Son takes advantage of Kane absence to brace in Spurs’ pre-season opener

Three Premier League teams got their pre-season campaigns underway over the weekend.

Everton, Liverpool and Spurs were the clubs in action – and we’ve got all the information you need to know as you prepare for the 2020/21 edition of Fantasy Premier League.

As ever, we are tracking the minutes played by every single Fantasy asset during the pre-season friendlies as well as their goals and assists.

This methodical process helped us discover Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.5m) and John Lundstram (£5.5m) before they were everybody’s favourite £4.0m defender, so ensure you use our pre-season resources to the full…

SPURS 3-0 IPSWICH

• Goals: Ryan Sessegnon (£5.0m), Son Heung-min x2 (£9.0m)
• Assists: Dele Alli x2 (£8.0m), Juan Foyth (£4.5m)

Son Heung-min (£9.0m) has had the Fantasy community discussing his credentials for the new season after scoring a brace in Spurs’ routine 3-0 win over Ipswich Town.

However, we do have to consider that both of his goals netted in his 45-minute outing were came from a centre-forward position.

With Harry Kane (£10.5m) still in quarantine following his trip to the Bahamas, Son was able to lead the Spurs attack, picking up where he left off the last time he was asked to deputise for the Englishman.

Whether he will get to play in that position at the start of the season, when Spurs have a favourable run of games, does seem unlikely, considering Kane is expected to come straight back into the side after his isolation is over.

There was not much surprise to see Toby Alderweireld (£5.5m) as one of three players to register 90 minutes against Ipswich, but it is certainly interesting to see Ryan Sessegnon (£5.0m) as one of the others.

Classified as a £5.0m defender for 2020/21, the former Fulham man spent the whole game on the left flank of the attacking midfield trio, scoring the first goal of the game.

Admittedly, there was no Erik Lamela (£6.0m) or Steven Bergwijn (£7.5m) involved for Spurs over the weekend but it will be worth watching how often Sessegnon is used in pre-season.

Also of note was the fact that Gedson Fernandes (£5.0m) staffed the right-back position for the entire game as well.

After a disappointing end to last season, Dele Alli (£8.0m) played 74 minutes against Ipswich providing two assists from the number 10 role, although Giovani Lo Celso (£7.0m) was not in the match squad.

Spurs are next in action against Reading on Friday.

Tottenham Hotspur XI: Lloris (Hart 46′ (Gazzaniga 74′)); B Davies (Cirkin 46′), Alderweireld, Foyth (Carter-Vickers 46′), G Fernandes; Højbjerg (White 64′), Winks (Devine 71′); Sessegnon, Alli (Bowden 74′), Moura (Scarlett 71′); Son (Clarke 46′).

BLACKPOOL 3-3 EVERTON

• Goals: Gylfi Sigurdsson x2 (£7.0m), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.0m)
• Assists: Sigurdsson, Calvert-Lewin, Theo Walcott (£6.0m)

Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.0m) was the key man as Everton drew 3-3 with Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.

Operating in a central role for 76 minutes of the Toffees’ first pre-season match, the Icelandic international got himself an assist and two goals, the latter coming from an excellent direct free-kick on the edge of the box, won by Theo Walcott (£6.0m).

Tom Davies (£5.5m) was the only Everton player to stay on the pitch for 90 minutes, while Sigurdsson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.0m) each lasted 76.

The centre-forward also had a productive afternoon, adding a goal and an assist.

Mason Holgate (£5.0m), Lucas Digne (£6.0m), Anthony Gordon (£4.5m) and Alex Iwobi (£6.0m) all started the match too, brought off in the 62nd minute.

Those hoping to see Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.0m) claim a starting berth at Everton this season might be slightly discouraged by his outing on Saturday.

He started this match alongside Holgate but at half-time, Everton had conceded three goals to League One opposition.

Michael Keane (£5.0m) replaced Branthwaite at the interval, with Seamus Coleman (£5.0m) coming on Jonjoe Kenny (£4.5m) and Jordan Pickford (£5.0m) replaced by Jonas Lössl (£4.5m).

Obviously, there is only so much we can read into this match, and there are two more pre-season friendlies for Everton to play, but it is certainly interesting that Pickford was beaten three times by lower league opposition in the first half at Bloomfield Road while Lössl came on and kept a clean sheet in his 45-minute outing.

Richarlison (£8.0m) and Bernard (£6.0m) missed this match as they have not yet returned to training while Yerry Mina‘s (£5.5m) level of fitness is still not enough to be involved in pre-season matches.

Everton XI (4-4-2): Pickford (Lössl 46′); Digne (Nkounkou 62′), Branthwaite (Keane 46′), Holgate (Gibson 62′), Kenny (Coleman 46′); Iwobi (Bešić 62′), Sigurdsson (John 76′), Davies, Gordon (Bolasie 62′); Calvert-Lewin (Simms 76′), Kean (Walcott 46′).

STUTTGART 0-3 LIVERPOOL

• Goals: Roberto Firmino (£9.5m), Naby Keïta (£5.5m), Rhian Brewster (£4.5m)
• Assists: Curtis Jones (£4.5m), Firmino, James Milner (£5.5m)

Jurgen Klopp named two teams for Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Stuttgart in Austria, one used in each half.

Of the two, it was the one used in the opening period that was clearly the first-team, featuring Mohamed Salah (£12.0m), Sadio Mané (£12.0m) and Roberto Firmino (£9.5m) in the front three, the latter grabbing himself a goal and assist in 45 minutes.

Naby Keïta (£5.5m) also scored, operating as part of a central-midfield trio with Fabinho (£5.5m) and Curtis Jones (£4.5m), who assisted Firmino’s opener.

The back-four was mostly as expected, although Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) was not involved in light of a recent minor injury.

While the right-back was not fit enough to travel for the Reds’ first two pre-season matches, the Liverpool Echo are reporting that he has been given his own “bespoke fitness regime” as he aims to be ready by the end of the month.

As a result, the chances of the Alexander-Arnold’s involvement in the Community Shield final later this week are not threatened by this minor injury. The same applies to Harry Wilson (£5.5m) who also missed the last-minute trip to Austria.

That made for a 45-spell in the first-team for Neco Williams (£4.0m) at right-back against Stuttgart, with Andrew Robertson  (£7.0m) on the left of Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) and Joe Gomez (£5.5m) and taking some indirect free-kicks.

The second-half team was very much made up of second-string players, fronted by Harvey Elliott (£4.5m), Takumi Minamino (£6.5m) and Rhian Brewster (£4.5m), who scored the only goal after the break, assisted by James Milner (£5.5m).

There was a debut for Konstantinos Tsimikas (£5.0m) at left-back and, while he impressed Klopp, it does sound as if his integration into the team will take some time. If Robertson does require minute-management or is injured in the early part of the campaign, it is more likely that Williams will stand in until Tsimikas is up to speed.

“Good, good. (Tsimikas) is a pretty quick player and pretty confident, how you will hear in his [post-match] interview, but he is a good player – a really good player – and he did well. The next challenge for him is now to get used to our defending and things. It will take time, no doubt, but when he has the ball it looks not so bad.” – Jurgen Klopp

It was against Liverpool’s weaker team that Stuttgart offered more threat but Adrián (£4.5m) stood up to chances that fell to Philipp Klement and Tanguy Coulibaly.

First-half team: Alisson, Williams, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Keita, Jones, Mane, Salah, Firmino.

Second-half team: Adrian, Hoever, Phillips, Van den Berg (Koumetio 68′), Tsimikas, Wijnaldum, Milner, Grujic, Elliott, Minamino, Brewster.