This is it: the final bit of pre-season preparation before the real action commences in Gameweek 1.
We’ve seen three clubs – Brentford, Chelsea and Newcastle United – feature already on Friday but all of them will be in action again over the weekend. In the Bees’ case, however, it’s a behind-closed-doors kickabout featuring most of the second string.
Tottenham Hotspur are the only Premier League club not involved on Saturday or Sunday. They have a Super Cup coming up against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
THIS WEEKEND’S PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES
Here are all the remaining ‘official’ pre-season friendlies:
| Match | Date | Kick-off time (BST) |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester United v Fiorentina | Saturday 9 August | 12.45pm |
| Sunderland v Augsburg | Saturday 9 August | 2pm |
| Burnley v Lazio | Saturday 9 August | 3pm |
| Everton v Roma | Saturday 9 August | 3pm |
| Leeds United v AC Milan | Saturday 9 August | 3pm |
| West Ham United v Lille | Saturday 9 August | 3pm |
| Celta Vigo v Wolverhampton Wanderers | Saturday 9 August | 3pm |
| Newcastle United v Atletico Madrid | Saturday 9 August | 4pm |
| Arsenal v Athletic Club | Saturday 9 August | 5pm |
| Brighton and Hove Albion v Wolfsburg | Saturday 9 August | 5pm |
| Fulham v Eintracht Frankfurt | Saturday 9 August | 5pm |
| Bournemouth v Real Sociedad | Saturday 9 August | 5.15pm |
| Marseille v Aston Villa | Saturday 9 August | 6pm |
| Nottingham Forest v Al Qadsiah | Saturday 9 August | 7.45pm |
| Palermo v Manchester City | Saturday 9 August | 8pm |
| Chelsea v AC Milan | Sunday 10 August | 3pm |
| Crystal Palace v Liverpool (Community Shield) | Sunday 10 August | 3pm |
| Sunderland v Rayo Vallecano | Sunday 10 August | 4.30pm |
| Villarreal v Aston Villa | Sunday 10 August | 8pm |
*Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton and Burnley each have additional behind-closed-doors games on Saturday
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
SATURDAY
We won’t see new signing Benjamin Sesko in action today but Ruben Amorim might have something to say about the Gameweek 1 readiness of his latest recruit in the aftermath of Manchester United’s clash with Fiorentina.
It’s interesting to see budget defender Ayden Heaven (£4.0m) in the starting XI this afternoon in what is otherwise, some would argue, the strongest side available to Amorim.
The three promoted clubs are all in action in the mid-afternoon kick-offs, which will hopefully give us the best indication yet of which £4.0m defenders will line up in Gameweek 1. As Lateriser said in this morning’s article, significant game-time for Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) and Marc Guiu (£4.5m) would be a big help before the big kick-off.
Elsewhere, will David Moyes start Thierno Barry (£6.0m) for the first time? The Everton boss said that his new signing was being integrated slowly into his starting XI in the US but back on home soil and with a full week of training under his belt, it’ll be interesting to see if he deposes Beto (£5.5m).
After a very promising debut appearance off the bench last weekend, we could see a first Wolves start for Jhon Arias (£5.5m). With still no Nelson Semedo replacement through the door, it’ll also be worth noting whether Ki-Jana Hoever (£4.0m) starts again at right wing-back.
Antonee Robinson (£5.0m), Ola Aina (£5.0m) and Justin Kluivert (£7.0m) have been conspicuous by their recent absences, with today the last chance to see them in action – or not – before the meaningful stuff begins. After Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.0m) and Jurrien Timber (£5.5m) returned from injury as substitutes in midweek, it’s also the final window for the premium Arsenal defenders to get a first pre-season start of the summer. Could we also see belated debuts for young Greek strikers Charalampos Kostoulas (£5.0m) and Stefanos Tzimas (£5.5m) at Brighton and Hove Albion, two of the longer-term hopes in the budget forward pool?
With Illia Zabarnyi (£5.0m) PSG-bound, Saturday is an opportunity for the dirt-cheap James Hill (£4.0m) to stake a claim at centre-half for Bournemouth.
Rounding off Saturday’s action is perhaps the most keenly anticipated friendly of the day. It’s Manchester City’s first proper warm-up game of the summer, which takes place in Sicily. Who will Pep Guardiola opt for and will it have any bearing on his Gameweek 1 set-up? Given that it’s City’s one and only meaningful pre-season kickabout, you’d think he’d give rhythm-boosting minutes to the players he intends to send out at Molineux next weekend.
We know that Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m), Phil Foden (£8.0m) and Rodri (£6.5m) will not feature.
SUNDAY
Aston Villa have a Saturday night game against Marseille and a Sunday evening match in Villarreal. Morgan Rogers (£7.0m) has to prove his fitness after limping off in midweek but the early reports are that he’s very doubtful for this double-header, so we’re not holding out much hope of seeing him.
Chelsea and Sunderland complete their weekend double-headers on Sunday, too, with this being a second chance to see Guiu if he doesn’t show on Saturday.
Joao Pedro (£7.5m) could start after his goalscoring cameo on Friday, too.
The big match of the day is the Community Shield.
A non-appearance for Conor Bradley (£5.0m) – it will be “tight” – will potentially boost Jeremie Frimpong‘s (£6.0m) early-season game-time.
How Arne Slot uses his attacking options is another thing to keep an eye on. Will it again be Florian Wirtz (£8.5m) playing off Hugo Ekitike (£8.5m), with Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) and Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) on either side?
