season: Gakpo fantastic + Jacquet scores upon return

FPL pre-season: Gakpo fantastic + Jacquet scores upon return

August 17

17 August 2026

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Liverpool and Nottingham Forest completed their pre-season schedules with victories on Sunday, providing a final round of FPL clues before Gameweek 1.

Here, we assess the key Fantasy takeaways from both matches, including likely line-ups, tactical trends and the standout performers.

READ MORE: FPL pre-season: £4.5m forward’s two assists + £4.0m defender-watch

READ MORE: FPL pre-season: Thiago + Schade braces, Sangare impact + Bournemouth injuries

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Liverpool completed their pre-season schedule with two matches against Como on Sunday, with Andoni Iraola splitting his squad across a behind-closed-doors 0-0 draw and a 2-0 victory at Anfield.

The earlier fixture featured several fringe players, although Alexis Mac Allister (£5.5m) made his first appearance of pre-season and completed almost an hour.

The later match provided far more FPL interest. Most of Liverpool’s likely Gameweek 1 starters featured, with Cody Gakpo (£7.0m) producing the standout attacking display.

LIVERPOOL 2-0 COMO

Goals: Jacquet, Gakpo

Assists: Gakpo, Frimpong

Line-up: Alisson, Van Dijk, Jacquet (Araujo, 46), Kerkez, Wirtz (Nyoni, 73), Szoboszlai, Isak (W. Wright, 84), Gakpo (Munoz, 73), Frimpong, Gravenberch, Ngumoha (Koumas, 62).

Unused subs: Davies, Ndiaye.

Liverpool fielded the stronger of their two sides at Anfield. Alisson Becker (£5.5m) started behind Jeremie Frimpong, Jeremy Jacquet (£5.0m), Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) and Milos Kerkez (£5.5m).

Ryan Gravenberch (£6.0m) and Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) occupied the deeper midfield positions. Florian Wirtz (£7.5m) played centrally ahead of them, with Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha (£6.0m) either side of Alexander Isak (£9.0m).

However, we shouldn’t necessarily treat that XI as Iraola’s Gameweek 1 team. Mac Allister featured in the earlier match after only recently returning to club duty and got 59 minutes under his belt. His availability gives Iraola another major midfield decision before the trip to Newcastle.

Gakpo was comfortably Liverpool’s biggest attacking threat at Anfield. He scored the opener, supplied the assist for Jacquet’s second and created two big chances.

His goal also highlighted the attacking potential of Frimpong. The right-back drove forward before clipping a delivery towards the back post, where Gakpo controlled superbly and finished.

Gakpo later turned provider following a partially cleared corner. Van Dijk recycled possession before finding the winger, whose low ball across goal allowed Jacquet to convert from close range.

Frimpong’s return was another boost. He supplied the assist for Gakpo and also produced an important last-ditch challenge at the other end. His willingness to surge forward from right-back could make him an intriguing Fantasy option if Iraola continues to give his full-backs license to attack.

Kerkez has similar freedom on the opposite side. He completed his first 90 minutes of pre-season and repeatedly looked to advance down the left, including one driving early run that won Liverpool a free-kick near the penalty area.

The defender confirmed afterwards that Iraola wants him to attack more aggressively:

“You can see I have more freedom to fly up and down. I’m really running more, with more freedom, putting more balls into the box.

We all have to do what he tells us to do: play aggressive, front-foot, so we need to continue.” – Milos Kerkez

Kerkez also admitted Liverpool still have defensive work to do, particularly when it comes to receiving more help from their wide players. That is worth noting for managers considering the Reds’ defensive assets despite Sunday’s clean sheet.

None of Liverpool’s starting defenders reached the defensive-contribution threshold. However, Jacquet came closest with eight, and he only played 45 minutes.

Summer signing Ronald Araujo (£5.5m) replaced Jacquet at half-time and played the entire second period alongside Van Dijk. Alisson praised both new centre-backs afterwards:

“Both of them played really, really well. Jeremy had a great first half, great on the ball, great defending as well, controlling the space in behind and in front of him as well.

Ronald as well had a really good game in the second half.” – Alisson Becker

With Jacquet fit and Araujo now available, Liverpool suddenly have greater depth alongside Van Dijk. That makes the identity of Iraola’s second centre-back one of the positions to monitor ahead of Gameweek 1.

Isak led the line again and played 84 minutes, further strengthening expectations that he will start at Newcastle. The striker couldn’t add to his goal and assist against Monaco but still threatened on several occasions. His best early effort took a deflection before striking the post, while another promising Gakpo move presented him with a chance inside the six-yard box. Isak also fired over following an excellent second-half counter-attack. There was therefore enough goal threat to encourage despite the blank. His increased minutes are equally significant after he spent the early stages of pre-season building his fitness.

Wirtz completed 73 minutes in the No 10 role. He helped create a couple of shooting opportunities but otherwise had a relatively quiet evening compared with his goalscoring display against Monaco. The German nevertheless continues to occupy an attractive central position behind Isak. How he combines with Liverpool’s centre-forward will be one of the more important Fantasy questions during the opening Gameweeks.

Szoboszlai remained deeper alongside Gravenberch. He registered two shots and created two opportunities for teammates but again spent much of the match operating away from the advanced position he has occupied at times in the past. He also picked up a yellow card. That deeper role could limit his appeal if it continues once the competitive action starts, particularly with Wirtz seemingly ahead of him in the No 10 position.

Ngumoha completed just over an hour on the right but had relatively little attacking impact. He showed flashes of quality and had one effort blocked, although Liverpool directed much of their most dangerous play down Gakpo’s side.

Gravenberch nearly added a third late on when his shot struck the woodwork. He otherwise played a disciplined role alongside Szoboszlai as Liverpool’s more attacking players pushed forward.

The clean sheet was welcome after Liverpool had conceded three times against Monaco. Como still caused problems, however, particularly in transition and during the second half.

Alisson made several saves to preserve the shut-out, while Frimpong and Van Dijk both produced important defensive interventions. The goalkeeper felt Liverpool had improved but acknowledged that there remains work to do:

“Still we did a good game but we have still things to improve. We have consistency for not maybe for the full game, but we’re going to get there.

The best thing is winning with the space to improvement and we need to go with that mentality for the first game against Newcastle.” – Alisson Becker

From an FPL perspective, Gakpo produced the most compelling final audition. His role on the left, goal, assist and chance creation all strengthened his case ahead of Gameweek 1 – but first, we need to establish which club he’s going to be playing for!

There were positive signs from Liverpool’s full-backs too. Frimpong returned with an assist, while Kerkez’s comments confirmed that Iraola wants him attacking aggressively from the opposite side.

Isak looks increasingly secure at centre-forward after another substantial outing, although he missed several chances. Wirtz appears set to operate behind him, while Szoboszlai’s deeper role remains a concern for his Fantasy prospects.

LIVERPOOL 0-0 COMO

Team: Mamardashvili, Endo, Mac Allister (Ndiaye, 59), Chiesa (W. Wright, 46), Elliott (Morrison, 46), Tsimikas, Munoz (Koumas, 46), Nyoni, Chambers, Ramsay (Pitt, 67,) McConnell (Sonni-Lambie, 67).

Unused sub: Davies.

The first fixture of the day carries considerably less FPL significance. Liverpool used two 35-minute halves and selected a largely second-string side featuring Giorgi Mamardashvili (£5.0m), Wataru Endo (£5.0m), Kostas Tsimikas (£5.0m), Harvey Elliott (£5.5m) and Federico Chiesa (£5.5m).

Mac Allister was the notable exception. He started on his return to action and completed 59 minutes before Iraola withdrew him, an important step towards potential involvement at Newcastle.

Summer signing Victor Munoz (£6.5m) also started and provided some of Liverpool’s brightest attacking moments in the 0-0 draw. He later came off the bench in the Anfield fixture after Gakpo’s withdrawal.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 2-0 BREST

Goals: Wood pen, Netz

Assists: Netz won pen, Dominguez

Line-up: Victor (Benda 45); Abbott, Cunha, Morato; Moreira, Dominguez, Schlager, Netz; Hudson-Odoi (Hutchinson 55), Kalimuendo; Wood (Bakwa 70)

SCOUT NOTES

Nottingham Forest rounded off their pre-season campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win over Brest at the City Ground.

There was plenty of rotation from Oliver Glasner after Wednesday’s victory over Bayer Leverkusen. Matz Sels (£5.0m), Ousmane Diomande (£5.5m), Nikola Milenkovic (£5.5m), Murillo (£5.5m), Ola Aina (£4.5m), Neco Williams (£5.0m), Ibrahim Sangare (£5.5m), Morgan Gibbs-White (£8.0m), Igor Jesus (£6.0m) and Dan Ndoye (£5.5m) were among the notable absentees.

As a result, there probably isn’t too much we can learn about Forest’s likely Gameweek 1 line-up from this particular starting XI. There was, however, further evidence of Glasner’s preferred 3-4-2-1 formation. Forest used a back three again, maintaining the structure seen against Leverkusen.

Chris Wood (£6.0m) was one of the more significant starters. The forward missed Wednesday’s friendly with a minor muscle problem but returned to lead the line against Brest. He played around 70 minutes and opened the scoring from the penalty spot.

Luca Netz (£4.5m) was the standout performer. Starting at left wing-back, he won the penalty converted by Wood before scoring Forest’s second himself. The German burst forward on the overlap and finished an excellent move after Nicolas Dominguez’s (£5.0m) first-time pass.

Netz has therefore delivered attacking returns in successive matches, having also assisted Arnaud Kalimuendo (£5.5m) against Leverkusen. However, Neco Williams (£5.0m) started at left wing-back in the stronger XI on Wednesday, and he surely gets the nod against Leeds United.

The wing-back roles nevertheless continue to look interesting under Glasner. Netz repeatedly pushed forward against Brest, while Williams occupied advanced positions and took some corners against Leverkusen.

Callum Hudson-Odoi (£6.0m) continued his return from injury with another start. He operated behind Wood alongside Kalimuendo and played his part in the second goal, feeding Dominguez before Netz finished the move. Hudson-Odoi was withdrawn early in the second half.

Omari Hutchinson (£5.5m) replaced him and completed around 35 minutes. He tested the goalkeeper with a low effort and later delivered an in-swinging corner that Zach Abbott narrowly failed to convert.

Forest also recorded a clean sheet, with Brest creating very little. That is encouraging given Glasner’s comments about his side developing a better defensive structure. The personnel may change substantially for Gameweek 1, but the back three remained in place and Forest looked comfortable within it.

“We’ve had a good week with the win against Bayer Leverkusen as well but it’s not just the wins, it’s the performances; I can see we’re getting a better structure and we’ll keep communicating with the players.

We scored some good goals from dangerous positions, and we didn’t really give them any chances. There are many encouraging signs.” – Oliver Glasner

New goalkeeper Steven Benda made his first Forest appearance after joining the club on Saturday. He replaced John Victor at half-time and helped preserve the clean sheet.