The Scout pinpoints the key lessons and hidden gems that have emerged for each team over pre-season, to help Fantasy Premier League managers finalise their squads.
Arsenal
New forward Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m) looks ready to go for Gameweek 1. After two bright cameos off the bench, he scored on his first start in the Gunners' final friendly of the summer.
There is a further boost for Arsenal as Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.0m) and Jurrien Timber (£5.5m) are fit again after pre-season injuries. Both defenders got through an hour in Saturday's win over Athletic Club.
No Arsenal player delivered more attacking returns across their five friendlies than Bukayo Saka (£10.0m). He scored twice and assisted another goal.
Don't read too much into Martin Odegaard (£8.0m) taking a penalty in the match against Villarreal - both Saka and Gyokeres were off the field at the time.
New signing Noni Madueke (£7.0m) has featured twice since his move from Chelsea, although only as a substitute.
Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) - one of only two players in Europe’s top five leagues to rack up 50+ goals and 25+ assists over the last three seasons - goes into 2025/26 in great form. He netted goals in each of his five pre-season outings, contributing an assist, too.
Donyell Malen (£5.5m) has been another top Villa performer over the summer. The Dutch winger, who is also capable of playing up front, registered two goals and three assists. He could see increased game-time this season, now that there is less competition for attacking spots.
Morgan Rogers (£7.0m) is an early concern for Gameweek 1, having missed Villa's last two friendlies through injury.
AFC Bournemouth
Djordje Petrovic (£4.5m) has emerged as Bournemouth’s likely first-choice goalkeeper following his arrival from Chelsea. He saved a penalty and kept a clean sheet in the Cherries' final friendly of the summer.
Adrien Truffert (£4.5m) has arrived from Ligue 1’s Rennes and the early evidence from pre-season and his past suggests he'll combine solid defensive work with a penchant for crossing. The left-back also netted a brace in a friendly win over Bristol City, showcasing his ability to score chances as well as create them for others.
Cheap defender James Hill (£4.0m) has racked up the fourth-most pre-season minutes of any Bournemouth player but may not be a regular starter once the main action commences, despite Illia Zabarnyi's (£5.0m) heading for the exit. The Cherries are reportedly in the market for a new centre-back.
Justin Kluivert (£7.0m) is a big doubt for Gameweek 1, having not featured since July 15 due to injury.
Brentford
New goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher (£4.5m) has emerged as one of FPL’s most popular selections in his position but he missed the Bees' final friendly against Borussia Monchengladbach. However, head coach Keith Andrews said the absences of Kelleher and Kevin Schade (£7.0m) were more "precautionary".
Fit-again budget defenders Rico Henry (£4.5m) and Aaron Hickey (£4.0m) have seen summer game-time after spending much of 2024/25 on the sidelines. Henry started in the Bees' final warm-up match to suggest he may start at left-back.
Nathan Collins (£5.0m), who last season delivered nine attacking returns and plenty of defensive contributions, has carried on where he left off: he has a goal and an assist to his name in three pre-season outings.
Mikkel Damsgaard (£6.0m), who finished 2024/25 with 10 league assists, set up Igor Thiago (£6.0m) in Brentford’s pre-season opener against Gil Vicente. Thiago, who missed most of last season with knee issues, could be a new source of attacking points in 2025/26 with Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) gone.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton were undefeated in all of their pre-season outings.
Maxim De Cuyper (£4.5m) may prove to be excellent value for money if the Belgian left-back can emulate his attacking form with previous club Club Brugge. The defender bagged his first goal in the Seagulls' final friendly of the summer.
He should be the first choice in his position, too, now that Pervis Estupinan has departed.
Elsewhere, Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) has shaken off a minor injury and is fit for Gameweek 1.
Fantasy midfielder Georginio Rutter (£6.0m) started 'out of position' up front in his final three pre-season appearances, racking up more minutes this summer than anyone in the Albion squad. He also delivered one goal and three assists.
Burnley
New permanent arrival Marcus Edwards (£5.0m) - formerly of Sporting and Spurs - has netted three pre-season goals, including a penalty. He didn't start the final friendly against Lazio, however, casting doubt over his Gameweek 1 involvement.
Four £4.0m defenders did feature against the Italian side, including last year's ever-present starter Maxime Esteve (£4.0m). Quilindschy Hartman (£4.0m) is one to monitor, too, looking attacking in a wing-back role, taking some corners and delivering an assist earlier in the summer.
Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) could be FPL managers' answer to their playing £4.0m goalkeeper prayers but didn't feature in Burnley's final friendly, having only trained individually since his move from Newcastle United. He remains a Gameweek 1 doubt, therefore.
Chelsea
The Blues didn't have a pre-season match until they faced Bayer Leverkusen on 8 August, followed by AC Milan two days later, but we can also glean a few things from their performances in this summer's FIFA Club World Cup.
Cole Palmer (£10.5m) looked to be back to his brilliant best in that tournament, for instance, bagging three goals and as many assists. He claimed another assist in the Leverkusen game.
There have been plenty of newcomers in Maresca’s attacking ranks, including Joao Pedro (£7.5m) and Liam Delap (£6.5m), who arrived from Brighton and Ipswich Town respectively.
Pedro started up top in the Club World Cup semis and final, scoring three goals. He followed that up with strikes against both Leverkusen and Milan, taking him to five goals in as many Chelsea appearances.
Delap converted a penalty against Milan but both regular Chelsea taker Palmer and former Brighton spot-kick specialist Pedro were off the field at the time.
Crystal Palace
Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) added a Community Shield penalty to four pre-season friendly goals - and it was noteworthy that his main challenger for spot-kicks, Eberechi Eze (£7.5m), was on the field at the time.
Ismaila Sarr (£6.5m) is available for £1.0m less than that duo in FPL and ended up contributing more attacking returns than Eze this summer, by four to three.
Defensive contribution points could enable Maxence Lacroix (£5.0m) - the pre-season minutes leader - or even Marc Guehi (£4.5m) to more closely rival last season’s star defender-come-winger Daniel Munoz (£5.5m), another player who has found the net this summer.
Meanwhile, there looks to be fierce competition at left wing-back between Tyrick Mitchell (£5.0m) and new signing Borna Sosa (£5.0m). The latter has so far appeared to offer a little more attacking threat, and has also taken his share of corners and some free-kicks in pre-season. Mitchell started in the Community Shield, however, suggesting it's his shirt to lose.
Everton
The Toffees have just one win in seven pre-season matches.
David Moyes has replaced the departed Dominic Calvert-Lewin with promising young French striker Thierno Barry (£6.0m), who will vie for starting honours up front ahead of Beto (£5.5m). Barry has only started one pre-season game for the Toffees but, perhaps crucially, it did come in the final friendly of the summer.
New signing Kieran Dewsbury-Hall (£5.0m) could be one of the best budget FPL midfielders of 2025/26. Signed from Chelsea in August, he made his debut against Roma on 9 August and was played as the most attacking of Everton's central midfielders. He was also on corners.
Idrissa Gueye (£5.5m) - another defensive contribution leader from last season - has shown some pre-season threat of his own from midfield, delivering a goal and an assist.
Defensive contribution magnets James Tarkowski (£5.5m) and Jarrad Branthwaite (£5.5m) are both fit again, having missed chunks of pre-season through injury.
Fulham
The undeniable star of Fulham's pre-season has been Harry Wilson (£5.5m). Making a strong case for more starts this season, the Welshman has scored five goals - including a penalty, albeit when usual taker Raul Jimenez (£6.5m) was off the pitch - and set up another.
Jimenez scored a direct free-kick in the Cottagers' final warm-up match of the summer.
Fulham have injury concerns at left-back due to the injuries for Antonee Robinson (£5.0m) and Ryan Sessegnon (£5.5m) - who is now an FPL midfielder.
Keep an eye on Josh King, who could be one of the few £4.5m midfielders to get significant game-time in 2025/26. He started in the No 10 position in Fulham's most recent friendly.
Leeds United
Daniel Farke’s men emerged unbeaten from their friendlies.
In those five games, forward Joel Piroe (£5.5m) - the Championship’s leading goalscorer last season, with 19 - has netted four goals, while new arrival Lukas Nmecha (£5.0m) and midfielder Wilfried Gnonto (£5.5m) have scored two apiece. Based on pre-season, Piroe may be Leeds' new first-choice penalty-taker, having scored one when usual go-to guy Pascal Struijk (£4.5m) was also on the pitch.
Anton Stach (£5.0m), who looks like he'll pick up a fair few defensive contribution points, has been contributing at the other end, registering a goal and an assist in just three appearances. He's been on corners, too.
In defence, new arrivals Jaka Bijol (£4.0m), Gabriel Gudmundsson (£4.0m) and Sebastiaan Bornauw (£4.0m) are all available at FPL’s lowest price point and have featured to varying degrees in pre-season - Bijol and Gudmundsson heavily, with Bornauw slightly less so to date. Struijk and Joe Rodon (£4.0m), last season’s main centre-half pairing, have also remained in the mix and look set to start in Gameweek 1, with Bijol suspended.
Karl Darlow (£4.0m) has had plenty of pitch-time this summer but newcomer Lucas Perri (£4.5m) looks like he’ll be Farke’s new first choice between the posts once he settles in.
Liverpool
The Reds broke their club transfer record to bring in attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz (£8.5m), who has registered a goal plus three assists in pre-season.
They also freshened up at full-back with the signings of two very attack-minded defenders in Jeremie Frimpong (£6.0m) and Milos Kerkez (£6.0m), each of whom has been heavily involved in pre-season - and Frimpong bagged his first Reds goal in the Community Shield.
New forward Hugo Ekitike (£8.5m) was given his debut in a win over Yokohama F Marinos on 30 July. He then produced attacking returns in both of his subsequent starts.
But bettering all the new boys for goals and assists is Cody Gakpo (£7.5m), who found the net on four occasions and set up another goal.
Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) ended pre-season with one solitary goal and no assists to his name, missing a penalty against Athletic Club and then failing again in the Community Shield shootout.
Manchester City
Manchester City have only had two friendlies this summer, due to a break following their participation in the Club World Cup.
One of those friendlies was a behind-closed-doors kickabout with Preston North End, with little known bar the goalscorer, Rico Lewis (£5.0m).
But in their second and final warm-up match, a 3-0 win over Palermo in Sicily, Tijjani Reijnders (£5.5m) caught the eye with a brace. Erling Haaland (£14.0m) scored the opener.
Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) and Phil Foden (£8.0m) missed the trip to Sicily due to injury and are Gameweek 1 doubts.
As for the Club World Cup, Haaland scored three times in that tournament, while Jeremy Doku (£6.5m), Ilkay Gundogan (£6.5m) and Foden netted two goals each.
Manchester United
The Red Devils have been undefeated in pre-season, despite facing Premier League teams in four of their five fixtures.
Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) has a team-best three goals and two assists to his name, including two penalties - suggesting he remains on spot-kicks despite the arrival of new signings Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m).
Fernandes could line up deeper in central midfield as the season goes on, which might hinder his goal contributions from open play, but he featured in the front three with Cunha and Mbeumo in the 2-2 draw with Everton. We've yet to see the latest recruit, striker Benjamin Sesko, in action.
One emerging star is left wing-back Patrick Dorgu (£4.5m), who excelled in his side’s win against Bournemouth with a goal, assist and clean sheet.
Budget enabler Ayden Heaven (£4.0m), meanwhile, has gained some more minutes at centre-back, as he did in Gameweek 38 last season. But with plenty of other central defensive options at Amorim’s disposal, including Luke Shaw (£4.5m) - who has started there on three occasions in pre-season - it may be worth seeing if that situation becomes any clearer prior to the Gameweek 1 deadline.
The same goes for the goalkeepers, with Altay Bayindir (£5.0m) in line to start - but perhaps only if Andre Onana (£5.0m) fails to recover from a hamstring injury in time.
Newcastle United
Alexander Isak (£10.5m) is yet to feature in pre-season, with William Osula (£5.5m) and Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) deputising in attack so far. Eddie Howe thinks Gordon is "okay" despite the midfielder limping off against Atletico Madrid on 9 August.
As for the defence, Lewis Hall (£5.5m) and Sven Botman (£5.0m) have had their minutes managed after injury. Kieran Trippier (£5.0m) could continue alongside Tino Livramento (£5.0m) as Howe’s full-back pairing in Gameweek 1, then, with Fabian Schar (£5.5m) and Dan Burn (£5.0m) at centre-half..
Anthony Elanga (£7.0m), one of the summer arrivals at St James’ Park, scored against Arsenal, but so did positional rival Jacob Murphy (£6.5m), whose total of four attacking returns is higher than any of his team-mates. The two right-wingers may well share minutes, potentially making both players no-gos in FPL for now.
Nottingham Forest
A lack of goals has been Forest’s glaring issue in pre-season, with Nuno Espirito Santo's side scoring just once in six friendlies. That successful effort - which was only a consolation goal in a loss to Fulham - came from Chris Wood (£7.5m), courtesy of a Neco Williams (£5.0m) assist.
New signing Igor Jesus (£6.0m), formerly of Botafogo, might help take some of the attacking burden off Wood’s shoulders.
Nuno can at least take solace in the fact that his side have kept four clean sheets in six attempts, with last season’s backline of Williams, Ola Aina (£5.0m), Nikola Milenkovic (£5.5m) and Murillo (£5.5m) looking to continue their defensive solidity in front of shot-stopper Matz Sels (£5.0m).
Sunderland
The Black Cats have been mightily busy in the transfer market, with many of their summer arrivals set to start in Gameweek 1.
Granit Xhaka (£5.0m) has impressed - including from set-pieces - and there’s excitement around Simon Adingra (£5.5m) following his move from Brighton. The Ivory Coast international has a goal and an assist to his name already.
There’s also Habib Diarra (£5.5m), a Jobe Bellingham replacement who may have a shot at penalty-taking duties given his record for Strasbourg last season. Sunderland had a poor record from 12 yards in 2024/25, missing four of their five penalties, and Eliezer Mayenda (£5.5m) has carried on the curse by failing from the spot against Augsburg on 9 August!
New signing Marc Guiu (£4.5m) will be competing with Mayenda for a start. While the on-loan Chelsea man currently looks like being the best £4.5m forward for minutes in the medium term, he didn't feature in any of Sunderland's friendlies.
Simon Moore (£4.0m) has been the club’s leading goalkeeper for pre-season game-time but looks likely to be usurped by new arrival Robin Roefs (£4.5m). Roefs saved a penalty in that aforementioned friendly in Germany.
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs went unbeaten in their first five pre-season matches under new boss Thomas Frank but a defeat to Bayern Munich ended that run.
A victory over Arsenal at the end of July came thanks to a Pape Matar Sarr (£5.0m) goal, his third in the space of two matches. The Senegalese midfielder took up some advanced positions against the Gunners and, if he can continue to combine attacking returns with defensive contributions, could emerge as a cheap hidden gem in FPL. An injury to James Maddison (£7.0m) may help his cause.
Currently more popular among FPL managers, though, is new signing Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m), who has also impressed in pre-season so far and appears poised to rival Brennan Johnson (£7.0m) and potential penalty-taking frontman Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) as Spurs’ best attacking option.
West Ham United
Niclas Fullkrug (£6.0m) is West Ham's leading pre-season goalscorer, with three. If the German can stay injury-free and nail down a spot in Graham Potter’s XI, he could offer a strong budget-friendly alternative to the positionally reclassified Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m).
Then there’s super-cheap midfielder Alfie Potts (£4.5m), who has been involved in each of his side’s five pre-season matches. Encouragingly, he's started the last three.
Right wing-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) is a popular pick in FPL, and on the opposite flank, new signing El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.5m) has also had a promising start to life as a Hammer. A capable crosser of the ball while being unafraid to go for goal himself, the quick 20-year-old delivered an assist in the win over Bournemouth.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
There is expectation at Molineux that incoming playmaker Jhon Arias (£5.5m) can help boost Wolves’ creativity following the loss of key man Cunha, with the Colombian on the scoresheet on his debut against Girona.
Following the departure of club captain Nelson Semedo, we’ve seen Ki-Jana Hoever (£4.0m) start several consecutive pre-season outings at right wing-back. The Dutchman grabbed an assist for Jorgen Strand Larsen (£6.5m) in one of those matches, and could be a cheap enabler if he keeps his spot.