West Ham United, Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham were all involved in pre-season friendlies earlier this week.
We’ve rounded up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from each of those matches below.
WEST HAM UNITED 2-1 EVERTON
FPL Gameweek 38 differentials: Paqueta, Kulusevski + Solanke 2
Goals: Paqueta, Fullkrug | Gueye
Assists: Kilman, Paqueta | Armstrong
Paqueta + Fullkrug goals
David Moyes will have been left ruing further defensive mistakes as Everton let slip the lead granted to them by Idrissa Gana Gueye (£5.5m).
Just days after the Toffees turned in an error-filled performance in their 0-3 loss to Bournemouth, a Mark Travers (£4.5m) mistake gifted Lucas Paqueta (£6.0m) the equaliser.
The Brazilian was then on hand to provide an assist.
The goalscorer, Niclas Fullkrug (£6.0m), looked particularly sharp.
A powerful presence in the Everton box, the German international came off the bench to net the winner courtesy of an angled shot into the bottom corner.
“Fullkrug can play a great role. His intensity off the bench is something unique but it’s nice to have the option with him from the start. He brought energy to the team and near enough made the goal for himself.” – Graham Potter
Tarkowski returns
This was James Tarkowski’s (£5.5m) first appearance since suffering a hamstring tear in May.
Everton finished last season with the joint-fourth best defensive record in the top-flight, and with Jarrad Branthwaite (£5.5m) also nearing a return, Moyes is eyeing an upturn in defensive form.
“One of the positives was getting Tarky back for 20 minutes. He’s been out for more than 12 weeks now, so to get him back is really important. A big strength of the team is probably Tarky and Jarrad and the goalkeeper, so to get Tarky back today for a little while was good.” – David Moyes
Jordan Pickford (£5.5m), meanwhile, was an unused substitute.
Further forward, Thierno Barry (£6.0m) showed brief glimpses of his potential, with a header from Charly Alcaraz (£5.5m) the closest the Toffees came to securing a draw.
As for Dwight McNeil (£6.0m), he started at left wing-back before switching over to the right, but was ineffective throughout.
“I think our attacking play at the moment has been really poor. I think we haven’t created enough chances. I think the way we’re playing in that area of the pitch at the moment has been really below par. But we’ve made individual mistakes which has shown us up for that as well. It stood out tonight, some goalkeeping mistakes. At the weekend, we made a couple of mistakes against Bournemouth.” – David Moyes
West Ham goalkeeper Wes Foderingham (£4.0m) hardly covered himself in glory either.
After Alphonse Areola’s (£4.5m) misplaced pass led to Bruno Fernandes’ (£9.0m) goal last weekend, Foderingham allowed a shot from Gueye to squeeze under him.
He also flapped at a second-half free-kick, so it’s no surprise West Ham have today been linked with Botafogo shot-stopper John Victor.
West Ham United XI: Foderingham, Walker-Peters (Wan-Bissaka 45), Casey (Todibo 45), Mavropanos (Scarles 86), Kilman (Aguerd 45), Diouf (Guilherme 45), Potts (Rodriguez 45), Ward-Prowse (Bowen 45), Irving (Soucek 61), Paqueta (Orford 90), Marshall (Fullkrug 45)
Everton XI: Travers, Patterson (Garner 45), Keane, O’Brien, Mykolenko, Armstrong, Gueye (Tarkowski 70), Iroegbunam (Alcaraz 45), Ndiaye (Chermiti 70), McNeil (Heath 80), Beto (Barry 45)
ST LOUIS 1-2 ASTON VILLA
FPL Gameweek 8: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats 15
Goals: Rogers, Watkins
Assists: Malen, Cash
Rogers + Watkins goals, another Malen assist
Morgan Rogers (£7.0m) and Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) both netted their second goals in as many pre-season games, as Aston Villa claimed a 2-1 victory over St. Louis City SC.
Rogers, who played as a second striker in support of Donyell Malen (£5.5m), took his goal well, firing home from the Dutchman’s pass.
Malen has now provided three assists in pre-season and could be poised to play a much bigger role in 2025/26.
Watkins doubled Villa’s lead in the second half, nodding in Matty Cash’s (£4.5m) right-wing cross.
It means Rogers and Watkins have scored all four of Villa’s goals in the US.
Unai Emery used 22 players for this clash, with Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) and John McGinn (£5.5m), who was easily Villa’s best player in the first half, playing their first minutes of pre-season.
“Morgan scored in the first half and Ollie in the second half. For them, it is important, but I want to add more players scoring goals. Hopefully, we can do that in the next match against Nashville.
“The idea is now more than the result. It is more about the shape we have with the players and how we can get our best performance. It is about trying to play, getting minutes, getting confidence, sharing it with the players, and how the combination is with the players and how it feels good.
“We played with Ollie Watkins and Buendia in the second half, Jamal too. In the first half, we played with Morgan and Malen as a striker.” – Unai Emery
Aston Villa XI: Martinez (Bizot 45), Rowe (Cash 45), Konsa (Bogarde 45), Pau (Mings 45), Maatsen (Digne 45), Bailey (Iling Jr 45), McGinn (Kamara 45), Onana (Tielemans 45), Buendia (Patterson 65), Rogers (Watkins 45), Malen (Jimoh-Aloba 45)
FULHAM 4-2 AL-ITTIHAD
FPL pre-season: Gibbs-White minutes, a Wilson penalty + Sunderland injury
Goals: Wilson, Smith Rowe, King, Cuenca
Assists: Cairney x2, Lukic, Wilson
Wilson in-form
Harry Wilson (£5.5m) continued his fine pre-season form with a goal and an assist, as Fulham beat Saudi outfit Al-Ittihad 4-2.
Just as he did against Aberdeen and Nottingham Forest, Wilson netted the opener with a superb strike into the far corner.
The Wales international later turned provider, when his pinpoint delivery was met by Jorge Cuenca (£4.5m).
It means Wilson has now scored five goals in pre-season, with talks ongoing over a new contract at Craven Cottage.
Josh King (£4.5m) and Emile Smith Rowe (£6.0m) also impressed in midfield, but centre-forward Rodrigo Muniz (£5.5m) struggled throughout.
Raul Jimenez (£6.5m) only reported for pre-season training a few days ago, having been granted additional time off after his international commitments with Mexico. But he should be involved against Eintracht Frankfurt next weekend.
Fulham XI: Leno (Lecomte 45), Castagne (Tete 45), Andersen (Diop 45), Cuenca (Bassey 45), Sessegnon (Esenga 63), Lukic (Berge 45), Cairney (Reed 45), Wilson (Adama 45), King (Pereira 45), Smith Rowe (Iwobi 45), Muniz (Loupalo-Bi 63)