The pre-season friendlies continued on Friday with Aston Villa, Fulham and Crystal Palace all in action.
BAYERN MUNICH 2-1 ASTON VILLA
- Goal: J Gomes
- Assist: Burrowes
Aston Villa XI: Bizot, Cash (Nedeljkovic 78), Lindelof, Pau (Mings 67), Maatsen (Rowe 78), Hemmings, Kamara (Bogarde 60), J Gomes, Buendia (Burrowes 78), Guessand (Lynch 67), Madjo (Abraham 59)
- Aston Villa suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich on Friday, as their Asian tour came to an end.
- John McGinn (£5.5m) and Alejandro Garnacho (£6.0m) both missed out due to injury, while Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m), Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) and Ollie Watkins (£8.0m) are yet to report for pre-season after the World Cup. Ross Barkley (£5.0m) and Alysson (£5.0m) were also absent.
- Joao Gomes (£5.5m) netted Villa’s only goal, with a superb, curled finish late on. He recorded three shots and two key passes from the middle of the park and was his side’s clear standout performer.
- Boubacar Kamara (£5.0m) made his first start of pre-season. He played slightly further forward than Gomes, effectively taking on the ‘Tielemans’ role from last season. This is likely to continue in 2026/27.
- Unai Emery sent out an unchanged XI for the start of the second half, and Villa came close to finding an equaliser when Evann Guessand (£5.50m) failed to turn home Emiliano Buendia’s (£6.0m) pinpoint free-kick.
- Here, Buendia played off the left rather than centrally, but frequently drifted into central areas. According to Fotmob, he racked up 17 defensive contributions (DefCon) in this match: 10 tackles, one interception and six recoveries. Due to Johan Manzambi’s (£6.0m) injury, Buendia could start for Villa away at Brighton and Hove Albion in Gameweek 1.
- Tammy Abraham (£5.5m), who replaced youngster Brian Madjo on the hour mark, came close to a headed equaliser. These were his first minutes of pre-season after recovering from a shoulder injury.
- Another substitute, Bradley Burrowes (£4.5m), impressed off the bench. He supplied the assist for Gomes and also set up that aforementioned chance for Abraham.
- Villa face Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday in the UEFA Super Cup. Martinez, Konsa and Watkins have all been named in the squad for that match.
FULHAM 1-2 CRYSTAL PALACE
- Goals: Robinson | Sarr, Franca
- Assists: Bobb | Richards, Mingueza
Fulham XI: Leno (Lecomte 45), Tete (Castagne 45), Cuenca (Andersen 62), Bassey (De Fougerolles 80), Robinson (Sessegnon 62), Reed (Berge 45), Iwobi, King (Zepa 80), Bobb (Smith Rowe 54), Palacios (Kevin 72), Garcia (Muniz 72)
Crystal Palace XI: Benitez, Riad (Tomiyasu 45), Richards (Sosa 63), Canvot, Cardines (Mingueza 45), Kamada (Doucoure 63), Wharton (Hughes 45), Mitchell, Sarr (Devenny 45), Nketiah (Rak-Sakyi 63), Strand Larsen (Franca 45)
- Crystal Palace recorded a 2-1 win over Fulham in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Friday.
- Chadi Riad (£4.5m), Adam Wharton (£5.5m) and Jorgen Strand Larsen (£6.0m) all made their first appearances of pre-season for Palace.
- As for Fulham, Cesar Palacios (£5.5m) and Gonzalo Garcia (£6.0m) both made their debuts, having arrived from Real Madrid earlier this week.
- Antonee Robinson (£4.5m) netted the opener for Alvaro Arbeloa’s side, firing home after he was picked out by Oscar Bobb (£5.5m). In a lively display off the right, Bobb created four chances for his teammates, a match high.
- Josh King (£5.5m) later hit the post, but it was Garcia who posed the biggest goal threat for the Cottagers. He racked up four shots, with two hitting the target, and probably should have scored at least one.
Above: Gonzalo Garcia’s shot map v Crystal Palace, via Sofascore
- Palacios came close to scoring too, when he hit the crossbar from close range.
- However, Ismaila Sarr (£6.5m) and Matheus Franca (£5.0m) struck on either side of half-time to put Palace in front.
- Sarr’s goal came from a corner routine, and he almost scored again shortly after but was denied by Fulham ‘keeper Bernd Leno (£4.5m). Like Garcia, he recorded four shots and nearly won a penalty, too.
- Franca, meanwhile, replaced Strand Larsen at half-time and subsequently netted his fourth goal of pre-season with an assist from Oscar Mingueza (£4.5m).
- On the left flank, Tyrick Mitchell (£4.5m) supplied the width and impressed, delivering several dangerous balls into the box.
- In addition to the above, Strand Larsen caused plenty of problems for the Fulham backline and nearly scored on a couple of occasions.
- Takehiro Tomiyasu came on at half-time, having officially joined Palace earlier in the day.
- Fulham and Palace will play their final pre-season friendlies next weekend, when they face Stuttgart and Freiburg respectively.
