Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 26

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 26 – the longest Gameweek of the season so far. The first match of the inaugural ‘winter break’ kicks off an hour after Saturday’s 11:30 GMT deadline with the last match not taking place until nine days later. 

Between today’s cutoff and FPL updating at the end of the Gameweek, a full 228 hours will have passed. 

The good news for those of a romantic disposition is that we will be completely free to focus on Valentine’s Day next Friday without having to worry about transfers or captain decisions. Our neglected other halves will no doubt be overjoyed!

Although for most Fantasy managers, one love affair could be coming to an end. 

John Lundstram has captured our hearts this season with his swashbuckling flair and rock-solid dependability. We will never forget the unbridled joy we shared when he banged in two goals against Burnley in early November. It felt at the time that this was a relationship that would last forever. 

Although it wasn’t always plain sailing, he has blanked on occasion. And he really shouldn’t have come home empty handed from his trip to Norwich in December. Nonetheless, he’s often surprised and delighted us so he can be forgiven the odd indiscretion.

But sadly it would appear that after six months the honeymoon is over. 

The warning signs were there. Following two early substitutions, he had us worried when he turned up late against Manchester City in Gameweek 24. To then repeat the offence at the next opportunity didn’t go down well. He has since been unceremoniously dumped by thousands of Fantasy managers.

Is there any hope? Can this relationship be salvaged? For those still clinging onto memories of the good times, Neale, who probably knows him better than any of us, had this to say:

Given Wilder’s previous for not for making unnecessary changes – the other eight midfielders and defenders have basically played whenever they’ve been available – then I wouldn’t hold me hopes up. I’ve seen people talking about ‘oh there’ll be rotation now in central midfield’, well that really hasn’t been Wilder’s style this season, Norwood and Fleck, even in the Championship were playing pretty much every game. So I’m not in the slightest bit confident he’ll get his place back.

– Neale, Team News video

Heartbreaking.

The only straw to clutch at is that his attacking threat might be favoured for a winnable home match against Bournemouth. But there are no guarantees. For those still holding him get ready to be let down again.

Indeed when David cast his eye over the new arrival at Bramall Lane, Sander Berge, who appears to have stolen Lundstram’s spot in the Blades’ midfield, he concluded:

It will be hard to expect much more than a series of one-point cameos from Lundstram.

– David

The good news is that there are a number of potential suitors lining-up to take his place in our Fantasy affections. And our friendly Scoutcast trio of Joe, Karam and Tom assessed our options:

Willy Boly of Wolves at just £4.7m finds himself in Joe’s Wildcard team and offers excellent value; we have O’Connell or Egan if we fancy sticking with Sheffield United; there’s Newcastle with Fernandez and Lascelles enticing us ahead of a nice run of fixtures – although Tom cautioned that they have been overperforming their numbers recently; Tom favoured Charlie Taylor who at £4.2m offers a cheap route into a Burnley defence that has kept nine clean sheets this season.

Pro Pundits Az and Ash also had their say, with both opting for slightly more expensive options. Az plumps for team-mate Enda Stevens, while Ash turns to Burnley’s Ben Mee highlighting his improved attacking potential:

What’s telling is that Mee has registered the joint-most number of goal attempts inside the box among all defenders in the past four Gameweeks.

– Ash, Pro Pundit

Out in the Cold

The dispersed nature of the matches over the winter break means that we won’t hear from a dozen managers until after the Gameweek has started. 

There remains the very real possibility, then, that a number of players will be declared as unavailable – or passed fit – long after the Gameweek 26 deadline has been and gone, leaving FPL managers powerless to do anything about it.

– Neale, Guide to the Winter Break

Neale set the scene in his Guide to the Winter Break, while Ginkapo FPL questioned the impact of the mid-season interlude in a hot topic.

Thinking of the captaincy, one strategy Joe is promoting is captaining and vice captaining players from different weekends. Just in case there’s a no show, or perhaps the weather disrupts the fixtures.

Red or Blue?

In the main, this week’s captaincy would seem to be a straight choice between Mohamed Salah and Sergio Aguero. 

Salah currently leads the way in our captaincy poll, chosen by just under 40% of participants compared to Aguero’s 22%. But it was the thought of Aguero taking the armband that prompted Joe to enthuse:

It’s that rare beautiful moment in FPL where you get someone with unbelievable form and stats against the worst defence.

– Joe, Captaincy Video

Over the last four matches the Argentine is top for shots in the box, big chances, shots on target, and he has the best expected goal involvement (xGI) of any player. He faces a West Ham team who have the worst expected goals conceded (xGC) of any team. He also tops this site’s Rate My Team tool.

The only caveat is rotation. As Neale mentioned in his Captain Sensible article, his rival for the centre-forward role is due a start:

And will Gabriel Jesus (£9.5m) be again deprived of a place in the starting XI, meaning that he will have gone a full month without any kind of start before City are in action again in Gameweek 27.

– Neale, Captain Sensible

If the risk of a benching is too much for you then Salah offers an excellent alternative.

TheFantasyFreÆK highlighted his potential in his Gameweek 25 review, noting that the Egyptian tops the charts for several key stats in midfield and should have recorded even more points of late given that only one of the five big chances he created has been converted by his teammates. 

Neale summarised his appeal:

Salah’s form and all-round points potential (in the top two for both shots in the box and big chances created over his last four matches) will understandably see many FPL managers again handing the armband to the Egyptian.

– Neale, Captain Sensible

The Scout Picks feature Salah as part of a heavy-hitting midfield at the expense of Aguero up front. And FFS Members Cup-finalist Pep Pig revealed he will be handing the Liverpool midfielder the armband in his predictions for Gameweek 26.

Meanwhile RichP_LFC decided to take a novel approach and looked at Fantasy Points Against to pick out players for our FPL teams. His research found that “Salah is the clear choice in midfield, and a punt on Redmond could work well.

Redmond is also the headline differential pick as the Saints begin an excellent run of fixtures.

However, the article’s author, Tom Freeman, went for Harvey Barnes as his under 5%-owned option on the Scoutcast. Over the last four matches, only Salah has a higher xGI than Barnes.

Fellow Pro Pundit Sam Bonfield agrees with his selection, noting in her Sam Says video that the Leicester City youngster has four attacking returns in his last four Premier League games.

And we’ve had reports and analysis on two new Premier League recruits. Steven Bergwijn marked his Spurs debut with a goal and travels to Aston Villa this week, Neale considered his potential. And Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes was the subject of a members-only article by David.  

Finally, following last week’s FA Cup replays, we know a little more about how the fixture schedule is shaping up.   

To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page, and if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

Fantasy Football Scout Memberships are now available for a reduced price of £9.99 for the remainder of the season. Rolling monthly subscriptions are also available for £2.99 per month. Click here to sign up or upgrade your account.

Community Competitions

For an update on all FFS Mini-Leagues and Community Competitions, please click here to read the latest round-up.

For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 26 can be found below:


Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.

Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.

May your arrows be green!


TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

1,493 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Thunder Warrior
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Lund or Cahill?

    1. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      C

    2. The_Fish
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Don’t like either.

    3. FPL Daniel
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Neither for me too

  2. Bubz
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Would you do Lundy to Stephens, or just play Aurier?

    1. FPL Daniel
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Play Aurier see will Lundy start imo

  3. FPL Daniel
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Last minute change to the WC?

    Hendo
    Eagan TAA VVD Doherty
    Barnes Salah KDB
    Jimmy Ings Auba

    Bench: traore saint maxim fernandez
    0.2 itb

    Please guys? All good? Is Traore on the bench good?

    Please advise.

    Thanks

    1. The_Fish
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Got a 2nd keeper for 28 and 31?

      1. FPL Daniel
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Yes Pope. Forgot to post it

        1. The_Fish
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Then you’re golden.

    2. IN SANE IN DE BRUYNE
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      You are good to go

      1. FPL Daniel
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Thanks man

  4. mash
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Ryan
    TAA Dunk Lundstram Stephens
    Salah Mane KDB Maddison
    Vardy Jiminez

    Button Cantwell Soyuncu Greenwood

    1FT, 0 in bank.

    A) Soyuncu to Boly
    B) Roll FT

    1. FPL Daniel
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Roll

    2. The_Fish
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Do A next week.

      1. FPL Daniel
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Yes a next week

  5. Dosh
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    On WC..

    Auba or Firmino?

    Urgent help!

    1. Dosh
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Or Jimi?

      1. FPL Daniel
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        For me its, see above

  6. Jebiga
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Is lundstram to taylor worth -4 hit ?

    1. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Not this GW in isolation.

    2. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      No

    3. Clay Davis
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      No. Taylor will need a cleansheet to better Lundy 1pt from bench and -4pt hit.

      Lundy could well start, score or assist

  7. DandyDon
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    If DCL doesn't start with take another hit to get Aguero in.

  8. Legohair
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Start
    A. Lundy
    B. Boly

  9. Tsparkes10
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Locked and loaded. GL lads

    Hendo
    TAA Robo Stephens
    Martial Salah Alli KDB
    Vardy Maupay ings
    (Martin, Cantwell, Williams, Rico)

    1. FPL Daniel
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Gl

  10. Aftermath
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Redmond, Saint maximin or Barnes?

  11. Jebiga
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Taylor or Tanganga ?

    1. Clay Davis
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Taylor

  12. JustPark
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    May sound mad but hear me out.
    Start Maupay or Vardy?

    1. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Sell Vardy if you don't trust him

      1. JustPark
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Okay, okay! Geez

    2. The_Fish
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Sounds mad

    3. Corgz Dark side of the Loon
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      cuckoo

  13. TAT
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Fernández worth the extra 0.2 over Lascelles?

    1. Sgt. Schultz
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      meh

      1. TAT
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Meh as in "no"? 🙂

        1. Sgt. Schultz
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          thats right NO

          1. TAT
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            The potential goal threat isn't worth the 0.2?

    2. Amey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Yes

      1. FPL Daniel
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        I made that call see above. I've done a thorough analysis...

        1. TAT
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Saint-Maximin as well? Interesting.

      2. TAT
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        I do worry a bit that the 0.2 might be enough to make future transfers difficult. On the other hand I can downgrade Fernández if needed.

    3. Clay Davis
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Yes

      1. TAT
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Went ahead with the move just before the deadline!

  14. snowman
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Soyu over Lascelles?

    1. Clay Davis
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Yes

    2. Pukki Blinders
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Yes

    3. The Mighty Hippo
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Lascelles is a better option I think.

    4. Amey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Lascells

  15. NorMina
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    choose two players to play ????

    A) Grealish

    B) Martial

    C) Fleck

    D) Stephens (defender)

    (2)

    1. Sgt. Schultz
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      AD

    2. Pukki Blinders
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      AB

    3. SerieD
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Martial stephens

    4. Luton_Fan
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      C, d

  16. Puzzle
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Grealish to Mahrez -4?

    1. Pukki Blinders
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      No

    2. The Mighty Hippo
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      No

    3. Luton_Fan
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Do it

    4. Clay Davis
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Yes. Will be a bloodbath

  17. Rhodes your boat
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Play soy or Traoré? (playing jimi)

    1. Luton_Fan
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Traore

  18. Luton_Fan
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Hendo, dunk, holgate, rob, mane,salah c, kdb, grealish, aub vc, ings, dcl. Bench: soy, cant, lund. Rolling transfer. LETS GO!!!

    1. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      for a moment I thought you posted the team sheet of either Everton or Palace.

  19. SerieD
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Repost/Play one:

    A) Soy
    B) Stephens

    1. OverTinker
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      B

    2. Luton_Fan
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Stephens

    3. the dom 1
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      B

    4. Clay Davis
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      A

  20. Jebiga
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    vvv taylor or tanganga 😕

  21. I Member
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Only two players for me this weekend.

  22. Catastrophe
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Williams -> Taylor or save FT? 0.1 ITB.

    McCarthy
    TAA, VVD, O'Connell
    Salah, KDB, Grealish, Traore*
    Aguero, Aubameyang, Jimenez

    (Button, Lascelles, Hayden, Williams)

    Cheers!!

    1. IN SANE IN DE BRUYNE
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Save

  23. Big boy Bowen
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Start Hayden or Williams?

    1. Pukki Blinders
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      W

      1. Big boy Bowen
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Cheers

  24. Jullepuu
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Any lineup leaks?

  25. Champions League Varane
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Start 1!

    Cahill

    Williams

    1. Clay Davis
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Williams

  26. andre_c
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Captain Salah or KDB?

    1. Clay Davis
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      KDB

      1. g40steve
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        You think so?

  27. Champions League Varane
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Start 1!

    Adama

    Fleck

    1. Luton_Fan
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Adama

    2. the dom 1
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Im going Flech with Traore 1st sub

  28. bigbudgie
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Took the hit, lundstrum to stevens

    Ryan
    Taa Stevens Stephens
    Salah KDB Traore fleck
    Aguero (c) Vardy Ings

    Rico soy dendonker

  29. Hulk Smash
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Sod it, Aguero (TC) deployed!

    1. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Got to play it, might as well be against a shocking defence.
      I went KDB rather Salah.

      1. Hulk Smash
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Risky but good luck!

  30. GREEN IS GOOD
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Salah > Walcott?