Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the Gameweek 19 transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
‘The Great and The Good’ this season are the FPL Godfather Mark Sutherns, the BlackBox pair of Az and Andy North, Scouts FPL General, Joe and Tom, the FPL Wire trio of Pras, Lateriser and Zophar, FPL celebrities FPL Harry, Martin Baker, Pingreen, FPL Frasier and Luke Williams, Hall of Famers Ben Crellin, Fabio Borges and Tom Dollimore, and last year’s mini-league winner Huss E.
Gameweek 19 landed like New Year’s Eve in FPL form. Bold resolutions, reckless optimism, and the quiet certainty that something would go wrong before midnight.
As the deadline clock ticked down, The Great and The Good were busy trying to predict Mikel Arteta. Maybe the Arsenal defence would finally stabilise, perhaps Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.4m) will make a triumphant return?
Some rang in 2026 with champagne punts on Patrick Dorgu (£4.2m), others went full fireworks with a Matheus Cunha (£8.2m) captaincy. Those soon fizzled out.
Yet 2025 bowed out in classic style: rotation reared its head, injuries claimed Michael Keane (£4.8m) and Declan Rice (£7.2m), a soon-to-depart Antoine Semenyo (£7.7m) showed up to the party anyway, and Enzo Maresca was ejected for falling out with his hosts.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Gameweek tedium reigned supreme among The Great and the Good, with points scarce. Only six managers cleared 40, and everyone else spent the week refreshing LiveFPL in disbelief. A Chelsea boss would be sacked for such a performance.
It was the kind of round where Captain Hindsight had a lot to say, as Gabriel’s comeback went entirely un-gambled. A collective show of restraint that felt admirable at the time and foolish by full-time.
FPL General ‘triumphed’ with 48 points, a score that would normally earn sympathy rather than applause. Tom Dollimore and Ben Crellin followed on 43, united by a curious cocktail of fortune: a resurrected Jurrien Timber (£6.4m) benefitted from an early substitution, plus the rarest footballing artefact of all, a Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m) clean sheet.
General’s edge came courtesy of Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m), who took time away from the festive Eastenders omnibus to score. Although FPL variance was swiftly restored when Nico O’Reilly (£5.3m) was withdrawn on 57 minutes, denying him a clean sheet.
TRANSFERS
The Gameweek 19 transfers had everything: bold punts, cruel timing and instant regret. Dorgu was very much a gamble, yet around a third of these managers took it anyway. They were an offside goal away from joy.
Two managers took hits. Joe Lepper had the worst of it, as his included the misfortune of buying an injured Keane. Even Mark Sutherns wasn’t spared, taking a minus four for Dorgu and Cunha, a hit that already belongs in the ‘magic beans’ category.
‘THE GREAT AND THE GOOD’ TEMPLATE
As the year ticks toward midnight, The Great and The Good template remains unmoved.
Phil Foden (£9.0m) and Cunha clink glasses in the 100% owned club, Erling Haaland (£15.1m) remains an almost-universal resolution at 94.4%, and back-up goalkeeper Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) continues to be a dependable party host.
Dubravka (94.4%), Raya (50.0%)
Timber (61.1%), O’Reilly (61.1%), van Dijk (55.6%), Andersen (44.4%), Keane (44.4%)
Foden (100.0%), Cunha (100.0%), Saka (83.3%), Szoboszlai (27.8%), Minteh (27.8%)
Haaland (94.4%), Ekitike (77.8%), Thiago (44.4%)
The tweaks from last week are modest. Cunha completes the clean sweep, Keane replaces Joe Rodon (£4.0m) in a move that swaps one injury problem for another, and Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.6m) steps in for the Manchester City-bound Semenyo.
CHIP SUCCESS
As we press the reset button on FPL chips, let’s look at who fared best in this campaign’s first half.
This table is a masterclass in calm, considered button-pressing, with FPL Harry in front. FPL Frasier and Tom Dollimore are close behind – managers who treat chips like strategic assets, not panic buttons.
Timing proves everything. Most played their Wildcard between Gameweeks 4 and 7, but it was the later one from Huss E that delivered the biggest returns, showing that independent thought can beat the herd.
Triple Captain scores were impressively steady for top managers, though Andy North and Pingreen – not on the table – picked the one week when Haaland decided he didn’t want to haul.
Ironically, the week they activated Triple Captain, Gameweek 13, was definitely the ultimate Free Hit moment. Tom Dollimore smashed it by accumulating 46 points above the week’s average score.
Meanwhile, Harry turned his Bench Boost into pure magic in Gameweek 5, totalling 23 points from his substitutes. So, even the bench can party if you know how to play it.
In short: patience paid dividends, Gameweek 13 was king, and careful timing – plus a dash of luck – separated the good from the great.
CONCLUSION
Gameweek 19 was one to forget and, luckily, we are back at it again on Saturday. I suspect most of that short time will be spent trying to work out how to fit Gabriel into our teams.
Anyway, that’s all from me for now, and remember: don’t have FPL nightmares.
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