Scout Notes – Pre-Season

Kevin De Bruyne shines for a ruthless Manchester City, but neighbours United succumb to a first pre-season defeat against Barcelona.

Elsewhere, new signing Jacob Murphy hits a brace for Newcastle United, Tony Pulis tinkers and Tom Ince scores again for Huddersfield Town.

Here are the notes from last night’s action.

Man City 4 Real Madrid 1

Man City handed out a thrashing to a strong Real Madrid side, with Kevin De Bruyne at the heart of a blistering second-half performance by Pep Guardiola’s team.

The Belgian’s corner led to the first goal, Nicolas Otamendi tucking in a rebound from a John Stones header, before he set up Raheem Sterling and then Stones as Madrid struggled to cope with City’s attacking fluency.

Teenage attacking midfielder Brahim Diaz, on for Gabriel Jesus, rounded off City’s scoring with a fine finish following a one-two with fellow youngster Patrick Roberts before a late Madrid consolation.

Guardiola started with a 3-5-2 formation, employing Kyle Walker and debutant Danilo as wing-backs and fielding Jesus and Sergio Aguero as a front two.

The goals, however, only came when Aguero was replaced by Sterling at the break, freeing up Jesus to play as the lone striker.

But it was De Bruyne who ran the show. Fantasy Premier League managers have been loath to take advantage of City’s reasonable opening schedule (bri EVE bou LIV wat CRY), with Guardiola’s healthy appetite for rotation putting many off.

As a result, only three City players – De Bruyne, Walker and Jesus – currently enjoy double-figure ownership levels in FPL. The Belgian’s display might well tempt a few more to boost his current 17.5% base, despite his premium price of 10.0 in FPL (11.5 in Sky).

But with David Silva and Bernado Silva not even featuring against Real, second-guessing Guardiola’s midfield machinations remains a vexed affair.

The City boss also gave an injury update after the victory:

“David Silva may be ready for the start of the season, but Mendy has a muscular injury and he needs two or three more weeks, we don’t want to take any risks. Ilkay also is not ready.”

Man City XI: Ederson (Grimshaw 80); Kompany (Mangala 46), Otamendi (Adarabioyo 80), Stones; Walker (Duhaney 69), Danilo (Sane 80), Toure (Roberts 79), De Bruyne (Zinchenko 69), Foden (Nasri 46); Aguero (Sterling 46), G Jesus (Diaz 69).

Man United 0 Barcelona 1

Man United finished their US tour with their first defeat of pre-season, a Neymar strike in the first-half the only goal of an entertaining match.

Jose Mourinho opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation and again declined to partner Victor Lindelof with Eric Bailly at the centre of his defence, the Swede starting the match alongside Chris Smalling.

Bailly’s upcoming three-match European ban had much to do with that decision, as Mourinho explained post-match.

“I think we will understand the reason in a couple of days. Bailly is suspended for the first two matches in Europe as you know, and in the next couple of days you will have the understanding of why I am playing Lindelof and Smalling.”

Paul Pogba – with 19.2% ownership the side’s most popular midfield pick in FPL – again played in a deeper role, allowing Henrikh Mkhitaryan (5.9%) to operate in an attacking trio working around lone striker Romelu Lukaku.

Despite the defeat, Mourinho declared himself content with the tour and gave an update on the injuries to Juan Mata and Ander Herrera.

“I am very happy. No injuries because Mata and Herrera in this moment, I don’t think we are talking about injuries. They will be back to training I think next Saturday.”

Intriguingly, the 6.0-priced Jesse Lingard – owned by just 1% of FPL managers – was the only United player to start all five matches of their summer tour.

Man United XI: De Gea (Romero 46); Valencia (Tuanzebe 84), Smalling (Bailly 46), Lindelof (Jones 46), Blind (Darmian 46); Carrick (Fellaini 46), Pogba; Mkhitaryan (Pereira 63), Rashford, Lingard (Martial 63); Lukaku.

Bradford 0 Newcastle United 4

New signing Jacob Murphy scored twice as Newcastle had way too much class for their League One opponents.

The midfielder, priced at 5.5 in FPL and 7.7 in the Sky game, came on at half-time and added real bite to Newcastle’s attacking play following a goalless first 45 minutes.

Dwight Gayle opened the scoring from a Christian Atsu cross before Murphy added a second.

Aleksandar Mitrovic, linked locally with a move to Lyon, made it three after fine work by Rolando Aarons and Murphy rounded things off, with Aarons again providing the assist.

Florian Lejeune and Atsu were the only summer signings to start the match at Valley Parade, though Matt Ritchie made his return from injury, hitting the bar before making way for Murphy at the break.

Goalkeepers Karl Darlow and Tim Krul didn’t even make the squad as their futures look to lie elsewhere.

Coach Rafa Benitez should be welcoming a new player to the squad however, with Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mikel Merino, a Spain U21 international, undergoing a medical on Tyneside prior to a season-long loan. He is expected to come in alongside Shelvey in the double-pivot in the Magpies’ 4-2-3-1 set-up.

Newcastle XI: Elliot (Woodman 61), Yedlin (Manquillo 46), Lejeune (Mbemba 61), Clark (Saivet 77), Dummett (Gamez 61), Atsu (De Jong 61), Shelvey (Aarons 61), Hayden (Colback 77), Ritchie (Murphy 46), Pérez (Diame 46), Gayle (Mitrovic 61).

West Brom v Walsall 2-1 & v Burton Albion 1-0

West Brom sent out two different sides at two different locations to give players a full pre-season work-out.

Jay Rodriguez continued his fine form by hitting the winner at Burton for a team mostly made up of senior players, while Sean Donnellan and Hal Robson-Kanu scored for a more youthful side away at Walsall.

Tony Pulis took charge at Burton and experimented with a 3-5-2 formation, employing Allan Nyom and Matt Phillips as wing-backs and Rodriguez and Salomon Rondon as a front two.

Rodriguez scored his second of the summer, converting a Phillips corner 13 minutes from time to seal the win, while Nacer Chadli – back in favour after a reported training camp tiff with Pulis – impressed throughout in an attacking midfield role.

Pulis defied pre-season convention by sending the same team out for the second-half, but switched to a 4-5-1 involving Jonny Evans at left-back, Nyom on the opposite flank and Rodriguez wide right in midfield.

At Walsall, Robson-Kanu hit a late winner from a Jonathan Leko assist after Donnellan had opened the scoring following a goalmouth scramble.

West Brom XI v Burton: Foster, Dawson, Evans, Hegazi; Nyom, Phillips (Melbourne 90), Livermore, Yacob, Chadli (Tulloch 85); Rondon (McManaman 70), Rodriguez.

West Brom XI v Walsall: Myhill, Wilson, O’Shea, Donnellan, Brunt; Field (Meredith 85), Harper (Chambers 78); Leko, Roberts (Edwards 71), McClean; Robson-Kanu.

Huddersfield Town 1 Udinese 2

Tom Ince hit his fourth goal of the summer as Huddersfield’s one and only pre-season match in front of their own fans ended in defeat.

The midfielder, with 2.3% ownership the side’s most popular outfield player in FPL, picked up a pass from Danny Williams and curled home from the edge of the area to give the Terriers the lead.

Ince played on the right side of a 4-2-3-1 set-up, with Rajiv van La Parra occupying the other flank and Kasey Palmer in the central support role.

Coach David Wagner also handed trialist Dimitri Cavaré, a right-back, another chance to shine.

Aaron Mooy, another 2.3%-owned asset, played the final 15 minutes, his first action since his exertions for Australia in the Confederations Cup. Scott Malone and Michael Hefele also featured after recovering from glute and Achilles injuries respectively.

But Tommy Smith (foot), Nahki Wells (ankle) and Jon Gorenc Stankovic (knee) remain unavailable for selection.

Huddersfield XI First half: Lössl; Cavaré, Zanka, Schindler, Malone; Williams, Billing; Ince, Palmer, van La Parra; Mounie.

Huddersfield XI Second half: Lössl; Löwe, Whitehead, Cranie, Cavaré (Hefele 75); Hogg (Bunn 82), Lolley; Quaner, Palmer (Mooy 75), Kachunga; Depoitre.

Luton 0 Leicester City 1

Riyad Mahrez came off the bench to settle a drab affair at Luton.

Islam Slimani released Ahmed Musa, who cut the ball back to Mahrez for the Algerian midfielder to score – a rare bright moment of attacking play as the Foxes continue to struggle for a cutting edge.

It was Mahrez’s second strike of pre-season, but he continues to be linked with a move away from the former champions and manager Craig Shakespeare will need to buy well if Leicester are to come close to replacing his attacking flair and eye for a goal.

All three summer signings – Eldin Jakupovic, Harry Maguire and Vicente Iborra – started the match, with the latter the pick of the night’s performers.

Iborra’s defensive midfield role does not lend itself to decent Fantasy returns, however, and with the Foxes looking short of attacking thrust, it is no surprise that their three most popular assets in FPL at present are all defenders.

Leicester XI: Jakupović, Simpson (Johnson 71), Benalouane (Morgan 61), Maguire (Amartey 46), Elder (Fuchs 71), Albrighton (King 61), Iborra (Drinkwater 46), Ndidi (Mahrez 61), Musa, Ulloa (Slimani 46), Okazaki (Lawrence 71).

Rangers 2 Watford 1

Stefano Okaka hit his second goal of pre-season as Watford lost a behind-closed-doors match with Rangers.

The forward, priced at just 5.5 in FPL and 7.9 in the Sky game, could well start the season up front for the Hornets unless Troy Deeney can recover from groin surgery in time.

At such a budget price, he might tempt some managers as a third striker option, although Watford’s early schedule is a mixed bag involving Liverpool and Brighton at home and trips to Bournemouth and Southampton.

Manager Marco Silva utilised his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation and was able to welcome back Roberto Pereyra and Younes Kaboul from injury, handing the pair second-half run-outs.

Midfielder Pereyra had not played since December following a season-ending knee injury, while defender Kaboul missed the last six weeks of the campaign.

Winger Steven Berghuis also featured, despite reportedly being close to a transfer to Feyenoord, while summer signing Kiko Femenia was handed his Watford debut. Stationed in the advanced central role again, Etienne Capoue was also handed a share of free-kicks before making way at the break.

Okaka levelled the scoring just before the hour mark from close range after new boy Nathaniel Chalobah had hit the bar with a long-range effort.

Watford XI: Pantilimon (Bachmann 46); Janmaat (Femenia 46), Prödl (Kaboul 46), Kabasele, Mason (Rowan 84); Doucouré, Chalobah (Watson 64); Amrabat (Berghuis 64), Capoue (Hughes 46), Success (Pereyra 64); Okaka (Sinclair 64).

A reminder that all the friendly results and key Scout Notes are being captured here, in our Pre-Season Guide.