Tips

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

Strap yourselves in for the biggest Double Gameweek 26 of the season, with 17 matches and 14 teams playing twice. The next six days promise to be another rollercoaster ride of unrelenting (Fantasy) Premier League action.

With potentially season-defining decisions to be made ahead of today’s 11:00 GMT deadline, the feeling among the Fantasy Community is that we are spoilt for choice.

The roll call of potential armband candidates ranges from the reassuringly expensive to enticing differentials. And for those with a selection of chips at their disposal the choice is made even trickier.

A Double Gameweek is the perfect time to deploy one of our four power-ups with the points ceiling raised for Bench Boost, Triple Captain, Free Hit and Wildcard thanks to the extra fixtures.

Indecision is final.

– Alan Hansen

Famous words from the king of pundits and decorated centre-half Alan Hansen. Although, strangely, the former Liverpool captain wasn’t referring to his Fantasy football team. Given the furore surrounding Aston Villa and their players this week you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

But we’re not about to hesitate at the crucial moment when it comes to FPL decision-making. And you can’t fault the effort, attitude and commitment of our very own pundits and experts. 

Divisive Kane

The captain poll favourite heading into the bumper round of fixtures is Harry Kane (£11.1m). A vote that left David and Joe somewhat perplexed. Never ones to dilly-dally when presented with an opportunity, the pair aren’t convinced of Kane’s credentials, despite the support among Community members.

The fixtures on paper do look nice but both Burnley and Fulham are very capable these days of chucking everyone behind the ball knowing full well that Spurs are having problems breaking people down … Both of these teams will take a point against Spurs, so they’re not going to overstretch themselves to go and win the game.

Over the last four matches, Burnley have the third-best expected goals conceded in the league, 3.18, the only two teams better than that are Chelsea and Man City. Fulham are in the top five, 3.23 goals they should have conceded, and they’ve only actually conceded the one goal. Their defence is doing much better as well and they’ve both got fantastic goalkeepers too … These are teams that can frustrate Spurs.

– David, Captaincy Video

Alan Hansen once said that for Tottenham to be a successful side they will need to get away from the philosophy of ‘pretty football’. Well, with Jose Mourinho in charge they’ve arguably done just that. Except without the success.

But what does Alan Hansen know about Fantasy football? We need a real expert, a man with three top 10,000 finishes and a best-ever rank of 817. Step forward Az

According to the FPL Black Box co-host, Harry Kane is the best captaincy pick. The handsome and dashing Az backs up his opinion with some impressive stats: citing Twitter user FPL_Swede he pointed out that in 10 games against the bottom eight teams, Kane has delivered an attacking return in every one, averaging 9.2 points a match. 

And the trio of wise Pro Pundits appearing on the latest episode of the FPL Wire, Zophar, Lateriser and Tom Freeman, all have the armband placed on the top-points-scoring forward in FPL this season. 

More heavyweight backing for the Spurs striker came from FFScout founder Mark Sutherns. Perhaps not that much of a surprise given that “Mark loves Kane”, to quote AZ, but Mark was worried he was being blinded by his own bias.

The best person to help us understand the flaws in our thinking is Pro Pundit and behavioural economics graduate, Simon March.

Expected Yakult

Stats are probiotics for gut feelings, reasoned the former FPL winner is his latest offering. 

Instinct may help you see opportunities that other managers don’t, or avoid the traps that others will fall into, but it may also create such traps if followed without sufficient interrogation. This is why it is important to sense-check decisions with some form of objective data or a second-opinion.

– Simon March

Jan Sienkiewicz noted in his Captain Sensible article that the form stats don’t favour Kane and co:

Both [Kane’s] and Spurs’ attacking statistics have been somewhat underwhelming in recent weeks. Only Crystal Palace have recorded fewer shots inside the box than Jose Mourinho’s team in their last six matches.

– Jan Sienkiewicz

So was Mark able to find a healthy dollop of Bifidobacterium Statisticalus to support his gut instinct?

The expected data is a problem, but with expected data, you’ve got to bear this in mind – that Kane and Son are just complete outliers … Son and Kane are the top two players in the Premier League [for xG Delta], they have exceeded their expected data by the biggest margins for goal involvement … they don’t need a lot of good quality chances to score goals.

– Mark Sutherns.

So convinced is Mark that he’s using his Triple Captain chip on Harry Kane.

But, as ever, other options are available. 

Mohamed Salah (£12.6m), a player who’s perhaps been slightly overlooked by the masses, is Jan’s top pick. The leading goalscorer in the Premier League with 15 goals, Salah boasts impressive underlying stats: second only to team-mate Sadio Mané (£11.8m) for shots in the penalty box over the last six matches.

In the first of their two fixtures Liverpool take on a Sheffield United side down to the bare bones in defence. Their three first-choice centre-backs that helped them reach dizzying heights last season, John Egan (£4.7m), Jack O’Connell (£4.7m) and Chris Basham (£4.6m), are all ruled out for Chris Wilder.

But it’s their second fixture against Chelsea that, along with Liverpool’s poor form, is putting many off the Egyptian. However, Jan did unearth some encouraging news for Salah captainers:

Klopp holds an impressive head-to-head record against Thomas Tuchel. Out of the 14 meetings between the Germans, Klopp came out victorious on nine occasions. Additionally, those matches have produced as many as 43 goals, which makes it over three goals per game on average.

– Jan Sienkiewicz

Meanwhile, city rivals Everton are top of the fixture ticker when looking at Gameweek 26 in isolation: the Toffees host Southampton before a midweek trip to West Brom. Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.7m) therefore comes into contention.

And once again the stats make impressive reading. The forward has been particularly threatening on the road in recent times, accumulating 4.32 xG in his last six away matches – more than any other forward in the Premier League.

But the list of armband contenders goes on. Let’s not forget the Manchester teams with the in-form Bruno Fernandes (£11.6m), İlkay Gündoğan (£6.2m), Raheem Sterling (£11.6m), and the returning Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m).

If only we could fit them all in.

It’s Mo Sacrifice

Karam, Tom, and Zophar are all using their Wildcards and face several tricky selection dilemmas. 

On the Scoutcast Karam was given a hard time by Joe and David over his omission of Mohamed Salah.

Joe argued that it was easier to run from Salah than it was to run to him, explaining that because of Salah’s lofty price tag, downgrading to the likes of Son or De Bruyne is easy, whereas upgrading would be harder without sufficient funds in the reserve.

However, Tom Freeman is also sacrificing the most expensive FPL asset in order to benefit from a more balanced squad. A particular concern for Tom given that he plans to Bench Boost in Gameweek 27. 

One intriguing pick in his side is Jesse Lingard (£5.9m). West Ham take on Leeds United next Gameweek and Tom feels the direct running of the on-loan Manchester United midfielder could trouble Marcelo Biesla’s side. 

Ricardo Pereira (£5.9m) is another differential to catch the eye, featuring in both Tom’s and Karam’s Wildcard XV’s. 

Karam is going all-in on Leicester City – tripling up with Harvey Barnes (£6.9m) and Jamie Vardy (£10.2m) coming in alongside Pereira. He’s even trusting the evergreen Englishman with the armband.

Manchester City-fan Karam has decided to abandon his conservative approach and take a few calculated risks in the hope of surging up the ranks. Encouragingly, the Foxes are on a par with Man City when it comes to shots on target (21) over the last four Gameweeks. 

Another forward to consider is Mbaye Diagne (£6.0m). The Senegalese has been on the end of five big chances in his four and a half games since joining West Brom, and is included in the Scout Picks, Tom’s Wildcard team, and was talked up by Lateriser.

Interestingly, all three Wildcarders still have their Free Hit chip available but none have committed to using it in Blank Gameweek 29.

When planning ahead in his usual meticulous fashion, Zophar identified Gameweek 33 as a better round for the Free Hit. The League Cup Final takes place between Spurs and Man City, meaning they will blank along with their scheduled opponents Southampton and Fulham.

The six-time top 5,000 manager sees greater potential for a big score compared to the four-match Gameweek 29.

Finally, Neale frisked the upcoming fixtures. The Team News compiler included a look at Gameweek 30 and beyond for those considering “dead-ending” their squads in Gameweek 29 and Wildcarding straight after.

Community Competitions and Head-to-Head Fixtures

This is the last chance for Premium Members to enter the FFS Members Cup with qualifying for the first round taking place in Gameweek 26. Click here for details on how to enter.

The draw for the first round of the Fantasy Football Scout Cup has thrown up a real ‘David vs Goliath’ clash with the highest-ranked team, The Fighting Cock (273rd overall), taking on the lowest-ranked manager in the competition, Ahmed Eid, who is not far off the five-million mark.

A total of £300 in prizes is available across the two tournaments.

Elsewhere, RedLightning rounded-up the rest of the Community mini-leagues and competitions. And the Head-to-Head fixtures for Gameweek 26 can be found below. 

The scores and tables update each night on the Head-to-Head Leagues main page, so you can keep track of the action as the Gameweek unfolds. 

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

3,547 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Piksau
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    TC who?
    A) Watkins (Lee, SHU)
    B) Bruno (Che, Cry)
    C) Son (Bur, Ful)
    D) Gundogan (WHU, Wol)

    1. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      C

    2. Saosin
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Bruno. Do you have a BB option?

      1. Piksau
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        No, unfortunately.....

    3. fish&chips
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Out of those options, bruno for me but I'd prefer Salah / kane / DCL

      1. Piksau
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        i have Salah too, but with Chelsea sorting out their defensive issues so far under Tuchel i would rather not go for Bruno or Salah....
        Gundogan might get a rest in either match so he is out....
        that leaves Watkins(great fixtures for a forward) and Son(assists and goals)

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

      Bruno, form and pens.

    5. Debauchy
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      E none of them

      1. Piksau
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Haha....this week is crazy for options....all the top teams have good games.....

  2. RamaJama
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Bench booster: how many dgw players do you have?

    1. Over Midwicket
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      4 at a minimum

    2. KEN YA DIG IT
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      12

    3. TyroneGAA
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      14

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

      14+ Bamfort

    5. Too Mane Men
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      12

      -12

      ..........

    6. The Suspended One
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      13

    7. Pukki Party
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      13, Dallas and BamBam only sgw players

    8. pingissimus
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      12

      But expecting at least two random benchings so not fussed. I'm guessing that this will apply to all teams

  3. Bobby's Teeth
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Hi legends,

    What do you think about DCL's minutes this GW? Considering the two matches are less than 72 hours apart. Strongly considering him for captaincy, but that's the only lingering doubt.

    1. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I ll risk. He is 100% ready and he has great fixtures

    2. Pukki Party
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      He's my captain

  4. Over Midwicket
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Captain KDB? Anyone with me? Rested midweek and on pens now..

    1. fish&chips
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      How do we know he's back on pens? He missed one before he was injured

    2. gedda
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Used my WC to bring him in and captain him. 4 homes games in two GWs, its Kevin time.

    3. aapoman
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      tempted to bring him in on WC but not sure if its just stupid

      1. La Roja
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Nothing is stupid on internet

      2. Mondeo
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I am also tempted for the same reason - don't have FH for 29 though so nervous about 31 fixture swing..

  5. Taegugk Warrior
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Peacock-Farrel to johnstone worth for a hit to BB....?

    1. KEN YA DIG IT
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      nah

    2. fish&chips
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      If you are bb'ing anyway I'd say yes. You'd be pretty unlucky not to make the 4 points back at least

  6. Thunder Warrior
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Bamford to Watkins for -4?

    1. aleksios
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I wouldnt.

    2. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      No

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

      Not with Grealish out

  7. aleksios
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Bamford out or Watkins to Kane?

    1. Kevin Twine
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Bring in Kane

      1. aleksios
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        But Bam out or Watkins?

        1. zotter
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Bamford. Watkins has two extra games in all likelihood. And generally easier

          1. aleksios
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Thank you all.

        2. fish&chips
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Watkins

    2. Wild Card this!
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      W to K

  8. SuperMane Returns
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Morning all, I've done a -12 for Maddison/Alioski/Ings/Bamford to Barnes/Targett/DCL/Kane & doing BB....

    Martinez
    Cancelo Dias Targett
    Barnes Salah Gundo Son
    Kane(C) Watkins DCL

    Pope/Bavies/Raphinha/Mee

    GTG? or should i make it a -16 and get rid of Bavies for a better DGWer?

    1. Nerdlinger
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I think that's too many hits personally unless you've got someone in mind that is nailed for 180mins and likely to get a couple cleanies

  9. aapoman
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Thoughts? Love having them big hitter but afraid that its too weak otherwise

    Martinez Fabri
    Cancelo Konsa Rüdiger (two defenders max 9.1m)
    Salah Bruno KDB Gundo Lookman
    Kane DCL Brewster

  10. DT42
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Have Grealish and Maddison, would you sell
    A Grealish
    B Mads
    C Both
    For
    X Hames
    Y Barnes

    1. DMP
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Mads. Help below.

    2. KEN YA DIG IT
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      AY

  11. Gaffa914
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Pickford vs Mendy

    1. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Pick

  12. Forever In Our Shadow
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    My WC team

    Martinez
    Cancelo Shaw Targett
    KDB Gundo Son Bruno Barnes
    Kane (C) DCL

    McCarthy Watkins Dier Dawson 0.1ITB

    BB27. FH29. TC?

    1. DangerFC
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Nice

    2. fish&chips
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Nice team. I'd TC. Don't think there will be a better opportunity

  13. DMP
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Guys, Got no help.

    Is it worth loosing Grealish for Lookman/Barnes (-4) or play Raphinha/Bamford and keep Jack for GW28/29 instead?

    Stick or go Lookman gives 6 GW29 players, with Barnes, only 5.

    Johnstone
    Dias Stones Digne
    Salah Fernandes Gundo Raphinha*
    DCL Kane BamBam*

    McCarthy Dallas Coufal Grealish

    1. gedda
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      If you can withstand the value loss, I would not take a hit for Barnes or Lookman. Villa at home is still a decent fixture.

    2. Eleven Hag
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I am going with the later and starting rafinha

    3. DMP
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      TY both. Sticking.

  14. Aubamewho
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Last decision! Goodluck everyone

    Pope
    Stones | Cancello | Mee
    Raph | Bruno | Son | Sterling
    Watkins | Kane (T©) | Bam

    Steer | Soucek | Coufal | KWP
    0 itb, 0FT

    A) Popre > Pickford (-4)
    B) KWP > Elmohamadi (-4), bench Bam
    C) Save

  15. g40steve
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Anyone thinking of TC a defender?

    1. KEN YA DIG IT
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Unnecessary gamble

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

        Cancelo could do well, I remember C Laporte for both his DGW hauls

    2. mezza
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Cancelo is the only one I would go for and not convinced he plays both.

    3. Limbo
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Go for goals. Hatrick of attacking points (goal + assists + baps) over 2 gameweeks not unreasonable for any of the big 5-6 options.

  16. All about that Baines
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Choose. 6.1 itb

    A) Michael Keane
    B) Reguillon
    C) Digne
    D) Dier

    1. Kevin Twine
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      B

      1. DangerFC
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Digne

    2. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      C ez

  17. Kevin Twine
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Mee to Dier for a -4?.

    1. KEN YA DIG IT
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Go for it
      Dier also has a blank gameweek

      1. KEN YA DIG IT
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        has a fixture in bgw

  18. Home Late From Age
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Already on -8. Should I do James -> Digne for another -4? Y or N

  19. Gandalf
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    A. BB26 Areola, Raphinha, Konsa, Struijk -4

    B. Wait for GW30

    1. Sid123
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      A if everyone is fit atm

  20. corderz
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    A) Ings, Sterling, Coufal > Kane, Barnes, Dias (-8)

    B) Ings, Mee, Coufal, Pope > Kane, Robinson, Mitchell, Areola (-12)

    Martinez Pope
    Cancelo Shaw Mee Dallas Coufal
    Salah Sterling Bruno Gundogan Raphinha
    Ings DCL Bamford

  21. Jdpz
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Pope Johnstone
    Shaw Cancelo Alioski Mee Coufal
    Raphinha Bruno Salah Gundo Sterling
    Bamford Ings Antonio

    0.4m itb, 1ft.

    What to do?? (I need more players for 29 blank gw) bboost??

    a) Mee to Targett/Dier
    b) Ings and Bruno to Kane and Barnes (-4)
    c) Ings to Watkins

    another option?

  22. Z
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    I am gonna gamble with DCL captain!!!!!!! YOLO

  23. DangerFC
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Is getting gundo out for kdb a sully move? I'm on wc

    1. Sid123
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Have both

  24. Sid123
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Raphinha to lookman or dallas to konta for a -4?

    1. Nerdlinger
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Nope and nope

  25. Hybrid.power
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    We're all going to make the wrong decisions!

    1. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      As always

  26. Weilong7
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    cpt:

    bruno
    kane

    play:

    bamford
    raphinha

    thanks.

    1. KEN YA DIG IT
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Kane
      Raph

      1. OptimusBlack
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Agree

    2. Puncheon Guly
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      2 2

  27. DaftKing
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    I’m on this with a -12:

    Martinez Pope
    Cancelo Stones Targett Mee Dallas
    Gundo Salah Son Bruno Barnes
    DCL Watkins Bamford

    Plan was to BB, but now contemplating hitting the WC button to avoid -12 and prepare for gw29. What do you think?

    1. zotter
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      May as well wildcard. Improve that a little bit and also avoid the 12

  28. manu4life99
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Do we think Shaw gets a rest midweek vs cpl

    Sunday Che
    Wednesday Cpl
    Sunday May

    Telles has played midweek recently vs whm I'm cup and europa

  29. wonkeydonkey
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    A) Play Raphinia
    B) Mee -> Digne for -4
    C) Mee -> Reguillon for -4

  30. Only one Di Matteo
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Any one else tempted to do Pope -> Martinez for a hit. Could well pay back especially other the next few games and with a possible villa double and GW29