Manchester City contested their first pre-season friendly of the summer on Sunday – and Erling Haaland (£14.0m) was among the goals.
City’s 5-3 win over Yokohama F Marinos is the focus of our latest Scout Notes, which picks out the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points.
We also analyse Chelsea’s 4-3 defeat of Brighton and Hove Albion.
- READ MORE: FPL pre-season: Arsenal v Man Utd analysis, £4.0m Burnley defenders start
- READ MORE: FPL pre-season: Young ‘out of position’ on Everton debut
Yokohama F Marinos 3-5 Manchester City
- Goals: Stones, Alvarez, Haaland x2, Rodri
- Assists: Alvarez, Phillips, Foden, Laporte, Cancelo
Pep Guardiola gave game-time to 22 players in Japan on Sunday as the reigning champions kicked off their pre-season campaign.
No outfielder lasted more than 45 minutes, with Saudi-bound Riyad Mahrez (£7.5m) the only significant absentee of note.
Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m) didn’t feature but was at least part of the matchday squad, returning to some semblance of fitness earlier than expected.
“He feels much, much, much better. I don’t know about Bayern Munich [on July 26] or the next game against Atletico Madrid [on July 30] because of course he has to train, but he is so close to being back.” – Pep Guardiola on Kevin De Bruyne
The Belgian’s imminent return to contention spells bad news for prospective owners of Julian Alvarez (£6.5m), who would have been eyeing De Bruyne’s usual number-eight role at the start of 2023/24.
Alvarez, here starting up top for City, responded with a goal and assist.
The Argentina international teed up John Stones (£5.5m) for City’s first goal before some high-pressing from Kalvin Phillips (£5.0m) left Alvarez with the easiest of finishes.
STONES ADVANCED
Stones picked up where he left off in 2022/23 and was back in his specialist ‘hybrid’ defender/midfielder role.
Taking up some eye-catching positions when City were in possession, his goal – an open-play effort from inside the hosts’ box – has only increased his popularity in FPL ahead of Gameweek 1: his ownership has now crept up past 21%, making him the second-most-popular City asset in the game.
“I was trying to get in good positions and carry on from where I was last season, getting in those attacking spaces.
“I’m really enjoying it. I’m still learning every day, training, trying to master little things that I’m good at and work on the things that I’m not good at.
“And if the manager wants to play me there and then decides to do new things or the same things and build on them from last season, I’ll give it my all as I did.
“I absolutely love the kind of freedom to get forward and create things and bring my qualities and that side of my game out. I surprise myself sometimes in the positions I get in but yeah, I really enjoy it and I’m just trying to give everything every time I go out there.” – John Stones on his hybrid role
HAALAND ‘MUCH BETTER’
A sharp-looking Haaland came off the bench to bag a brace in the second half – and Guardiola sent an ominous warning to the rest of the Premier League after full-time.
“Compared to last season in that [pre-season] period, he is fitter. He is much better than last season when he arrived.
“He is not injured, looks good but he is still away from the best condition, like everyone. It is important for him to score two goals the first but last season, the last games, he could not score. It is important to take the rhythm and the principles we work with all the time.
“He knows exactly what he has to do, we know him and in a few weeks he will be in better condition than he is now.” – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland
The other main tactical point of note was the deployment of Phil Foden (£7.5m) in a central midfield position. We’d seen Foden there in the UEFA Champions League final, with Ilkay Gundogan’s departure furthering the likelihood of us seeing a repeat of that in 2023/24. Yes, Mateo Kovacic (£5.0m) has been brought in – but he’s not a ‘runner’ in the Gundogan/Foden mould for when City encounter deep blocks.
Foden was in the thick of things after his introduction, teeing up Haaland for his first strike and then wasting a big chance of his own when ghosting behind the Yokohama defence.
Forgotten man Joao Cancelo (£6.0m) provided a superb, De Bruyne-esque assist for Haaland’s second – but if Guardiola is to persist with his inverted full-back tactics, it’s difficult to see where Cancelo fits in.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION 3-4 CHELSEA
- Goals: Welbeck, Joao Pedro (pen), Undav | Nkunku, Mudryk, Gallagher, Jackson
- Assists: Mitoma, Joao Pedro | Chukwuemeka, Jackson x2, Cucurella
The Graham Potter Derby went the way of Chelsea as the stateside Premier League Summer Series got underway in Philadelphia.
The goals rained after Jan Paul van Hecke‘s (£4.5m) red card on the hour, the score tied at 1-1 at that point.
CHELSEA FORWARDS ON TARGET
Nicolas Jackson (£7.0m) was the main beneficiary of Chelsea’s numerical advantage, claiming three attacking returns.
The summer signing from Villarreal played a superb one-two with the bright Mykhailo Mudryk (£6.5m) before the Ukrainian scored, with Conor Gallagher (£5.5m) then sweeping home following Jackson’s tee-up.
Jackson went on to net a goal of his own, finishing coolly after racing onto Marc Cucurella‘s (£5.0m) through-ball.
We’ve yet to see Jackson and Christopher Nkunku (£7.5m) in the same line-up; the thinking is that the former could be deployed up top, with the versatile Nkunku in the number 10 role.
Nkunku had led the line in the first half of the Brighton game, prodding home the Blues’ early equaliser.
But Mauricio Pochettino teased us with the prospect of the big-money pair being united in attack in friendlies to come.
“For sure we will arrive in the next few games at the possibility to play them together. It is that the circumstance of the physical condition means we need to use both to share the minutes.” – Mauricio Pochettino on his two new forwards
PEDRO ON THE SPOT
A Brighton forward also caught the eye – but it wasn’t the much-vaunted Evan Ferguson (£6.0m), who didn’t even set foot on to the pitch.
Joao Pedro (£5.5m), on as a second-half substitute, was the star of the show from the Seagulls, converting and winning a penalty before providing an Isak-esque assist for Deniz Undav (£5.5m) to peg Chelsea back to 4-3.
“[He’s a] top player for us. He’s still young, but I think he can be a crucial player for us this season because he has incredible ability, he’s a complete player.
“He knows how to score, he has the abilities to attack the spaces on the field, he has incredible technical abilities and I am excited for this new player.” – Roberto De Zerbi on Joao Pedro
With Ferguson, Joao Pedro and the equally hyped Julio Enciso (£5.5m) only among the substitutes, there is a clear rotation risk with several Brighton players going into Gameweek 1.
Danny Welbeck (£6.0m) found the net and was bright when leading the line in the first half, while the fit-again Adam Lallana (£5.0m) – who let’s not forget was heavily favoured by De Zerbi in the number 10 role before his injury – was deployed in Enciso’s usual position.
“Joao Pedro is a great, great player but in attack, we have a lot of great players. The difficulty is to decide the first XI.” – Roberto De Zerbi
Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) and Solly March (£6.5m) were at least in their usual wing roles, with Mitoma claiming the assist for Welbeck’s goal, but Pascal Gross‘s (£6.5m) versatility saw him shunted to left-back in the absence of the soon-to-return Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m).
Jason Steele (£4.5m) and Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) got 45 minutes apiece, to keep us guessing between the posts.
ME GUSTO
Budget Chelsea defender Malo Gusto (£4.0m) was again deployed at right-back, with Reece James (£5.5m) in training but not risked.
Cash-freeing price tag aside, it was Ben Chilwell (£5.5m) on the opposite flank who caught the eye – the left-back being very advanced before his half-time withdrawal.
“The manager wanted me to get forward as much as possible, it’s also my game to try to get forward as much as possible.
“The spaces were there and I tried to exploit that, I tried to get in behind as much as possible. I think I did that.” – Ben Chilwell
It’ll be interesting to see if and how Pochettino incorporates both James and Chilwell in his line-up, and whether either of them will be given more attacking license than the other. Gusto, indeed, was less gung-ho than his fellow full-back on the opposite flank.
Chelsea XI: Kepa; Gusto (Humphreys 70), Silva (Chalobah 46), Colwill (Hall 46), Chilwell (Cucurella 46); Santos (Fernandez 62), Gallagher; Sterling (Angelo 62), Chukwuemeka (Casadei 46), Maatsen (Mudryk 46); Nkunku (Jackson 62).
Brighton and Hove Albion XI: Steele (Verbruggen 46); Hinshelwood (Samuels 66), van Hecke, Webster (Alzate 53), Gross (Weir 66); Dahoud (Veltman 46), Gilmour (Ayari 53), March (Adingra 46), Lallana (Undav 46), Mitoma (Enciso 53); Welbeck (Pedro 53).
Hazz’s excellent player-by-player appraisal of Chelsea’s team against Brighton is also well worth a read in our Hot Topics section.
