We’re really into the thick of the pre-season friendlies now, with 13 Premier League sides in action at the weekend.
Among them were Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley, West Ham United and Aston Villa.
For the key notes from the other glorified kickabouts, check these reports out below:
- FPL pre-season: Wirtz assists, Frimpong OOP + £4.5m defender brace
- FPL pre-season: How Spurs + Kudus looked in Frank’s first match
- FPL pre-season: Cunha + Elanga debuts, Isak absence explained
- FPL pre-season: Gibbs-White mins, Wilson pen + Sunderland injury
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1-1 BURNLEY
- Goals: Strand Larsen | Bruun Larsen
- Assists: Hoever | Hartman
Wolverhampton Wanderers took on newly promoted Burnley in Portugal on Saturday and it was a good day if your name was Larsen.
Jørgen Strand Larsen gave Wolves the lead in this training ground friendly, following good work down the right flank from Ki-Jana Hoever. However, Burnley’s new signing Jacob Bruun Larsen equalised midway through the second half.
Strand Larsen had an encouraging 2024/25, producing 14 goals and four assists without calling upon penalties. Wolves have doubtless been weakened by the departure to Manchester United of Matheus Cunha, who was outstanding last year, but Strand Larsen is a natural goalscorer and could still thrive next year – perhaps even inheriting spot-kicks.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, playing in an unfamiliar left wing-back role in the absence of Hugo Bueno, also came close to getting on the scoresheet but his effort, following a corner from Fer Lopez, hit the inside of the post.
Vitor Pereira made wholesale changes on the hour mark, shortly before Burnley equalised, with Sasa Kalajdzic looking bright and purposeful and getting in several threatening positions
Burnley might have taken the lead in the first half when a nice move involving Kyle Walker and Luca Koleosho set up Jaydon Banel, who was denied by the impressive Sam Johnstone in the Wolves goal.
Scott Parker made sweeping changes to the side at half-time and levelled when £4.0m FPL defender Quilindschy Hartman’s header at the far post was half-volleyed home by Bruun Larsen, who re-signed for the club last week, displaying his midfielder’s knack for snaffling goals.
“It was another step in the right direction for us. To be fair to the lads, it’s been a tough week, a really full-on week, so I was really pleased with the general performance. We’re nudging along in the right direction, there were some really positive bits, so it was really pleasing overall.” – Burnley manager Scott Parker
Wolverhampton Wanderers XI: Johnstone (Bentley 45), Hoever (Lima 62), Doherty (Pond 62), Agbadou (S Bueno 62), Toti, Bellegarde, Andre (Guedes 62), J Gomes (Lopes 62), Lopez (Hwang 62), Munetsi, Strand Larsen (Kalajdzic 62).
No Burnley line-up information available
GRASSHOPPERS 1-3 WEST HAM UNITED
- Goals: Irving, Marshall, Paqueta pen
- Assists: Bowen, Paqueta
West Ham ran out 3-1 winners against the 27-time Swiss champions thanks to goals by Andy Irving, Callum Marshall and Lucas Paquetá.
The Hammers set up with five at the back to begin with in order to dominate possession, with new FPL forward Jarrod Bowen and Niclas Füllkrug up top. They took the lead on 13 minutes when Bowen set up Scotland midfielder Irving to score.
Bowen was a livewire throughout and almost scored himself on the half-hour when he fired narrowly over the bar, while Fullkrug also drove wide in the first half.
The visitors changed their entire XI in the second half and reverted to four at the back. The change paid off as they doubled their lead two minutes in when 20-year-old academy product Marshall was put through by a lovely flick from Paquetá, to finish coolly.
New signing El Hadji Malick Diouf came off the bench at half-time and instantly impressed with his pace down the left. The Senegalese left-sided full-back/wing-back set up Tomáš Souček with a measured cross on the hour, only for the midfielder to fluff his lines, and was also unlucky to see his goalbound header cleared off the line.
Soon afterwards, Jonathan Asp Jensen beat second-half goalkeeper Wes Foderingham with a well-taken strike but the Hammers made sure of victory when Paquetá scored a penalty after having been fouled two minutes from time.
Irving caught the eye in the first half with his string-pulling in midfield and his well-taken goal, while academy product Lewis Orford also impressed in the second with his range of passing and box-crashing runs.
But while these two will do well to even get in the team in 2025/26, the early suspicion is that Diouf is the one to watch for FPL managers next year.
“You can see what he [Diouf] brings to the team. He attacked the back line a lot and got in some good crossing positions. He looked dangerous and played with enthusiasm. He’s only been with us a few days, but the first signs are really positive.” – West Ham manager Graham Potter
“The first half was a good, controlled performance. Andy Irving contributed to that well. It was nice for him to score. Jarrod did really well for the goal, too. The second half was a bit more open, but I think Callum [Marshall’s] goal was really well-taken, and the penalty just kills it off. From a fitness perspective, from a tactical perspective, it was a really good day.” – West Ham manager Graham Potter
West Ham United XI: Areola (Foderingham 46), Wan-Bissaka (Mavropanos 46), Todibo (Aguerd 46), Kilman (Casey 46), Scarles (Diouf 46), Ward-Prowse (Potts 46), Rodríguez (Orford 46), Irving (Souček 46), Cornet (Paquetá 46), Bowen (L. Guilherme 46), Füllkrug (Marshall 46)
HANSA ROSTOCK 3-1 ASTON VILLA
- Goal: Ramsey
- Assist: Moreno
Aston Villa’s first proper pre-season friendly of the summer resulted in defeat in sweltering conditions in Germany.
Unai Emery fielded a starting XI of first-team players in the first half but were still missing a number of leading international lights such as Ollie Watkins, Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Martinez and Ezri Konsa.
In Martinez’s absence, new signing Marco Bizot made his debut in goal.
Jacob Ramsey gave his side the lead in a dominant first half from the visitors.
Tyrone Mings almost struck after 20 minutes when his header from Ross Barkley’s corner came hit the post, while Pau Torres preserved Villa’s advantage with a goal-saving clearance.
Villa began to assert control as the half wore on, with Ramsey cutting in from the left and Andres Garcia stretching the hosts high up on the opposite flank. Boubacar Kamara fired just over before Ramsey scored on the stroke of half-time, taking a pass from Álex Moreno and curling a shot inside the post.
After the break, Emery rang the changes, introducing a raft of academy players. Hansa took advantage, with substitute David Hummel robbing TJ Carroll to score the first of two goals which came on either side of Maximilian Krauß’s unstoppable drive past Filip Marschall.
Villa can draw encouragement from the performance of 17-year-old George Hemmings, who impressed in central midfield, but the second-half display will do little to dispel concern among Villa fans that more needs to be done to strengthen in the transfer market if they are to have another strong season.
Aston Villa XI: Bizot (Marschall 46); Mings (Carroll 64), Barkley (Hemmings 46), Torres (Mosquera 64), Álex Moreno (Özcan 46), García (Rowe 64), Bogarde (Borland 78), Ramsey (Patterson 64), Kamara (Pavey 64), Jimoh-Aloba (Dobbin 64), Burrowes (Barry 78).
