Gameweek 1 is nearly here, and this weekend will be the final run-out for almost every team before 2026/27 gets underway.
A bunch of pertinent Fantasy Premier League (FPL) questions desperately need answering in these friendlies (plus the Community Shield), as managers try to land on their initial 15-man squad.
Below is a selection of them.
WHERE + WHEN THE PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES ARE TAKING PLACE
First, though, a look at when and where the pre-season friendlies are taking place.
All 20 top-flight teams are in action, with Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur playing twice:
| WHEN? (UK time) | MATCH | VENUE |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, 19:30 | COVENTRY CITY v Monaco | Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry |
| Saturday, 13:00 | Freiburg v CRYSTAL PALACE | Europa-Park Stadion, Freiburg, Germany |
| Saturday, 14:00 | CHELSEA v Real Sociedad | Stamford Bridge, London |
| Saturday, 14:00 | LEEDS UNITED v Augsburg | Elland Road, Leeds |
| Saturday, 14:30 | Borussia Mönchengladbach v ASTON VILLA | Borussia-Park, Mönchengladbach, Germany |
| Saturday, 14:30 | Mainz v BOURNEMOUTH | Mewa Arena, Mainz, Germany |
| Saturday, 14:30 | Union Berlin v IPSWICH TOWN | Stadion An der Alten Försterei, Berlin, Germany |
| Saturday, 15:00 | BRENTFORD v Eintracht Frankfurt | Gtech Community Stadium, London |
| Saturday, 15:00 | BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION v Bologna | American Express Stadium, Brighton |
| Saturday, 15:00 | EVERTON v Lille | Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool |
| Saturday, 15:00 | HULL CITY v Nice | MKM Stadium, Hull |
| Saturday, 15:00 | NEWCASTLE UNITED v Bayer Leverkusen | St James’ Park, Newcastle |
| Saturday, 15:00 | SUNDERLAND v Rennes | Stadium of Light, Sunderland |
| Saturday, 15:00 | TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v Hoffenheim | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London |
| Saturday, 15:45 | AC Milan v MANCHESTER UNITED | Tarczynski Arena, Wroclaw, Poland |
| Saturday, 16:00 | FULHAM v Stuttgart | Craven Cottage, London |
| Sunday | TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v Hoffenheim | Spurs training ground (behind closed doors) |
| Sunday, 14:00 | NOTTINGHAM FOREST v Stade Brestois 29 | City Ground, Nottingham |
| Sunday, 15:00 | ARSENAL v MANCHESTER CITY (Community Shield) | Wembley Stadium, London |
| Sunday, 16:00 | NEWCASTLE UNITED v Strasbourg | St James’ Park, Newcastle |
| Sunday, 18:00 | LIVERPOOL v Como | Anfield, Liverpool |
1. THE MINUTES OF WORLD CUP RETURNEES
Clubs have given their World Cup representatives time to rest and gradually be integrated into pre-season training. But some big names still haven’t played any minutes.
Many of these are Community Shield-based, as Arsenal are yet to field Bukayo Saka (£9.5m), Declan Rice (£7.5m) or Martin Zubimendi (£5.5m). However, a midweek runout saw David Raya (£6.0m), Eberechi Eze (£6.5m) and Noni Madueke (£6.5m) in action.
Opponent Manchester City haven’t used Erling Haaland (£15.5m), Nico O’Reilly (£6.5m), Marc Guehi (£6.0m), Jeremy Doku (£7.5m), Rayan Cherki (£7.5m) or Elliot Anderson (£6.5m).
Of course, there’ll be special interest in the 73.5%-owned Norwegian’s involvement.
Elsewhere, unseen players include Pedro Porro (£5.5m), Morgan Rogers (£7.5m), Daniel Munoz (£5.5m), Enzo Fernandez (£7.0m), Maxence Lacroix (£6.0m), Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) and Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m).
2. WILL NORGAARD BE READY?
A popular strategy is to immediately use the Bench Boost chip and get it out of the way. Such managers are therefore very interested in £5.0m midfielder Christian Norgaard, priced as an Arsenal back-up but now at Everton. He’s about to face Crystal Palace at home.
- READ MORE: Best £5.0m midfielders for FPL 2026/27
- READ MORE: £5.0m FPL midfielder Norgaard is a potential DefCon magnet
You see, his last season of regular football brought five goals, five assists and a great defensive contributions (DefCon) average per 90 (12.93).
| SEASON | STARTS | DEFCON ACTIONS | DEFCON PER 90 | REACHED DEFCON | RATE OF STARTS | BEST DEFCON TOTALS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 34 | 405 | 12.93 | 17 | 50.0% | 23, 20 |
| 2023/24 | 30 | 406 | 14.59 | 21 | 70.0% | 25, 23, 21 |
| 2022/23 | 21 | 300 | 15.31 | 16 | 76.2% | 23, 23, 20 |
| 2021/22 | 35 | 508 | 14.97 | 23 | 65.7% | 26, 14, 22, 21, 21, 21 |
The problem is that he hasn’t played for the Toffees. And even if James Garner (£6.0m) isn’t fit for Gameweek 1, there’s central midfield competition from Merlin Rohl (£5.0m), Hayden Hackney (£5.5m) and Tim Iroegbunam (£5.0m).
3. CHELSEA’S FORMATION
Elsewhere, Chelsea successfully convinced Xabi Alonso to be their new manager.
His trophies at Bayer Leverkusen were based on a wing-back system, before the ill-fated Real Madrid period saw mostly four-at-the-back.
So far, Alonso has tried multiple formations, and the latest couple of matches were 3-4-3. Whichever he uses against Real Sociedad is likely the answer, though he’s spoken about tactical fluidity.
“We want to be versatile in our approach and system. I think we have the players to adapt to different ones because they understand how to support each other. The principles are the same but the movements can change; we need to be unpredictable, we want to be flexible, and we want to have a threat.” – Xabi Alonso
4. PENALTY TAKERS
Our article on each team’s penalties is very useful, but it can’t see the future. There’s still uncertainty over Fulham and Liverpool, especially.
Some of Dominik Szoboszlai‘s (£7.0m) appeal is based around the possibility of taking spot kicks now that Mohamed Salah is gone. But both times he did it in 2025/26 – one goal, one miss – were without Alexander Isak (£9.0m) around.
With Raul Jimenez gone, Alex Iwobi (£5.5m) and Rodrigo Muniz (£5.5m) have both taken a pre-season penalty for Fulham. That came after Antonee Robinson (£4.5m) netted in May. Gonzalo Garcia (£6.0m) has also arrived, equipped with a decent record from 12 yards.
At Everton, Thierno Barry (£5.5m) scored one with Iliman Ndiaye (£6.0m) on the pitch when the Toffees lost to Stuttgart. But it was the other way round on Wednesday versus Newcastle. Normal service resumed?
Pascal Gross (£5.5m) should take Brighton’s in a post-Danny Welbeck (£6.0m) scenario (and he has in one friendly already), though more certainty would be lovely.
5. £4.0M STARTERS
Owning nailed-on cheap defenders is a safety net that all FPL managers want, especially if a Bench Boost is planned for Gameweeks 1 or 2.
Every Coventry City, Hull City and Ipswich Town defender has the lowest possible price tag of £4.0m. So it’s just about picking the right ones.
- READ MORE: Best £4.0m defenders for FPL 2026/27
It feels safe to label Milan van Ewijk and Leif Davis as starters, but there’s current uncertainty over the centre-backs at the Tractor Boys, the Sky Blues, and frequent buyers Hull.
At Sunderland, there’s even the short-term Luke O’Nien option, as Nordi Mukiele (£5.5m) and Omar Alderete (£5.0m) recover from knocks.
6. CAN ARSENAL GET BACK TO NORMAL SERVICE AT THE BACK?
Staying in defence, finding a way to cover the champions’ backline is on most FPL managers’ wish lists.
By quite a margin, they conceded last season’s fewest goals (27), attempts (310), shots on target (87) and big chances (50).
However, things could get tougher now that William Saliba (£6.0m) is recovering from a back injury.
The Gunners just gifted three goals to both Real Betis and Borussia Dortmund, so what if the same happens at Wembley? Can managers risk going without any against Coventry?
There’s FPL popularity for Cristhian Mosquera (£5.5m) and Riccardo Calafiori (£5.5m), who are much cheaper than Gabriel Magalhaes (£8.0m). But the Italian has competition on the left, and Arsenal are reportedly wanting to buy another centre-back.
As an aside, new midfield signing Christos Tzolis (£6.5m) has scored once and set up four in recent friendlies. Play well on Sunday, and he could become a fun differential punt.
7. BRIGHTON’S CENTRE-FORWARD
After selling Welbeck to Chelsea, the Seagulls still haven’t bought a replacement. Perhaps they’ll stick with Georginio Rutter (£5.5m), Charalampos Kostoulas (£5.5m) and Stefanos Tzimas (£5.5m).
Rutter, boasting more Premier League experience, collected a goal and an assist versus Roma last weekend. But Kostoulas joins him on two strikes.
In truth, we might get a better answer on Thursday, when Brighton travel to the Arctic Circle to face Tromso in their Conference League play-off. Maybe Fabian Hurzeler will give a clue on Yankuba Minteh‘s (£6.0m) injury, and how it affects the prospects of Diego Gomez (£5.0m).
8. POSITIONS OF MBEUMO + HUME
Once the Premier League fixtures were announced in June, Manchester United’s first two immediately stood out: Hull (a) and Ipswich (h).
As of now, it looks like midfielder Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) could be played out of position as a centre-forward against these promoted sides. Benjamin Sesko‘s (£7.0m) shin problem meant he wasn’t even in the Red Devils’ midweek squad.
Considering Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) has just made his first summer cameo, it’s worth seeing where Mbeumo is deployed on Saturday. The Cameroon international has scored three of their latest four goals, assisting the other.
Furthermore, Sunderland defender Trai Hume (£4.5m) has the Tractor Boys in Gameweek 1.
He ended last season on the wing – scoring past Chelsea – and has been there in pre-season, netting in Lens. But be careful, as the transfer window is still open and this may only be a short-term move.
9. WHO PARTNERS VAN DIJK?
Sliding over to Liverpool, one of several changes has been the departure of Ibrahima Konate to Real Madrid.
A £55 million deal for 21-year-old Jeremy Jacquet (£5.0m) was agreed in January, but he’s been sidelined with a shoulder injury since February.
“Jeremy Jacquet, we were in doubt whether to put him [in the squad] today, we decided not but he should be fine for the next one. It is taking a little bit of time, as we expected.” – Andoni Iraola, after Monaco defeat
Andoni Iraola thinks he can make the Como friendly, but is that enough for a Gameweek 1 start? After all, Ronald Araujo (£5.5m) has arrived on loan, someone who appeared 213 times and won three La Liga titles for Barcelona.
They are yet to play for the Reds, Joe Gomez (£5.0m) has a muscle injury, and Giovanni Leoni (4.0m) missed the majority of last season due to an ACL tear.
So, while our Fixture Ticker likes the run of facing Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich and Fulham, Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) costs a lot, and we don’t know who’ll be alongside him.
10. COULD MADJO BE AN OPTION?
Another name yet to feature in pre-season is Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins (£8.0m).
In his absence, 17-year-old Brian Madjo (£5.5m) has racked up five goals, including the UEFA Super Cup equaliser against Paris Saint-Germain that announced him to the world.
A huge physical threat, he shot six times that night. Such hype could see him modest FPL interest before the opening trip to Brighton.
Signed for £10 million from Metz in January, Madjo wasn’t originally allowed to play until next year’s 18th birthday. But Villa recently won an appeal through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and he’s put out quite an introduction.
What we need from the trip to Mönchengladbach is an answer on whether he, Watkins or Tammy Abraham (£5.5m) is most likely to get the initial nod.
