When picking each week’s Fantasy EFL line-up, managers will likely be considering both form and fixtures. Ahead of gameweek 1, where the first matches occur on Friday 9 August, pre-season needs to be taken into account.
At a glance, feel free to check out Fantasy Football Scout’s EFL friendlies spreadsheet, containing each match’s result, scorers and more.
CHAMPIONSHIP
At the time of writing, Bristol City have won all four warm-up matches. Steady stuff, even if it was all against lower-league opposition.
Cardiff City began with a defeat to Kidderminster Harriers but soon recovered to beat Hamburg and draw with their Bundesliga 2 counterparts Hertha Berlin.
An Ilias Chair hat-trick helped Queens Park Rangers demolish Spanish minnows L’Escala 11-0, while Luton Town‘s Alfie Doughty set up a Carlton Morris goal in one friendly before scoring himself in the draw at Dundee United.
On Saturday, consecutive Europa Conference League runners-up Fiorentina were defeated 2-1 at Preston North End. Liam Lindsay and Will Keane grabbed the goals.
However, results aren’t going well for either Hull City or Derby County. The Tigers are having to cope without the departed Jacob Greaves, Jaden Philogene, Liam Delap and Fabio Carvalho, so losing 5-1 to Fenerbahce, 4-0 to Doncaster Rovers and 2-0 at home to Newcastle United won’t boost the mood.
As for the newly-promoted Rams, their latest pair of runouts went poorly – 4-0 to Chesterfield and 2-1 to Shrewsbury Town.
LEAGUE ONE
Meanwhile, Wrexham have travelled across the Atlantic to take advantage of their worldwide notoriety. Draws versus Premier League pair Bournemouth and Chelsea preceded an impressive 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps.
After spending huge amounts on incoming transfers for this level, Birmingham City are having a mixed time. A 5-0 thrashing at German side Paderborn was soon amended by beating Scottish giants Rangers. Yet simultaneously Saturday friendlies at Walsall and Aldershot Town brought one of each.
Huddersfield Town were able to overcome Lecce and Hertha Berlin, with solid Leyton Orient bettering Hearts.
LEAGUE TWO
Another team to beat the Edinburgh-based side is Fleetwood Town. At the same time, Salford City came out on top against a fairly strong Everton XI. The Premier League outfit started with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jack Harrison, Dwight McNeil, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Beto.
Elsewhere, Bromley recorded a goalless draw at Millwall, beat Bristol Rovers and were victorious in two hour-long matches against Brighton and Hove Albion’s Under-21s.
On the other hand, it’s a slow start for Newport County and Accrington Stanley. Both have lost all four friendlies so far.
