Scout Scribbles – Friday Friendlies Round Up

Diego Costa grabs the headlines with a superb opening goal in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Fenerbahce. Eden Hazard and Oscar are handed just over an hour apiece as they build up match fitness ahead of the season opener with Burnley next Monday. Manuel Pellegrini rules a number of World Cup stars out of the Community Shield match against Arsenal, Romelu Lukaku is set to miss Everton’s final friendly, while Alan Pardew is hopeful that Siem de Jong will make Newcastle’s game with Real Soceidad on Sunday.

Costa Nets in Blues Win
Diego Costa struck a fantastic solo effort as Chelsea beat Fenerbahce 2-0 in the first of two 45-minute matches last night. The Brazilian’s strike took his tally to two goals and three assists over the summer and as the Blues prepare for back-to-back opening mathces against promoted pair Burnley and Leicester, Costa is staking a real claim for a place alongside Wayne Rooney in our opening three-man front lines – he’s now up to 25% ownership in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game.

Jose Mourinho named last season’s familiar back-four and keeper, with Cesar Azpilicueta and Branislav Ivanovic handed the full-back roles on either side of Gary Cahill and John Terry. Having been utilised in the role in “the hole” in recent matches, Cesc Fabregas dropped into the double-pivot alongside Nemanja Matic, allowing Eden Hazard, Oscar and Andre Schurrle to line up behind Costa in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Ivanovic grabbed his second of the summer after netting the rebound from a Schurrle long range free-kick.

In the second game against Besiktas, Mourinho made three changes to his starting XI in a 1-0 defeat. Filipe Luis came in for Azpilicueta on the left of defence, continuing the uncertainty over the full-back berths, whilst Ramires and Willian replaced Schurrle and Oscar in the attacking midfield three, with Hazard retaining his place on the left. The Belgian managed 63 minutes over the two games, whilst Oscar was also afforded just over an hour in his first taste of summer action.

World Cup Stars Remain Sidelined for City
Manuel Pellegrini rolled out the City team news ahead of tomorrow’s Community Shield clash against Arsenal tomorrow. The Chilean confirmed that Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Martin Demichelis and Fernandinho will not be involved, after all six only returned to training on Monday. Pellegrini also revealed new loan signing Frank Lampard won’t yet play a part for the Etihad club, whilst Alvaro Negredo is still some time away from returning. Aguero’s lack of action, allied with Negredo’s stint on the sidelines, continues to strengthen Stefan Jovetic’s case for a start against Newcastle next weekend. The Montenegro forward has struck five times over the summer, yet remains a real differential heading into the final few days, with just 6% ownership in FPL.

“All the players that have arrived on Monday will not be ready to play on Sunday. These players have had a special pre-season for this week and it will continue into next week. Lampard is not ready to play. We will see if he is ready to play in the Premier League. For the moment, the squad has no injury problems – only Alvaro Negredo. He is recovering well but he has at least two or three months that he will not play. He is at Carrington, working on different things so there is no problem.”

Belgian Duo Set to Miss Out for Toffees
Roberto Martinez has confirmed both Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas will sit out Everton’s final summer friendly against SC Paderborn later today. Neither player has featured in pre-season after starring for Belgium in the World Cup but with just a week to go, the Toffees boss seemed unconcerned over their lack of action. The 9.0-priced Lukaku is the fourth most popular forward in FPL and currently sits in 23% of teams ahead of next weekend’s clash against Leicester and his owners will eagerly be awaiting further updates on his match sharpness – Steven Naismith could potentially in line to start up front if Lukaku fails to prove his fitness in time.

“For Romelu, it will depend on how he adapts to work from now until August 16, but remember every player is a bit different and Romelo has been training for 10-15 days on his own. We will see…We will never take a risk. If a player is not fully fit, we are not going to use him for 90 minutes, that’s for sure….After this weekend, I would consider Muhamed Besic, Ross Barkley, Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines all to be fully fit, so it will only be Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas who might not start the season.”

Pardew Hopeful of De Jong Return
The Newcastle boss confirmed he is optimistic that the Dutchman will recover from a foot problem in time for Sunday’s final friendly. De Jong leapt onto Fantasy radars after scoring in each of his first two pre-season appearances but was forced off with injury in the Magpies third match and has failed to feature thereafter. Fellow new boys Remy Cabella and Emmanuel Riviere have since scored two and three times respectively and the new additions are filling Pardew with confidence foe the season ahead:

“Siem de Jong should be okay for Sunday’s match with Real Sociedad. Add him in the mix, we could really trouble teams. That’s something we didn’t do in the second half of last season. We haven’t had a lot of time with Remy (Cabella), Moussa (Sissoko) or Daryl (Janmaat). But we are looking much stronger offensively. It was nice the guys got their goals.”