Warm-up matches are back for the summer of 2025, as are our pre-season Scout Notes.
While it’s still too early for significant Fantasy Premier League (FPL) news to emerge, Bournemouth, Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers are the latest to get underway.
Weak opponents and line-ups will therefore make these notes brief, with more notable lessons to come as Gameweek 1 approaches.
We’ll take a look at the key FPL talking points from those three kickabouts here.
Accrington Stanley 1-1 Everton
- Goal: Beto (penalty)
- Assist: Isaac Heath
In a July friendly where actual highlights exist, Everton made the short trip to Accrington – although heavy rain meant it was hardly Club Tropicana at the Wham Stadium.
High-profile absences included Jordan Pickford, James Tarkowski, Iliman Ndiaye and big-money new forward Thierno Barry, but there were starts for Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko and Dwight McNeil.
Arguably, the standout Everton display came from 18-year-old central midfielder Harrison Armstrong, playing a role in several Youssef Chermiti chances that forced saves from Ollie Wright.
But it was the hosts who broke the deadline when a corner reached Ben Ward’s back-post header. Goalkeeper Harry Tyrer will be disappointed that the ball squirmed under him.
Yet once the lively Isaac Heath was fouled in the box, fellow substitute Beto comfortably converted the subsequent penalty.
David Moyes’ side face Blackburn Rovers next, before flying to the United States for the Premier League Summer Series.
Everton XI: Tyrer; Patterson, Keane, Branthwaite (O’Brien 46), Mykolenko (Tamen 46); Garner (Beto 46), Iroegbunam; Armstrong (Metcalfe 77), Alcaraz (Heath 63), McNeil; Chermiti (Clarke 63)
Bournemouth 2-1 Hibernian
- Goals: Philip Billing, Romain Faivre
On the same day that Mark Travers swapped Cherries for the unhealthier Toffees, a behind-closed-doors Performance Centre friendly saw his former side take a two-goal lead over Hibernian.
After 20 minutes, a corner found its way to Philip Billing on the edge of the box. Last season’s Napoli loanee scored from it, then, soon after, Romain Faivre pounced on a defensive mistake to double the advantage. Later on, Kieron Bowie pulled one back for the Edinburgh side.
Very little is known about the substitutions that took place, although Hibs’ match report mentions cameos for Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo. The latter ended 2024/25 on the third-most Premier League attempts (125) and had several shots here.
There were first appearances for Adrien Truffert and Eli Junior Kroupi as well.
Bournemouth XI: Neto; Hill, Mepham, Senesi, Soler; Cook, Billing; Brooks, Faivre, Tavernier; Evanilson
Subs: Paulsen, Truffert, Ouattara, Smith, Kluivert, Kroupi, Semenyo, Zabarnyi, Traore, Winterburn, William
Santa Clara 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Goal: Sasa Kalajdzic
Another private encounter involved Wolves in the Algarve, a training game.
Apart from defender Alfie Pond, there were entirely different XIs used by Vitor Pereira for each 35-minute half.
In a feel-good moment, 6ft 7in forward Sasa Kalajdzic put Wolves 1-0 up by tucking home at the near post. The 28-year-old Austrian joined from Stuttgart in 2022, but a debut ACL tear instantly ended his season.
He netted three times in 13 appearances during the early part of 2023/24 before a loan move to Frankfurt soon brought another ACL injury that caused Kalajdzic to miss all of 2024/25 too.
Summer signing Fer Lopez played his first minutes for the club, setting up former Celta Vigo teammate Jorgen Strand Larsen on a couple of occasions. One chance struck the crossbar, while another was fired into the side netting.
If this duo can form a good understanding, perhaps they can be explored by FPL managers. Supporters would greatly appreciate this, now that Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri are gone.
Wolves’ first-half XI: Bentley; Agbadou, Pond, Toti; Hoever, Andre, J Gomes, Lima; Guedes, Chirewa; Kalajdzic
Wolves’ second-half XI: King; Doherty, Pond, Bueno; Mane, Bellegarde, Munetsi, Lopes; Lopez, Hwang; Strand Larsen
