Fantasy Premier League 2015-16 Pre-Season Round up
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Hello. Happy Summer everyone and welcome to your Pre-Season Article. The article is intended as a ‘work-in-progress’ and a workspace where we can keep each other up to date with all the latest line-up and substitution news for all twenty of this season’s Premier League teams ahead of our final selection of our fantasy squads.
We should also record the scoreline particulars including the all-important scorers, assisters and ‘nearly men’. Any salient information such as a defender on penalty kicks duties, a midfielder playing striker or Asmir Begovic playing some part in a Chelsea match to let him think he has a chance of playing this season, can be found here.
Of course, if you are lucky enough to witness any of the action, your opinion is valued too so let us know who impresses and doesn’t impress during these games.
Now you may have noticed the cunning use of “your”, “we”, and “each other” above. This is not a one-man band, because I’m useless musically and I’m not on at all hours (as much as I would like to be), so please do get involved – get the line-ups ‘up’ and the opinions flowing.
The Fixtures
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Arsenal
15th July
Singapore XI v Arsenal
18th July
Everton v Arsenal
25th July
Arsenal v Lyon
26th July
Arsenal v Wolfsburg
Community Shield
2nd August
Chelsea v Arsenal
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Aston Villa
11th July
Fulham v Aston Villa
17th July
SC Braga v Aston Villa
21st July
Swindon Town v Aston Villa
25th July
Walsall v Aston Villa
28th July
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa
1st August
Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa
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Bournemouth
14th July
Philadelphia Union 1-4 Bournemouth
18th July
Exeter City v Bournemouth
25th July
Nantes v Bournemouth
28th July
Yeovil Town v Bournemouth
31st July
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
1st August
Hoffenheim v Bournemouth
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Chelsea
22nd July
New York Red Bulls v Chelsea
25th July
Paris St Germain v Chelsea
28th July
Barcelona v Chelsea
5th August
Chelsea v Fiorentina
Community Shield
2nd August
Chelsea v Arsenal
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Crystal Palace
11th July
Barnet v Crystal Palace
18th July
Union Berlin v Crystal Palace
1st August
Fulham v Crystal Palace
3rd August
Dagenham & Redbridge v Crystal Palace
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Everton
11th July
Swindon Town v Everton
15th July
Stoke City v Everton
18th July
Everton v Arsenal
26th July
Heart of Midlothian v Everton
28th July
Dundee v Everton
1st August
Leeds United v Everton
2nd August
Everton v Villarreal (Testimonial Match)
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Leicester City
21st July
Lincoln City v Leicester City
25th July
Mansfield Town v Leicester City
28th July
Burton Albion v Leicester City
29th July
Rotherham United v Leicester City
1st August
Birmingham City v Leicester City
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Liverpool
14th July
Thailand XI v Liverpool
17th July
Brisbane Roar v Liverpool
20th July
Adelaide United v Liverpool
24th July
Malaysia XI v Liverpool
1st August
HJK Helsinki v Liverpool
2nd August
Swindon Town v Liverpool
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Manchester City
15th July
Adelaide United v Manchester City
18th July
Melbourne City v Manchester City
21st July
Roma v Manchester City
24th July
Manchester City v Real Madrid
27th July
Vietnam v Manchester City
1st August
Stuttgart v Manchester City
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Manchester United
17th July
Club America v Manchester United
21st July
San Jose Earthquakes v Manchester United
25th July
Barcelona v Manchester United
29th July
Paris St Germain v Manchester United
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Newcastle United
10th July
Gateshead v Newcastle United
14th July
Atlas v Newcastle United
18th July
Sacramento Republic v Newcastle United
21st July
Portland Timbers ‘2’ v Newcastle United
26th July
Sheffield United v Newcastle United
29th July
York City v Newcastle United
1st August
Newcastle United v Borussia Moenchengladbach
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Norwich City
11th July
Gorleston v Norwich City
14th July
Hithcin Town v Norwich City
17th July
Cambridge United v Norwich City
18th July
Maccabi Haifa v Norwich City
25th July
Augsburg v Norwich City
28th July
Norwich City v West Ham United
1st August
Norwich City v Brentford
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Southampton
8th July
Leipzig v Southampton
11th July
Valencia v Southampton
Red Bull Salzburg v Southampton
18th July
Groningen v Southampton
21st July
Quick ‘20 v Southampton
23rd July
Feyenoord v Southampton
2nd August
Southampton v Espanyol
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Stoke City
15th July
Stoke City v Everton
18th July
Singapore XI v Stoke City
22nd July
Wrexham v Stoke City
25th July
Brentford v Stoke City
1st August
Cologne v Stoke City
2nd August
Porto v Stoke City
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Sunderland
9th July
Darlington v Sunderland
14th July
Sacramento Republic v Sunderland
17th July
Pachuca v Sunderland
22nd July
Toronto v Sunderland
29th July
Doncaster Rovers v Sunderland
1st August
Hannover v Sunderland
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Swansea City
15th July
Borussia Moenchengladbach v Swansea City
18th July
1860 Munich v Swansea City
24th July
Reading v Swansea City
25th July
Nottingham Forest v Swansea City
1st August
Swansea City v Deportivo La Coruna
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Tottenham Hotspur
29th July
MLS All-Stars v Tottenham Hotspur
4th August
Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotpsur
5th August
Tottenham Hotspur v Milan or Bayern Munich
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Watford
8th July
St Albans City v Watford
11th July
Wimbledon v Watford
15th July
Verl v Watford
17th July
Eintracht Braunschweig v Watford
19th July
Paderborn v Watford
25th July
Dundee v Watford
28th July
Cardiff City v Watford
1st August
Watford v Sevilla
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West Bromwich Albion
8th July
Red Bull Salzburg v West Bromwich Albion
17th July
Charleston Battery v West Bromwich Albion
19th July
Richmond Kickers v West Bromwich Albion
25th July
Swindon Town v West Bromwich Albion
28th July
Walsall v West Bromwich Albion
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West Ham United
11th July
Peterborough United v West Ham United
18th July
Southend United v West Ham United
21st July
Colchester United v West Ham United
25th July
Charlton Athletic v West Ham United
28th July
Norwich City v West Ham United
2nd August
West Ham United v Werder Bremen
Europa League
2nd July
West Ham United v Lusitanos
9th July
Lusitanos v West Ham United
16th July
West Ham United v Birkirkara
23rd July
Birkirkara v West Ham United
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Walcott’s just scored from young Jeff’s threaded pass. Currently 1-0 up against Wolfsburg.
I see in the last game Wally came on as a sub in the 73rd minute replacing Ox as winger. What is his role now? Striker?
Yep he’s been playing as the lone central striker in this game. So has Bendtner!
Bas Dost not playing? Bas Dost > Bendtner.
Bendtner > Everyone
Yeah I’m a bit concerned by Walcott. I’m not sure if he will dislodge Giroud up top. If he does there will be heavy rotation.
With Sanchez missing I fancy Theo’s chances of starting initially, if not as the striker, then on the wing. Ozil is however looking more and more tempting as the days go by… #nailed
Yeah that’s true. Maybe he will be ok I fancy him to score good points when he plays. They do have Ox who has looked pretty good also. Ozil and Carzola look safest bets. Guess we will get better idea next week.
*EVERTON*
Heart of Midlothian 1-3 Everton
Scorers
Romelu Lukaku (3, 2 penalties)
Penalty won via handball – Assisted by Seamus Coleman – Penalty won by Kevin Mirallas
Team
Joel
Coleman Stones Jagielka Baines (Oviedo 64)
Barry McCarthy (Cleverley 46) Mirallas (Dowell 83) Osman
Kone (Barkley 76) Lukaku (Naismith 76)
*NEWCASTLE UNITED*
Sheffield United 2-2 Newcastle United
Scorers
Georginio Wijnaldum
From Papiss Cisse rebound
Siem de Jong
Assisted by Jack Colback
Team
Krul
Janmaat Williamson Taylor (Lascelles 69) Haïdara
Anita (Obertan 59) Colback
Sissoko (Abeid 80) Wijnaldum (de Jong 73) Perez (Aarons 46)
Cissé (Armstrong 80)
*CRYSTAL PALACE*
Crystal Palace 0-2 Sporting
Team
McCarthy
Ward Delaney Dann Souare
McArthur Cabaye (Zaha 74)
Puncheon (Bamford 74) Mutch (Jedinak 61) Gayle
Murray (Lee 67)
*ARSENAL*
Arsenal 1-0 Wolfsburg
Scorer
Theo Walcott
Assisted by Jeff Reine-Adelaide
Team
Cech
Bellerin Chambers Gabriel Monreal
Arteta (Ramsey 63) Wilshere (Hayden 75)
Reine-Adelaide (Oxlade-Chamerlain 63) Cazorla Ozil (Akpom 46)
Walcott (Giroud 75)
So I was at the Man Utd v Barca game, and here’s a summary and some thoughts.
First off, it was by far the quietest match I’ve ever been to, and I was at Crewe Alex with less than 2,000 fans present! It’s to be expected in an exhibition match in a different continent I guess, and also when there aren’t fan sections but everyone’s mixed together, but still it was weird. Secondly the amount of dusty sand thrown up whenever the ball was kicked was unreal! The highlights do not do it justice. Well there is a huge drought on I guess…
United fielded the same team as in the previous match against Georgie Best’s old team the San Jose Earthquakes (barring De Gea), and in the same 4-2-3-1 formation. I was gutted to miss Messi and Neymar, but in their absence I’d say it was pretty even overall; Barca had more of the possession, and had a few good chances along with it, with Suarez hitting both posts in the first half. De Gea stood up well to save a one on one after a through ball too easily took United’s defenders out of the equation. Soon after the Reds were in front though with a routine Rooney header from a great in-swinging corner from Young. The latter had a decent chance 20 minutes later but waited too long and shot straight at the keeper. United potential target Pedro put in a decent low ball at the end of the first half but it didn’t amount to anything.
On the other side of the break Suarez had a goal disallowed due to the closest of off-side calls, which I personally think should have stood having seen it again. Either way though another simple through ball instantly took out three or four United players. They’ll need to do better than that this season if their defenders are to be FPL prospects… All change in the 62nd minute, with Lingard making an impact soon afterwards as he slotted home a great ball in from close to the byline from Blackett, who bombed forward on the overlap in a move Neville would have been proud of. Januzaj had a great opportunity almost immediately afterwards but his first touch let him down. He still let off a stinger that went just wide though. There was decent overall energy from the replacements as you’d expect from players trying to stake a claim but nothing particularly note-worthy to report in fantasy terms. Barca pulled one back in the final minute with a smart volley from the edge of the box but United bounced right back with a very smartly taken goal by Januzaj, who put a Barca def flat on his arse before slotting away beneath Ter Stegen.
Obviously this is just one game and a friendly at that so we can’t base too much on it, but overall United were not particularly strong in defence. The full backs didn’t really get forwards either so are not great prospects for picking up attacking points.
In theory I love this 4-2-3-1 formation, with Carrick and Schneiderlin playing in a double pivot; both are well-versed in DM roles and are also solid at playing it forward. However even with both of them protecting the defence the ball found its way through too easily at times.
For a classically counter-attacking team in the Prem era we were very slow on the break, though you could attribute that in part to the sun that was directly overhead – it was pretty hot.
Positive points:
– Rooney finally playing up front has the potential to be devastating.
– Memphis had some silky moves during the match, got off a decent shot from a difficult situation, and was also pretty good at receiving the ball in his own half, distributing it well (when not giving it away, which he did his fair share of) and moving into space. Looks like he could be quite the focal point this season if this was anything to go by.
– Januzaj looked impressive at times after coming on, playing up front by himself. He won’t displace Rooney, but with United having more matches this season and currently fewer strikers, it’s very possible he will be making more appearances from the bench now. You should still avoid for now at least though, barring any injuries.
See Post 155 on the previous page for the line-ups. Huge thanks to GP for compiling them all here!
Good stuff CC. From what you seen at the game, and from our other preseason games, who would be your current shout between Mata and Depay? Seems pretty tough to separate them just now..
NIN it still pains me seeing Mata shoved out to the right, especially with Depay a proven winger and starting in the middle instead. If it stays like this then Depay will be getting my nod, but hope he gets put out on the left and Mata goes central. Will be a tough call then for sure!
Calvin
Thanks very much for that. Very helpful. Got Rooney in my team just now and barring injury he will be staying there.
Darmian not particularly attractive from a fantasy point of view then? Did he look typically solid defensively though for being Italian? Was he one on one at any time and deal well?
I think Schneiderlin is a brilliant signing and he and Carrick potentially could be a brilliant combo.
Pictures are great :thumbup:
Got to be honest GP I didn’t really notice him do much other than go down for a minute clutching his shoulder I think it was. I’m very glad to have him at United but at the moment he won’t be in my team.
Tnx for the summary Calvin. Awesome job. Don’t entirely agree with everything you said. 😉
United looked better defensively than they did last season. They were still playing Barca, maybe without Messi and Gaymar, but with all the other players. Suarez was awesome. The tempo in the first half was remarkably high for a friendly game. Which tells me they are ready to start the season.
A few individual errors (bad passing from the back) let Barca through a few times. But in all fairness, I think Jones and Blind did okay. At least already looks a lot better than last season. Though Blind played well and above expectation, you got to hope for the United fans he won’t be first choice. As a Dutchie I’m not even that big of a fan, he’s a smart intelligent player but not the most talented.
I don’t mind Depay central but I wish he would also wander around in the more wide areas, he’s preferred position is the left flank.
As it stands now Mata isn’t that interesting, Young at 6M is even way more interesting than he is. Young has a good understanding with Shaw. Everybody going for Darmian but I think this will be Shaws year, the left side looked awesome.
Fixture wise I might go with Depay and Rooney for the first few weeks. Still don’t know if Depay is on direct free kicks though, which is annoying. Young still seems to be on leftside corners.
Anyway, thanks for the summary mate. Job well done.