton have already contested kickabouts since Gameweek 16 ended, with our Scout Notes series reporting on the most noteworthy tactical tweaks, injury news and manager quotes.

Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brentford, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers are the focus here.

More friendlies and Carabao Cup ties will follow before we reach Gameweek 17, so for a full rundown of when and where your Fantasy assets might be in action, check out our complete guide to the FPL restart.

ARSENAL

DEC 13: ARSENAL 2-1 AC MILAN

• Goals: Odegaard, Nelson
• Assists: Odegaard
• Arsenal XI: Hein, White (Cedric 46), Holding, Gabriel, Tierney, Partey (Elneny 46), Lokonga (Smith 90), Vieira (Marquinhos 74), Odegaard, Nelson, Nketiah (Butler-Oyedeji 81)

Goals from Martin Odegaard (£6.4m) and Reiss Nelson (£4.8m) helped Arsenal claim the Dubai Super Cup after beating AC Milan 2-1, just days after easing past Lyon.

Odegaard’s opener was an excellent free-kick, with the playmaker central to most of the Gunners’ attacks. He’s already registered more ‘big chances’ in 2022/23 than he did in the whole of last season and is undoubtedly a player creeping onto the Fantasy radar for the restart.

READ MORE: The FPL Half-Term report: Arsenal

Aside from Odegaard, Arsenal’s standout performers were Fabio Vieira (£5.7m) and Nelson. The latter doubled his side’s advantage with a deflected effort and looked a handful when attacking.

Elsewhere, Ben White (£4.7m) made his return after pulling out of the England squad during the World Cup, playing 45 minutes at right-back.

“I’m very pleased, everybody has been giving him a lot of support and love which is what he needed. You know the reasons why he had to leave the camp, and we are delighted to have him back and have him in really good shape.” Mikel Arteta on Ben White

Eddie Nketiah (£6.5m), meanwhile, featured up front once again, but didn’t have any real chances and failed to make much of an impact. Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m) has been the focal point of Arsenal’s attack this season, but suffered an injury during the World Cup, with Nketiah potentially set to deputise in his absence.

On his other World Cup stars, Mikel Arteta added:

“That’ll take a few more days. Granit [Xhaka] is already here, and is training and willing to participate on the weekend, so we don’t have that many away now so that is a positive thing.” – Mikel Arteta

Arsenal’s final mid-season friendly before the restart is against Juventus on Saturday.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

DEC 14: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3-1 PETERBOROUGH UNITED U21S

• Goals: White, Gil, Doherty
• Assists: Sanchez, Kulusevski, Gil
• Tottenham Hotspur XI: Austin (Whiteman 62), Tanganga (Muir 82), Sanchez (Fagin-Walcott 82), Lenglet (Lyons-Foster 69), Spence (Paskotsi 82), Bissouma (Sarr 69), Skipp (Devine 82), Doherty (Craig 82), Kulusevski (Robson 82), White (Santiago 82), Gil (Mathurin 82)

Matt Doherty (£4.6m) made it three goals in two mid-season friendlies as Tottenham Hotspur beat Peterborough United Under-21s 3-1 behind closed doors.

It was another all-action display from the wing-back, who showed his positional versatility by swapping flanks with Djed Spence (£4.1m) in the second half.

As a result, Doherty has put himself in a strong position to start against Brentford in Gameweek 17. That’s because Emerson Royal (£4.9m) and Ryan Sessegnon (£4.5m) have failed to feature in any of the friendlies so far, while Ivan Perisic (£5.5m) is still on international duty with Croatia at the World Cup.

Sessegnon is back in training but away from the group after he picked up a hamstring injury in the Carabao Cup meeting with Nottingham Forest, while Royal’s latest absence was down to a minor knock. The good news for FPL managers is that both players’ status will become clearer when Spurs face Nice on Wednesday night.

Elsewhere, Son Heung-min (£11.6m) returned to training at Hotspur Way earlier this week, as he took part in some fitness work alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (£5.5m).

As for the on-pitch action, Antonio Conte made just one change from the starting XI that beat Motherwell 4-0 last Friday, with Charlie Sayers making way for Clement Lenglet (£4.8m).

Spurs grabbed the opener when Davinson Sanchez (£4.3m) headed Dejan Kulusevski’s (£8.0m) corner across to Harvey White (£4.4m) to tap home. Notably, it’s now two goals scored from Kulusevski corners in the last two friendlies, while he also supplied the assist for Gil’s second.

ASTON VILLA

DEC 15: ASTON VILLA 0-1 VILLARREAL

• Aston Villa XI: Olsen (Marschall 45), A Young (Cash 60), Konsa (Chambers 60), Mings (Bednarek 60), Digne (Augustinsson 60), Luiz (Nakamba 85), Kamara (Dendoncker 60), McGinn (Raikhy 85), Buendia (85), Bailey (K Young 73), Watkins (Ings 60)

Aston Villa were defeated by Unai Emery’s former club Villarreal on Thursday, with Ollie Watkins (£7.1m) particularly wasteful in front of goal.

The 26-year-old started up front alongside Leon Bailey (£4.5m) and had a goal ruled out for offside, also hitting the woodwork on three occasions.

Bailey, meanwhile, was bright and looked a threat in the final third, while Emiliano Buendia (£5.7m) was his side’s creator in chief, and looks like he will have a major role to play in the second half of the season. Philippe Coutinho (£6.6m) is yet to feature in any of Villa’s recent friendlies, so a start for Buendia in Gameweek 17 looks promising.

On the hour mark, Emery introduced World Cup players Jan Bednarek (£4.2m), Matty Cash (£4.6m) and Leander Dendoncker (£4.7m), although Emiliano Martinez (£4.9m) remains in Qatar with Argentina. However, according to local paper the Birmingham Mail, Emery wants the latter to start in goal in Gameweek 17 regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s final.

This was Villa’s final friendly before they return to Premier League action against Liverpool on Boxing Day.

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

DEC 14: CADIZ 3-4 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

• Goals: OG x2, Collins, Podence
• Assists: Ait-Nouri, Moutinho, Costa, Hwang
• Wolverhampton Wanderers XI: Sarkic, Semedo (Lembikisa 70), Collins (Pond 77), Gomes (Mosquera 70), Kilman, Ait-Nouri (Bueno 45), Moutinho (Ronan 77), Hodge (Griffiths 87), Traore (Hwang 45, Farmer 87), Podence (Guedes 45), Costa (Jimenez 45)

Wolves ran out 4-3 winners over Cadiz in their final friendly match, as they ended their mid-season camp in Spain on a high.

The Molineux outfit took the lead through an own goal, with Nathan Collins (£4.4m) and Daniel Podence (£5.3m) also on the scoresheet in the first half. Another own goal completed the win, as they hung on to a confidence-boosting victory.

However, there were frailties on show in the backline, with Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.2m) and Hugo Bueno (£3.9) both playing 45 minutes at left wing-back.

The game also marked the return of Raul Jimenez (£6.8m) and Hwang Hee-chan (£5.7m) following their World Cup exploits.

“I want this moment. It’s important that they return physically, but also mentality – they have to be here, and to be with a big commitment now with Wolves. Sometimes it’s not easy because I have lived the World Cup and it’s a very intensive time, they have to forget all this and to focus here, and to help us to be better.

Now I have the chance to talk with Hee Chan and also with Raul, they have been working for the last days here, and on Friday, we will be joined by the Portuguese players too, so we are going to have all our players for us.” – Julen Lopetegui on welcoming his full squad back

Now, Wolves will meet Gillingham in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday ahead of Gameweek 17.

BRENTFORD

DEC 13: BRENTFORD 1-3 CELTA VIGO

• Goals: Wissa
• Assists: Canos
• Brentford XI: Winterbottom, Zanka (Crama 80), Pinnock, Mee, Roerslev (Adedokun 80), Janelt (Gilbert 65), Trevitt, Lewis-Potter, Canos (Yarmoliuk 65), Wissa (Olakigbe 80), Toney

Brentford were beaten 3-1 by La Liga outfit Celta Vigo on Tuesday, marking their second mid-season friendly defeat in a row.

Thomas Frank’s side took an early lead when Sergi Canos (£5.0m) played in Yoane Wissa (£5.3m), who converted from close range. The latter also had a second-half goal disallowed for offside.

Tactically, Brentford started out in a 3-4-3 formation which saw Keane Lewis-Potter (£5.2m) line up at wing-back.

“I’m used to playing on the wing, slightly more inside. I played there for Hull a few times last season, but as long as I’m on the pitch, I’m happy. There is a lot more running to do at wing-back! But, no, I enjoy it.” – Keane Lewis-Potter

Further forward, Canos – who is classified as a defender in FPL – and Wissa flanked captain Ivan Toney (£7.4m) in attack, who almost found the net in the first half. It remains to be seen, however, whether he will be available in Gameweek 17 after his FA betting charge.