Leeds United and Sunderland rounded off their pre-season campaigns with wins on Saturday.
Here’s what we learned from both of their games.
FPL 2026/27 Pre-season Minutes, Goals + Assists Tracker
LEEDS UNITED 4-0 Augsburg
- Goals: Stach, Muhamerovic, Justin, Nmecha
- Assists: Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin x2, Tanaka
Leeds United XI: Trafford, Bogle, Rodon, Bijol (Okafor 67), Muharemović, Justin, Ampadu (Tanaka 76), Stach (Longstaff 68), Wilson (James 68), Calvert-Lewin (Nmecha 67), Aaronson (Piroe 76).
SCOUT NOTES
- As was the case with many Premier League clubs this weekend, Leeds’ final pre-season line-up looked very much like what we’d expect to see in Gameweek 1. James Justin (£4.5m) continued at left wing-back in the absence of Gabriel Gudmundsson (£4.5m), who may miss the first two Gameweeks. And with Noah Okafor (£6.0m) only recently back from a post-World Cup break, Brenden Aaronson (£5.5m) was used as the left-sided ’10’.
“Right now, especially the players who are involved during the whole pre-season, they are in really good shape. We have, of course, a few players who just arrived a bit later after the World Cup, so they will need a bit till they reach 100%. – Daniel Farke
- Daniel Farke said after the match that Leeds “can play better”. But while it wasn’t a flawless display, and a mid-table Bundesliga opponent wasn’t a formidable foe, this was still encouraging.
- The variety of Leeds’ play was impressive. Centre-half Joe Rodon (£4.5m) continued his marauding runs up the right flank. Justin would give and go and drift infield, something we saw for Leeds’ third goal. James Trafford (£5.0m), whose distribution is a strong suit, would regularly go long and look for Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m), much like Carl Rushworth (£4.5m) did for Ellis Simms (£5.0m) on Friday. While there was direct play, there was also some nice one-touch stuff, too.
- To top it off, some set-piece threat. Tarik Muharemovic (£5.0m), who nearly scored in midweek, pounced on a loose ball from a long throw to score in spectacular fashion, firing an overhead kick past the Augsburg ‘keeper. He was a class act again, both on and off the ball, and he’s developing into a bit of a cult hero already. Expect the FPL ownership figure to rise steadily this week.
- Rodon will threaten a cult following himself if he continues with these forays. One thing to watch out for is the impending arrival of Nico Elvedi, who we’d expect to feature in the right or middle of Leeds’ central defence. There’s no need for immediate panic; as Farke showed with Jaka Bijol (£4.5m) last season, he’s happy to take his time and adopt the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach. A string of ropey displays, of course, and that could change.
- Further forward, Calvert-Lewin was at the centre of Leeds’ first three goals. His hold-up play led to Aaronson teeing up Anton Stach (£6.0m) for the opener; the German had his best game of the summer after a slow-ish pre-season. Then, two assists. The first was fortuitous as the ball ricocheted to Muhamerovic, but the second was the telling pass on an intricate move that Justin finished off. Calvert-Lewin could/should have scored himself, forcing a brilliant reflex save with a close-range header.
- Calvert-Lewin’s replacement, Lukas Nmecha (£5.5m), added gloss to the scoreline with a dinked fourth. Farke switched from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-2-3-1 when he made his raft of second-half substitutions (Nmecha being one), something we saw him do mid-game – usually when chasing a deficit – in 2025/26. The wing-back system is almost certainly the one he’ll start the season with, however.
- Gudmundsson aside, Farke brought us up to speed on the other Leeds injuries after full-time.
THE EYE TEST: HIGHLIGHTS
“Willy Gnonto has a little injury after the last game, so it was not possible for him to join us in training in last days and also not ready for this game. So, perhaps a bit of doubt for the season opener.
“Some good news with Ilia Gruev because he is part integrated [in training]. For both of them it could be – of course, for Ilia after a long injury – a bit too soon to be back in the traveling squad.” – Daniel Farke on Leeds’ injuries
SUNDERLAND 2-1 Stade Rennais
- Goals: Brobbey, Hume
- Assists: Brobbey
Sunderland XI: Roefs, Hume, Ballard, O’Nien, Reinildo, Xhaka, Sadiki (Diarra 62), Le Fée (Jocelin 83), Talbi (Mundle 62), Angulo (Rigg 62), Brobbey (Isidor 71).
SCOUT NOTES
- Again, a line-up that will closely resemble the starting XI sent out in Gameweek 1. The one tweak from last weekend saw Chemsdine Talbi (£5.5m) come in for the injured Thomas Meunier (£4.5m).
“We don’t really know yet but it’s a back pain, so we’ll assess the situation next week.” – Regis Le Bris on Thomas Meunier
- That sole alteration had a knock-on effect for Trai Hume (£4.5m). The Northern Irish international had been playing ‘out of position’ (OOP) on the right wing in pre-season but here, in the absence of Meunier and Nordi Mukiele (£5.5m), he was forced to revert to right-back duties. It didn’t stop him scoring, however! Hume’s second goal in as many games came from a set piece, when Brian Brobbey’s (£6.0m) knock-down deflected into his path. From open play, as you’d expect, he had less attacking license. With Sunderland looking more open without him on the right wing, you do wonder if Hume will be propelled back up the flank as soon as Mukiele and/or Meunier return. In case you missed it, Regis Le Bris expects Mukiele to be on the bench in Gameweek 1.
- The ongoing absences of Mukiele and Omar Alderete (£5.0m) – another one touted for bench duty on the opening weekend – spells good short-term news for Luke O’Nien (£4.0m). If you’re after a £4.0m defender for Gameweek 1 Bench Boost duty, he looks like being one of the only options outside of the three newly promoted clubs. His run in the first XI will probably be a brief one but you may only need him for Gameweeks 1-2 anyway, given the fixtures:
- Elsewhere at the back, it fell to Reinildo (£4.5m), on the opposite flank to Hume, to pose some threat. He had three excellent chances, two of them denied by the visiting ‘keeper and the other sent just wide.
- Brobbey notched his first goal of pre-season, finishing at the second attempt after spurning a one-on-one chance and then unceremoniously barging a defender out of the way to get to the rebound.
- There was nothing to show for Enzo Le Fee (£6.0m) but he was heavily involved in the second half especially, with Sunderland looking to find him in the pockets behind Brobbey. He had one very good chance of his own, but dallied on it. FPL managers will be hoping the ’10’ role sticks, as he looks more threatening than when out wide. Le Fee, sharing set plays with Granit Xhaka (£5.5m), also ‘assisted the assister’ for Hume’s goal from a free-kick.
THE EYE TEST: HIGHLIGHTS
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