Who is getting minutes? Who is playing out of position? Who will be the next John Lundstram? Who is losing the position battle? Who is in red-hot form that could carry over into the regular season? These are the sort of questions that can be answered, if not entirely, in some capacity. This will be the first of two weekly roundups of preseason action, as we have a condensed buildup to the regular season and prepare what promises to be an unorthodox fantasy campaign as we continue to navigate around an ongoing global pandemic.
Unfortunately, we will be heading into the opening weekend of the season much more in the dark than usual, because several clubs have no preseason games on their schedule with Week 1 now only a fortnight away.
The list of clubs with no fixture plans in preseason include: Aston Villa, Burnley, Fulham, Leeds, Manchester City, Manchester United, Southampton and Wolves. While this makes covering the preseason in its entirety a less daunting task, it would be so much more helpful to get a look at all these teams as we settle on our Week 1 sides.
9/22 - Blackpool 3 - 3 Everton
Gylfi Sigurdsson is coming off a very disappointing season that saw him go from being one of the first names on the team sheet to a man who lost his way, scoring only two goals, by far his least productive of nine PL seasons. However he scored a brace here against Blackpool including one from a direct free kick. He also assisted the third goal. Buzz after the last season ended was that Everton’s most pressing need was to find a central playmaker and move on from Siggy, but this was a statement game for the Icelandic legend. Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the third goal and assisted one of Siggy’s. Savvy managers are keeping an eye on 4m defender Jarrad Branthwaite, and he got a start here, but was yanked after the first half as the Toffees conceded all three Blackpool goals in the opening 45 minutes.
Stuttgart 0 - 3 Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp gave one half of play to 22 of his players, with the “A” team getting first half action, followed by the “B” team. Roberto Firmino was the standout performer, scoring a goal and assisting another to account for the Reds two first-half goals. He played provider for Naby Keita’s strike. Keita started while Georginio Wijnaldum played the second half, so we could see Keita become the preferred option this season, provided he can stay fit. The ageless James Milner added an assist for the third goal in the second half.
Spurs 3 - 0 Ipswich
We know more since this game that Matt Doherty has been brought in to be the likely first choice right-back, but Gedson Fernandes showed his versatility by holding his own at the position with a full shift here. Ryan Sessegnon also got some seasoning on the left wing and scored the opening goal of the game. Heung-Min Son was deployed as the center forward and scored a brace with ease, grabbing the majority of headlines here. Dele Alli is looking to find his form again and fight off Giovani Lo Celso and made a case here, dishing out a pair of assists. New signee Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg lined up alongside Harry Winks in the double pivot, which could be an indication of how Spurs may look on opening day.
9/25 - Crystal Palace 2 - 1 Oxford United
With little excitement or anticipation for fantasy heavy hitters to emerge from this Palace side, the biggest story to follow is the search for a 4m defender. Nathan Ferguson (4m) is thought to have a real shot at a starting gig right out of the gate, but he missed out here to recover from a knee injury. However, his absence shined a light on another possible 4m bargain, Tyrik Mitchell, who put in a competent 70 minute shift. Wifried Zaha got on the scoresheet and we saw assists from a couple of veterans, Andros Townsend and Jeffrey Schlupp, the latter setting up Zaha. James McArthur scored the other goal, but it won’t make his fantasy stock rise at all.
MK Dons 1 - 4 Arsenal
Mikel Arteta named a few key players to his XI here along with plenty of young talent looking for experience. Bernd Leno got the start and played the first half, as he looks to get his gig back from Emiliano Martinez. Mohamed Elneny looked sharp in his first action since returning from loan, and scored in the opening five minutes. Eddie Nketiah was given the start up top and got on the board just ten minutes in. A close eye on William Saliba (4.5m) during the buildup to the start of the season saw him get a start and a 45 minute shift here. The second half belonged to the promising Reiss Nelson, who scored one goal and assisted the other.
RB Salzburg 2 - 2 Liverpool
The Reds showed cracks in defense here as they started three of their thought-to-be preferred back four, and conceded two first half goals to Salzburg. Joe Gomez had a poor showing but Joel Matip has yet to see the pitch and, as of now, would be the biggest threat to Gomez. It was a strong XI that played for about 60 of the game’s 90 minutes, with Mo Salah, Sadio Mané, Andrew Robertson and Virgil Van Dijk all getting significant pitch time. The talk of the game is Rhian Brewster, who scored both of Liverpool’s game after having scored earlier in the week as well. Both goals showed fine finishing and, while the path to playing time is hard to imagine opening up any time soon, Brewster is a name to remember.
Newcastle 3 - 0 Crewe Alexandra
It was pretty much a split shift side for Steve Bruce, with the majority of players getting 45 minutes apiece. The one exception was midfielder Dan Barlaser, who got 71 minutes and took charge on set pieces in the second half, eventually leading to an assist. He’s not in the FPL game currently, so folks in the know aren’t seeing his potential beyond preseason. Andy Carroll scored a peach of a goal, with club captain Jamal Lascelles setting him up, while Dwight Gayle provided an assist to Christian Atsu’s goal. Mark Gillespie and Karl Darlow split 45 minutes each between the sticks.
Dundee United 0 - 1 Sheffield United
There was very little to glean from this match that was abandoned at halftime due to adverse weather conditions. Dundee, already a small club, rested several key players, so the Blades probably would have hoped to put up more than the one goal in 45 minutes. With no Ollie McBurnie or David McGoldrick, Billy Sharp was given a look and scored the lone goal of the truncated match, with Sander Berge providing the assist.
Ipswich 1 - 4 West Ham
The Hammers split their squad and played two matches on this date and the story here is clearly Sebastian Haller, who scored a hat trick. Grady Diangana provided assists for two of them and may be influential this season after returning from loan. Popular budget midfield option Tomas Soucek also got on the scoresheet here.
Wycombe Wanderers 1 - 5 West Ham
With Haller making a statement in the Ipswich match, could Michail Antonio make one as well here? Not quite. The late season in-form Antonio did have an assist here, but was overshadowed by a brace for Jarrod Bowen and goals from Arthur Masuaku and Manuel Lanzini. Bowen and Masuaku also added an assist to their big days. Pablo Fornals also made an impact, dishing out an assist as well. Ben Johnson (4m) got the start at right back and went the full 90 minutes, making him one of those minimum-priced defenders worth monitoring.
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9/26 - Birmingham City 0 - 2 Leicester City
I was unable to find a thorough box score for this game, so in the areas of minutes played, there is not much I can provide. What is known is that plenty of senior players saw action, including Kasper Schmeichel, Youri Tielemans, Çağlar Söyüncü, Demarai Gray, Harvey Barnes and Marc Albrighton. Tielemans reportedly looked sharp in the playmaking department, an area that seemed to tail off for him last season, and assisted the opening goal. Veteran Albrighton scored the Foxes’ second goal.
9/28 - Hearts 0 - 1 Sheffield United
The mini-Scottish preseason tour ended with a match that was at least able to go the distance. Chris Wilder named the same Starting XI he had against Dundee. John Fleck scored the lone goal of the game, cleaning up after a cross was put into the area and Billy Sharp was able to tee up Fleck. Sharp nearly scored his second goal in as many games but had a header clang off the underside of the bar. Lys Mousset came on to grab his first minutes of the preseason.
Spurs 4 - 1 Reading
Tottenham have a virtual split squad, playing twice in as many days, with this match featuring the likes of Dele Alli and Heung min-Son. Both scored here against Reading. Steven Bergwijn got his first action of the preseason, putting in a 62-minute shift. Harry Winks was absent here, leaving Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to partner with teenager Harvey White. Erik Lamela saw his first action of the preseason, playing the second half and needing only seven minutes to score the fourth and final goal here.
9/29 - Brighton 1 - 1 Chelsea
Two clubs to cover here. Starting with Chelsea - Kepa lives! He got the start here today. The Blues have made many big signings this summer, but the two garnering the most attention are Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech and it took less than four minutes for the former to score the opening goal. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were each handed starts in the attack as they look to climb their way up the depth charts. Brighton, meanwhile, started Leandro Trossard up top, pairing with Neal Maupay while Adam Lallana made his Seagulls debut in midfield. With Aaron Mooy out of the picture, Pascal Gross and Alexis Mac Allister have a chance to make a mark and it was the veteran Gross that came away with his name on the score sheet, converting a penalty to level the match and earn a draw in the 90th minute.
Arsenal 1 - 1 Liverpool
The Community Shield saw the Gunners edge past the Reds in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 game over 90 minutes played out. Arsenal struck first and early, as a very lively Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a fine goal with Bukayo Saka providing the assist. The Reds were able to equalize about midway through the second half courtesy of a goal from Takumi Minamino. Starters Mo Salah and Sadio Mané did not put on impressive displays and it took a moment of inspiration from Minamino to beat the Gunner defense.Trent Alexander-Arnold remains absent but is still thought to be ready for Week 1. Emiliano Martinez got the start over Bernd Leno for Arsenal, putting the #1 shirt in question at the Emirates. Mohamed Elneny went the full 90, is joint-highest in minutes played for Arsenal and is perhaps in line for a Week 1 start.
Crystal Palace 3 - 0 Charlton Athletic
Clearly, Palace are trolling us. All the names we expected to be fantasy assets last season - Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend and Jordan Ayew all contributed to the three goals scored here, with Ayew bagging a brace and Zaha coming through with a goal/assist combo. Probably the biggest news of the match was the debut of fresh signing Eberechi Eze, who played the first half but was not involved in the goals as all three came in the second half. Tyrik Mitchell was handed another start.
Newcastle 2 - 1 Bardsley
Could we see one final run of form from Andy Carroll? He made it two goals in two with another one here today. Joelinton has been absent from training for over a week and is apparently isolating due to Covid, so Carroll’s chances of being the preferred striker option on opening day is becoming very real. Dwight Gayle would seem the biggest threat, but he has been dealing with injury issues this summer. Emil Krafth started at right wingback and was the only Magpie to play the full 90 minutes as he looks to nail the role down over Javier Manquillo and DeAndre Yedlin. Jeff Hendrick made his debut here, partnered in midfield with Issac Hayden and Jonjo Shelvey.
Spurs 1 - 0 Birmingham City
Spurs were able to edge Birmingham despite naming a much weaker side than the one that rolled over Reading. Ryan Sessegnon continues to get minutes, this time playing in the front three as the left winger. Gedson Fernandes shifted from right back in his last appearance to central attacking midfielder. Lucas Moura started up top and Joe Hart, yes Joe Hart, saw some competitive action, given the start here. Steven Bergwijn, a second-half substitute, broke the deadlock in the 89th minute for his first goal of the summer.
West Brom 0 - 1 Nottingham Forest
This is the only preseason match on the schedule for the Baggies and there is little to get excited about as they fail to score and lose to Nottingham Forest. Matt Phillips was able to turn a cross into the net but he was ruled offside. The closest the Baggies came to scoring was from summer signing Matheus Pereira, who just missed scoring from a free kick.
West Ham 2 - 1 Brentford
The Hammers named a strong side against upstart Brentford and the biggest raise of the eyebrow has to be the preference to start hat-trick hero Sebastian Haller over Michail Antonio. Andriy Yarmolenko got the start and opened the scoring, tucking away a ball from Pablo Fornals. Antonio would make his mark as a substitute though, dishing an assist to the evermore appealing Tomas Soucek (5m) for his second goal in as many appearances. Grady Diangana continues to impress and will be fighting to find a place in the opening day XI.
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