We’re looking at the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) takeaways from the penultimate weekend of pre-season friendlies.

This time, we focus on Brighton and Hove Albion, Coventry City and Everton.

Here are the brief Scout Notes from these games.

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

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BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION 3-0 Roma

• Goals: Rutter, Ayari (x2)
• Assists: Gomez, Rutter

Brighton and Hove Albion XI: Verbruggen; Wieffer (Costinha 60′), Vuskovic (Dunk HT), Boscagli (Middleton 85′), Kadioglu (De Cuyper 60′); Ayari (Cashin 85′), Gross (Cozier-Duberry 85′); Gomez (Yohanna 60′), Hinshelwood (Yalcouye 75′), Minteh; Rutter (Kostoulas 60′)

SCOUT NOTES

• The Seagulls have three wins from three in pre-season, with Georginio Rutter (£5.5m) and Yasin Ayari (£5.5m) helping them comfortably beat Roma.
• Until a Danny Welbeck (£6.0m) replacement arrives, Rutter could prove to be a very appealing cheap FPL forward. He broke the deadlock when Diego Gomez (£5.0m) passed, allowing him to whip in a left-footed curler from the edge of the box.
• During 2025/26, no player had more shots (41) without a big chance than Ayari, as many were from long range. However, fresh from two World Cup strikes versus Tunisia, he repeated the trick here. A Brighton counter-attack led to a Roma defender’s loose pass, which Ayari drilled home.

• The two scorers then combined for goal number three. From the left, Rutter’s pull-back was controlled and finished by the Swede.
• Meanwhile, Saturday brought the first pre-season minutes for Lewis Dunk (£4.5m), Maxim De Cuyper (£4.5m), Costinha (£4.5m), Zadok Yohanna (£5.0m) and Luka Vuskovic (£5.0m). The latter is interesting many FPL managers because of last season’s six goals and 12.5 defensive contributions (DefCon) actions per 90 when on loan at Hamburg.
• Before his half-time substitution, Vuskovic gathered six DefCon actions and headed a Pascal Gross (£5.5m) corner wide. There was also plenty of DefCon potential shown by Olivier Boscagli (£4.5m, eight) and Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.5m, seven).
• Speaking afterwards, the 19-year-old is aware that the competition from Dunk, Boscagli, Pascal Struijk (£4.5m), and Michael Svoboda (£5.0m) won’t guarantee him a start. Is that enough to make managers wary of putting him in Gameweek 1 squads?

“Whoever is the best in the games, in training, he will start. It’s great to have competition in our position. We have really a lot of good players and whoever is the best, he will play and it’s as simple as that. I think it [the transfer fee] doesn’t matter so much because it’s just a number. I have to prove myself and I have to do my best and I will try to do it.” – Luka Vuskovic

• Another notable FPL moment occurred when Yankuba Minteh (£6.0m) needed to be helped off the pitch with a leg injury. That will need scanning, and could even further solidify a Gameweek 1 start for cheap attacker Gomez. Costing £0.5m less than Gross, the Paraguayan started almost all available Brighton matches from Gameweek 6 onwards, scoring five times. A lack of Minteh and already-injured Kaoru Mitoma (£6.0m) could make him very appealing for those opening four fixtures.

“It seems to be a hit. Not particularly in the ankle area, a little bit higher. So therefore, we have to wait how it continues, the pain, and how he progresses. Of course, it’s not a great sign if a player has to go off because of pain, but we have to wait for the scan. In general, I’m a positive person, so let’s stay positive and wait for the scan.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Yankuba Minteh

Stuttgart 3-1 EVERTON

• Goals: Barry pen

Everton XI: Travers (King 76′); Rohl (Dewsbury-Hall 63′), O’Brien (Patterson 76′), Branthwaite (Tarkowski 80′), Mykolenko (Aznou 76′); Dibling (Ndiaye 63′), Armstrong (Foster 88′), Iroegbunam (Keane 19′), Hackney; Beto (Barry 63′), Alcaraz (George 63′)

SCOUT NOTES

• In Germany, Everton accumulated lots of chances but lost to Stuttgart.
• Last week, Merlin Rohl was highlighted as a promising £5.0m midfield pick, but began this one at right-back rather than on the wing. Yet he moved upfield once Tim Iroegbunam (£5.0m) had to come off in the 19th minute. There’s no word on how precautionary that substitution was. Still, the imminent Dwight McNeil (£5.5m) and Brennan Johnson (£6.0m) swap could squash Rohl’s right-wing appeal.
• As could Iliman Ndiaye‘s (£6.0m) first minutes since his World Cup recovery. Although it was curious to see him not take the Toffees’ penalty, gained when Thierno Barry (£5.5m) ran onto Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall‘s (£6.5m) through ball and was fouled by the goalkeeper. Barry converted the spot kick himself.
• As for Barry, he and Beto (£5.5m) keep alternating starts, but that’s his third attacking return of pre-season. His colleague couldn’t reach a tap-in on two occasions.
• Hayden Hackney (£5.5m) played all 90 minutes, though there was no Jordan Pickford (£5.5m) or Christian Norgaard (£5.0m).

COVENTRY CITY 3-1 Espanyol

• Goals: Sakamoto, Eccles, Simms
• Assists: Kitching, Bidwell, Eccles

Coventry XI: Rushworth; van Ewijk (Kesler-Hayden 75′), Amenda (Thomas HT), Kitching (Latibeaudiere 75′), Dasilva (Bidwell 75′); Grimes, Onyeka; Sakamoto, Thomas-Asante (Eccles 75′), Tchaouna; Simms

SCOUT NOTES

• A comeback win on home soil brought several ideas – and some complications – for those wanting a Coventry-heavy Bench Boost in Gameweek 2.
• Bobby Thomas (£4.0m) was only seen after the break, with new signing Aurele Amenda (£4.0m) getting the first half. Thomas’s usual centre-back partner in 2025/26, Liam Kitching (£4.0m), started, lasted 75 minutes and assisted on a second successive occasion. Kitching was seen as perhaps the weaker link of the promoted centre-backs but he is the only natural left-footer, so there’s a bit of uncertainty heading into Coventry’s final friendly this Friday.
• Kitching’s lovely pass led to Tatsuhiro Sakamoto (£5.0m) rounding the goalkeeper to equalise. The Japanese midfielder has started the Sky Blues’ last two on the right, while new signing Loum Tchaouna (£5.5m) was left-sided.
• Those wanting a heavier midfield might like Ellis Simms (£5.0m) for this 15-player chip. The centre-forward nodded in Coventry’s third, although it’s hard to say how nailed-on he is, knowing that Haji Wright (£5.5m) is still to return. Wright’s whereabouts were unknown on Saturday; he had returned as a substitute the previous weekend but hasn’t been seen since.
• In midfield, Gustavo Hamer is about to join, and club-record signing Caleb Yirenkyi will enter the mix. There’s a bit of a minutes concern about the set-piece-taking Matt Grimes (£5.0m), then, who looked like one of the better £5.0m midfield options.
• With all this going on, we’ll need Friday clues and updates from Frank Lampard when they host Monaco.