This two part series looks at each team’s pre-season form and line ups and what this means for Fantasy managers as they look to apply the finishing touches to their Gameweek 1 squads. Following on from the Pre-season Round Up – Part 1, this final part takes in Manchester United through to West Ham’s friendly fixtures and also lists the information tables I have been using throughout this article series.
Man United
Another team going through a huge transition is Manchester United. With Jose Mourinho replacing Louis Van Gaal over the summer, the Reds have splashed over £160m already on three players, as they look to improve the squad and restore their reputation as title-contenders.
While their pre-season has shown good signs in both attack and defence, there have been inconsistencies here and there. Wayne Rooney has looked like a hindrance sometimes, with Juan Mata arguably playing better but likely to be forced out of the club. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored twice, but not looked at his peak yet. The streakiness of Anthony Martial and Henrik Mkhitaryan so far is worrying for those willing to splash 9.5m out on them.
Newly recruited centreback Eric Bailly and winger-turned-rightback Antonio Valencia have looked solid in defence, with left back Luke Shaw starting to play more minutes after a double leg break kept him out last season. It seems likely that Chris Smalling will come in for Daley Blind to partner Bailly when his suspension is served, but we’re not guaranteed of anything with Mourinho.
The signing of Paul Pogba was announced just ahead of their final preseason game, so it will be interesting to see how he is integrated to the team and the effect it will have.
Middlesbrough
The Championship runner-up team boasted impressive defensive displays last year and are expected to do so again this year. With only 31 goals conceded in their 46 matches they certainly impressed at the back. This is an average of 0.67 goals conceded per game and almost mirrors their preseason number of 0.625, putting them third for goals conceded over their eight pre-season games.
Manager Aitor Karanka certainly has the side firing on all cylinders in attack too, with Jordan Rhodes bagging five goals in eight appearances despite only starting once. New addition Alvaro Negredo has scored twice and picked up an assist from five appearances but played almost the same minutes as Rhodes. Likewise Viktor Fischer has impressed with a goal and three assists and looks set to start on the left of the attacking four. On the right, Albert Adomah seems likely to start, with Stewart Downing able to cover either side. Karanka has a dilemma whether to start Gaston Ramirez in the hole behind Negredo, or play two up top with Rhodes partnering the former Manchester City striker. For now, it seems 4-2-3-1 is favoured with Ramirez.
There is clearly an abundance of attacking options available for reasonable prices at ‘Boro, who rank joint sixth for average goals scored. This suggests they may have something about them to surprise other teams, especially with their great run of fixtures from the start.
Southampton
Claude Puel replaced Ronald Koeman as manager this summer and seems to have fitted in well to his new surroundings over pre-season. Southampton were strong defensively last year and have shown consistency in pre-season, ranking first for average goals conceded per game.
However, they looked fairly average in terms of attack during pre-season as Puel played around with a number of options. The pre-season form of Charlie Austin will surely have caught Puel’s eye of late, but only impressed really on Tuesday when he was given a run-out with Jay Rodriguez in the U23 squad. For this reason, Shane Long and Nathan Redmond are expected to lead the line in their opening home game against Watford. Puel has worked with a consistent back four in Cuco Martina, Maya Yoshida, Virgil van Dijk and Matt Targett over the off-season though the return of Jose Fonte, Cedric and new-boy Jeremy Pied could see the former two replaced in time. An injury to Ryan Bertrand allows Targett to continue his start at leftback. The midfield diamond is likely to consist of Dusan Tadic up top, with Jordy Clasie, Steve Davis, James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg competing for the remaining three places.
Stoke
Mark Hughes’ side has not had the ideal preseason in terms of attacking outlets. With the worst goals scored per game ratio of the pre-season, with quite weak opposition, the signs are worrying. Despite having the fourth-worst goals conceded record they have looked solid in a few of their games, with the 3-0 result against Burton accounting for this misleading figure. A backline of Glen Johnson, Ryan Shawcross, Philipp Wollscheid and Erik Pieters is expected to start with Jack Butland between the sticks. Mame Biram Diouf and Bojan look their primary outlet at the moment, but should Marko Arnautovic return from injury for their away trip to Middlesbrough this weekend, they may see an improvement up front. Either way, it looks a tough task ahead for the Potters to face such a defensive opponent so soon after a problematic pre-season. Like Man City, they look underprepared and may take a while to kick into gear.
Sunderland
David Moyes took charge of Sunderland this summer after Sam Allardyce moved on to take the England job. In pr-eseason, Sunderland have a decent goals scored average and goals conceded average, showing good balance already as Moyes starts to settle in. There’s no doubt that forwards Jermaine Defoe and Fabio Borini have been their best players up front, with the former racing to shake off a thigh strain ahead of their opener against Man City. Midfielders Wahbi Khazri and Duncan Watmore have also shown good form ahead of the weekend. Lamine Kone is much sought after by Everton lately and should they lose the strong centreback they will need to work quicky for a replacement. The Black Cats look likely to strengthen with further signings to avoid the fate of their Geordie counterparts, Newcastle, that saw relegation last season. For now Sunderland are showing promise but may take a while for us to look towards them as Fantasy assets until their fixtures pick up.
Swansea
Francesco Guidolin takes charge of his first full season with Swansea after a busy summer. So far they have seen Bafetimbi Gomis and Andre Ayew leave the club, with skipper Ashley Williams’ transfer to Everton just announced. The club have made new additions in the form of Mike van der Hoorn, Leroy Fer and Fernando Llorente and will surely have to make further signings before the window is shut.
The widemen Wayne Routledge and Modou Barrow have been in scintillating form in pre-season, with five goals and an assist for the former and a goal and seven assists for the latter throughout their six appearances. Defender Kyle Naughton has shown great attack for their defence with a brace, and at 4.5m looks a good option to start with. Notably, Swansea rank second for both average goals scored and conceded per game over their preseason. Its been a strong pre-season for the Swans, but question marks remain as to whether the departures of key players will have a negative effect
Tottenham
Tottenham’s pre-season, like Man City’s, consisted of a mere three games. With players coming back late, such as midfielder Dele Alli and striker Harry Kane, it has not been the best preparation for the 2016/17 season, Nevertheless both Kane and Alli returned with a bang against Inter Milan last week, which offers their investors promise. In their absence over the previous two games, Vincent Janssen and Erik Lamela were the star performers.
This pre-season was too short to offer any conclusive evidence on whether Tottenham will start the season strongly, although the signs are promising. The suspension of Mousa Dembele may deter a few from going with Kane from the off, not to mention his history of starting off slow to the league. Over the nine Premier League games where Dembele was absent last term Kane scored just one goal.
Watford
Walter Mazzarri comes in to manage the Hornets this term after Quique Sanchez Flores moved on to Espanyol. The Italian seems intent on playing three at the back, and the side has looked impressive at times in this system. Were it not for a tough opening run of fixtures, more would certainly invest. Jose Holebas at left wing back has tallied three assists and looks set to keep his place ahead of new signing Juan Camilo Zuniga for now.
On the right, Ikechi Anya and Brice Dja Djedje provide options, with three centrebacks to be picked from Craig Cathcart, Sebastian Prodl, Miguel Britos, Christian Kabasele and Allan Nyom.
In midfield, Mazzarri has the option of playing a midfield two in Ben Watson and Etienne Capoue, with a frontline of Isaac Success, Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney. Or he may play with three midfielders (which looks most likely) in Watson, Adlene Guedioura and Capoue as the most advanced of the three. Watford’s defence ranks average and their attack is slightly under average for pre-season , but with a tough run of fixtures, we may get an eye for one or two players for the future when things ease up.
West Brom
Pre-season has looked patchy at times for Tony Pulis’ side. Though not ranking great for defensiveness and looking underwhelming in attack, it will be interesting to see how the Baggies will cope from the start of the season.
History shows Pulis’ teams have defensive resilience in abundance and perhaps we need some faith in this regard. With a kind run of fixtures, we may see a good few clean sheets here, especially if Chris Brunt can step up and return to fitness in time.
Attacking-wise, Saido Berahino and Salomon Rondon look reliable though there are so many safer options in the same price bracket. Berahino may also be on his way as speculation about his future continues to follow him.
From midfield, Matt Phillips could be an interesting prospect, but that all depends on how their attack shapes up. Pulis switched to a very attacking style at the end of last season, and it will be worrying for those that are doubling up on defence if he opts to go for this approach again. Not many changes have been made to the squad from last season, so this may happen early on. Though without further signings it will be hard to tell.
West Ham
Lastly, West Ham have made plenty of progress in terms of fitness with their European campaign through preseason. Slaven Bilic, however, has encountered a few problems by losing Aaron Cresswell and Gokhan Tore to injury, with striker Diafra Sakho also a doubt for the start of the season. Their defence has looked in bad shape as a result, illustrated by their second-worst goals conceded per game ranking. With an away trip up first against an attacking Chelsea side, they will need to be on form if they want to stand a chance. The form of midfielders Sofiane Feghouli, Mark Noble and striker Andy Carroll is a huge boost and this trio may entice a lot of Fantasy managers down the line. The late return of Dimitri Payet does not give us a great indicator of how sharp he is, and for 9.5m a lot may be wait until he has played a few games.
All data taken from the below tables:
