The latest bunch of friendlies involved top-flight sides Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion, Everton, Fulham, Leeds United and Sunderland.
Weak opponents and line-ups will therefore make these notes brief, with more notable lessons to come as Gameweek 1 approaches.
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Nevertheless, we’ll take a look at the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from such kickabouts.
Arsenal 1-0 AC Milan
- GOAL: Bukayo Saka
- ASSIST: Jakub Kiwior
Arsenal got off to a winning start on their tour to the Far East with a narrow win over AC Milan, courtesy of Bukayo Saka’s (£10.0m) winner.
Mikel Arteta fielded a strong first XI in Singapore, including Saka, David Raya (£5.5m), William Saliba (£6.0m), Declan Rice (£6.5m), Gabriel Martinelli (£7.0m) and Kai Havertz (£7.5m) and were largely dominant in humid conditions.
GABRIEL + TIMBER LATEST
Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.0m) and Jurrien Timber (£5.5m) are still out injured but should be back in time for Gameweek 1. It meant that Riccardo Calafiori (£5.5m) played centrally, with Ben White (£5.5m) at right-back and Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.0m) on the left.
“Jurrien [Timber] is still not there, he’s not fully trained yet with us, and Gabi [Gabriel] had a little niggle the other day in training, and because of the fact that he’s been out for so long as well, we have to manage him, I mean, we’ve been in Spain, different pitch, different conditions, go to the UK, different ones come here, and there are a lot of changes, so we have to minimise the risk with him.” – Mikel Arteta on Gabriel and Jurrien Timber
The Gunners’ chief threat came from Ethan Nwaneri (£5.5m), playing in his preferred right central midfield role instead of Martin Odegaard (£8.0m). Looking bright and dangerous, he twice came close to scoring with a saved shot and another effort that flashed wide.
At half-time, on come the likes of Odegaard, Leandro Trossard (£7.0m) and Myles Lewis-Skelly (£5.5m).
New signings Martin Zubimendi (£5.5m) and Christian Norgaard (£5.5m) looked neat and tidy as defensive midfielders. But it was Jakub Kiwior (£5.5m) who forced the breakthrough, playing a superb cross for Saka to finish at the far post. .
Arteta later brought on 15-year-old Max Dowman, a superb talent able to showcase his skills. Marli Salmon, of the same age, replaced Saliba but missed in the gratuitous post-match penalty shoot-out. At the other end, Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.5m) saved three of them.
SAKA BACK AMONG THE GOALS
First impressions from an FPL point of view are that Arsenal’s first-choice midfield will be Rice, Zubimendi and Odegaard.
Martinelli’s place on the wing could be under threat once Noni Madueke (£7.0m) joins up with the squad. Viktor Gyokeres is imminent, too, so Havertz faces his biggest game-time challenge yet.
Saka likely remains a dependable premium midfielder, however. Avoid injury and he will continue to deliver attacking returns.
“He was at a really good level, Bukayo [Saka] is one of them, we have pushed him through the summer as well, to catch up on other things that he had to, to give himself the best chance to explore his qualities, which are better and more highlighted, and with more impact than physically, at the highest level.” – Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka
“He’s in a very good place, I think the game that he had, I think he was in three or four times, he was completely free, and the ball arrived to him, his work-rate, what he offers to the team, it’s top. So, he scored against Watford, today he was very close a couple of times as well, overall very happy with him.– Mikel Arteta on Kai Havertz
Arsenal XI: Raya (Arrizabalaga 46); White (Nichols 66), Saliba (Salmon 66), Calafiori (Kiwior 46), Zinchenko (Lewis-Skelly 46); Norgaard (Zubimendi 46), Rice (Merino 66), Nwaneri (Odegaard 46); Martinelli (Trossard 46), Saka (Dowman 66), Havertz (Nelson 78).
SC VERL 1-4 LEEDS UNITED
- Goals: Joel Piroe (x2, inc penalty), Wilfried Gnonto, Lukas Nmecha
- Assists: Harry Gray, Largie Ramazani (x2)
Leeds United swept aside German side SC Verl thanks to a Joël Piroe brace, as Daniel Farke fielded two 60-minute sides on a sweltering afternoon.
The first lot gave minutes to summer signings Jaka Bijol (£4.0m), Gabriel Gudmundsson (£4.0m) and Sean Longstaff (£5.0m).
A bright start saw Daniel James’ (£5.5m) cross narrowly miss Gudmundsson at the back post, while Pascal Struijk’s (£4.5m) header drew a superb save.
After 25 minutes, 16-year-old Harry Gray, brother of Spurs’ Archie, sent Piroe away with a fine through-ball, which was lashed into the top corner. An outstanding prospect, Gray was unfortunate to see another shot hit the post.
Leeds were gifted a handball penalty, which Piroe correctly converted – this despite regular Struijk being on the field.
The ever-threatening Struijk then had a headed goal from James’ cross disallowed for offside.
Only Longstaff, Ilia Gruev (£5.0m) and first-half substitute Alex Cairns (£4.0m) remained on for the second period.
Largie Ramazani (£5.0m) looked lively by clipping the post and then forcing a goal-saving block. After Lukas Nmecha’s (£5.0m) powerful drive was stopped, Ramazani played in Wilfried Gnonto (£5.5m) to score.
At the other end, Karl Darlow (£4.0m) made a fine fingertip save from a free-kick, before Nmecha crowned a fine display by finishing off Ramazani’s cross late on.
Is Piroe a bargain?
Not only were there strong performances from Nmecha, Ramazani, and Gray, corners from the maligned Jack Harrison (£5.5m) kept causing problems and Struijk remains a set-piece threat with his aerial ability.
Piroe, last season’s top Championship scorer, did what he does best and it may be worth keeping an eye on him if Leeds fail to recruit another striker. At £5.5m, he could be a budget enabler up front, especially as he could be on penalties ahead of Struijk.
“I am pleased with this performance. First of all character like I mentioned also in this game not just in the spotlight in front of 50,000 against Manchester United but also in this game when the opponent will press and you are tired anyhow because we had yesterday two really tough training sessions.” – Daniel Farke
“We don’t let our standards drop and we want to be at our best. We wanted to win this game, we want to do our thing. That is what we did. I have seen a lot of what I’m really happy with and many things to be positive about. Overall, a really good game for us. It is important to get these minutes into the tank so to speed up our fitness levels but also to get more and more used to our process to our game.” – Daniel Farke
Leeds first-half XI: Meslier (Cairns 40); Chambers, Struijk, Bijol, Gudmundsson; Harrison, Gruev, Longstaff, Gray, James; Piroe
Leeds second-half XI: Cairns (Darlow 81); Bogle, Rodon, Ampadu, Byram; Ramazani, Gruev (Chadwick 91), Longstaff (Crew 81), Tanaka, Gnonto; Nmecha
LAS PALMAS 0-2 BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
- Goals: Yasin Ayari, Matt O’Riley
- Assists: Matt O’Riley
Matt O’Riley (£5.5m) scored and assisted, as Brighton and Hove Albion beat Las Palmas in Spain.
His early header was denied, just before resisting the temptation to open the scoring when put through by Danny Welbeck (£6.5m). Instead, he unselfishly teed up a Yasin Ayari (£5.0m) tap-in.
The Danish international soon grabbed one for himself, pouncing on a defensive error before curling a fine 30-yarder past the marooned goalkeeper.
O’Riley might have had another assist when Mats Wieffer (£5.0m) headed his cross straight at the stopper, or when Jack Hinshelwood (£5.5m) put his own into the ground and over the bar. In between, Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) was also denied.
Fabian Hurzeler shuffled his deck at half-time, but Ayari had to come back on in the 55th minute when Facundo Buonanotte (£5.0m) got injured.
With 20 minutes remaining, Yankuba Minteh (£6.0m) won possession brilliantly before racing towards goal and firing a shot against the post.
Revitalised O’Riley + Welbeck are worth monitoring
Despite his early Brighton career being interrupted by injuries, O’Riley could be one to keep an eye on. Now that Joao Pedro (£7.5m) has departed, the Seagulls will look to lean on his creativity and potential for attacking returns that he exhibited at Celtic.
Meanwhile, Welbeck bagged a hat-trick in a recent friendly and could be their new penalty taker.
Attacking left-back Maxim De Cuyper (£4.5m) has less competition now that Pervis Estupinan is an AC Milan player. He’s a possible bargain.
Brighton first half XI: Steele; Wieffer, van Hekce, Dunk, De Cuyper; Ayari, Hinshelwood, Gruda; O’Riley; Welbeck, Mitoma.
Brighton second half XI: Rushworth; Mackley, Cashin, Coppola, Moran; Gomez, Milner, Yalcouye, Buonanotte (Ayari 55); Rutter; Minteh.
SPORTING CP 1-0 SUNDERLAND
Sunderland concluded their pre-season training camp in Portugal with a narrow defeat.
Régis Le Bris fielded a similar XI to the one that started the weekend draw with Sevilla. It just had Harrison Jones (£4.5m) replacing Niall Huggins (£4.0m) at left-back, while Blondy Nna Noukeu (£4.0m) took Simon Moore‘s (£4.0m) spot in goal. He then made wholesale changes for the second half.
The Black Cats gave a good account of themselves and might have taken the lead early on when Trai Hume (£4.5m) headed Enzo Le Fée’s (£5.0m) corner wide.
Moments later, the sole goal had Francisco Trincão putting the Portuguese champions ahead.
Eliezer Mayenda (£5.5m) twice came close for Sunderland; one from a solo run, another fired a Le Fée cutback wide.
Furthermore, Noah Sadiki (£5.0m) played in Chemsdine Talbi (£5.0m), who was denied. Then, Le Fée fed the run and near-post effort of Habib Diarra (£5.5m).
There was little to take here from an FPL perspective, other than Le Fée is a class act and a good corner taker. But whether his team-mates have the quality to finish such created chances remains to be seen.
Sunderland first-half XI: Nna Noukeu; Hume, Ballard, Seelt, H Jones; Sadiki, Le Fée, Diarra; Adingra, Talbi, Mayenda
Sunderland second-half XI: Nna Noukeu (Young 72’); Lavery, Triantis, Johnson, J Jones; Neil, Browne, Roberts, Aleksic; Tutierov, Abduallhi (Ogunsuyi 77’)
EVERTON 2-1 PORT VALE
- Goals: Carlos Alcaraz, James Garner
- Assists: Nathan Patterson
Elsewhere, two further matches were played behind closed doors and offered very little in terms of team news.
After a draw and a defeat, Everton got their first summer win, narrowly overcoming Port Vale at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The Toffees conceded early but levelled thanks to Carlos Alcaraz’s (£5.5m) -time finish from outside the area.
Completing the comeback was James Garner‘s (£5.0m) glorious 25-yard free-kick into the top left-hand corner.
FULHAM 1-0 WEST BROMWICH ALBION
- Goal: Emile Smith Rowe
- Assist: Sander Berge
Here, Marco Silva selected separate teams for each half, with Emile Smith Rowe scoring the only goal. The mid-priced midfielder was played in by a lovely Sander Berge through ball.
No line-up information or match report (bar information on the goal) exists. All very hush-hush.
