Here are the standout Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from the pre-season friendlies that took place on Tuesday and early Wednesday morning.
- READ MORE: FPL 2024/25 pre-season minutes tracker: Every player, every game
- READ MORE: FPL 2024/25 pre-season guide: Tips, best players, fixtures + more
MANCHESTER CITY 2-2 BARCELONA
- Goals: Nico O’Reilly, Jack Grealish
- Assists: Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic
Erling Haaland (£15.0m) was substituted at half-time in Manchester City’s pre-season friendly in Orlando, with Pep Guardiola later saying he has a minor muscular issue.
His withdrawal sounded precautionary, but it is of course a situation to monitor in the coming days and weeks.
“He got some niggles. He didn’t feel good. He is disturbing something, doesn’t feel comfortable, we don’t want to take risks. Sooner or later he has to take a step. He has niggles, muscular, don’t want to take a risk and lose him for three weeks. That would be a problem. 60, 70% of the squad are on holiday. At the same time, we have alternatives, Oscar [Bobb] makes an incredible job. We’re pleased with many things.” – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland
In the first-half, Haaland thought he’d scored during the 2-2 draw, which City later lost on penalties. However, a lack of goalline technology denied him of a third pre-season goal.
City are next in action against Chelsea on Saturday, so if Haaland is protected, we could potentially see Oscar Bobb (£5.0m) or Jack Grealish (£6.5m) line up through the middle.
Bobb was quieter here but still racked up four key passes.
As for Grealish, he was excellent, scoring his first pre-season goal with five shots overall. A constant threat throughout, his performance impressed Guardiola.
“He was aggressive. I know in controlling the ball he is good, but [tonight] he made four or five shots. This is what it is – he has to prove himself, but I am really pleased with the game he played.” – Pep Guardiola on Jack Grealish
Grealish added:
“I’m happy with the way I played. I said in the press conference the other day that I want to come here and show that I’m back fit and back playing with the confidence I know I can have. Hopefully we can have more performances like that. Obviously, I want to score more goals, get more assists and help the team like anyone does. I’ll take on what the manager says and hopefully moving forward I can do that.” – Jack Grealish
Elsewhere, Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) was named in the starting XI for the first time in pre-season, lining up at centre-half next to Kalvin Phillips (£5.0m). He still provided a slick pass for Nico O’Reilly’s goal, however, which you can watch here.
Meanwhile, Ederson (£5.5m), who has been linked with a move away from City, was named captain but wasn’t at his best.
City are yet to win a game on their US tour, not that it really matters given their absentees. An unconcerned Guardiola said:
“Every game we are getting better – our condition is getting better. Rico [Lewis], again, thank you so much, Oscar [Bobb], Nico [O’Reilly]… all. Kalvin [Phillips] made an excellent performance today. Josko [Gvardiol] the first minutes, Kova [Mateo Kovacic] the first minutes, so yeah that’s really good.” – Pep Guardiola
Manchester City XI: Ederson (Ortega 46); Lewis, Phillips, Gvardiol (Doyle 66), Wilson-Esbrand (Mbete 75); Kovacic (Wright 66), O’Reilly (Susoho 66), McAtee (Ahmed 66); Bobb (Hamilton 75), Grealish (Heskey 84), Haaland (Perrone 46)
COVENTRY CITY 3-0 EVERTON
In another poor display, Everton slumped to a 3-0 defeat against Championship outfit Coventry City. As a result, the Toffees are still searching for their first pre-season win.
Admittedly, there are a number of first-team players unavailable, but performances are still a bit of a concern.
On Tuesday, chances fell to strike duo Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) and Iliman Ndiaye (£5.5m), but the whole team struggled, lacking any real creativity in the final-third.
As for James Tarkowski (£5.0m), he’s picked up a glute injury but Sean Dyche has said his issue is not serious. Jordan Pickford (£5.0m), Jarrad Branthwaite (£5.0m) and Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.5m) also missed out here.
“From our point of view, like I say, we are missing too many very important players. We are hoping they are going to come back sooner rather than later. We are bedding players in and it is difficult when they are in this fitness period to just do any tactical shape and understanding. So we are trying to manage a lot and get it all right when we know deep down there are five, six, seven players who have been very important to us who will be important again.
“There’s three or four we think might be close for the weekend, but two or three we might have to protect beyond then. There is better news with Tarky [Tarkowski], he might be around it at the weekend, we will see. Gana as well might be around it. Jordan [Pickford] is obviously not back yet. Jake [O’Brien], we will see on his fitness, he is another newcomer to us. There’s a few more on top of that. Jesper [Lindstrom] is more of a common-sense sort of thing; he’s just got here – a niggly thigh, nothing too heavy. Jarrad [Branthwaite] is making progress as well but isn’t quite there yet.” – Sean Dyche
Everton XI: Virginia; Coleman (Dixon 78), Holgate, Keane, Young (Campbell 78); Harrison, Garner, Iroegbunam, McNeil (67); Ndiaye (Doucoure 46), Calvert-Lewin (Beto 59)
ESTRELA DA AMADORA 3-1 BRENTFORD
- Goals: Mathias Jensen
- Assists: Christian Norgaard
In a behind-closed doors friendly, Brentford rounded off their pre-season trip to Portugal with a 3-1 defeat to Estrela da Amadora.
Mathias Jensen (£5.5m) scored for Thomas Frank’s side with a deflected strike, but fellow midfielder Vitaly Janelt (£5.0m) had to be withdrawn on 65 minutes after picking up an injury.
It’s another concern for Thomas Frank and follows Igor Thiago’s (£6.0m) meniscus injury sustained against AFC Wimbledon last week.
Here, Kevin Schade (£5.5m), Yoane Wissa (£6.0m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£7.0m) lined up in a front three, at times combining nicely in the final-third.
Brentford now return to England for their final two pre-season friendlies against Watford and Wolfsburg.
Brentford XI: Valdimarrson (Cox 46); Ajer (McManus 80), Collins (Zanka 46), Ji-soo, Frederick (Booth 80); Norgaard (Janelt 46, Konak 65), Damsgaard (Yarmoliuk 46), Jensen (Peart-Harris 46); Schade (Yogane 80), Wissa, Mbeumo (Morgan 80)
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