Premier League sides toil, Bayern win

Five of the six Premier League sides in pre-season friendly action on Saturday failed to win – and a former top-flight star shone for Bayern.

Nottingham Forest, Brighton & Hove Albion, Brentford, Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland all played, scoring a total of four goals.

Almost a year after joining Die Roten from Crystal Palace for £50.8 million, Michael Olise was at the double as the reigning German champions hosted Lyon.

101GreatGoals.com takes a look at the latest pre-season action with under two weeks until the Premier League returns.

Birmingham vs Forest: Stansfield goal decisive

In a match to honour the legendary Trevor Francis, Championship newcomers Birmingham earned bragging rights in a derby courtesy of Jay Stansfield’s 22nd-minute finish from the edge of the box.

Forest described the 1-0 defeat as “more valuable minutes” and had numerous chances to equalise, with Morgan Gibbs-White, new signing Dan Ndoye and targetman Chris Wood all culpable before Taiwo Awoniyi was denied by Ryan Allsop.

Forest host Italian club Fiorentina in a friendly on Tuesday (19:45 BST / 14:45 ET / 11:45 PT).

Nottingham Forest team: Sels, Morato (Awoniyi 70), Murillo (Moreira 70), Sangare, Hudson-Odoi (Silva 70), Anderson (Yates 70), Gibbs-White (Richards 70), Ndoye (Boly 70), Jesus (Wood 46), Cunha (Carmo 70), Milenkovic (Abbott 70).

Leeds vs Villarreal: Piroe plunders point

Joel Piroe celebrated his 26th birthday by striking the 67th-minute equaliser from a Brenden Aaronson cross to earn Leeds a 1-1 draw at Elland Road.

Villarreal had gone ahead five minutes earlier when Gerard Moreno’s header was pushed against the crossbar by Illan Meslier and Karl Etta Eyong pounced on the rebound.

Yellow Submarine goalkeeper Diego Conde tipped fellow substitute Harry Gray’s late header against the crossbar to thwart Leeds, who are in action again at home to Milan next Saturday (15:00 BST / 10:00 ET / 07:00 PT).

Leeds team: Leeds: Darlow (Meslier 46), Schmidt (Byram 63), Rodon, Struijk (Bijol 46), Gudmundsson, Ampadu, Longstaff (Gruev 46), Stach (Tanaka 63), Gnonto (Ramazani 63), Nmecha (Piroe 46), Aaaronson (Gray 81)

Southampton vs Brighton: Minteh magic

Winger Yankuba Minteh entered the box on the right and found the far corner of the net in the 25th and 65th minutes as Brighton appeared to be in cruise control at Southampton, who they beat 4-0 away on February 22 with the Saints doomed to Premier League relegation.

There was salvation for the hosts this time as substitute Jay Robinson curled in from just inside the penalty area in the 69th minute via Seagulls defender Lewis Dunk. Adam Armstrong’s penalty four minutes later ensured the game ended 2-2.

Brighton are at home to Bundesliga club Wolfsburg next Saturday (17:00 BST / 12:00 ET / 09:00 ET).

Brighton team: Steele, Wieffer (Tasker 86), Van Hecke, Dunk (Penman 86), De Cuyper (Slater 86), Gomez (Moran 79), Atari, Minteh (Howell 65), O’Riley, Rutter (Sima 79), Mitoma (Oriola 79)

Yankuba’s double! ⚽️⚽️ Watch extended highlights of today’s draw over on YT now. 📺⤵️

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 2, 2025

Sunderland vs Real Betis: Ruibal decides contest

Granit Xhaka, Robin Roefs and Reinildo made their non-competitive debuts for Sunderland, who were indebted to the crossbar for keeping out Valentín Gomez’s first half-header before full-back Trai Hume cleared off the line from the rebound.

After winger Simon Adingra had a goal ruled out for offside from midfielder Xhaka’s pass, wideman Aitor Ruibal headed the only goal of the game in the 74th minute for the visitors.

The Black Cats visit Bundesliga team Augsburg in a friendly on Saturday (14:00 BST / 09:00 ET / 06:00 PT).

Sunderland team: Roefs, Hume, Ballard, Reinildo (Huggins 61), H. Jones, Adingra, Diarra (Le Fee 61), Xhaka, Talbi, Sadiki, Mayenda

Cerramos el stage de Inglaterra con una nueva victoria 👋🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

¡Seguimos preparando el inicio de @LaLiga! 💚💪 pic.twitter.com/CCedoW1VpK

— Real Betis Balompié 🌴💚 (@RealBetis) August 2, 2025

QPR vs Brentford: Captain Collins clinches win

Brentford were the only Premier League team to win thanks to new captain Nathan Collins’s second-minute header from a Michael Kayode cross.

Goalkeeper Joe Walsh was busy for the second-tier side, denying Fábio Carvalho, Rico Henry, Antoni Milambo and Myles Peart-Harris to restrict the visitors to a 1-0 victory.

The Bees host Bundesliga opponents Borussia Monchengladbach in a friendly on Friday (19:30 BST / 14:30 ET / 11:30 PT).

Brentford team: Kelleher, Kayode (Roerslev 76), Ajer (Arthur 64), Collins (Stephenson 76), Henry (Hickey 64), Yarmoliuk (Onyeka 76), Jensen (Milambo 64); Carvalho (Donovan 76), Damsgaard (Konak 76), Lewis-Potter (Meghoma 76), Thiago (Peart-Harris 64)

Kayode ➡️ Collins ➡️ Back of net pic.twitter.com/0aFN3vi0EX

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) August 2, 2025

Stoke City vs Burnley: Wilmot winner

Burnley won 2-0 at Stoke on their way to promotion last season but there was to be no repeat of their two clean sheets against the Potters in 2024/25 as Ben Wilmot’s first-half strike gave the hosts victory.

Midfielder Josh Laurent was sent off after the break for the Clarets, who will follow up this 1-0 defeat with a home match against Italian side Lazio next Saturday (15:00 BST / 10:00 ET / 07:00 PT).

Scott Parker on today’s pre-season outing against Stoke City 📺

— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) August 2, 2025

Bayern vs Lyon: Olise goals give Roten win

Michael Olise converted a 53rd-minute penalty after Harry Kane had been substituted and struck again nine minutes later as Bayern began their pre-season preparations with a 2-1 home win over French club Lyon.

Georges Mikautadze hit a post for OL and Alejandro Rodriguez replied seven minutes from time, racing clear on the break and slotting in.

Der Elfmeter im Video 🎥⚽️ pic.twitter.com/hj3LMyQg6T

— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) August 2, 2025

Luis Diaz would have scored on his non-competitive debut for his new club but for an excellent save from goalkeeper Remy Descamps, preventing Bayern from scoring a third after the break.

Bayern are back at the Allianz Arena to face Tottenham in a friendly on Thursday (17:30 BST / 12:30 ET / 09:30 ET).

Trikot weg, Herz gewonnen. ❤️🥰

Lucho nach seinem ersten Spiel in der Arena! #FCBOL pic.twitter.com/yt1Z30jaUI

— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) August 2, 2025

Bayern team (first half): Neuer, Boey, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro, Goretzka, Bischof, Karl, Wanner, Coman, Kane

Second half: Urbig, Tah, Kiala, Stanisic, Kimmich, Olise, Laimer, Santos Daiber, Gnabry, Diaz, Kusi-Asare

When does the 2025/26 Premier League season start?

The first round of Premier League matches in 2025/26 will be on the weekend of August 16 2025, starting with Liverpool hosting Bournemouth on Friday, August 15 (20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT).

That game is being shown live in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League, Ultra and Main Event.

The last round of matches this season will all start at the same time on May 24 2026. No rounds will take place within 60 hours of each other and there will be no fixture on December 24.

When does Bayern’s 2025/26 Bundesliga season start?

The first round of Bundesliga games in 2025/26 will be on the weekend of August 23 2025, with Bayern starting the action at home to Leipzig on Friday, August 22 at 19:30 BST (14:30 ET / 11:30 PT).