The friendlies keep coming at a high speed, with six taking place in the early hours of Thursday morning. Here are the headline Fantasy Premier League (FPL) pre-season updates from the first three of them.
It’s the outings of Arsenal, Manchester United and Crystal Palace.
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Arsenal 5-3 Barcelona
- Goals: Saka, Havertz, Trossard x2, Vieira
- Assists: Odegaard, Jesus, Tierney
There were mixed fortunes for Arsenal’s midfield assets in their win over Barcelona. Leandro Trossard (£7.0m) scored twice whilst taking the place of Gabriel Martinelli (£8.0m), as Bukayo Saka (£8.5m) cancelled out Robert Lewandowski’s opener but then put his penalty wide.
The 21-year-old also missed his final spot kick of last season, so his penalty-taking status could possibly be in doubt. Especially when Jorginho (£5.5m) is on the pitch.
Still, Saka dazzled in open play and it was his cross that found Martin Odegaard‘s (£8.5m) head for Kai Havertz (£7.5m) to prod home.
After beginning the Man United defeat from the sidelines, Ben White (£5.5m) was the only outfielder here to play all 90 minutes. New signing Jurrien Timber (£5.0m) moved over to left-back because Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.0m) was still unavailable. Not only that, Declan Rice (£5.5m) had a slight calf issue.
“Dec (Rice) had quite a strong kick in training and didn’t want to take the risk, he wasn’t comfortable to train yesterday and today, and we decided not to play him. With Alex (Zinchenko), he had a muscular injury again unfortunately. He’s getting back – I think he’ll be back soon, but it’s a shame that he hasn’t been with us the whole tour.” – Mikel Arteta
It’s still hard to pinpoint exactly which Arsenal attackers should be pursued for their superb early fixtures. Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m) is currently the second most-owned asset but he’s being outdone by the others. And in such good form, does Trossard start the season over Martinelli or Havertz? Even Fabio Vieira (£5.5m) got amongst the midfield goals with a lovely long-range fifth.
Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; White, Saliba (Kiwior 70), Gabriel (Holding 84), Timber (Tierney 70); Odegaard (Vieira 62), Partey (Jorginho 70), Havertz (Smith Rowe 46); Saka (Cozier-Duberry 84), Jesus (Nketiah 79), Trossard (Martinelli 79)
Real Madrid 2-0 Manchester United
Meanwhile, Man United quickly went 1-0 down in Houston because of an early Jude Bellingham goal. Not the best start for debutant goalkeeper Andre Onana (£5.0m) but, in fairness, his side was temporarily down to ten men whilst Kobbie Mainoo (£4.5m) hobbled off injured.
Former Newcastle United forward Joselu wrapped up proceedings with an 89th-minute overhead kick.
Onana generally played well though, making saves and adding the comfort of ball-playing expertise. The problem here was further upfield, where a few missed chances showcased their lack of cutting edge.
“Absolutely [a new forward is needed]. There were two things: the pressing can be better from the start and scoring goals. I think we need more players who are capable to be in one-on-one. And we had the situations. I thought Scott McTominay [had a] one-on-one situation, Alejandro Garnacho [had a] one-on-one situation and, from these situations, you have to score.” – Erik ten Hag on needing to score goals
If this escalates their pursuit of Atalanta forward Rasmus Hojlund, there will be a few FPL ramifications. Firstly, Marcus Rashford (£9.0m) won’t be used up front, where this time he looked poor. It also rules out the brief thought that Jadon Sancho (£7.0m) could have out-of-position potential there.
Elsewhere, Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) started on the right wing as Mason Mount (£7.0m) attacked centrally. It didn’t really work but they have the remaining friendlies to figure out how to both play advanced.
Man United XI: Onana; Wan-Bissaka (Dalot 61), Varane (Maguire 61), Martinez (Lindelof 61), Shaw (Williams 61); Casemiro (McTominay 61), Mainoo (Eriksen 6 (Van de Beek 61)); Fernandes (c), Mount (Antony 61), Garnacho (Pellistri 61); Rashford (Sancho 61)
Crystal Palace 1-2 Millonarios
- Goals: O’Brien
- Assists: Eze
The credentials of Naouirou Ahamada being the strongest £4.5m midfielder were strengthened further by playing the whole match against Millonarios. He’s the individual with the most minutes during Crystal Palace’s pre-season and is seemingly filling in on the right wing while Michael Olise (£6.0m) is injured.
Their loss to the Colombian champions was due to a debatable last-minute penalty but the real concerns will be over the withdrawals of Will Hughes (£5.0m) and Tyrick Mitchell (£4.5m).
“Mitchell has a strain in his quad muscle. He felt a sharp pain when he tried to slide in to stop the goal being scored, so that could be a dangerous one for us.
“Of course, the player who was the recipient of that wicked challenge in the second half [Hughes], we don’t know yet if that’s going to put him out of action, because those challenges do put people out of action. They’re the challenges which twist people’s knees and twist people’s ankles.” – Roy Hodgson
Whereas Ahamada’s minutes are encouraging, it’s hard to put too much stock in this line-up. Eberechi Eze (£6.5m), Cheick Doucoure (£5.0m) and Odsonne Edouard (£5.5m) were only used from the bench, with Eze’s corner assisting defender Jake O’Brien‘s (£4.0m) goal.
If Eze takes over corner duties while Olise is absent, it adds even further appeal to someone who netted six times in last season’s final nine matches.
“Against Sevilla and against Lyon we’ll be picking what we think is our best XI, closer to who we’ll play in the opening game of the season.” – Roy Hodgson
First-choice goalkeeper Sam Johnstone (£4.5m) was unused here but, judging by Hodgson’s comments, he’s likely facing both Sevilla and Lyon.
Crystal Palace XI: Matthews; Ward (Mitchell 62 (Gordon 81)), Andersen (O’Brien 46), Guehi (Tomkins 46), Clyne; Lerma (Eze 62), Riedewald (Doucoure 62), Hughes (Schlupp 62); Ahamada, Mateta (Edouard 46), Ayew
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