Well, that escalated quickly.
After easing back into action last week with a preseason wrap up where not every club even played, this past week had about thirty games to cover, so there is no time to waste. It is only going to get busier next week.
Before we dive in though, I would like to advertise our official Rotoworld mini-league code for the FPL game. If you were with us last season, you should have an option to renew under your Leagues tab, but in case you don’t or you are signing up for the first time, this is all the information you need.
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So, come join us for another season of competition and banter. We would love to have you.
Right then, let us get straight to the meat of this column, because there is plenty to digest...
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Arsenal - The Gunners have played three times this week and the name jumping off the page of all three match reports is Eddie Nketiah. He played in all three matches, with an assist against Colorado Rapids and a goal against Bayern and Fiorentina. The Rapids match featured no projected regulars in the starting XI, with the big names getting second half cameos. The Bayern match featured a strong XI, while the Fiorentina game began with a younger side, only Shkodran Mustafi and Nacho Monreal started both of the last two. No new signings as of yet to analyze.
Aston Villa - The Villans have made several signings already, meanwhile, and a couple are already getting their fans excited. In a 0-3 win over Minnesota United, Jota, the non-Diogo one, was lively in the attack, though he did not register a goal or an assist. Fellow midfielder Jack Grealish opened the scoring in this one. Both are priced at 6m and may not fetch many suitors in fantasy when the season starts, but will likely do so at some point unless Villa are a disaster. In the 0-1 win over Shrewsbury, Wesley was the standout performer. He supplied the assist for the game’s only goal and looks set to be involved in many a goal, as his 17 scores and 14 assists for Brugge last season would indicate. Frederic Guilbert also impressed and is looking likely to seize the right back spot over Ahmed Elmohamady.
Bournemouth - The Cherries are drawing much interest thanks to a nice early run of fixtures and the players we are investing in the most are already producing in preseason, mainly Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson. In a win over Wimbeldon, Wilson bagged a brace and Fraser scored the third and final goal. Fraser then grabbed his second goal of the summer in a loss to Girona. David Brooks has an assist to his name. The defense, which has yet to make any additions this summer, will still be a liability. Mark Travers, who impressed at the end of last season, has a chance to be first choice keeper but that question likely won’t be answered until the preseason wraps up.
Brighton - Little to report here. The Seagulls played just once, fielding an XI of squad and reserve players and the regulars did not even feature off the bench. For what it’s worth, which is virtually nothing, Taylor Richards converted a penalty chance for the lone goal of the match.
Burnley - The Clarets played a legit split squad last week, with simultaneous matches taking place against Tranmere and Accrington Stanley. The Tranmere match saw 8 goals, with Chris Wood and Jay Rodríguez playing together. Wood had a hat trick and J-Rod added two more. Yes, it is only preseason, but it is hard to ignore an 8-goal outburst with this forward duo enjoying the majority of the spoils. Ashley Westwood had a hat trick of assists. He notched eight assists last season, more than anyone would have projected, so his involvement is no fluke. Tom Heaton saw action as Sean Dyche handed the four keepers at his disposal 45 minutes apiece between the two matches.
Chelsea - The Blues took a backward step in their buildup to the season, playing once and losing 1-0 to Kawasaki Frontale. Michy Batshuayi started with Olivier Giroud playing the second half. Batshuayi put in the better performance of the two as Giroud was kept very quiet. Christian Pulisic is still waiting to make an impression this summer. Ross Barkey was the attacking highlight, creating most of the chances the Blues had. César Azpilicueta, after getting a start at center back, reverted back to his accustomed right back slot. Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen are likely battling to partner David Luiz in central defense, as Antonio Rüdiger is sidelined with a knee injury.
Crystal Palace - The Eagles got knocked around in a 6-2 loss to Barnet, though Roy Hodgson did not include any regulars in this one. Alexander Sorloth and Connor Wickham, who have had a taste of first team action here and there, notched an assist and a goal, respectively, though neither are likely to ascend to the top of the depth charts.
Everton - Seamus Coleman showed why he may be the better option at .5m less than Lucas Digne, with the right back heading home the only goal of the game they played this week, a 0-1 win over AS Monaco. Oumar Niasse provided the assist. The only other highlight here was a penalty save by veteran Maarten Stekelenburg in the first half, as he tries to lock down the primary backup role to Jordan Pickford.
Leicester - The Foxes played a pair of domestic friendlies, with a 0-1 win over Scunthorpe and a 1-2 win over Cheltenham Town. Ayoze Pérez opened his account in the first game, with Ricardo Pereira once again showing attacking involvement with the assist. Youri Tielemans set Jamie Vardy up for a score but the striker bottled it. However, the pair linked up in the second game, and you get the feeling we will see many attempted linkups between Tielemans and Vardy. Marc Albrighton scored as well, though his role continues to diminish since being a regular for the Foxes in their title-winning season.
Liverpool - The Reds played twice in two days, both losses to Dortmund and Sevilla. More regulars featured in the Sevilla match with Divock Origi scoring the only goal in that one. Jurgen Klopp updated the status of Sadio Mané, stating that the winger would return to the group following the Community Shield, so in the opening weekend against Norwich, a side they should have no trouble disposing of, it is likely Mane will be a substitute for that one, with Origi getting a start. Joel Matip and Joe Gomez partnered up as starters against Dortmund while Virgil Van Dijk made the XI for Sevilla. Dejan Lovren, meanwhile, was available but started neither. Too close to call but the young domestic talent of Gomez may have the advantage for the spot alongside VvD.
Manchester City - The title-winners played their mini-tournament in Asia against fellow PL sides West Ham and Wolves. In a 1-4 win over the Hammers, Raheem Sterling got the start up top and quickly reminded us of his talent, bagging a brace in the opening 30 minutes. Leroy Sané and Kevin De Bruyne provided assists for Sterling’s goals. David Silva found the net as well. In the final of the tourney, City went 0-0 with Wolves but lost the penalty shootout. Sterling showed us his “other side” in this one, failing to convert a penalty chance earlier on in the match. Angelino got a look at left back versus the Hammers and did not impress, actually responsible for the penalty by the opposition, which was converted. This only enhances the appeal of Oleksandr Zinchenko, who is looking to emerge as the preferred left back choice.
Manchester United - Mason Greenwood, folks. The 4.5m-priced forward scored in both of United games last week, with a 0-4 win over Leeds and a 0-1 job against Inter. He started the Leeds match and scored off the bench versus the Serie A side. Naturally, fantasy managers are looking at him as a 3rd forward to use as a bench option with some upside, but this looks like another Callum Hudson-Odoi situation where too much investment leads to quick sales when the season begins and Greenwood drops in price. Established forward Marcus Rashford continues to look sharp, scoring against Leeds.
Newcastle United - The Magpies are looking shaky at the moment. With Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Pérez departing and Miguel Almirón currently sidelined, there is little attacking punch in the squad and it showed in a 4-0 loss to Wolves. The defense did not do anything to brag about either. They recovered somewhat and managed a 0-1 win over West Ham in the 3rd-place match of the Asia Trophy, with Yoshinori Muto providing the game’s only goal. Until they sign someone, Muto is pretty much the de facto option at striker. Could be a tough campaign for new boss Steve Bruce.
Norwich City - The Canaries played twice and Teemu Pukki had a goal in each with wins over Bonner SC and FC Schalke. Pukki is looking like he will have a season similar to Aleksandar Mitrovic for Fulham last season. The club may struggle to stay up and have little to offer in terms of fantasy but Pukki will likely have stretches of form the way Mitrovic did, which warranted fantasy investment. Adam Idah bagged a brace against Bonner but he is not expected to be a part of the 18-man squad come Matchday 1.
Sheffield United - We have a 4m defender alert. While not as appealing or certain as Wan-Bissaka was last summer, John Lundstram played a role as a holding midfielder and did well according to skipper Chris Wilder. He is looking the most promising 4m defender in terms of playing time in the FPL game at the moment. Callum Robinson made his debut from the bench in the Blades’ first game last week, with Billy Sharp scoring their only goal in a loss. Robinson started the second game though, and provided an assist in a 0-2 win over Northampton. Both goals came from the penalty spot, with Oliver Norwood tucking away both attempts. New signing Lys Mousset will likely see his first action this coming week.
Southampton - Danny Ings showed up Che Adams in the Saints’ only game last week. While Adams grabbed headlines the previous week, opening his account inside of two minutes, Ings did him one better last week, bagging a brace against Preston North End. From the midfield to the back, not much has changed from where last season ended thus far. Ryan Bertrand and Nathan Redmond each had an assist in the 1-3 win.
Tottenham - Spurs got their preseason tour off to an exciting start with a last-second win over Juventus. Tanguy Ndombele made his debut and, on his first pass, notched an assist with a sweet ball for Lucas Moura. Erik Lamela found the net in this one but the internet pretty much exploded at the end of the game, when Moura stripped the ball in midfield, fed it to Harry Kane and the England star caught the Juventus keeper off his line with match-winner from 55-yards. Hugo Lloris contracted tonsillitis in recent days and has gone back home to recover. He should be fine by the time the regular season rolls around.
Watford - The Hornets have started hot in recent seasons with much preparation put into their preseason. They began this campaign with a pair of games last week, a 2-1 loss to Ajax and a 1-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen. Andre Gray was involved in goals in both games, scoring from the penalty spot in the absence of Troy Deeney in the Ajax loss. Deeney returned against Leverkusen, assisting a Will Hughes goal with Gray scoring the other. Gerard Deulofeu did not get on the board but looked a threat in his time on the pitch. Abdoulaye Doucouré drew the foul and earned an assist in the process in the Ajax game. He was the top scoring midfielder for Watford last season but likely has lost any appeal now that his price has risen to 6m.
West Ham United - Both of West Ham’s games last week have been touched on as they lost to Manchester City and Newcastle United in the Asia Trophy. The only goal between the two games came from the penalty spot, with Felipe Anderson drawing the foul and Mark Noble converting the chance. Michail Antonio remains the preferred option up top until the Hammers manage to bring in another forward.
Wolves - And finally, those pesky Wolves. They came away with the Asia Trophy by beating City in a penalty shootout after having crushed Newcastle earlier in the week. Diogo Jota bagged a brace against the Magpies as he looks to build off a very productive second half of last season. Wingbacks Jonny and Ruben Vinagre each chipped in an assist against Newcastle and Vinagre scored in the penalty shootout against City. Vinagre looks good and may eat further into Matt Doherty‘s minutes this season. Leander Dendoncker showed why he is the top choice among 4.5m-priced midfielders by adding an assist.
