Fantasy Premier League managers got a first look at Southampton assets in the latest round of pre-season friendlies.
With the Saints favourable fixtures at the start of 2020/21, there is great interest in options at both ends of the field – so we have run the rule over Saturday’s big win over Swansea.
Elsewhere, the £4.0m defender hunt continues to rumble on in rather uninspiring form and the key men at Leicester are becoming more clear.
SOUTHAMPTON 7-1 SWANSEA
- Goals: Che Adams (£6.0m), Nathan Redmond (£6.5m), Danny Ings x2 (£8.5m), James Ward-Prowse x2 (£6.0m), Ryan Bertrand (£5.0m)
- Assists: Bertrand x2, Adams, Stuart Armstrong (£5.5m), Redmond x2, Ings.
Danny Ings (£8.5m) and his Southampton colleagues showed they mean business in 2020/21 as they scored seven times in a pre-season win over Swansea on Saturday.
Played across four 30-minute quarters, the first two of these sessions was staffed with what looked much more like the preferred first-choice XI ahead of Gameweek 1, and they were responsible for all the goals during the first hour of a two-hour meeting. This line-up featured Ings and Che Adams (£6.0m) in the front-two of a 4-4-2 formation, which bodes well for the latter’s inclusion in 2020/21.
While we are often urged to take friendly results such as this with a pinch of salt, to find the net so often against Championship opposition should not necessarily be scoffed at.
With some Fantasy managers wondering whether or not Ings can match the value he offered last season, in light of his price hike, it was encouraging to see so many Southampton attackers getting in on the action against the Swans.
Comparisons between the former Burnley forward and Adams have already been made this summer, especially with the latter outscoring him in the last three Gameweeks of 2019/20.
Interestingly, the cheaper of the two men was as heavily involved on Saturday compared to any other Saint. It took Adams just six minutes to get on the scoresheet at St Mary’s converting a Ryan Bertrand (£5.0m) cross from close range.
He went close to netting a second a few minutes later, crashing a volley just wide of the post after a nice one-two with Ings.
Adams then helped Southampton into a two-goal lead as his efforts to find some space in the box resulted in the ball reaching Nathan Redmond (£6.5m), who made no mistake with his powerful effort.
Despite Adams’ contributions, Ings still left the big win with more pre-season attacking returns than his striking partner, combining an assist with two goals, one from the spot.
However, the fact that he took the penalty after Stuart Armstrong (£5.5m) was felled in the box is not necessarily as much of an advantage over Adams as it might seem on first look.
That’s because later in the same match, James Ward-Prowse (£6.0m) took a penalty of his own following a foul on Redmond. It is, of course, early days but, while Ings may take more spot-kicks than Adams this season, Ward-Prowse’s role in the pecking order may shrink the gap.
As Fantasy managers consider how best to invest in the Southampton defence this season, this 7-1 win gave an early indication of what could be on offer in the full-back areas.
While Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.5m) had a relatively quiet afternoon, the £0.5m more expensive asset in Bertrand was heavily involved in what Southampton were doing going forward.
As we always say with these pre-season matches, it is early days and the opposition was obviously not Premier League level, but it is worth making ourselves aware of any particular disparity between two players.
Contributing an assist and two goals against Swansea, his runs on the overlap beyond Armstrong seemed to restrict the Scottish international’s involvement too, also worth knowing for anyone shopping in the £5.5m midfielder bracket.
By contrast, with Walker-Peters sitting a little deeper, it allowed right midfielder Redmond to score and assist in open play, as well as earning a penalty.
Jack Stephens (£5.0m) and Jan Bednarek (£4.5m) were the centre-backs in Ralph Hasenhüttl’s first team of the afternoon, with Jannik Vestergaard (£4.5m) and Christoph Klarer used in the final two quarters. However, the absence of new signing Mohammed Salisu (£4.5m) from the matchday squad makes it hard to know what chances he has of starting in Gameweek 1, or some insight into who might make way for the highly-rated centre-back.
First two quarters Southampton XI (4-4-2): McCarthy; Bertrand, J Stephens, Bednarek, Walker-Peters; Armstrong, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Redmond; Ings, Adams.
Second two quarters Southampton XI (4-4-2): Forster; Vokins, Klarer, Vestergaard, Valery; Djenepo, Smallbone, Slattery (Jankewitz 90′), Boufal; Obafemi, S Long.
CRYSTAL PALACE 3-0 CHARLTON
- Goals: Jordan Ayew x2 (£6.0m), Wilfried Zaha (£7.0m)
- Assists: Zaha, Andros Townsend (£6.0m), Jeffrey Schlupp (£5.5m)
There were more pre-season minutes for Tyrick Mitchell (£4.0m) as Crystal Palace waltzed to a 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic.
The left-back played 64 minutes, bringing his total time played during the summer to 134 minutes over two matches. That’s the longest anyone has spent on the left-side of defence for Palace thus far, but is it enough to guarantee a Gameweek 1 start? Not quite yet.
Mitchell was first called into action at left-back in the 2-1 win over Oxford United, emerging as a 20th-minute substitute for the injured James McCarthy (£4.5m). With Patrick van Aanholt (£5.5m) still on the sidelines, the versatile Jairo Riedewald (£4.5m) was the man who initially started at left-back but moved into central midfield when Mitchell took to the pitch.
With Luka Milivojevic (£6.0m) still not involved in pre-season games and Cheikhou Kouyaté (£5.0m) filling in for the injured Gary Cahill (£4.5m), James Tomkins (£4.5m) and Mamadou Sakho (£4.5m), Roy Hodgson is quite short-staffed in central midfield right now.
It means that anyone returning from injury at centre-back could push Kouyaté back into midfield, while Milivojevic returning to the fold would also boost options there too and reduce the chances of Riedewald being used there.
The knock-on effect of such a chain of events could be that Riedewald moves back into defence and pushes Mitchell back out of the team. Fantasy managers will have to keep an eye out for this in Palace’s last two friendlies of the summer, against Millwall and Brondby IF.
As the hunt for form players in cheaper brackets goes on, Jordan Ayew (£6.0m) threw his name in the hat on Saturday afternoon, with two quickfire goals against Charlton, and a goalpost away from a hat-trick.
Wilfried Zaha (£7.0m) also impressed deployed out-of-position. The FPL midfielder has now played over a game and a half up-front in a 4-4-2 formation, which bodes well for the new campaign. Started in midfield against Oxford, Zaha was moved forward in the second half and subsequently found the net, while his goal and assist against Charlton came from a 90-minute stint as a striker.
Andros Townsend (£6.0m) has been a consistent presence on the flanks of midfield during pre-season for Crystal Palace so far. While Zaha has been involved the most (180 minutes), Townsend’s 159 minutes across two matches is the second-most of any Eagle this summer. Scoring in the first friendly and assist in the second, the former Spurs man went close to finding the net against Charlton too with a spectacular overhead kick.
Fantasy managers also got a chance to have a first look at new signing Eberechi Eze (£6.0m) in a Crystal Palace shirt, who was deployed on the left-hand side of midfield, where he registered most of his goals and assists in the Championship last season.
By all accounts, the former QPR man was impressive, linking up well with Zaha and Townsend in particular, adding some much-needed pace and guile into the Eagles’ attack.
Vicente Guaita (£5.0m) has still not been involved in pre-season for Palace, but Hodgson is yet to show any specific favour for his other goalkeeper options. Stephen Henderson and Wayne Hennessey (£4.5m) have both played 90 minutes each in the Spaniard’s absence so far.
Crystal Palace XI (4-4-2): Hennessey; Mitchell (Kelly 64′), Dann (Inniss 78′), Kouyaté (Woods 78′), J Ward (Kirby 64′); Eze (Schlupp 46′), McArthur (M Boateng 78′), Riedewald (Jach 78′), Townsend (Pierrick 78′); Zaha, Ayew (Gordon 83′).
WEST HAM 2-1 BRENTFORD
- Goals: Andriy Yarmolenko (£6.0m), Tomas Soucek (£5.0m).
- Assists: Pablo Fornals (£6.5m), Michail Antonio (£6.5m).
David Moyes appears to be readying Sebastien Haller (£6.5m) for a return to centre-forward duties at West Ham this season.
After scoring a hat-trick in a 90-minute outing against Ipswich last time out, the Frenchman started in the place of Michail Antonio (£6.5m) on Saturday.
However, Project Restart’s form man will not go away quietly. He came on for Haller at half-time, providing the assist for the Hammers’ winning goal.
However, anyone still interested in Antonio may want to keep their ears to the ground for a fitness update in the coming days. He lasted just 29 minutes against Brentford, forced off with a bang to the hip.
Also of note from a Fantasy perspective was another pre-season goal for Tomas Soucek (£5.0m). Interest in the budget midfielder tanked upon the release of West Ham’s fixtures but he now has two goals in as many friendly appearances ahead of a Gameweek 1 meeting with Newcastle, who typically struggle to defend against aerial threats. You can read more about Soucek here.
The hunt for a £4.0m defender continues to wind on without too much joy for Fantasy managers as Ryan Fredericks (£4.5m) returned to the West Ham side on Saturday.
His start at right-back meant Ben Johnson (£4.0m) was treated to just 32 minutes against Brentford. The cheaper of the two options has more pre-season minutes thus far, but there are still two more friendlies for West Ham to play. Keeping an eye on how often Fredericks is involved at Johnson’s expense (or vice versa) is an essential task for Fantasy managers ahead of Gameweek 1.
West Ham United XI (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Cresswell (Masuaku 46′), Ogbonna, Balbuena, Fredericks (B Johnson 58′); Noble (Cullen 46′), Wilshere (Soucek 46′); Yarmolenko (Anderson 46′), Fornals (Lanzini 46′), Diangana (Bowen 46′); Haller (Antonio 46′ | Coventry 74′).
LEICESTER 0-0 SHEFF WEDS
- Goals: None
- Assists: None
James Justin (£4.5m) already appears to be the most cost-efficient, and safest route into Leicester’s defence ahead of the new season.
After two of their three friendly matches, the versatile full-back has played more minutes than any other Fox (150).
Capable of playing on the left or right-hand side of defence, the departure of Ben Chilwell (£5.5m) combined with Ricardo Pereira‘s (£6.0m) continued absence and Christian Fuchs‘ (£4.5m) injury all mean Justin is very likely to feature from the beginning when Leicester visit West Bromwich Albion in Gameweek 1.
Luke Thomas (£4.5m) remains an option at left-back, registering his first game-time of pre-season in the 0-0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday, although feels less assured of a start when at the Hawthorns next month.
It will be interesting to see who Brendan Rodgers will pair with Çaglar Söyüncü (£5.5m) at centre-back in the event that his defensive crisis does not ease by September 13.
Jonny Evans (£5.5m) will miss the first three matches of 2020/21 through suspension while Wes Morgan (£4.5m) was added to the injury list against Sheffield Wednesday, withdrawn with a tight hamstring.
Based on Leicester’s two pre-season matches so far, Filip Benković (£4.5m) and Darnell Johnson look the two-most likely to deputise for Evans and Morgan, having played 73 and 61 minutes each so far.
Anyone looking for nailed-on Leicester attackers cheaper than Jamie Vardy (£10.0m) might be pleased to know how heavily involved Harvey Barnes (£7.0m) has been during pre-season. Like Justin, he has started both games and with 140 minutes to his name so far, only the defender has been utilised more by Rodgers.
Leicester City XI (4-3-3): Schmeichel (D Ward 46′); L Thomas (Daley-Campbell 62′), Söyüncü (Knight 80′), Morgan (D Johnson 31′ | Benković 62′)), Justin; Tielemans (Dewsbury-Hall 80′), N Mendy (Choudhury 62′), Praet (Tavares 46′); Barnes (Eppiah 80′), Vardy (Iheanacho 46′), Albrighton (Gray 62′).
BURNLEY 3-0 TRANMERE
- Goals: Matej Vydra (£5.0m), Bobby Thomas, Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£5.5m)
- Assists: Erik Pieters x2 (£4.5m), Jimmy Dunne
Sean Dyche split his squad across two matches on Saturday afternoon, which made for a high concentration of youth players.
Erik Pieters (£4.5m) was the standout performer from the win over Tranmere as he registered two assists playing at left-back.
Meanwhile, Matej Vydra (£5.0m) and Jay Rodriguez (£6.0m) led the line in this one, each one surely hoping of nailing down a spot in the front-two with Ashley Barnes (£6.0m) still missing.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson‘s (£5.5m) hopes of getting back to his best in 2020/21 started here too. He took the corners and managed to get on the scoresheet against Tranmere, although Dyche continues to manage his minutes, Chris Conn-Clarke replacing him in the 78th minute.
Burnley XI (4-4-2): Peacock-Farrell; Pieters, Thomas, Dunne, Bardsley; Brady, Benson, Brownhill, Gudmundsson (Conn-Clarke 78′); Vydra, Rodriguez.
BURNLEY 1-2 SHREWSBURY
- Goals: Chris Wood (£6.5m)
- Assists: Max Thompson
Ben Mee (£5.0m), Kevin Long (£4.5m) and Ben Gibson (£4.0m) were three of the five senior absences from Burnley’s two opening games of pre-season paving the way for a makeshift back-four against Shrewsbury.
Dyche was forced to pair James Tarkowski (£5.0m) with left-back Charlie Taylor (£4.5m) and deploy Anthony Glennon in the former Leeds’ defenders usual position.
Such a set-up did not start the game well as the League One opponents managed to score twice in the opening 12 minutes.
While Taylor is unlikely to play at centre-back this season, it is worth noting that Dyche is prepared to use him there. The budget defender also managed to go close to scoring a header in this game, nearly converting a Dwight McNeil (£6.0m) free-kick but sending his effort just wide.
Chris Wood (£6.5m) kept up his penalty-taking practice in this one, converting a second-half spot-kick earned from a foul on Max Thompson.
Burnley XI (4-4-2): Pope (Jensen 46′); Glennon, C Taylor, Tarkowski, Lowton (Elva-Fountaine 75′); Tucker (Trialist 46′), Westwood, Goodridge, McNeil; Wood, Thompson (Mumbongo 46′).
FULHAM 2-2 MK DONS
- Goals: Aboubakar Kamara (£5.0m), Tom Cairney (£5.5m)
- Assists: Tyrese Francois, Ivan Cavaleiro (£5.5m)
Scott Parker used two different teams in Fulham’s 2-2 draw with MK Dons on Saturday, their first outing of pre-season.
Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.0m) was among the five senior players not involved in this one, with Aboubakar Kamara (£5.0m) and Tom Cairney (£5.5m) looked to for the goals.
New signing Antonee Robinson (£4.5m) got 45 minutes at left-back while Denis Odoi (not yet priced) played half the game in defence, and could be set for an FPL price in the coming days.
First-half Fulham XI (3-4-3): Rodák; Le Marchand, Hector, Odoi; Bryan, Johansen, Jasper, S Sessegnon; Kebano, Decordova-Reid, Knockaert.
Second-half Fulham XI (4-2-3-1): Bettinelli; A Robinson, Ream, Mawson, Christie; Francois, Cairney; Cavaleiro, Carvalho, Onomah; Kamara.
WEST BROM 0-1 NOTTM FOREST
- Goals: None.
- Assists: None.
Apart from three players, the entire West Bromwich Albion squad were used in their opening pre-season friendly on Saturday, although the result was far from promising.
Forward Kenneth Zohore (£5.0m), left-back Conor Townsend (£4.5m) and midfielder Oliver Burke (£4.5m) were the only senior players not involved as Slave Bilic used two mostly different XIs between each half.
Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone (£4.5m) was the only one who played 90 minutes.
In a largely uneventful game, mostly organised to give the whole squad some match fitness, there were very few Fantasy takeaways. Managers will have to wait until the Baggies arrange some more games to find out more about Bilic’s plans for the season.
First-half West Bromwich Albion XI (4-2-3-1): Johnstone; Gibbs, Bartley, Peltier, Furlong; Livermore, Field; Edwards, Tulloch, M Phillips; Robson-Kanu.
Second-half West Bromwich Albion XI (3-4-1-2): Johnstone; Hegazi, Shotton, O’Shea; Ajayi; Grosicki, Sawyers, Harper, Pereira; Austin, Soule.
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