Ahead of Gameweek 1 in Fantasy Premier League, The Scout picks out the players who were in the best form during this summer's pre-season friendlies.
Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) £9.0m
Watkins has plenty of momentum heading into Gameweek 1.
The Aston Villa forward embarked on a five-match scoring run in pre-season, finding the net in all of his appearances over the summer, and also claiming an assist.
The England international wasn't just exclusively facing inferior opposition, either. Three of his goals came against Eintracht Frankfurt, Roma and Villarreal, all clubs that finished in the top five of their respective leagues in 2024/25.
Watkins himself has spoken recently about the importance of a strong pre-season.
“Pre-season is crucial for yourself as a player," said Watkins. "It sets the foundations for you going into the season. Last season I didn’t have that. I didn’t play in any pre-season games, so I was trying to play catch-up. For me, it’s massive to play these games, feel good, get your confidence up and go into the season all guns blazing.”
With none of his opening eight matches scoring more than three in the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), he is making a strong case for inclusion in our opening Fantasy squads.
Villa's first eight fixtures
| Gameweek | Opp. | FDR* |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newcastle (H) | 3 |
| 2 | Brentford (A) | 3 |
| 3 | Crystal Palace (H) | 3 |
| 4 | Everton (A) | 3 |
| 5 | Sunderland (A) | 2 |
| 6 | Fulham (H) | 3 |
| 7 | Burnley (H) | 2 |
| 8 | Spurs (A) | 3 |
*Fixture Difficulty Ratings: 1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture
Harry Wilson (Fulham) £5.5m
Matching Watkins on five goals is the budget-friendly midfielder from Fulham.
Wilson hit two braces over the summer, one against Scottish side Aberdeen and the other against Nottingham Forest. Those two goals against Forest are particularly encouraging, given how strong Nuno Espirito Santo's side were defensively last season.
Wilson also netted in the 4-2 win over Al-Ittihad, demonstrating another path to points by assisting Jorge Cuenca (£4.5m) from a set play in the same match.
Intriguingly, one of Wilson's goals against Aberdeen was a penalty. While regular taker Raul Jimenez (£6.5m) wasn't present in that match, it does at least suggest that Wilson features in Fulham's penalty-taking pecking order.
Wilson demonstrated last season that, given pitch-time, he's capable of being a productive FPL asset. His minutes-per-goal average of 191.3 was, for instance, better than the 212.8 of Cole Palmer (£10.5m).
Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace) £7.5m
Completing our five-goal trio is the Crystal Palace forward.
Mateta chipped in with four goals and an assist across his final three pre-season friendlies, topping that off with a penalty in the Community Shield.
That spot-kick against Liverpool was taken with Eberechi Eze (£7.5m) on the field, too, someone with whom Mateta shared penalty-taking duties in 2024/25.
The French forward looks much better prepared than he did this time last year, when his pre-season was affected by involvement with his national team in the 2024 Olympic Games.
Mateta lasted only 45 minutes in Gameweek 1 of 2024/25 Fantasy, while he scored in just one of his first eight appearances.
Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) £7.5m
Topping the attacking returns column for Liverpool in pre-season was not Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) or new arrival Florian Wirtz (£8.5m).
Beating them both was Gakpo, who scored four goals and assisted another.
A highlight was the Dutchman's brace against Athletic Bilbao at the beginning of August.
Reclassified as a midfielder in Fantasy this season, Gakpo now benefits from extra points for goals and clean sheets, while his appeal was further boosted by the departure of positional rival Luis Diaz in the summer.
Perhaps partly as a result, no Liverpool player could better Gakpo's total of 379 pre-season minutes.
Salah, incidentally, ended pre-season with just one goal and no assists to his name.
Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd) £9.0m
While a lot of the attention has been on Manchester United's three big signings in attack, Fernandes has kept ticking over during pre-season.
The Portugal international scored three goals and assisted a further two, with four of his attacking returns coming against Premier League opposition in the Summer Series.
Crucially, two of his three goals were penalties - suggesting he retains spot-kick duties despite the arrival of Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) and Matheus Cunha (£8.0m), who both took them for their previous clubs.
Fernandes' multiple routes to points have always been a strength of his, and this was again on show in the summer. As well as those two penalties, there was a goal from long distance, one assist from a corner and another assist from open play.
Given that he would have picked up 22+ defensive contribution points in each of the last three seasons, he's one of Fantasy's best all-rounders.
Honorary mentions go to Aston Villa's Donyell Malen (£5.5m), Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Yasin Ayari (£5.0m) and young Liverpool winger Rio Ngumoha, who all joined Fernandes and Gakpo on five attacking returns each.
Nottingham Forest's defence
We've concentrated solely on those players who delivered attacking returns up to this point, but Forest's defence deserves praise for their efforts at the other end of the pitch.
They registered five clean sheets across their seven friendlies, a total that no other side could better during pre-season.
Forest's total of 13 shutouts was bettered only by Liverpool in 2024/25, and Nuno's defence has looked as solid this summer as it did last season.