Pre-Season Football Friendly Fixtures Guide
Posted by Rob Shepherd on Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Do pre-season games matter? From experience, they matter if you win but are not so important if you lose. But it’s not about winning and losing, it’s about getting to see some of the new boys!
Lukaku, Rooney and Michy Batshuayi are already scoring for their new clubs, who else is worth watching? In this article, I give you a snapshot of all the Premier League’s teams pre-season fixtures. I’ll also let you know the joiners and leavers at each club.
AFC Bournemouth
15 July Estoril Praia 1-2 AFC Bournemouth
22 July Portsmouth 1-2 AFC Bournemouth
29 July v Queens Park Rangers, Loftus Road, London
30 July v Valencia, Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth
2 August v Yeovil Town, Huish Park, Yeovil
6 August v Napoli, Vitality Stadium
Bournemouth have a mixed bag of friendlies with games against Valencia and Napoli being stand out fixtures. New players at Bournemouth include free transfer Jermain Defoe from Sunderland, Nathan Ake is a decent centre-back signed from Chelsea for over £18 million. Another addition is 30-year-old Asmir Begovic who also signed from Chelsea in a £10 million deal.
Arsenal
13 July Sydney FC 0-2 Arsenal
15 July Western Sydney Wanderers 1-3 Arsenal
19 July Bayern Munich 1-1 Arsenal (Arsenal win 3-2 on pens)
22 July Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal
29 July v Benfica, Emirates Stadium (Emirates Cup)
30 July v Sevilla, Emirates Stadium (Emirates Cup)
6 August v Chelsea, Wembley Stadium (Community Shield)
Arsenal were well and truly beaten by a much hungrier Chelsea side in last Saturdays friendly. Record signing Lacazette played but had very little impact on the game. Arsenal fans will be hoping he finds form quickly. Arsenal will be looking to avenge this defeat when they meet again in the Charity Shield on the 6th of August at Wembley.
Brighton & Hove Albion
14 July Fortuna Dusseldorf 0-2 Brighton
22 July v Crawley Town 0-6 Brighton
25 July v Southend United, Roots Hall, Essex
29 July v Norwich City, Carrow Road, Norwich
1 August v Girona, Nou Estadi Municipal de Palamos, Catalonia
6 August v Atletico Madrid, Amex Stadium, Brighton
Not surprisingly as a newly promoted club, Brighton’s pre-season opponents are mainly lower league opposition. The games against Girona and Atletico should provide a good workout. Brighton have 4 new signings (Mathew Ryan – goalkeeper, Markus Suttner – left-back, Pascal Groß – central midfield, Mathias Normann – central midfield) as well as seeing two players return from loan. 8 players have left the club so they will need the playing time.
Burnley
14 July Shamrock Rovers 0-4 Burnley
22 July Kidderminster Harriers 0-1 Burnley
22 July Alfreton Town 3-2 Burnley
25 July v Preston North End, Deepdale
29 July v Nottingham Forest, City Ground, Nottingham
1 August v Celta Vigo, Turf Moor, Burnley
5 August v Hannover 96, Turf Moor, Burnley
Although pre-season results can often be taken with a pinch of salt, Burnley fans will perhaps still be a bit concerned with their team’s showing so far! A narrow 1-0 win against Kidderminster Harriers of the National League North and a 3-2 defeat by Alfreton who are also in the National League North is hardly a boost for their confidence. Burnley have bought Jack Cork from Swansea and Jonathan Walters from Stoke. Selling Michael Keane to Everton may well prove costly.
Chelsea
15 July Chelsea 8-2 Fulham
22 July Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal
25 July v Bayern Munich, National Stadium, Singapore (International Champions Cup)
29 July v Inter Milan, National Stadium, Singapore (International Champions Cup)
6 August v Arsenal, Wembley Stadium (Community Shield)
Chelsea’s preseason has already hit the headlines but not due to the football played. Chelsea player Kenedy used social media to post comments that were xenophobic and racist in nature. Chelsea have had to release a statement saying “”We sincerely apologise for the hurt caused to our Chinese fans as well as Chinese people”.
Chelsea as mentioned in the Arsenal section were simply a class above Arsenal in the game that took place at the Birds Nest Stadium in China. Chelsea have tasty looking friendlies lined up with Bayern and Inter before playing Arsenal again.
If you read my article on loan players in football, you will know about the ridiculous situation at Chelsea, they have 20 players returning to the club from loan spells, they have also signed Álvaro Morata, Tiemoué Bakayoko, Antonio Rüdiger and Willy Caballero. Good grief!
Crystal Palace
15 July Maidstone United 1-3 Crystal Palace
19 July Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace (PL Asia Trophy)
22 July West Brom 0-2 Crystal Palace (PL Asia Trophy)
29 July v FC Metz, Stade Saint-Symphorien, Metz, France
5 August v Schalke 04, Selhust Park, London
Fans of Palace will be wondering if manager Frank de Boer has somehow lost the chequebook. At the time of writing, Crystal Palace have not bought a single player. This tactic might be fine for a team like Tottenham but I’m not sure the Palace team is anywhere near that standard. Palace only escaped relegation by 7 points and they needed their early season form to ensure safety as they ended the season with 4 defeats in 5 games.
Everton
13 July Gor Mahia FC 1-2 Everton
19 July FC Twente 0-3 Everton
22 July KRC Genk 1-1 Everton
27 July v Ruzomberok (UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg)
3 August v Ruzomberok (UEFA Europa League third qualifying round second leg)
6 August v Sevilla, Goodison Park, Liverpool
Moneybags Everton are a team I’m looking forward to seeing this year. Already Wayne Rooney has scored twice on his return to his childhood club and it is not long till we see Everton in competitive action as they face Ruzomberok this week in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.
Everton have brought in seven players, worthy of note are Jordan Pickford who became Britain’s most expensive keeper, tough tackling Michael Keane from Burnley and attacking midfielder Davy Klaassen.
Huddersfield Town
12 July Accrington Stanley 0-1 Huddersfield
16 July Bury 1-3 Huddersfield
18 July SV Sandhausen 3-2 Huddersfield
22 July Huddersfield 1-0 Girona
22 July Barnsley 0-1 Huddersfield
26 July v Udinese, John Smith’s Stadium, Huddersfield
1 August v Stuttgart, Schwaz, Austria
4 August v Torino, Jenbach, Austria
Huddersfield have been busy in the transfer window, bringing in 10 players. Steve Mounié might be one to watch, he scored 14 goals in 32 games for Montpellier last season. One player I do like who they have signed is Tom Ince. Ince has the battling abilities of his famous father Paul but is also versatile on either the left or the right wing.
Leicester City
19 July Leicester City 1-1 West Brom (Leicester win 7-6 on pens) PL Asia Trophy
22 July Liverpool 2-1 Leicester City (PL Asia Trophy)
26 July v Luton Town, Kenilworth Road, Luton
28 July v MK Dons, Stadium MK, Milton Keynes
29 July v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton
1 August v Burton Albion, Pirelli Stadium, Burton upon Trent
4 August v Borussia Monchengladbach, King Power Stadium, Leicester
Leicester have been relatively quiet so far this transfer window. Defensive midfielder Vicente Iborra was signed from Sevilla with centre-back Harry Maguire and keeper Eldin Jakupovic, both from Hull the only other signings. Leicester lost 2-1 to Liverpool in the Asia trophy, the rest of their fixtures look pretty uninspiring to be honest.
Liverpool
24 May Sydney FC 0-3 Liverpool, ANZ Stadium, Sydney
12 July Tranmere Rovers 0-4 Liverpool
14 July Wigan Athletic 1-1 Liverpool
19 July Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace (PL Asia Trophy)
22 July Liverpool 2-1 Leicester City (PL Asia Trophy)
29 July v Hertha BSC, Olympiastadion Berlin
1 August v Bayern Munich/Atletico Madrid/Napoli, Allianz Arena (Audi Cup)
2 August v Bayern Munich/Atletico Madrid/Napoli, Allianz Arena (Audi Cup)
5 August v Athletic Club, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Liverpool sealed the Premier League Asia trophy with their 2-1 win over Leicester. A disappointing draw with Wigan was sandwiched between wins over Tranmere and Crystal Palace.
Many Liverpool fans are delighted with the signing of Mohamed Salah from Roma. Salah has lightening pace and is likely to make the right wing his own. Andrew Robertson from Hull and Dominic Solanke from Chelsea are Liverpool’s only other signings.
Manchester City
20 July Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City
26 July v Real Madrid, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, (International Champions Cup)
29 July v Tottenham Hotspur, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee (International Champions Cup)
4 August v West Ham United, Laugardalsvollur National Stadium, Reykjavik
City fans won’t be too happy that closest rivals United beat them 2-0 last week. But even Jose Mourinho was quick to play down the importance of the result, saying it was a good training game.
Like Chelsea, City have a lot of loan players returning this year, 12 in total. This is in addition to the purchase of right-back Kyle Walker from Tottenham, right-winger Bernardo Silva from Monaco, keeper Ederson from Benfica, right-back Danilo from Real Madrid and central midfielder Douglas Luiz from Vasco da Gama. Mendy has also been announced today as agreeing to a £52 million switch from Monaco.
Manchester United
4 June Man Utd ’08 XI 2-2 Michael Carrick All-Star XI, Old Trafford, Manchester (Michael Carrick Testimonial)
15 July LA Galaxy 2-5 Man Utd
17 July v Real Salt Lake 1-2 Man Utd
20 July Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City
23 July v Real Madrid, 1-1 (Man U won on pens) Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California (International Champions Cup)
26 July v Barcelona, FedExField, Washington DC (International Champions Cup)
30 July v Valerenga, Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo
2 August v Sampdoria, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
8 August v Real Madrid, National Arena Filip II, FYR Macedonia (UEFA Super Cup)
The red side of Manchester have had a productive pre-season so far and are unbeaten in 4 games. There was a good deal of luck involved in the 1-1 draw with Real Madrid when new signing Victor Lindelöf made a terrible attempt at a tackle that resulted in a penalty which levelled the match.
It’s likely United will sign at least one more player to add to the signings of Romelu Lukaku and Victor Lindelöf. One player who might make a welcome return to United could be Andreas Pereira who returns from loan at Granada and played well against Real. Martial also caught the eye, taking on three defenders before setting up a tap-in for Lingard.
Newcastle United
14 July Heart of Midlothian 1-2 Newcastle
22 July Preston North End 1-1 Newcastle
26 July v Bradford City, Northern Commercials Stadium, Bradford
29 July v FSV Mainz 05, Opel Arena, Mainz
2 August v Wolfsburg, AOK Stadion, Wolfsburg
6 August v Hellas Verona, St James’ Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle have struggled in their first two friendlies, a 1-2 win at Hearts and a 1-1 draw at Preston is hardly going to give Conte sleepless nights but better results should come as Newcastle don’t face much quality in their remaining friendlies.
Newcastle were struggling to sign players but have in recent weeks picked up Jacob Murphy from Norwich, Florian Lejeune from Eibar, right-winger Christian Atsu from Chelsea and Javier Manquillo from Atlético Madrid.
Southampton
15 July St Gallen 0-0 Southampton
22 July Brentford 2-2 Southampton
29 July v Saint-Etienne, Stade Municipal de Chambery, France
2 August v Augsburg, St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton
5 August v Sevilla, St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton
Yet to win after two fixtures, fans of Southampton will be looking forward to the game against Sevilla on the 5th August but overall not an exciting pre-season fixture list.
It’s been quiet on the transfer front with centre-back Jan Bednarek their only signing from minnows Lech Poznan. You feel with Southampton that keeping hold of players is just as important as getting reinforcements.
Stoke City
10 July Neuchatel Xamax 0-1 Stoke City
12 July Young Boys Bern 2-2 Stoke City (Stoke win 3-4 on pens)
15 July AS Monaco 4-2 Stoke City
22 July Amiens 0-1 Stoke City
25 July v Sheffield United, Bramall Lane, Sheffield
29 July v Bolton Wanderers, Macron Stadium, Bolton
30 July v Crewe Alexandra, Alexandra Stadium, Crewe
1 August v St. Pauli, Millerntor Stadion, Hamburg, Germany
5 August v RB Leipzig, Red Bull Arena, Leipzig
Stoke has one of the busiest schedules with 9 teams lined up to play. The mixture of opposition is a sensible one and the fixture against St. Pauli would be worth going to for the atmosphere alone. As this article states, punks, prostitutes and St. Pauli: Inside soccer’s coolest club.
In the transfer market, Stoke have not spent a penny but it’s not all bad news. Snapping up Kurt Zouma on loan from Chelsea is a smart move and the highly rated 22-year-old is an exciting prospect. Darren Fletcher joins on a free transfer from West Brom and if he can stay fit will add steel to the Stoke midfield.
Swansea City
12 July Barnet 1-0 Swansea
15 July Philadelphia Union 2-2 Swansea
19 July Richmond Kickers 1-2 Swansea
22 July North Carolina 0-0 Swansea
29 July v Birmingham City, St Andrew’s, Birmingham
5 August v Sampdoria, Liberty Stadium
Swansea are another team that based on the preseason results are struggling a bit. A defeat by Barnet and draws against Philadelphia Union and North Carolina is not the ideal preparation for their opening league game against Southampton.
Signings wise, Swansea have only bought in central midfielder Roque Mesa from Las Palmas and Jack Cork and Bafétimbi Gomis have left the club to join Burnley and Galatasaray.
Tottenham Hotspur
26 May Kitchee SC 1-4 Spurs, Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong
12 July Spurs 4-0 Leyton Orient
22 July Paris Saint-Germain 2-4 Tottenham Hotspur
25 July v Roma, Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey (International Champions Cup)
29 July v Manchester City, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee (International Champions Cup)
5 August v Juventus, Wembley Stadium, London
Tottenham have already surprised me pre-season, the way they took apart PSG 2-4 was pretty impressive and certainly bodes well for next season. They have three tough games on the horizon with fixtures against Roma, Manchester City and Juventus.
However, Tottenham are yet to sign anyone and the sale of right-back Kyle Walker to Manchester City may yet prove costly. However, there is still time for replacements.
Watford
8 July R Woking 1-1 Watford Development XI
15 July AFC Wimbledon 3-2 Watford
18 July Viktoria Plzen 0-1 Watford
22 July SD Eibar 0-1 Watford
29 July v Aston Villa, Villa Park, Birmingham
5 August v TBC, Vicarage Road, Watford
It’s no surprise to see Watford picking up a couple of 1-0 wins, I imagine that pattern will continue in the new season when they do pick up points.
Tom Cleverley from Everton is an interesting one (did you ever see the Scouting for Girls tribute song?) and the versatile player will give creative options. Will Hughes joins from Derby and it will be interesting to see how Chelsea loanee Nathaniel Chalobah performs.
West Bromwich Albion
12 July Slavia Prague 2-1 West Brom
19 July Leicester City 1-1 West Brom (Leicester win 7-6 on pens) PL Asia Trophy
22 July West Brom 0-2 Crystal Palace (PL Asia Trophy)
26 July v Walsall, Banks’s Stadium, Walsall
26 July v Burton Albion, Pirelli Stadium, Burton upon Trent
29 July v Bristol Rovers, Memorial Stadium, Bristol
29 July v Slough Town
1 August v Kidderminster Harriers, Aggborough Stadium, Kidderminster
1 August v Port Vale, Vale Park, Stoke-on-Trent
5 August v Deportivo La Coruna, Estadio Riazor, A Coruna (Teresa Herrera Trophy)
It’s not been a great preseason for West Brom. Defeats at Slavia Prague, Crystal Palace and Leicester on penalties is not what West Brom would have wanted.
In the transfer market, it’s been quiet, Jay Rodríguez is their only cash signing. No doubt they will need the goals of Rodríguez if they want to avoid the dogfight of relegation next year.
West Ham United
17 July Sturm Graz ll 0-0 West Ham
20 July West Ham 2-1 Fulham
28 July v Werder Bremen, Osterwald Stadion, Schneverdingen (Betway Cup)
29 July v Werder Bremen, Heinz-Dettmer Stadion, Lohne (Betway Cup)
1 August v Altona 93, Adolf-Jager-Kampfbahn Stadium, Hamburg
4 August v Manchester City, Laugardalsvollur National Stadium, Reykjavik
The Manchester City fixture on the 4th of August is the only fixture of note for the Hammers. The 0-0 draw with Sturm Graz was uninspiring and they made hard work of Fulham.
One player I can’t wait to see in the Premier League again is former Manchester United player Javier Hernandez. With Jose Mourinho stating he would never have sold Hernandez, I wouldn’t have been surprised if United didn’t snap him up. He could well be the signing of the Summer. Left-winger Marko Arnautovic also joins from Stoke as does England goalkeeper Joe Hart and experienced right-back Pablo Zabaleta from Manchester City.