We’re looking at the key Fantasy takeaways from the penultimate weekend of pre-season friendlies in our Scout Notes.
Here, we focus on the games involving Newcastle United and Hull City.
Valencia 1-2 NEWCASTLE UNITED
- Goals: Wissa x2
- Assist: Toure
Newcastle United XI: Hornicek, Shahar (M Miley 46), Thiaw (Johnson 72), Botman, Pivas (Charlton 67), Bamba (Steur 46), Ramsey (Joelinton 67), Elanga (J Murphy 39), Woltemade (Willock 67), Barnes (Toure 46), Osula (Wissa 46).
SCOUT NOTES
- Matthias Jaissle took charge of Newcastle for the first time on Saturday, overseeing a victory over 10-man Valencia. The incoming head coach sent his side out in a 4-2-3-1.
- The injury crisis at full-back necessitated run-outs for youngsters Leo Shahar and Miodrag Pivas. Lewis Hall (£5.0m) could, at least, be back for the next friendly against Everton, having left the training camp in Spain to manage a minor issue. Tino Livramento (£5.0m), however, has not been seen since undergoing calf surgery in June.
- New signings Bazoumana Traore (£6.0m), Lukas Hornicek (£5.0m) and Aladji Bamba (£5.0m) made their debuts, while Joelinton (£5.5m), Nick Woltemade (£6.0m), Malick Thiaw (£5.0m) and Yoane Wissa (£6.0m) appeared for the first time in pre-season.
- Bamba and Jacob Ramsey (£5.0m) formed the double pivot in the first half, with impressive teenager Sean Steur (£5.0m) and Joelinton replacing them in the second. Steur, constantly showing for the ball and making more passes into the final third than any other Newcastle player, looks a hell of a prospect, but alas he may be more of an ‘assisting the assister’ type on first glance. Bamba, occasionally dropping between the two centre-halves, was more of a mixed bag. Neither player got anywhere near DefCon returns, although they did only play 45 minutes apiece.
- Toure was more eye-catching from an FPL perspective. Replacing the sub-par Harvey Barnes (£6.0m) down the left flank, he looked quick and direct. He assisted Wissa for Newcastle’s winner, while he also teed up Jacob Murphy (£6.0m) for a huge chance that the long-serving winger skied. One to watch.
- While the new intake impressed, Murphy, Barnes and Woltemade weren’t great. Woltemade, operating in the 10, especially looked leaden-footed, which isn’t ideal when you’re playing for a manager who wants to be as quick, aggressive and direct as Jaissle. Anthony Elanga (£6.0m) did look sharp on the right, harshly (it seems) denied a goal for an offside. He also seems to have escaped serious injury; he was subjected to an awful challenge that led to Valencia going down to 10 men.
“Thank God, Anthony is okay. He seems to be okay.” – Matthias Jaissle on Anthony Elanga
- Grabbing the headlines was Wissa. Replacing Will Osula (£6.0m) at half-time, he narrowly nodded over his first chance of the game before pouncing on a Valencia error to level the game up at 1-1. Again, good work from Toure – this time in pressing – helped. Toure then crossed for Wissa to bag the winner. After an injury-plagued 2025/26, Wissa will be hoping to get back to the levels that saw him plunder 18 league goals in 2024/25.
- There were some wobbly moments at the back, it has to be said, but some better understanding with new ‘keeper Hornicek, who predictably looked good with his feet, will hopefully come. The new Newcastle shot-stopper was beaten early on by a fine strike from distance. Also at the rear, Sven Botman (£5.0m) was the only player on show to hit the DefCon threshold (12/10).
- With Hornicek straight into the XI, Nick Pope (£5.0m) seems to be on his way.
“I had a talk with Nick. I really appreciate what he did in his career so far. He knows exactly the situation right now and we need to deal with it in the best possible way, but I always appreciate the player and the human being behind.” – Matthias Jassle, via BBC Sport
- Overall, then, a heartening result for Newcastle after a dispiriting few weeks. It should be said that Valencia were 1-0 up when they were reduced to 10 men, so the win has to be placed in context. Still, the Magpies looked to be hard-pressing from the off, aiming to break with directness and speed when able to. Newcastle ended up 1.69-0.61 ahead on xG.
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 HULL CITY
Hull City XI: Tzolakis (Phillips 91), Coyle (Robinson 61), Ajayi (Okike 77), McNair (McCarthy 8 (Ashbee 91)), Giles (Targett 77), Slater (Silk 77), Hjertø-Dahl (Ömür 61), Crooks (Moore 77 (Ocaya 113), Belloumi (Akintola 61), McBurnie (Sellars-Fleming 77 (Matique 113)), Millar (Dowell 51).
SCOUT NOTES
Hull City medical update. 🏥 #HCAFC
🇧🇪 Eliot Matazo – ACL (probably the season).
🏴 Jack Butland – 12 weeks, needs surgery on arm.
🏴 Dark Gyabi – 3 months, thigh injury.
🏴 Charlie Hughes – Will miss United due to groin.
🏴 Cody Drameh – Hamstring problem. Out for 2 or 3 weeks.…— Kurt Johansson (@KurtJohansson_) August 8, 2026
- With less than a fortnight to go until the big kick-off, Hull City are still in a state of upheaval. Players are arriving, or being linked to the club, at a furious pace, while existing squad members are dropping like flies at a similar rate. Paddy McNair (£4.0m) and Liam Millar (£5.0m) are the newest concerns after hobbling off in Germany, while John Egan (£4.0m) wasn’t risked. The social post above provides a neat summation of where we are on the team news front, with manager Sergej Jakirović offering more detail below:
“Today, we lost Paddy [McNair] with some pain behind his knee, and we already lost John Egan with an ankle problem. Liam Millar has a dead leg, but I think he’s OK. I started to laugh when I saw him on crutches. Jens complained a little about his groin. We will know more after Paddy’s medical check.
“John Egan got a kick on his ankle against Kasimpasa, and he trained normally for two days, but then he felt uncomfortable, and we didn’t want to take any risks with him. It was a precaution for him to stay behind in England, and we hope he will be fine to play next Saturday against Nice.
“Jack Butland has an elbow injury which he picked up in training. He will go to see another specialist, and then we will know more after he’s seen this examination. Yes, I am concerned about it.
“Cody Drameh has a problem with his hamstring, which he picked up in the first half against Kasimpasa, and is likely to be out for two to three weeks. He had this problem last season.
“With Destan, it was either his knee or his head. We will see. He reported an issue with his MCL, and we will see in the next few days what will happen with him.” – Sergej Jakirović, via Hull Live
- Jack Butland‘s (£4.5m) injury pretty much ensures, as if there was any doubt, that fellow new boy Konstantinos Tzolakis (£4.5m) will be between the sticks come Gameweek 1. He made his debut here, playing the first 90 minutes of a two-hour-long game.
- Jens Hjerto-Dahl, who arrived just a day before the game (and yet to be priced up by FPL), also made his Hull bow. Playing in an advanced midfield role behind Oli McBurnie (£5.5m), he looks a physical presence and could be a threat at set plays; four of his seven Eliteserien goals in 2026 have come from headers. As mentioned above, he was feeling his groin, so we’ll have to see if anything significant comes out of that.
- Regan Slater (£4.5m), probably the current best hope for Gameweek 1 minutes among the £4.5m midfield tier (but whose longer-term prospects could be affected by more new arrivals!), had Hull’s best chance, bursting through on goal and seeing his shot saved; a tactical push in the back sent him off balance. Goals aren’t something we can really expect, of course – he scored just twice last season.
- McBurnie couldn’t steer Ryan Giles’ (£4.0m) delivery on target, in Hull’s other decent chance.
- Frankfurt probably merited the win, creating the better opportunities. They did have to rely on a route-one goal for their opener, however, and it also came from a free-kick taken from the wrong position. Remember that the German side were in the Champions League last season, so this was a step up in opposition. Given the pace at which new signings are arriving at Hull, this is also a Tigers XI that may be significantly different come Gameweek 1.
