Pre-season continued over the weekend as Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion and Coventry City all stepped up their preparations for the 2026/27 campaign.

We’ve rounded up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from each friendly, including team selection, tactical observations, standout performers, injury news and what the results could mean ahead of Gameweek 1.

READ MORE: FPL 2026/27 Pre-season Minutes, Goals + Assists Tracker

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• READ MORE: Tom Freeman’s FPL team reveal: 3-4-3 with Isak

ASTON VILLA 3-1 Indonesia All Stars XI

• Goals: Buendia, Barkley, Madjo
• Assists: Nedeljković, Lynch

Aston Villa XI: Wright, Nedeljković (Cash 46), Kéba Cissé (Carroll 46), Pau Torres (Mings 46), Rowe (Maatsen 46), Lindelöf (Bogarde 46), Barkley (João Gomes 46), McGinn (Alysson 46, Burrowes 77), Buendía (Hemmings 46), Garnacho (Lynch 46), Guessand (Madjo 46).

SCOUT NOTES

• Aston Villa kicked off their pre-season tour of Asia with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Indonesia All Stars. After defeats to Porto and Real Sociedad, Unai Emery’s side delivered a much-improved performance. Emiliano Buendía (£6.0m), Ross Barkley (£5.0m) and Brian Madjo all found the net as Villa controlled the contest for long periods.
• Several senior players returned after extended breaks following the FIFA World Cup. John McGinn (£5.5m) captained the side on his first start of pre-season, while Victor Lindelöf (£4.5m), Evann Guessand (£5.5m) and Alejandro Garnacho (£6.0m) also made their first appearances of the summer.
• There were tactical points of interest, too. Lindelöf lined up alongside Barkley in midfield rather than in defence, with McGinn, Buendía and Garnacho supporting Guessand further forward.
• One notable absentee remained Boubacar Kamara (£5.0m), who is still sidelined through injury. Lucas Digne (£4.5m) also missed out as his proposed move to Paris Saint-Germain continues to progress.
• Villa started brightly and almost opened the scoring immediately when Guessand forced Kartika Ajie into an early save. Moments later, they did take the lead. Kosta Nedeljković (£4.0m) continued his encouraging pre-season by exchanging passes down the right before cutting the ball back for Buendía, who calmly swept home. The Serbian full-back has impressed throughout pre-season and strengthened his claims for more minutes ahead of the new campaign – although he’s still very much Matty Cash‘s (£4.5m) deputy for now.
• Guessand remained heavily involved during the opening half. The striker twice found space inside the box but couldn’t convert either opportunity.
• Making his Villa debut, Garnacho showed flashes of pace and direct running. However, he struggled to influence proceedings consistently. His best opening saw a shot blocked after another dangerous Nedeljković cut-back.
• Barkley doubled Villa’s advantage on the stroke of half-time with an excellent left-footed finish from the edge of the area after creating space for himself.
• Emery changed 10 players at the break, with goalkeeper James Wright the only starter to remain on the pitch.
• The second-half side still contained plenty of senior quality. Cash, Tyrone Mings (£4.5m), Ian Maatsen (£4.5m) and Lamare Bogarde (£5.0m) all came on, while new signing João Gomes (£5.5m) continued to build his fitness in midfield. They joined several academy players, including Luka Lynch, George Hemmings (£4.5m) and Madjo, but Villa maintained their control and intensity after the restart.
• Madjo soon added the third. Lynch drove into space before sliding the striker through on goal, and the 17-year-old finished confidently past the goalkeeper. Madjo has now scored four goals during Villa’s pre-season matches, making him one of the standout performers of Villa’s summer. His latest strike followed goals against Walsall and Real Sociedad, while his all-round displays have been equally encouraging. The young forward has led the line confidently, used his physicality well and consistently looked composed in front of goal. He almost grabbed another moments later when Cash’s cross deflected his effort onto the crossbar before Alysson’s rebound was ruled out for offside. His competitive debut must still wait, however; Villa continue to await the outcome of their appeal regarding his registration following his move from Metz.
• Maatsen again impressed after coming on. The Dutch full-back provided attacking width throughout the second half and later delivered an excellent cross that Mings headed over. Cash also pushed forward well and took several set-pieces after replacing Nedeljković.

“Tactically, we are trying to understand our structure as soon as possible with the players we have. I am really optimistic with how we are building the team and how the players are responding every day.

“Keep going, try to avoid injuries and help the new players adapt as quickly as possible.” – Unai Emery

BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION 4-3 Strasbourg

• Goals: Gross pen, Boscagli, Cashin, Osman pen
• Assists: Wieffer, Gross, Boscagli

• Brighton and Hove Albion: Verbruggen (McGill 90), Wieffer (Tasker 46), Simmonds (Middleton 62), Boscagli (Oriola 75), Kadioglu (Cashin 46), Ayari (Yalcouye 46), Gross (Howell 46), Gomez (Cozier-Duberry 46), Hinshelwood (Buonanotte 46), Minteh (Osman 62), Kostoulas (Rutter 62).

SCOUT NOTES

• Brighton rounded off their week-long training camp in Austria with a 4-3 comeback victory over Strasbourg.
• Fabian Hurzeler’s side found themselves two goals behind inside the opening 14 minutes after strikes from Samuel Amo-Ameyaw and Martial Godo. However, Brighton responded impressively, with Pascal Gross (£5.5m), Olivier Boscagli (£4.5m), Eiran Cashin and Ibrahim Osman all finding the net.
• Perhaps the biggest talking point for Fantasy Premier League managers was where Brighton’s goals came from. All four arrived from set-piece situations after Hurzeler spent part of the training camp placing extra emphasis on dead-ball routines.

“I want to see a group that’s really good at set-pieces.

“I want them to keep building this set-piece culture because, like we all know, the Premier League is very keen on set-pieces.

“It is very important that we are strong on set pieces, but of course we also want to have our own identity on the pitch as well, and that is playing intense football.” – Fabian Hurzeler

• Brighton struggled defensively during the opening exchanges. Strasbourg repeatedly found joy down Brighton’s right-hand side, with Amo-Ameyaw causing problems before scoring the opener and then turning provider for Godo’s close-range finish.
• The Seagulls gradually settled into the contest and pulled a goal back midway through the first half. Gross stepped up from the penalty spot after Mats Wieffer (£5.0m) was fouled inside the area. The German initially saw his effort ruled out after the referee judged he had touched the ball twice, but calmly converted the retake to halve the deficit. With Danny Welbeck (£6.0m) gone, there’s a void to be filled from 12 yards – and Gross has struck the first blow.
• Gross remained heavily involved throughout the first half and again demonstrated his importance from set plays. Minutes later, Yankuba Minteh (£6.0m) won a free-kick on the edge of the area before Gross cleverly rolled the ball into the path of Boscagli, who fired an excellent first-time finish into the roof of the net.
• Brighton completed the turnaround shortly after the restart. Boscagli’s corner caused problems inside the six-yard box and substitute Cashin headed home from close range. The defender only returned to Brighton this summer after his loan spell at Blackburn Rovers and made an immediate impact after replacing youngster Harry Simmonds at half-time. Cashin almost doubled his tally later in the game. Facundo Buonanotte (£5.0m) floated a free-kick towards the back post, Charlie Tasker headed it across goal, but Cashin couldn’t keep his close-range effort down.
• Several substitutes impressed after the hour mark. Georginio Rutter (£5.5m) twice tested the Strasbourg goalkeeper and linked play well in the final third, while Osman provided Brighton with a constant outlet through his pace and direct running. There are question marks over who will lead the Brighton line after the departure of Welbeck to Chelsea. So, it will be worth monitoring Rutter’s role and performances closely. He could well take that starting striker spot, with Charalampos Kostoulas (£5.5m) also in the mix.
• Osman eventually earned his reward during the additional 30-minute period. After bursting into the penalty area, he drew a foul before picking himself up to calmly convert Brighton’s second penalty of the afternoon. Gross was off the field by this point.
• At the other end, Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) produced an important save to deny Godo after Brighton had taken the lead, while Strasbourg eventually grabbed a late consolation through Ghianny Kodia.

“We took it a little bit too easy in the first minutes. We weren’t that intense but, after we went 2-0 down, we showed resilience and reacted well.

“We were good in possession, but out of possession we definitely have to improve the little details. It was a good test in the end.” – Fabian Hurzeler

• While some regulars’ absences were explained by post-World Cup breaks, Kaoru Mitoma (£6.0m), Evan Ferguson (£5.0m) and Stefanos Tzimas (£5.5m) again missed out through injury. The latter is closest to recovery.

“They are all in rehab. Of course, I think Tzimas is the closest. He is already doing rehab on the pitch. But Evan Ferguson, also daily progress. Mitoma came back now from his rehab in Japan, started running. He is back now and good progress so looking forward.” – Fabian Hurzeler, via the Argus

Leicester City 0-1 COVENTRY CITY

• Goals: Latibeaudiere
• Assist: Kitching

Coventry City XI: Wilson (Dovin 75), van Ewijk (Kesler-Hayden 75), Thomas (Latibeaudiere 75), Kitching, Dasilva (Bidwell 75), Onyeka (Eccles 75), Grimes (Andrews 75), Sakamoto (Tchaouna 75), Torp (Thomas-Asante 75), Mason-Clark (Raphael 75), Simms (Wright 75).

SCOUT NOTES

• Coventry City continued their pre-season preparations with a 1-0 victory over Leicester City in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Seagrave.
• Frank Lampard named a strong starting XI. It closely resembled the side Sky Blues fans became accustomed to seeing during last season’s Championship run-in. New signing Loum Tchaouna (£5.5m) again started on the bench before making another second-half appearance.
• There were, however, a handful of notable absentees. As reported by the Coventry Telegraph, Luke Woolfenden (£4.0m) missed his second consecutive friendly for unspecified reasons. Jack Rudoni (£5.0m) continues his rehabilitation after shoulder surgery. Aurèle Amenda (£4.0m) remains unavailable following his involvement at the FIFA World Cup. Jahnoah Markelo (£5.0m) also missed out amid continued speculation linking him with a loan move to Rangers.
• There was no live coverage/highlights available for this game, so we’re reliant on the Coventry website’s match report for details.
• While goalkeeper Ben Wilson (£4.5m) made important stops at either end of the first half, Coventry gradually settled into the contest and created the better openings before the interval.
• Victor Torp (£5.5m) was at the heart of much of their attacking play. The Dane first fired narrowly over after being released by Liam Kitching (£4.0m). He then saw another effort deflected behind before sending a third strike over the crossbar.
• Budget defender Milan van Ewijk (£4.0m) was on corners, meanwhile. One of his deliveries found Bobby Thomas (£4.0m), whose header was comfortably gathered by Fran Vietes.
• Into the second half, Ellis Simms (£5.0m) forced an early save before Torp almost broke the deadlock when his ambitious free-kick from around 30 yards dropped narrowly over the crossbar. Lampard’s side continued to create chances. Simms again tested the Leicester goalkeeper. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto (£5.0m) then unleashed a powerful low strike that Vietes did well to turn behind.
• Lampard freshened things up after 75 minutes. He replaced every outfield player apart from Kitching, who completed the full 90 minutes.
• The winning goal arrived five minutes later from another set piece. Josh Eccles’ (£5.0m) corner was headed back across goal by Kitching. Joel Latibeaudiere (£4.0m) was in the right place to nod home from close range.
• Leicester almost equalised shortly afterwards when Michael Golding struck the crossbar. However, Coventry held on to record back-to-back clean sheets after last weekend’s goalless draw with Northampton Town.