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.

Best players by position:

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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. H-SF
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    start DCL or SOucek

    1. Cheshire Duck
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      DCL

    2. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Ugh. I don't want these decisions. Play both.

    3. Podge
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Dcl for sure

    4. FourLokoLeipzig
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Soucek

      1. Cake by the pound
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Dominic Calvert Lewin

    5. Numero Bruno
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Who's DCL?

      1. Numero Bruno
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Ah, Calvert Lewin...

  2. Aussie Rules
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Antonio expected to start up front v Newcastle?

    1. Leeds2116
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      yep nailed

  3. Leeds2116
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Steer or nyland

    1. Pratik
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Steer! Nyland has a higher ownership (15%), and if he doesn't play he is likely to fall in price. Steer won't. I'm not banking on either of them playing for long.

    2. Cheshire Duck
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Steer ton be second choice atm. But they're trying to recruit Martinez from Arsenal

  4. Fergiesarmy
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Son & werner or Kane & Havertz?

    Davies or Dier?

    1. Loftus cheeky nandos
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      go for the most nailed

    2. Upyouboyo
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Son and Werner without doubt

    3. Merlinho
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Interesting dilemma - I'm currently on Kane and Alli....wondering about switching Alli to Havertz.

      It's the unproven element and the GW2 fixture that worries me, but then I want to keep a transfer to hand to bring in Man City and Man Utd assets in GW3...

    4. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Werner + Havertz. Find another way to get Spurs.

  5. Urban Cowboy.
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Not the strongest looking starting line up but happy to gamble.
    McCarthy
    TAA Justin Mitchell Davies
    Auba Salah ASM
    Warner Mitrovic Bamford
    Bench Fernandes Lacelles Biss Ryan

    1. Puntillimon
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      could do well. good luck!

    2. Taff
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Get rid of Bamford. Bad pick.

  6. A Team Of James McCleans
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    RMT for just gameweek? Thank you

    McCarthy (Martin)
    James Vinagre Mitchell (Johnson Vokins)
    Auba Mane Zaha Madisson Jota
    Kane Vardy (Davis)

    1. Milk, 1 Šuker
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      How confident are you of Jota starting though? I was considering him.

      1. A Team Of James McCleans
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        I’m not sure I’m also not fully set on the Kane pick either

  7. Dringerland
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Who will start in goal for Villa?

    1. Loftus cheeky nandos
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      nyland 100%

      1. Milk, 1 Šuker
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Hotline to Dean Smith? Lol

    2. flipthebuzzard
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Good question... Anyone?

    3. flipthebuzzard
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

    4. Jekori
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Reported that Arsenal have accepted the third bid for Martinez finally. He is left out of the squad vs Fulham too. He's going for Aston Villa cause he wants to be first choice and couldn't get that guarantee at arsenal. 4.5, but makes Steer and Nyland bench-fodder in gw2

  8. George Agdgdgwngo
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Final decision

    A. Saliba

    B. Holding

    1. Leeds2116
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      B

  9. Corgz Dark side of the Loon
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Does Doherty start ??

    1. flipthebuzzard
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I bloody hope so!

    2. Podge
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Likely

    3. FourLokoLeipzig
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I think so

  10. SerieD
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    A or B? Help please!
    A)
    McCarthy(Steer)
    Davies, Justin, Taa (KWP, Ferguson)
    Son, Havertz, Salah, Auba, Soucek
    Mitro, Richarlison(Brewster)

    B)
    Team:
    McCarthy(Steer)
    Davies, Justin, Taa (KWP, Ferguson)
    Son, Burke, Salah, Auba, Soucek
    Mitro, Werner, Wilson

    1. Michu stole my mojo
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      B

  11. Frank Koscielny
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Davis best option 4.5 striker?

    1. Loftus cheeky nandos
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      brewster possibly, linked to west ham

      1. Frank Koscielny
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Cheers

  12. Will J 256
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Pick two:
    1. Justin
    2. Vinagre

    1. Mitro
    2. Adams

    1. Bubz
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      22

  13. thepirates
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Switch kwp or justin go vinagre or g2g?

    McCarthy
    Robbo Taa KWP
    Salah Aubameyang SMA havertz
    Mitro werner adams
    Bench: justin michell bissouma 4.0gk

  14. Top Lad Dakes.
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Is ASM even nailed?

    Any other better 5.5s you’d pair with Ings to make the combo better than Wilson JRod?

    1. Christina.
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      sold for Soucek in order to get 5m def over 4.5m def

    2. NZREDS
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      ASM definitely nailed

    3. Podge
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Best they have

  15. Areid13
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Thoughts?

    McCarthy
    Trent Gomez Vinagre
    Salah (c) Auba Son ASM
    Werner Wilson Mitro

    Ryan Mitchell Bissouma Taylor

  16. Couch Potato
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    4-5-1, w

    McCarthy
    Justin, TAA, KWP, Mitchell
    Mane, Salah (c), Auba, Soucek, ASM
    Timo

    Is it crazy to have 3 x 12M midfielders?

  17. Cak Juris
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Which one is the best pair:
    A. Kane - Havertz
    B. Kane - Pulisic
    C. Werner - Son
    D. Werner - Alli

    1. steven8991
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      C.
      But, I have neither

  18. ⚔★Vibudh★⚔
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Ings+KWP

    Or

    Robbo+Che Adams

    1. Moore FPL
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      B

  19. BeDreamin
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Feels like we're all about to start our school exams. We've got one group doing last min revision, some helping others and then another group just calm and watching everyone else.

    Good luck guys, remember it's only a game.

  20. Moore FPL
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Best 4.5M def?
    Most nailed 4.5M mid?

    1. Teror
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Taylor/KWP

      Bissouma

  21. Teror
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Insane to get Callum Hudson Odoi over ASM? I'm just not convinced by him

    1. Moore FPL
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Not sure if he starts tho

  22. Salarrivederci
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Gtg?
    1.5 ITB for Salah + Nketiah -> Bruno + Martial (-4) before they rise in price 😉

    Johnstone
    TAA - KWP - Mitchell
    Auba (C) - Salah - Son - Pereira
    Werner - Mitrovíc - Nketiah

    (Button, Lamptey, Romeu, Taylor)

  23. bruuuno
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Lamptey or Newcastle defender Lewis/Lascelles?

  24. buttsy9
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Think I'm locked in.

    McCarthy (Ryan)
    TAA - Egan - James - Justin - (Shaw)
    Auba - Barnes - JWP (Rashford) (K Phillips)
    Werner - Ings - Wilson

    Agonised over Ings & Vardy and slight risk with no Salah in order to have Rashford for GW2. Interested to hear people's thoughts.

  25. The Wanton Trader
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Where’s Bruno!!!!
    Did he make it back?

    1. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Tweaked it below better or worse
      ?

  26. lankdog
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    G2G?

    McCarthy
    TAA Davies Holding
    Auba(C) Salah Alli JWP ASM
    Werner Ings

    Nyland Vinagre Mitchell Davis

  27. arkom
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    TAA / Justin / Vinagre / Mitchell / XXX
    Salah / Auba / Bissouma / XXX / XXX
    Ings / Werner / Mitro

    A) Walker-Peters, Son & Soucek

    or?

    B) Shaw, Alli & Saint-Maximin

    1. lankdog
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A

  28. FPLMarc
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Son, Alli, Havertz or Pulisic?

    1. Chris_White
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Pulisic

  29. SorSy
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    good to go ? or need some changes

    McCarthy
    JReece Bellerin TAA
    Son Salah ASM Auba
    Mitro Werner Batshuai

    Nyland, Mitchell , KWP , Bissouma

    1. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Nice

  30. g40steve
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    RIP it up?
    A,
    McCarthy
    Trent, Egan, Robbo
    Auba C, Soucek, Son, ASM
    Vardy, Richarlison , Werner

    Steer, Mitchell, Burr, Reed

    .5

    1. The Wanton Trader
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Nice one Steve.
      Particularly like the Richarlison pick.
      All the best...