Premier League, EFL and Non League: Friendlies Review – 25th July 2022

Club football is in full swing and we have a pre-season friendlies review covering our Premier League, EFL and non league sides.

Players are starting to get back in shape for the beginning of the new campaign. Depending on the club, they head to places with better climatic conditions than at home to ease the players in, or to places with harsher climates so the players could hit the ground running when the season kicks in.

It also gives managers the opportunity to blend new players into the team, try out different tactics or help players adapt to a new manager and his techniques.

Commercial aspects for top flight sides can be the main reason for the tours. The team is in a place where they want to increase the fanbase, regardless of the climate and/or conditions and made to play high-profile friendlies which are of absolutely no use, as the only purpose they fulfil is filling the stadiums. Despite the torrential rain, bad condition of the pitch, efforts were made till the last minute to make sure the match happened.

The commercial aspect has now become the priority, which shouldn’t be the case. If you go to another country, Premier League / big six clubs should play the local teams for the simple reason that it helps everyone.

Right, time to take a look at the Premier League, EFL and non league friendlies review…

Blackpool (Eng) 2-4 Everton (Eng)

Everton secured a deserved 4-2 away victory over Championship outfit Blackpool in the penultimate fixture of pre-season.

The Blues came flying out of the blocks at Bloomfield Road, scoring twice — through Vitalii Mykolenko and Tom Davies — in the opening 11 minutes to take control of the contest.

The only blot on an impressive first half came in the final minute, when Jordan Pickford parried Josh Bowler’s curling effort up in the air, allowing Gary Madine to nod home from no more than a yard out to halve the deficit.

The Toffees restored their two-goal advantage inside two minutes of the restart, as Mykolenko turned provider, displaying excellent composure to keep the ball alive and square for Dele to notch his first goal in an Everton shirt.

But Blackpool, who begin their league campaign next weekend, hit back again, when two former Blues youngsters combined, with Callum Connolly heading in Luke Garbutt’s corner.

Dele had the final word on an entertaining afternoon on the coast, prodding home his second to seal a confidence-boosting win.

Man Utd (Eng) 2-2 Aston Villa (Eng)

United: De Gea; Dalot (Wan-Bissaka 67), Maguire (c) (Bailly 67), Lindelof (Varane 67), Shaw (Malacia 67); van de Beek (Garner 67), Fred (Telles 67), Sancho (Chong 67); Fernandes (Iqbal 67), Rashford (Elanga 67), Martial (Hannibal 67).

Subs not used: Heaton, Bishop, Kovar; Fish, Laird; Amad, Pellistri, Savage; Garnacho.

Goals: Sancho 25, Cash o.g 42

Booked: Chong, Bailly

Aston Villa: Martinez (Olsen 46); Cash (Sanson 64), Carlos (Iroegbunam 64), Mings (c) (Konsa 46), Digne (Chambers 64); J. Ramsey (Douglas Luiz 46), Kamara (Hayden 64), McGinn (Young 64), Coutinho (Buendia 46); Watkins (Archer 64), Ings (Bailey 46).

Subs not used: Marschall, Kesler, A. Ramsey, Feeney.

Goal: Bailey 48, Chambers 90+2

Booked: Coutinho, McGinn

Attendance: 58,228

Altrincham (Eng) 0-2 Stockport County (Eng)

The Hatters’ final game before their eagerly-awaited return to the Football League saw them remain unbeaten throughout pre-season, as they ended the schedule of summer friendlies with a two-goal victory at National League near-neighbours Altrincham.

An early penalty from skipper Paddy Madden and a headed goal by Fraser Horsfall around the first half’s mid-point put the Hatters in control, and provided them with another useful workout one week ahead of Barrow’s visit to Edgeley Park for the League Two opener.

Attendance: 2,119 (1,056 away).

Reporter: Gareth Evans.

Photographer: Mike Petch.

Arsenal (Eng) 4-0 Chelsea (Eng)

Chelsea: Mendy; James (Hudson-Odoi 73), Chalobah (Sarr 44), Thiago Silva (Koulibaly 73), Emerson (Alonso h/t), Gallagher (Kovacic h/t), Jorginho (c) (Ampadu 73), Mount (Ziyech 64), Sterling (Pulisic h/t), Havertz (Batshuayi 64), Werner (Azpilicueta h/t).

Unused subs: Bettinelli, Sharman-Lowe, Chilwell.

Booked: Sarr, Ampadu, Koulibaly

Arsenal: Ramsdale (Turner 76), White (Cedric 76), Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko (Tavares h/t), Partey (Eleney 76), Xhaka (Maitland-Niles 76), Saka (Marquinhos 76), Odegaard (c) (Lokonga 76), Martinelli (Pepe 76), Jesus (Nketiah 57).

Unused subs: Bellerin, Walters, Mari, Holding, Nelson, Balogun.

Scorers: Jesus 15, Odegaard 35, Saka 66, Lokonga 90+3

Att: 63, 811

Luton (Eng) 1-1 West Ham (Eng)

Luton Town: Horvath, Burke, Osho, Bradley (c), Doughty (Mendes Gomes 75), Clark, Campbell (Pereira 75), Bree, Berry (Woodrow 61), Cornick (Morris 67), Adebayo (Potts 80)
Subs: Isted (GK), Macey (GK), Lockyer, Haygarth, Muskwe

Goal: Bradley 90+1

West Ham United: Areola, Johnson, Zouma, Cresswell, Coufal, Souček (Downes 83), Rice (c) (Coventry 75), Masuaku (Ashby 64), Benrahma (Antonio 46), Fornals (Vlašić 46), Bowen (Lanzini 64)
Subs: Randolph (GK), Trott (GK), Baptiste, Okoflex, Mubama

Goal: Souček 27

Referee: Dean Whitestone

Attendance: 7,010

Besiktas (Tur) 0-3 Wolves (Eng)

Wolves | Smith, Jonny (Lembikisa 86), Collins (Mosquera 86), Kilman (Coady 64), Ait-Nouri (Bueno 86), Neves (Griffiths 86), Moutinho (Ronan 86), Gibbs-White (Corbeanu 86), Podence (Hodge 86), Jimenez (Dendoncker 35), Neto (Cundle 77).

Unused subs | Storer, Boly.

Besiktas | Ersin, Rosier, Welinton, Necip, Boyd, Salih, Gedson, Umut, Ghezzal, Muleka, Weghorst.

Subs | Emre, Nkoudou, Cenk, Oguzhan, Ilkhan, Hasic, Delibas, Berkay, Emrecan, Yilmaz, Cisse.

Bayern Munich (Ger) 0-1 Man City (Eng)

Erling Haaland took just 12 minutes of his City debut to score his first goal for the Club – which proved to be enough to give the Blues a 1-0 win..

CITY:  Ederson, Dias (Walker 57), Ake, Cancelo, Wilson-Esbrand (Lewis 81), Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo (Phillips 69), Mahrez (Palmer 69), Haaland (Alvarez 41), Grealish

Substitutes: Stefan Ortega, Carson, Kayky, Delap, Bobb, Mbete, McAtee, Burns, Knight

BAYERN MUNICH: Neuer, Upamecano, Pavard, Kimmich, Gnabry, Sane, Coman, Sabitzer, Davies, Hernandez, Müller

Rangers (Sco) 1-2 Tottenham (Eng)

RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Lundstram, Goldson, Colak, Lawrence (Tillman, 69), Kent, Souttar (Sands, 69), Matondo (Wright, 69), Kamara, Barisic.

SUBS NOT USED: McLaughlin, McCrorie, Jack, Davis, Katic, Fashion Jr, Arfield, McCann, King, Devine.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: Lloris, Royal, Dier, Romero, Sanchez, Sessengnon, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Son, Kane.

SUBS: Austin, Bissouma, Spence, de Andrade, Doherty, Forster, Gil, Lucas, Perisic, Rodon, Sarr, Tanganga, Lenglet.

REFEREE: John Beaton

QPR (Eng) 0-3 Crystal Palace (Eng)

QPR’s final fixture of the 2022/23 pre-season campaign ended with a 3-0 defeat to Premier League Crystal Palace in W12.

On his return to Loftus Road, Ebere Eze’s fine effort gave the visitors a 28th-minute lead.

Palace’s win was safe when Wilfried Zaha netted twice in the second half – first striking home in equally-impressive fashion on 51 minutes before sliding home a penalty in the 79th minute.

Reading (Eng) 1-2 Brighton (Eng)

Albion maintained their impressive pre-season form with a deserved 2-1 success over Reading on Saturday.

Goals from Pascal Gross and Solly March put Albion in control in Berkshire and they could have stretched their advantage during a dominant first hour.

Reading got a goal back through Yakou Meite’s penalty but Albion threatened further goals in the closing 20 minutes, by which time they had a completely different XI on the pitch.

Preston (Eng) 1-2 Leicester (Eng)

The visitors had a two-goal lead inside 18 minutes through Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes, before Ali McCann got one back for PNE early in the second half.

PNE line-up: Woodman; Diaby (Storey, 45), Lindsay, Hughes; McCann (Woodburn, 70), Whiteman, Ledson, Brady; Browne, Johnson (Evans, 45); Riis. Subs not used: Cornell, Cunningham, Bauer, Coulton, O’Neill, Potts.

Leicester City line-up: Schmeichel (Iversen, 63); Pereira, Fofana, Evans, Justin; Soumare, Dewsbury-Hall; Albrighton (Perez, 63), Maddison, Barnes; Vardy. Subs not used: Braybrooke, Nelson, Ewing, McAtee, Hughes, Appiah.

Attendance: 4,553 (470 Leicester fans).

Charlton (Eng) 1-2 Swansea (Wal)

Chesterfield (Eng) 3-0 Bradford City (Eng)

THE OTHERS
Crystal Palace (Eng) – Leeds (Eng) 1:1
Saltash (Eng) – Tiverton (Eng) 2:2
Charlton U23 (Eng) – Welling (Eng) 3:0
Middlesbrough (Eng) – Marseille (Fra) 2:0
Burton (Eng) – Sheffield Utd (Eng) 0:3
Highworth (Eng) – Swindon S (Eng) 0:5
Oldham (Eng) – Mansfield (Eng) 0:3
Brentwood (Eng) – Bishop’s Stortford (Eng) 1:3
Cinderford (Eng) – Yate Town (Eng) 0:6
Frome (Eng) – Taunton (Eng) 0:6
Pershore Town (Eng) – Evesham (Eng) 5:0
Cambridge Utd (Eng) – Hull (Eng) 1:2
Tranmere (Eng) – Huddersfield (Eng) 1:4
Swindon (Eng) – Cardiff (Wal) 2:4
Barrow (Eng) – Salford (Eng) 0:1
Bedford (Eng) – Wealdstone (Eng) 1:4
Blackfield & Langley (Eng) – Bashley (Eng) 1:1
Derby (Eng) – Leicester (Eng) 1:3
Hertford (Eng) – Northwood (Eng) 1:2
Royston (Eng) – Potters Bar (Eng) 1:0
Alfreton (Eng) – Anstey Nomads (Eng) 0:1
Connahs Q. (Wal) – Wingate & Finchley (Eng) 0:1
Skegness Town (Eng) – Nuneaton (Eng) 2:1
South Shields (Eng) – Scarborough (Eng) 1:0
Accrington (Eng) – Sunderland (Eng) 2:1
AFC Wimbledon (Eng) – Oxford Utd (Eng) 0:0
Aldershot (Eng) – Crawley (Eng) 3:2
Banbury (Eng) – North Leigh (Eng) 3:0
Barnet (Eng) – MK Dons (Eng) 1:3
Barnsley (Eng) – Sheffield Utd (Eng) 2:1
Birmingham (Eng) – Rayo Vallecano (Esp) 2:2
Bolton (Eng) – Huddersfield (Eng) 1:1
Bournemouth (Eng) – Bristol City (Eng) 0:1
Bradford Town (Eng) – Larkhall (Eng) 2:1
Bromsgrove (Eng) – Hemel Hempstead (Eng) 1:0
Celtic (Sco) – Norwich (Eng) 2:0
Cheltenham (Eng) – Northampton (Eng) 2:0
Clitheroe (Eng) – Fleetwood U23 (Eng) 1:1
Colchester (Eng) – Ebbsfleet (Eng) 2:2
Crewe (Eng) – Rotherham (Eng) 1:2
Dag & Red (Eng) – Leyton Orient (Eng) 2:2
Dartford (Eng) – Boreham Wood (Eng) 2:2
Daventry (Eng) – AFC Rushden & Diamonds (Eng) 0:3
0Evesham (Eng) – Stourbridge (Eng) 2:2
Farsley (Eng) – FC Halifax (Eng) 2:1
FC United (Eng) – Doncaster (Eng) 0:3
Fleetwood (Eng) – Dundee Utd (Sco) 2:1
Folkestone (Eng) – Maidstone (Eng) 1:2
Forest Green (Eng) – Newport (Wal) 1:1
Glossop (Eng) – Ashton Utd (Eng) 0:0
Gloucester (Eng) – Bath (Eng) 3:1
Halesowen (Eng) – Leamington (Eng) 0:1
Harrogate (Eng) – Gateshead (Eng) 3:1
Hearts (Sco) – Stoke (Eng) 2:1
Hendon (Eng) – St. Albans (Eng) 1:0
Hungerford (Eng) – Maidenhead (Eng) 3:1
Hythe & Dibden (Eng) – Lymington (Eng) 1:3
Leatherhead (Eng) – Dorking (Eng) 3:2
Lincoln (Eng) – Blackburn (Eng) 0:1
Macclesfield (Eng) – York (Eng) 4:0
Margate (Eng) – Tonbridge (Eng) 1:3
Merthyr Town (Wal) – City Of Liverpool (Eng) 4:2
Met. Police (Eng) – Horsham FC (Eng) 5:1
Millwall (Eng) – Ipswich (Eng) 1:1
Morecambe (Eng) – Carlisle (Eng) 0:0
Needham Market (Eng) – Maldon & Tiptree (Eng) 1:0
Oxford City (Eng) – Brackley Town (Eng) 1:1
Peterborough Sports (Eng) – Stevenage (Eng) 0:0
Phoenix (Eng) – Walthamstow (Eng) 1:1
Poole (Eng) – Wimborne (Eng) 0:1
Portchester (Eng) – Havant & W (Eng) 1:1
Rochdale (Eng) – Port Vale (Eng) 2:3
Salisbury (Eng) – Sholing (Eng) 4:2
Shildon (Eng) – Marske (Eng) 1:3
Portsmouth (Eng) – Coventry (Eng) 0:2
Solihull Moors (Eng) – Walsall (Eng) 0:2
Southend (Eng) – Gillingham (Eng) 0:1
Spennymoor (Eng) – Coalville (Eng) 0:1
Sporting Khalsa (Eng) – Alvechurch (Eng) 0:2
St. Ives (Eng) – Harborough (Eng) 3:0
Stotfold (Eng) – Hitchin (Eng) 1:2
Sutton Coldfield (Eng) – Stafford (Eng) 2:3
Sutton (Eng) – Bromley (Eng) 3:2
Torquay (Eng) – Exeter (Eng) 1:0
Watford (Eng) – Southampton (Eng) 0:0
West Brom (Eng) – Hertha Berlin (Ger) 2:1
Weston-super-Mare (Eng) – Weymouth (Eng) 1:5
Wigan (Eng) – Sheffield Wed (Eng) 4:1
Wolfsburg (Ger) – Brentford (Eng) 4:0
Worksop (Eng) – Chesterfield U23 (Eng) 8:0
Worthing (Eng) – Swindon (Eng) 5:1
Yeovil (Eng) – Plymouth (Eng) 0:2
Peterborough (Eng) – Hull (Eng) 3:0
Union Berlin (Ger) – Nottingham (Eng) 1:0
Villarreal B (Esp) – Wolves (Eng) 2:1
Hibernian (Sco) – Norwich (Eng) 1:0

Yate Town XI 5-3 Manchester United Legends
Hereford 0-2 Cardiff
AFC Sudbury 3-2 Sporting 87
AFC Sudbury 8-0 Whitton
Hungerford Town 3-1 Maidenhead United
Buckhurst 1-2 Grays
Southend Manor 3-1 Hullbridge
Royston Town 1-0 Potters Bar Town
Billericay 1-4 Tottenham XI
GNG Oadby 0-0 Lutterworth
FC Isle of Man 2-0 Guernsey FC
Runcorn Linnets 0-1 @ChesterFC
Corinthian 2-2 East Thurrock
Gloucester City 3-1 Bath City
Barkingside 0-0 Catholic United
New Salamis 2-2 Broadfields United
Horley Town FC 0-0 Steyning
Kirby Muxloe 2-2 Nuneaton Griff
Kendal Town 5-2 Workington
Hallen 0 – 2 Mangotsfield United
Sutton Coldfield 2-3 Stafford Rangers
Wednesfield FC 1 – 1 Chasetown
Witton Albion 2 – 0 Northwich Victoria
Easington Colliery 5-0 FC Hartlepool
King’s Lynn 0-0 Cheshunt
Retford 1-2 Newark & Sherwood
Brockenhurst 0-1 Totton & Eling
Crowborough Athletic 1-0 Jarvis Brook
Merthyr 4-2 City of Liverpool
Folkestone 1-2 Maidstone
Hythe & Dibden 1-4 Lymington
Pilkington 0-5 Winsford
Golcar 3-3 Abbey Hey
Hythe 2-0 Tunbridge
Langley 7-1 Wraysbury
Prudhoe YC 3-2 Whickham
Romford 2-2 Brentwood
Mildenheall 4-1 Wisbech
Heanor Town 1-4 Long Eaton United
Snodland 3-3 Lordswood
Milton United 3-1 Aldermaston
FC Clacton 0 – 0 Coggeshall
Weston-super-Mare AFC 1-5 Weymouth
Stalybridge Celtic 2-1 Curzon Ashton
Hillingdon 2-2 Windsor
Hendon 1-0 St Albans
Needham 1-0 Maldon & Tiptree
Leatherhead 3-2 Dorking
Shepshed Dyanmo 1-0 Basford
Odd Down 3-2 Dursley Town
AFC Totton 2-3 Winchester
AFC Portchester 1-1 Havant and Waterlooville
Harefield 0-4 QPR U23
Widnes 1-2 Atherton Collieries
Erith Town 1-0 Ashford United
Newport Pagnell 3-1 Loughborough\
Margate 1-3 Tonbridge
Shifnal 3-0 Shawbury
Polperro 1-3 Elburton Villa
Bridlington Town 3-0 Newcastle Benfield
Worthing 5-1 Swindon XI
Atherstone Town 3-0 Chelmsley Town
Whitley Bay 2-0 Birtley Town
Squires Gate 3-0 Steeton
Salisbury 4-2 Sholing
Horndean 0-2 Bognor
Lakenheath 4-1 Godmanchester
Ashington AFC 3-2 North Shields
Bootle 0-1 Southport
Bewdley Town 3-0 Dudley Town
Wolverhampton Casuals 3-3 Chasetown
Darlaston Town 0-4 Boldmere
Tuffley Rovers 2-1 Stonehouse
Garstang FC 7-2 Cheadle Town
Cirencester Town 1-2 Chippenham Town
Uttoxeter 1-4 Paget
Tring Athletic 0-4 AFC Dunstable
Garforth 1-2 Campion
Wednesfield 1 – 1 Chasetown
Dunston 1-2 Morpeth Town
Consett 0-2 West Auckland
Halesowen Town 0-1 Leamington
Mossley 2-1 Liversedge
Leighton 2-1 Enfield
Rossington Main 4-2 Emley AFC
Farsley 2-1 Halifax
Grantham Town 0-0 Boston United
Cradley Town 0-3 Highgate
Basildon 5-1 Ilford
Skegness Town 2-1 Nuneaton
Warrington 3-1 Telford
AFC Blackpool 1-3 Redditch
Pinchbeck United 6-2 Huntingdon
Padiham 0-2 Colne
Birstall 1-4 Coleshill
Athersley Rec 6-1 Swallownest
Chadderton FC 3-3 Trafford
Thame 1-1 Southall
Carlisle City 3-4 Nelson
Grimsby Borough 3-2 Goole
Beckenham 4-0 Banstead
Ramsgate 3-2 Herne Bay
Newport IW 0-1 Eastbourne United
AFC Stoneham 1-5 Petersfield
Tadley 9-1 Sandhurst
Hertford Town 1-2 Northwood
Egham Town 1-1 Ashford Town (mx)
Berks County 2-4 Abingdon United
Wantage Town 2-3 Alresford
Farnborough 1-2 Dulwich Hamlet
Tadcaster 0-1 Belper
Cleethorpes Town 3-2 Lincoln United
Runcorn Town 0-4 Coton Green
Corinthian-Casuals 2-0 Hilltop
Wythenshawe 1-1 Maine Road
Alton 9-0 Eversley Cali
Barwell 3-2 Loughborough Dynamo
Cinderford Town 0-6 Yate Town
March Town 3-2 Holbeach
Millbrook 4-1 Bodmin Town
Frome Town 0-6 Taunton Town
Bury Town 3-0 Great Yarmouth
Brentwood Town 1-3 Bishops Stortford
West Allotment 0-2 Blyth Spartans
Liskeard 0-3 Mousehole
Blazey 9-0 Sticker
Northallerton 2-1 York
Heaton Stannington 4-0 Alnwick
Coventry Sphinx 3-0 Hinckley