Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 1

It feels like we’ve had a half-term rather than a summer holiday – Gameweek 1 is upon us already!

During the break Fantasy Football Scout has been busy producing absolutely tons of exciting content. The aim of this guide is to distill that knowledge into a digestible format. As Andy’s recent guest Simon succinctly put it when explaining his use of stats: “it’s almost impossible to watch 20 hours of football per week”.

The first piece of advice given by three-time top 200 finisher Lateriser is:

Read up about football more and then tinker… What happens when you are doing this is that you are strengthening your instinct, your subconscious… and then you tend to be more decisive.

– Lateriser

The most important news for you to read first is the team news.

Neale reported the headlines from Thursday’s press conferences: Chelsea’s new-signing Hakim Ziyech is out for a couple of weeks; Christian Pulisic is ahead of schedule and could feature this weekend; Mason Holgate will miss Everton’s trip to North London with a toe injury; and Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl confirmed that budget ‘keeper Alex McCarthy is his No 1.

David and co have been reviewing all the pre-season matches in the Scout Notes and analysing the new additions to the Premier League in the Scout Reports.

If you want to quickly look up a particular team or player, the easiest way to find the information you need is via The Complete Guide to Pre Season. This section of the website lists all the articles associated with each club.

Pay Attention to Captaincy

Another of Lateriser’s rules – pay attention to captaincy. It can make up 25 per cent of your score and it’s the biggest decision you make each week. Our upside-chasing Pro Pundit advocates, on occasion, bringing in a player for a hit – even for one Gameweek.

The first Captain Sensible article of the new season has, for a change, been written by Jan Sienkiewicz. Jan finished in the top 100 overall last season and mustered 657 captain points, the second-most in the world. 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the popular choice with a clear lead in the captain poll, but Jan is not convinced by the underlying stats:

[Aubameyang] has been in a rich vein of form lately and the spirits are certainly high at the Emirates. However, the underlying data shows us that Arsenal’s attack has been underwhelming, creating very little from open play.

– Jan

For the double-points maestro, Liverpool are the more attractive proposition:

The Liverpool attack looks set to fire against Leeds United in a game in which suits them tactically, even if they have been lacklustre in pre-season. Both Salah and Mané will look to start the season strongly and maintain their brilliant goalscoring records at home.

– Jan

Mohamed Salah scored in 15 home matches last season, more than any other player.

However, in our Captaincy video Joe and David took a different view. A reminder that David went on a successful 17-Gameweek captain run back in 2018/19:

Aubameyang is my choice at the moment… the eye test is looking good, he made Liverpool look distinctly average [in the Community Shield]… and when he plays smaller teams he tends to look better.

– David

Joe concurred, highlighting the Arsenal man’s excellent record against the minnows (teams outside of the top six): his expected goals is doubled, his number of big chances is doubled, even his shooting accuracy is doubled. 

When in doubt back the odds.

– Lateriser

It’s notable that Arsenal and Liverpool’s opponents, Leeds and Fulham, have the worst odds of recording a clean sheet. Thank you as ever to G-Whizz for posting his regular summary.

Wise Words

I’ve been sharing a splattering of Lateriser’s tips in this article, but we are lucky enough to have several excellent managers to call upon. The days when I used to write articles on the Top Five managers in the Hall of Fame are no longer needed – the top three are now all signed up as Pro Pundits.

So far we’ve heard from number three on the list, Darren Wiles, who recently finished 140th in the world and has three top 1,000 finishes in the last four seasons. He’s found that going ‘big at the back’ has served him well:

A strategy that threatened to take off at the start of last season, going big at the back has been the key to a lot of my success over the last four years.

– Darren

Darren’s FPL draft includes four premium defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson, Matt Doherty, and Aymeric Laporte.

He’s also managed to squeeze in Salah, Aubameyang, and Werner! Somehow he’s done this with the same £100m budget as the rest of us.

Up front the Southampton fan has picked Che Adams and Aleksandar Mitrovic, giving him the same front three as Joe, who was roundly ridiculed on the Scoutcast by Az and Andy for having two £6.0m forwards. 

Interestingly, Pro Pundit Az has revealed a very similar front three, with the exception of Ings for Adams. The debate would clearly seem to come down to whether you think Ings is worth the extra £2.5m over Adams.

Value for money and the merits of going big at the back have also been discussed by the community. Thanks to this piece from kierenbwfc and the resulting hot topic.

To be fair to Az, it’s worth pointing out that Ings is just a placeholder for Anthony Martial his team. The co-host of the revamped FPL BlackBox podcast is set on owning the Manchester United forward for Gameweek 2.

Joining Az on the podcast is the legendary FPL manager and this website’s founder, Mark Sutherns. Mark has returned to Fantasy Football Scout and will be contributing his thoughts and insights over the coming season. Commenting on the proliferation of stats and content available to FPL managers, Mark reflected:

These days everyone can get a glut of knowledge, information and data in their timeline with relative ease. But to work out how best to process it, how you learn to separate luck from skill and focus on improving the input, not dwell on the output, that might just be the new marginal gain.

– Mark

Don’t be surprised if Mark adds to his four top 1,000 finishes.

Another manager looking to join Az with Martial in his Gameweek 2 squad is Lateriser, although the upside-chasing manager is starting with him on his Gameweek 1 bench! India’s two-time FPL champion outlined his thinking in his latest Pro Pundit article

Meanwhile Pro Pundit Tom Freeman has been scouting the Red Devil’s summer signing Donny van de Beek. The new addition gives Ole Gunnar Solskjær an extra dimension to his already gifted attack. Although Tom feels he may have to settle for a place on the bench, at least to start with.

Intriguingly, Tom’s headline differential pick is Christian Pulisic, who, as mentioned earlier, is in contention for Monday’s trip to Brighton. And he’s got the potential to deliver even if he’s named among the substitutes:

An appearance off the bench might not be the end of the world for owners, considering his ability to haul from limited minutes, as evidenced at Anfield last season.

– Tom

Costing the same price as Chelsea’s Captain America is the Blues latest recruit from the Bundesliga, Kai Havertz. Chelsea fan and Pro Pundit Zophar, ran the rule over the former Bayer Leverkusen star. The German’s impressive goal conversion ratio of 19 per cent led the six-time top 5,000 manager to describe him as an “ice-cold finisher”.

Another player singled out by Tom as a differential ahead of the new season is Dele Alli. Indeed he is a player I highlighted when examining Mourinho’s attacking formation. Spurs have been much debated this pre-season both in terms of their attack and defence.

Pro Pundit Sam Bonfield shared her thoughts on the improved backline during the restart period, explaining how it bodes well for the coming season. While community member FPL Octopus argues that their defenders have been underpriced. And I took a look at the potential offered by Matt Doherty.

Join in the fun!

The Head-to-Head leagues and Last Man Standing are back, and we’re dishing out £2,500-worth of giveaways in the Community Members mini-league, plus there are a plethora of competitions for you to take part in: perhaps you fancy yourself against Greyhead’s The Great and The Good?

Take a moment to read this article to find out the League Codes – watch out for those Gameweek 1 deadlines. And thank you, as ever, to RedLightning for administering a number of our community mini-leagues.

Enjoy the new season.

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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

3,246 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Nightcrawler
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    MY FREE HIT team (wildcarding in week 2)

    What do u think

    Mcarthy

    Mitchell Robbo TAA

    Alli Bowen Salah Auba

    Werner Adams Antonio

    1. Stockport Hatter
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Free hit ???

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

        Its free hit because i wildcard week 2

        1. Stockport Hatter
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Gotcha

    2. beric
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Its ok, waste of a wildcard imo

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

        I really want utd evertin city from next game plus if i dont start well i lose interest very quickly

  2. Celt Abroad
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Who is more likely to start - Steer or Nyland?

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

      Steer

      1. Celt Abroad
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Thanks.

  3. GOONER
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    A) Soucek + 2 4M def + 0.5M in bank (to help getting martial or rashford for son or ings next GW)

    B) Soucek + Taylor + 1 4M def + 0 in bank (try to fit Manu players after Gw3 when selling Auba to KDB and saving the extra 0.5 and hoping no price changes happens)

    C) ASM + 2 4M def + 0 in bank (try to fit Manu players after Gw3 when selling Auba to KDB and saving the extra 0.5 and hoping no price changes happens)

    1. Podge
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      C

  4. mpalmercity76
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    last one before 11am.

    hernandez (leeds) or ASM.

    Back and forth between the two for days now. opinions please

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

      ASM

  5. RAFA THE GAFFA
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Good to go? 😎

    McCarthy
    TAA, Egan, Davies, Justin
    Salah(C), Auba, Pulisic, ASM
    Werner, Ings
    (Nyland, Mitchell, Bissouma, Brewster)

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

      Strong

      BTW I dont understand the brewster thing, -1 pool spot

      1. RAFA THE GAFFA
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Not sure I want 3 ever anyways. So much choice this season

    2. GOONER
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      How will u get manu players?

      1. RAFA THE GAFFA
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Ings >> Martial. Got 0.5itb

        1. Concrete
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Good team and planning

    3. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      GTG

      1. RAFA THE GAFFA
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Cheers Magic Z

    4. Ady87
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      I’ve got a similar squad but unsure on 4 at the back

  6. Arteta
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Double CHE attack vs double LIV defence next GW? Back to the drawing board I guess...

    1. beric
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Yeah, same can be said for double liverpool defence

      1. Jusagoras
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Costs much less though

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

      Exactly

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

    A) James Justin
    B) Vinagre

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

      B

    2. It’s gonna Ben Mee
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Both

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

        don't get both you need a more secure 4.5 selection if you have one of them.

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

      A

  8. Shankly611
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    A) Son, ASM, Ings

    or

    B) Alli, Pulisic, Adams

    1. GOONER
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      A

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

      Alli, Wilson, Ings?

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

      A

  9. vityovics
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    G2G?

    Rams (Steer)
    TAA - KWP - Justin (AWB - Mitch)
    Salah - Auba - Son - ASM - JWP
    Vardy - Mitro (Davis)

    Any thoughts to change the fodder Davis into a playing someone?
    Cheers

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

    Currently on Ayling but is there any merit in switching to Dallas?

    1. Rinseboy
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Ayling looks better attacking wise. Care to share your team Bubz? Interested to see how you've lined up this year

    2. Flaming Flamingo
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Dallas' upside is much higher due to his versatility, but for the short term I'd probably stick with Ayling

    3. The Yorkshire Pirlo
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Stick with Ayling, both could do decent but I don’t expect Dallas to be playing OOP as much this year. That’s where he got most his goals and assists

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

    Soucek or ASM? To play every week

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

      Saka

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

        "to play every week"
        ASM.

    2. beric
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      I had the same conundrum and after comparing stats for the last 6 weeks...ive gone for soucek

      1. GOONER
        • 12 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Even with the tough fixtures?

  12. Tshelby
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    A) Doherty, Adams
    B) Davies, Wilson

    B feels more save right?

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

      Yeah.. B for me

  13. The Yorkshire Pirlo
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Saiss or Vinagre?

  14. Ohhhhh Gary Macca!
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Best 5.0 option?
    A) Saïss
    B) Davies
    C) Keane

  15. thegaffer82
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Not seeing any teams with Mason Mount.

    Is it because people don't think he'll play? Or just because you think there's better options around that price?

    I'm taking a punt on him for the first week. If he doesn't play or looks like he's playing too deep, I'll probably use the 0.5ITB to upgrade to Greenwood

    1. Rotation's Alter Ego
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      I think he'll still get good minutes, I just don't think he'll do too much with them. All about Havertz / Werner / Pulisic / Ziyech (when back) now.

    2. beric
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      I feel like its a toothless punt. He rarely scores big and his gametime is surely gunna be limited. Then its a waste of a transfer. But good luck with it nonetheless

  16. King Huth
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    My last decision!! big front or big back!!

    A. Bdavies saliba jwp kane

    B. TAA robertson DCL Sousek

  17. adstomko
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Reed or Lemina for the bench?

  18. McHappy_Meal FC***
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Saka , JWP or ASM? Have Wilson up top.

  19. simong1
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    For first 3 GWs:

    A) Ali and Son
    B) Ali and Havertz

    Also have Werner

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

      I had Son but have gone for Pulisic, based purely on the Kane effect. Son is in great form, but his scoring still comes mostly when Kane isn’t around.

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

      B and Martial over Werner 🙂

  20. Pointless
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Is Oliver Burke likely to start for SheffU? Wilder made positive comments about him. £4.5 mid.

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

      I toyed with that too. I decided that Wilder prefers a very settled team so he’s unlikely to start. One to watch?

  21. Muscout
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    1) McCarthy
    2) Ryan

    A) Nyland
    B) Steer

    1. Champ
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Ryan and steer

  22. Stay Back
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Good luck all, may your transfers be prudent and your arrows be green...

  23. 5678
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Who of Holding and Salina has the best chance of keeping a spot long term? Thanks!

    • Bream Reaper
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Quick qn..Thoughts on this out there team?

      Ryan (Hyland)
      TAA, Ward, (Taylor), Mitchell, (Strujk)
      Salah, Havertz, Aubo, Romeo, (Gordon)
      Vardy, Werner, Ayew

      Playing 4-3-3

      1. Bream Reaper
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        3-4-3

      2. reubster
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        That’s a lot of eggs in very few baskets, huh. If you do that you’re a lot ballsier than I am.

    • johnnymorrocco
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Thoughts?
      Ryan
      McCarthy

      Robertson
      Taylor
      Mitchell
      Justin
      Alexander-Arnold

      Aubameyang
      Bissouma
      Alli
      Salah
      Soucek

      Mitrović
      Vardy
      Adams

    • Mr. Mystic
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Davies or Egan? And why?

      1. Ohhhhh Gary Macca!
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Egan, Sheff’s defence are more solid and more chance of scoring from set pieces

      2. Magic Zico
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        I've got both, if one Egan ... nailed! Spurs will have busy fixtures

        1. Mr. Mystic
          • 13 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          How busy is there schedule in reliability? Anyone got a link to their fixtures?

    • The_FF_King
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      GTG?

      McCarthy (Steer)
      Holding - TAA - VVD (Douglas - Mitchell)
      Auba - Salah(C) - ASM - Son (Bissouma)
      Werner - Adams - Wilson

      1. It’s gonna Ben Mee
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Yup

    • It’s gonna Ben Mee
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      GTG?

      McCarthy
      TAA Justin Vinagre Holding
      Salah ASM Son Auba(c)
      Werner Mitro

      Bench: Lamptey Davis Greenwood

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

        Yes

    • Champ
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Haha haha

      Getting advice here this morning is like that game show where you stand in a big glass box trying to grab the bank notes flying all over the place

      1. thegaffer82
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Crystal Maze 🙂

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

        More like trying to grab used toilet paper..

      3. Concrete
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Fancy a telegram group to share advice?

    • Dakers
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      A) Ings ASM
      B) CWilson JRod

      Was on A initially, kinda feeling the punt of B more now... thoughts? 0.5 ITB

      Ryan (4.0)
      TAA Doherty KWP Vinagre (Mitchell)
      Salah Auba Alli JRod (Gordon)
      Werner Wilson (Davis)