The latest batch of noteworthy Fantasy Premier League (FPL) friendlies saw Granit Xhaka (£5.0m) make his return to English football and more fuel get added to the Donyell Malen (£5.5m) bandwagon.
Alongside these Aston Villa and Sunderland outings was a secret Manchester City runout versus Preston North End.
Below, you can also read some takeaways from other recent friendlies:
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Nashville SC 2-2 Aston Villa
- Goals: Ollie Watkins, Donyell Malen
- Assists: Lucas Digne, Jamaldeen Jimoh
It’s still a surprise to see Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) in just 13.0% of current FPL squads, considering Villa’s great early fixtures and the reliability that comes with 50 goals and 34 assists over three seasons.
Soon after curling wide from a tricky angle, Watkins netted for the third time in this tour of America.
His glancing header into the far corner came from Lucas Digne‘s (£4.5m) perfect left-sided cross.
Yet of even more interest to FPL managers could be Donyell Malen‘s (£5.5m) form. Although not in the initial starting XI, he came on at half-time, just like Morgan Rogers (£7.0m), John McGinn (£5.5m), Youri Tielemans (£6.0m) and Ezri Konsa (£4.5m).
The latter put one chance wide, before Tielemans pounced upon a loose defensive pass and played in Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba (£4.5m). The 18-year-old fed Malen, who cut inside and scored. Following three assists, it’s the January arrival’s first summer goal.
- READ MORE: Best £5.0m-£5.5m midfielders for FPL 2025/26
In fact, with Jhon Duran and Marcus Rashford not around, Malen could be Watkins’ only competition up front. But it’s also possible that cheap midfielder Malen plays on the right, while Watkins gets a free run at Brentford, Everton, Sunderland and Burnley by Gameweek 7.
Once Unai Emery replaced his whole XI, the Tennessee-based Major League Soccer outfit fought back to 2-2.
Aston Villa first half XI: Martinez; Cash, Bogarde, Pau, Digne; Kamara, Onana; Bailey, Buendia, Ramsey; Watkins
Aston Villa second half XI: Martinez (Gauci 64); Bogarde (Rowe 64), Konsa, Mings, Maatsen (Patterson 80); Tielemans, McGinn; Bailey (Iling-Junior 64), Rogers, Jimoh; Malen
Manchester City 1-0 Preston North End
- Goal: Rico Lewis
- Assist: Oscar Bobb
Meanwhile, Man City’s first pre-season match took place behind closed doors at the City Football Academy.
Very little is known about their first sighting since the Club World Cup, but we know the goalscorer, assist-maker and several participants.
Players that featured in #ManCity's 1-0 behind closed doors friendly win vs Preston North End included: Rico Lewis (goal), Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Nico O'Reilly, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Nico, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Rayan Cherki, Oscar Bobb, Savinho, Jeremy Doku,…
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 2, 2025
Hopefully, Saturday’s clash with Palermo in Sicily can offer more clues on Pep Guardiola’s mindset. Does he trust Phil Foden (£8.0m) to return to his 2023/24 best? Could James Trafford (£5.0m) be his number one goalkeeper?
And will Rayan Ait-Nouri (£6.0m) start against former club Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 1?
Sunderland 0-1 Real Betis
Newly-promoted Sunderland faced their second Seville-based opponent of recent weeks but, in front of several thousand at the Stadium of Light, Saturday’s loss to Real Betis was their fourth consecutive defeat.
Enzo Le Fee (£5.0m) was restricted to a cameo appearance this time, with no minutes for Patrick Roberts (£5.5m) or Dan Neil (£5.0m). Instead, debuts happened for Xhaka, goalkeeper Robin Roefs (£4.5m) and experienced left-back Reinildo Mandava (£4.0m).
Of Sunderland’s £4.0m defenders, he’s very likely got the best chance of not just starting in Gameweek 1 but keeping his place thereafter.
The Mackems’ best moments derived from Xhaka. It was the 32-year-old’s pass that set up an offside Simon Adingra (£5.5m) strike, before Aitor Ruibal’s header won it for the Conference League finalists. Xhaka was on set pieces, too.
Eliezer Mayenda (£5.5m) stated again and will likely lead the line come Gameweek 1 – Wilson Isidor (£5.5m) was absent again through injury – but the Spain Under-21 forward failed to make an impact. The imminent addition of Marc Guiu (£4.5m) adds further line-up uncertainty in the medium term.
Sunderland XI: Roefs; Hume, Ballard, H Jones, Reinildo (Le Fee 61); Diarra (Huggins 61), Sadiki, Xhaka; Talbi, Mayenda, Adingra
