Scout Notes

Smith Rowe scores, Pepe misses pen and Bowen bags another pre-season assist

Pre-season matches continued on Tuesday and Wednesday, with West Ham United in action again and Arsenal taking on Hibernian in their first run-out.

We’ll be documenting every warm-up game result, every minute played (where line-ups are available), every goal, every assist and much more in our dedicated Pre-Season tab, which will be updated regularly ahead of Gameweek 1.

And we’ll have Scout Notes on every friendly, too, continuing with a mixed night for the Gunners and the Hammers.

Hibernian 2-1 Arsenal

  • Goal: Emile Smith Rowe (£5.5m)
  • Assist: Hector Bellerin (£5.0m)
  • Penalty missed: Nicolas Pepe (£7.5m)

VIEW MATCH HIGHLIGHTS HERE

Substitute Emile Smith Rowe (£5.5m) scored Arsenal’s only goal as the Gunners lost 2-1 to Hibs in their pre-season opener.

Most of Arsenal’s first-team players were handed 45 minutes as they eased into the beginning of the campaign.

Nicolas Pepe (£7.5m) won a second-half penalty but failed to convert from 12 yards, with Alexandre Lacazette (£8.5m) on the field but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£10.0m) having departed the action at half-time.

Rumoured Inter Milan target Hector Bellerin (£5.0m) assisted Smith Rowe’s goal, finding the midfielder at the back post with a deflected cross.

On the young midfielder’s performance, Mikel Arteta said:

“He knows that it (scoring) is a part of the game he needs to get better at. We are working on it a lot and you could see the positions that he took today. He created two or three big chances.

Arsenal conceded early on with a mix-up in defence involving 19-year-old goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo, before conceding from a second-half corner.

“I’m always disappointed when we lose a football match but it is the first game, we played with many kids and we only had four training sessions.

“We’ve trained really hard and you could see that the players were a little bit leggy. I think we conceded the first goal, an accident, and the second goal was clearly offside.

“We created many, many chances but we didn’t score. That’s what pre-season is for, to take the things that we haven’t done well into a training session and then improve.” – Mikel Arteta

Asked if a lack of training so far explains the performance, Arteta added:

It does but there’s no excuse because we want to come here and win the match. They worked really hard, the boys worked really hard and you could see that some of them were not in the best condition, but we’re still very early in pre-season. It was great to see some of the young lads making their debuts here. We’ll keep working.

Arsenal XI: Okonkwo (Hein 46′); Kolasinac (Hutchinson 80′), Mari, Clarke (Rekik 46′), Soares (Bellerin 63′), Elneny (Henry-Francis 75′), Maitland-Niles (Partey 46′), Aubameyang (Lacazette 46′), Willian (Smith Rowe 46′), Nelson (Pepe 46′), Nketiah (Balogun 46′)

Leyton Orient 0-0 West Ham United

Fit-again Antonio bursts back onto the FPL scene in time for season run-in

VIEW MATCH HIGHLIGHTS HERE

Michail Antonio (£7.5m) played 90 minutes in the first of West Ham’s two simultaneous friendlies on Tuesday.

That followed a 45-minute showing in the Hammers’ first pre-season tie last Friday.

His only chance of the game came after 82 minutes: the striker got his head onto an Aaron Cresswell (£5.5m) cross but the Leyton Orient goalkeeper was equal to the effort.

On splitting his squad across two games in one evening, David Moyes said:

I wanted to get the senior players 90 minutes on the pitch tonight, so we were pleased get that into their legs. There are a lot of players away just now and not back, so it’s not helping with the moment in putting strong teams out, and it was a hard game for us [at Orient].

Orient played well and we have to give them credit for the way they played, I must say. It was tough for us, but good for the other team who won 2-1 tonight at Northampton. The two results were okay for us.

[Most importantly] we wanted to give them 90 minutes, that’s why we split them and I’m pleased that we had the chance to do that.”

West Ham XI v Leyton Orient: Randolph, Cresswell, Baptiste, Ogbonna, Ashby (Potts 46′), Johnson, Noble, Ekwah, Oko-Flex (Diallo 75′), Antonio, Silva.

NORTHAMPTON 1-2 WEST HAM UNITED

Everton and West Ham in action as Premier League pre-season friendlies start
  • Goals: Sid Nelson own-goal, Conor Coventry
  • Assist: Jarrod Bowen (£6.5m), Manuel Lanzini (£6.0m)

VIEW MATCH HIGHLIGHTS HERE

Jarrod Bowen (£6.5m) claimed his second assist of pre-season with a cross that Northampton defender Sid Nelson put into his own net after just a minute.

The winger saw his corner headed home in the Irons’ first pre-season outing, while also converting from the penalty spot.

And Manuel Lanzini (£6.0m) earned an assist against Northampton, with a pass in the 14th minute that Conor Coventry stuck in the bottom corner from inside the edge of the box.

There were plenty more 90-minute runouts for senior players, with assistant manager Stuart Pearce choosing to make only two substitutions.

Moyes’s post-match comments suggested that the likes of Vladimir Coufal (£5.0m) and Tomas Soucek (£6.0m) are “weeks away” from a return, following their exertions at the European Championship.

“We’ve got a long way to go and it’s difficult at the moment where we’ve only got half the squad but we’re trying to get everybody in the best condition we can. Most of them aren’t back for another two to three weeks yet but we’ll get some of them back and start to build them up in the coming weeks.

“But the likes of Declan (Rice), the Czech boys have a few weeks to go yet. They have holiday time and they deserve it for the way they played for us last year and they did really well at the Euros. So they have time off and we’ll factor that in as well.

“We’re training the players all the time and we’re working them hard, so we’re hoping to keep building on it and we want to get back to the levels we were at last year. We’ve got high standards to set and we’re looking forward to doing that.” – David Moyes

West Ham XI v Northampton: Trott, Fredericks, Dawson, Alves, Alese, Coventry, Forson (Rosa 77), Lanzini, Bowen, Holland, Odubeko (Swyer 85).

Watford 3-2 Millwall

Early pricing thoughts
  • Goals: Domingos Quina (£4.5m), Adam Masina (£4.5m), Ashley Fletcher (£5.0m)

Watford beat Millwall 3-2 in a behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly on Wednesday.

Domingos Quina (£4.5m) scored from a free-kick before Millwall went 2-1 up.

Adam Masina (£4.5m) restored parity before Ashley Fletcher (£5.0m) grabbed a winner.

No line-up information was revealed.

251 Comments Post a Comment
  1. King Kohli
    • 11 Years
    2 years, 8 months ago

    Who is the best player at 6m in the game?

    1. R.C
      • 6 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Harrison

    2. Bobby Digital
      • 6 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Dias

    3. Botman and Robben
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Harrison

    4. Stimps
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Dias

    5. Amartey Partey
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Chilwell

      1. FPL Theorist
        • 4 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        Agree, I'd have him except with the early fixtures, I don't think he's worth 0.5 more than Digne. Will likely switch to Chilwell on first WC.

        1. Soto Ayam
          • 4 Years
          2 years, 8 months ago

          Do you think he'll at least start gw1?

    6. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      In real life football: Ederson (probably good enough physically and technically to play in midfield)

      In FPL: Dias (probably get you minimum 140 points, which ain't bad going for a 6m outfield player)

    7. Je suis le chat
      • 10 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Dallas at 5.5m apoeals. Don't like the 6m players.

  2. Karan14
    • 7 Years
    2 years, 8 months ago

    Mods how can I extend/renew my membership before it expires and make use of the 20% discount available right now?

    I don't see any option to renew and my membership expires on 13th August.

    1. WALOR
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      same question here

      1. Karan14
        • 7 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        Yeah I don't want to be pay 25 quid later when I can get it for 20 now.

    2. El Presidente
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Renewed membership will always be at 20% discount maybe?...

    3. onceuponatyne
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      would love to know also...

    4. Rotation's Alter Ego
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 12 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Hey all,

      First and foremost - you will renew at whatever price you signed up at, which for most should be less than the current promotion (ie even if prices go up, you keep paying at the rate you originally signed up at, it'd just be new members that pay more).

      If you've cancelled, you will have to sign up once your sub has expired - I'm not aware of any workaround for that, but I believe Geoff, Chris and some of the tech guys are meeting tomorrow morning and will discuss the issue then. I'll keep pushing it as a priority, the more people struggling the stronger my case can be to push its priority up.

      1. Rotation's Alter Ego
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 12 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        Apologies for the slow reply!

        If you have a question and you want to make sure I don't miss it, my email is in my profile bio - or you can email via the support address. Thanks to those that flagged 🙂

        1. Karan14
          • 7 Years
          2 years, 8 months ago

          Thanks for the clarification RAE 🙂

          Will remember to email you if I have any issues.

  3. DAZZ
    • 9 Years
    2 years, 8 months ago

    Trying to figure out the best Man City assets and who is most likely to play. Norwich at home Gw2 is a gold fixture

    1. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Mahrez

    2. Eze Really?
      • 9 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      A lot of energy will be wasted

      1. DAZZ
        • 9 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        How come?

        1. Eze Really?
          • 9 Years
          2 years, 8 months ago

          Pep Roulette mate

    3. Stimps
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      KDB for sure, but it's really him or Bruno to start with imo

    4. Lovren an elevator
      • 8 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Grealish

    5. J ⚒ Gimme ur Mané
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Agreed.

      I’m on Cancelo Gundo and a ping on Jesus as Aguero is gone

    6. I Member
      • 8 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Mahrez. If KDB is out then Gundo becomes viable too.

    7. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
      • 14 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      The "trying to figure out" is exactly why I'm staying away from them

      If there's an injury bottleneck (or a striker transfer) that clearly signposts who's going to start for an extended period then things might look differently

  4. Worsle90
    • 7 Years
    2 years, 8 months ago

    Which is better:

    3-5-2:
    Henderson
    Coufal / James / Tierney
    Salah / Fernandes / KDB / Saka / Sarr
    Watkins / Pukki

    Foster / Amartey / Manquillo / Obafemi

    OR

    4-4-2:
    Henderson
    TAA / Coufal / James / Tierney
    Salah / Fernandes / Grealish / Saka
    DCL / Watkins

    Foster / Manquillo / Bissouma / Obafemi

    £0.5m ITB in both teams for Tierney - Shaw (GW2)

    1. FPLtfs
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      I’m really not a fan of a planene transfer like Tierney -> Shaw that early on. You’ll most likely need that transfer to jump on a bandwagon or to sort out something else.

    2. BooYaKasha
      • 12 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Euro biased

      1. Worsle90
        • 7 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        What? Saka?

  5. Totalfootball
    • 7 Years
    2 years, 8 months ago

    Do you think Shaw starts the season?

    1. Amartey Partey
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      I think he will. He will probably only end up featuring in one friendly though right before the season kicks off.

    2. FPLtfs
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Not sure. If he gets a game or two beforehand he’s straight in. Have him atm, but might change him.

  6. FPLtfs
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    2 years, 8 months ago

    Sanchez (4.0)
    TAA, Shaw, Digne (Fofana, 4.0)
    Salah, Bruno, Jota, Raphinha (4.5)
    Antonio, Wilson, Toney

    Pretty template, but never seen anyone with these exact players. What do you think?

    1. Amartey Partey
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Looks good to me. Jota stands out because we don't know if he will start or not.

      1. FPLtfs
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        Agree. Could become Gundogan, Mount og Greenwood if they fire in PS

    2. Botman and Robben
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Pretty close to mine atm. Same exact mid. Will see during preseason to get hints on Jota getting regular long play time.

      1. FPLtfs
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        Yes. Like those fixtures for pool so a triple up might be the way to go. Will monitor Jota as well, but as mentioned in a comment above there is a couple of good options at that price point.

  7. Stupendous
    • 11 Years
    2 years, 8 months ago

    How is this second draft looking?

    Sanchez
    Wan-Bissaka Dias TAA
    Salah Thiago Foden Bruno(c) Raph
    DCL Watkins

    4.0 Manquillo Davis Johnson

    I'll likely find another .5 somewhere to pump the bench up a little but I love this base. May drop Foden and use the money for the bench, but he's gonna absolutely smash it I think!

    1. Stupendous
      • 11 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      There are a lot of big scores in this team I feel!!! Phew!!!

    2. Botman and Robben
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Very risky going with no bench.

      1. Stupendous
        • 11 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        I mean there IS a bench, it's just not a very good one haha.

        I agree though, but that 11 is special isn't it?

        1. Botman and Robben
          • 7 Years
          2 years, 8 months ago

          Thiago & Foden are big risks. That in addition to the bench is not good.

    3. St Pauli Walnuts
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Zero subs is just asking for trouble, I'd say just one is too. Don't see the attraction in Thiago.

      1. Stupendous
        • 11 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        I've shifted a few pieces below

    4. I Member
      • 8 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Thiago? Lovely player but barely gets any returns.

  8. zdrojo187
    • 9 Years
    2 years, 8 months ago

    Sanchez
    Digne Wan-Bissaka Targett
    Son Bruno Salah Trossard
    Watkins DCL Toney

    Foster Amartey Bissouma Omobamidele

    Looks good to me till GW4...

    1. Stupendous
      • 11 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      I like it. Who's Omobamidele? Newly promoted?

    2. zdrojo187
      • 9 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      He's played last 9 matches for Norwich as a starter...Good option for 4.0

  9. Stupendous
    • 11 Years
    2 years, 8 months ago

    Quick tinker...

    Sanchez
    AWB Dias Cresswell TAA
    Salah Barnes Bruno(c) Raphinha
    DCL Watkins

    4.0 Holding Bissouma Davis

    Thoughts on the draft please?

    1. pingissimus
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 8 months ago

      Doubting DCL here

      But there again if there's Dumfries and Digne down the sides then he could get the service - rather discounting James but I guess he may be good for August and early September while the sun is on his back 🙂

      1. Stupendous
        • 11 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        Could squeeze in Bamford!

        1. pingissimus
          • 5 Years
          2 years, 8 months ago

          It'll never happen of course but my goal is choose one of those types and just hang on - that seemed to be what paid last time out. They were all reliably unreliable and fixtures didn't seem to be so very significant (see DCL DGW 😉 ) they just scored when they scored and switching between them just frustrated.

      2. Stupendous
        • 11 Years
        2 years, 8 months ago

        But DCL home to Saints and Bamford away at United
        I'd rather take a punt on DCL and their fixtures to start with.
        Im never going near Digne again after last year hahaha