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:

GET IN-GAME DATA AT LIVE FPL

Check your own rank and in-play FPL stats on LiveFPL.net every Gameweek

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. Collie01
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Looking forward to seeing the game update so I can see what teams my friends in MLs went with!

    1. windowview
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Same here, especially new leagues

  2. Shark Team
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    MITRO BENCHED

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

      Enoughs enough

    2. SAUCY SALAH
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Team lineups not out yet?

    3. KGFC
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Are the team sheets out already??

    4. The Wanton Trader
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      ....And Auba pulled a hammy in warm up.

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

      Lol hope this isn't a wind up

    6. Sun Jihai
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Lol

    7. lilmessipran
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Source?

      1. The Legend Squad
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        FPL Rockstar

    8. Shark Team
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      FPL Rockstar leaks are always true my friends

    9. FPL Forward Thinker
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      3 YEARS

      Old enough to know better

  3. Oooof
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    When is everyone playing their wildcard this year?

    With the early fixtures there’s got to be an added temptation to go early?

    1. Flair
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      GW10

    2. SAUCY SALAH
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      No idea yet, very likely week 3 I think

    3. FPL Forward Thinker
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Probably tonight

      Lol

    4. 7rjngs lollygagger
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Budgeted for 3 hits in first 6 weeks - that should be enough to get me through to GW9

  4. Mr. Greedy
    • 15 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    FFS no mitrovic

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

      Only plebs have Mitro 😛 Adams or Wilson is where it's at.

      1. Drexl Spivey
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Thanks, Camzy.

      2. Ógie
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Batshuayi says hi Camzy 😛

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

        Would be funny if Adams gets benched too

  5. KGFC
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    So what formation did you go with finally?

    I've gone with 343

    1. SAUCY SALAH
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      4-5-1

    2. Von Lipwig
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      433 Robbo and TAA

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

        Got 'em both in 343 with Bertrand as a juicy differential 😀

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

      433 this week

  6. Ray Kinsella
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    anyone heard a rumour Aubameyang is going to be benched today?

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

      WOW!!!!
      As a non-owner, I would simply LOVE that!

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

      Just now from you

    3. SAUCY SALAH
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Only from scaremongerers

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

      I hope it's not true, by the way

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

      Surely

    6. Chalobah's Witness
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      This is funny because I heard a rumour Auba is going to score a hattie today.

    7. thepeen555
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      He is in the team as the teams are out

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

        Whew! I took Mitro, Saka and Saliba out yesterday!

  7. Releasebreaks
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    So, no more adrenaline panicking with last transfer 1 hour before kick off
    don't like this 1:30h, too much relaxed

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

    Why can't I view the "prizes " section while the game is being updated? Come on, I just wanna look at what I am winning at the end of the season

  9. Chalobah's Witness
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    For me it is essential this season to use the wildcard directly today to avoid the price increases. Who sees it that way?

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

      Not sure which player you want to bring before price rise

      1. Chalobah's Witness
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Greenwood, Fernandes, KDB, and maybe some others...

    2. Von Lipwig
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Too much uncertainty. Wanna keep mine as long as possible

    3. CONNERS
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      I think I'll wait and see how my team does first.

      1. Chalobah's Witness
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        That's what I wanted to do as well but then I put all my money in the starting eleven and completely neglected the bench. WC is now a must for me.

    4. Dr. Rog
      • 15 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      to avoid the price increases?

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

    Ffs not even an hour before the season kicks off and I've already had a player benched

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

    Incoming new article featuring the picture of Mitro looking deranged

    1. Ógie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Even money his tongue will be sticking out.

  12. BenDavies
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Why did no one know Mitro would be benched? What are we paying you guys for

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

      You're not even a premium member 😛

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

        Okay that went over my head. I see you're joking

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

      Gambling adverts silly.

  13. b91jh
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Anyone has got Diangana in the team?

  14. Crystal Alice
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Missed deadline. It's always been one hour before kickoff... until today

  15. Piggs Boson
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    The early deadline completely caught me off guard 😳

    Lucky I finalised last night...

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

      You had us going for a moment...

  16. Sun Jihai
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    @FPL_Rockstar
    Good luck everyone, great that FPL IS BACK! Off to walk the Dog at the level playing field...oh btw Mitrovic is benched Grimacing face

    1. FPL Blow-In
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Ha nice

  17. luke
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Mccarthy
    Holding VVD Robbi
    Mane Auba (c) Bowen Havertz
    Adams Antonio Werner

    Wild card to be activated ASAP

    Good luck all

  18. Fudgy
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Mitrovic wasn't even nailed tail end of last season

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

      You could've told us that before the deadline..

  19. SoapAFC
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    lineup source for those saying mitro is benched?

    1. Shark Team
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      FPL Rockstar twitter

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

        reliable?

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

          so reliable they changed the deadline this year

        2. CostaCoffee
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Yes, he's the reason the deadline has changed to 90 mins before kickoff

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

          He's literally the reason the deadline was changed

    2. The Legend Squad
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      FPL Rockstar. The man who is responsible for to 90 min deadline. Always correct

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

      It's a guy on twitter who has access to the early teams that are submitted to the PL 1h15mins before match start

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

        His Brosttan, What's his twitter handle? I need to catch up 🙂

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

          FPL_Rockstar

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

            Thanks for that Brosstan, good luck today and this year.

    4. DycheDycheBaby
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Wow that is going to hurt for many people

  20. Flair
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Rockstar saying Mitro benched, ouch

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

      Who's rockstar and are they reliable?

      1. DycheDycheBaby
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        As reliable as they come. The best in fact.

  21. lilmessipran
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    If Rockstar says it, probably true dam no mitro

  22. Eat my goal!
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Rockstar to be the grim reaper of early team news!

  23. Gudjohnsen
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Somehow ended with Che Adams in my team.

    Why oh why

    1. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
      • 15 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Swap for Mitro

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

    Everyone else sat happy with their team last night...
    ...and then made six changes in the last fifteen minutes, yeah?

    Yeah?

    1. Von Lipwig
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Damn right!

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

      I did that last year and regretted it massively. Haven't made a change the last 3 days

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

        Fantasy Football - you're doin' it wrong.

        (I'm not serious, obvs that's the smart approach)

  25. Weeb Kakashi
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Finally went with a 433

    McCarthy
    TAA Digne Tierney Vinagre Ayling
    Auba Havertz Alli 4.5 4.5
    Werner Ings(Martial) DCL

  26. Hairy Potter
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    FplRockStar trolling to get some peace?

  27. Sun Jihai
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Scenes when Kamara scores a brace to mock owners from 2018/19 😀

  28. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
    • 15 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    but Mitro is their talisman???

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

      Ha - the number of times I've read that on here.

  29. AIRMILES
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Holy poo. Why on earth would they bench Mitrovic?

  30. Egg noodle
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    AUBAAAAAAA