What to look out for in the final pre-season friendlies

It’s the final weekend of pre-season friendlies, with most of the Premier League clubs in action on Saturday or Sunday.

The results might be ultimately meaningless – but there is much for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers to learn from these kickabouts ahead of next weekend’s big kick-off.

We’ll be summarising them all, as usual, in our Scout Notes round-ups.

And you’ll be able to find all of the minutes played in our Pre-Season Minutes Tracker – one of the benefits of Premium Membership in 2024/25.

Here’s what we’re hoping to find out from these closing warm-up matches.

FIXTURE TIMES

Before we begin, though, a look at the dates and times of the 18 fixtures in question (via the Premier League site):

All times are in BST.

Saturday 10 August

12:30 Ipswich Town v Nice
14:00 Southampton v Getafe
15:00 Manchester City v Manchester United (FA Community Shield)
15:00 Brighton and Hove Albion v Villarreal
15:00 Lens v Leicester City
15:00 West Ham United v Celta Vigo
15:00 Wolverhampton Wanderers v Rayo Vallecano
16:00 Hoffenheim v Fulham 
16:00 Borussia Dortmund v Aston Villa 
16:00 Newcastle United v Stade Brestois
17:00 Everton v Roma
17:15 Bournemouth v Girona
17:30 Tottenham Hotspur v Bayern Munich

Sunday 11 August

12:30 Liverpool v Sevilla
14:00 Arsenal v Lyon
15:00 Chelsea v Internazionale
15:00 Crystal Palace v Nantes
17:00 Liverpool v Las Palmas

Nottingham Forest and Brentford contested their last friendlies on Thursday and Friday respectively.

1. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Players who were involved in the latter stages of Euro 2024 and the Copa America have had delayed summer breaks.

Some have returned to club training this week, others – like Manchester City’s English and Spanish players – have yet to do so.

It’s difficult to imagine many players starting in Gameweek 1 without some form of minutes this weekend.

Ollie Watkins (£9.0m), Lewis Dunk (£4.5m), Cole Palmer (£10.5m), Eberechi Eze (£7.0m), Daniel Munoz (£5.0m), several Liverpool first-teamers (more of which below), Kevin De Bruyne (£9.5m), Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) and Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) are among the names we’ve yet to see kick a ball in pre-season.

Unless there are any behind-closed-doors friendlies hastily arranged for next midweek, this is their last chance.

2. ARSENAL’S DEFENDER RE-CALA-BRATED?

Another star of Euro 2024, Riccardo Calafiori (£6.0m), is yet to make his Arsenal bow.

Mikel Arteta is hopeful of getting the Italian some minutes against Lyon on Sunday.

Will he be the solution to the problem left-back position as many are expecting – or will he upset the established order at centre-half? You’d think it would be folly to break up the Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.0m) and William Saliba (£6.0m) partnership after last season’s defensive successes but Calafiori, at the very least, does at least offer some relief for the busy season ahead.

The true impact may not be measured until we’re well into 2024/25.

“We were really short in the backline last season in terms of numbers and we demanded so much from them. Willy [Saliba], for example, played every minute of the Premier League and we believe that we have to be much more protected.” – Mikel Arteta, speaking in late July

3. SLOTTING IN TO THE LIVERPOOL SIDE

There have been positive signs from this new-look, possession-based Liverpool side in pre-season.

Arne Slot has had to cope without many of the players who were regulars under Jurgen Klopp, too.

Luis Diaz (£7.5m), Darwin Nunez (£7.5m), Cody Gakpo (£7.5m), Alexis Mac Allister (£6.5m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m), Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m), Joe Gomez (£5.0m) and Alisson (£5.5m) haven’t seen one minute of pre-season action thanks to their late returns from abroad. Andrew Robertson‘s (£6.0m) post-Euros injury has also prevented him from featuring.

Sunday’s brace of friendlies may give us some Gameweek 1 line-up clues. It’s not just the composition of the attack but also the midfield, given that we can potentially expect more Fantasy contributions from the engine room than we were used to under Klopp.

Harvey Elliott (£5.5m) shone during the tour of America but will Mac Allister’s return shunt him out of the ’10’ role? Whoever gets their hands on that slot will be one to monitor, given the extra attacking license afforded to them.

4. FOUR MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION

Most of us not only love a £4.0m starter in defence but very much need one this year, particularly if trying to accommodate Erling Haaland (£15.0m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.5m).

We know there’ll be a handful to choose from, with many of the promoted sides’ defenders listed at £4.0m. Taylor Harwood-Bellis (£4.0m) and Ben Johnson (£4.0m) look like two of the more secure starters.

But this weekend’s friendlies may also prove telling for some other bargain-bin picks.

Yerson Mosquera (£4.0m) has been a big part of Wolves’ pre-season and there is increasing confidence that he’ll be part of Gary O’Neil’s line-up.

Valentin Barco (£4.0m) has even been on set plays for Brighton over the summer, although missed last weekend’s win over QPR with a minor injury.

Back to the promoted clubs, which two/three of Wout Faes (£4.0m), Jannik Vestergaard (£4.0m), Conor Coady (£4.0m) and Caleb Okoli (£4.0m) will Steve Cooper plump for?

The line-ups this weekend may give us a clue to the game-time credentials of the above names.

5. BLUE SUNDAY – NEW ORDER?

One of the Gameweek 1 starting XIs we’re least sure about is Chelsea’s. Maybe even Enzo Maresca doesn’t know himself.

Will we see Christopher Nkunku (£6.5m) feature up top or in midfield? Which combination of £4.5m centre-halves will Maresca favour? How does Palmer fit into this side – on the right or as an ‘eight’? Who is/are the loser(s) out of Enzo Fernandez (£5.0m), Kiernan Dewsbury–Hall (£6.0m) and Moises Caicedo (£5.0m) if Romeo Lavia (£4.5m) is to be a regular starter?

Much uncertainty and only one friendly, against Internazionale on Sunday, to suss things out.

6. JEB CLUB

We weren’t expecting much from the £4.5m forward pool this season but the one name who did stand out as a possibility for minutes was Daniel Jebbison (£4.5m).

We were thinking more in terms of a substitute role – Enes Unal (£5.5m) is out injured, so Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) needed back-up.

But now Solanke has gone. Jebbison is suddenly the only available forward at the club.

The Cherries will surely reinvest in a replacement with all that Solanke money. There is also the option of someone like Antoine Semenyo (£5.5m) leading the line in the interim.

But Saturday’s friendly against Girona is Jebbison’s chance to stake a claim. He started last weekend against Rayo Vallecano and performed well. A start and strong display this evening and there’ll be a few more takers in FPL, if only for the short term.

7. OSCAR WORTHY PERFORMANCE?

Most of us have realistic expectations of Oscar Bobb (£5.0m). A Gameweek 1 start is looking increasingly possible with the late returnees short of fitness – but more uncertainty lies beyond that.

The young Norwegian has been excellent in pre-season, though, against decent opposition, too. Another convincing performance at Wembley and it may be his shirt to lose. Phil Foden (£9.5m) was once a £5.0m midfielder before he broke through at City – can Bobb follow suit?

Amad Diallo (£5.0m) will be also hoping to deliver a statement performance in the Community Shield after a fine pre-season.

And of course, at this price point, Morgan Rogers (£5.0m) will be hoping to nail down that ’10’ role at Aston Villa when his side face Borussia Dortmund today.

Let us know what you’ll be looking out for this weekend in the comments below.

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