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. The Train Driver
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Cancelo and Sterling, expected but still annoying...

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

      Same here! Chances we take with city players, still another dgw to go, and more benchings!

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

    Went KDB, Gundo, Dias on WC 😎

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

      KdB (C) with Stones and Dias 🙂

    2. Jam0sh
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Well played

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

      So you'll feel the heat midweek 😀

    4. Ginkapo FPL
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Its game 1 of 4 pre the start whistle. Hardly worth celebrating

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

        It is worth celebrating

    5. Rhodes your boat
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Just gundo stones here

  3. GoonerGirl
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Have I missed something? I think Cancelo being benched was quite likely. We all have him because we're still happy if he plays at least one of the 2 games.

    1. Alisson WondHaaland
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Agreed

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

      True, Dias more nailed, cancelo the exciting one to watch

    3. JabariParkersEyelid
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Yeah, no surprises here happy if he plays midweek.

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

      It's all the wildcarders talking from last week and this week

  4. Alisson WondHaaland
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Unlucky Sterling owners

    1. Party time
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Raheem the dream

    2. Allis Deli
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Went Bale over Son. Madness?

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

        A bit.

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

        One step beyond.

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

        Could be a masterstroke

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

        I went too on FH.
        Probably yes... We will find out.

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

      Expected the Sterling and Jesus benchings. Jesus>Kane justified now. Stones in. Happy with that.

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

      I have KDB, Stones and Gundo.

      Dodged the Pep roulette, my initial thought is to buy a lottery ticket!

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

        Another game to go yet. I'd rather not have 2 of my 3 benched tho, I'll give you that!

      2. Valar(Keith)
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Same. However, we are just quarter of the way there now. If they start all the remaining 3 matches in this GW and DGW27 il start buying lottery tickets 🙂

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

      AgerrrrruuuuuuoooooooooOH!

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

        Great to see him back even as a united fan. Quality player

    6. Make United Great Again
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      STONES
      GUNDOGAN
      DIAS

      LETS GOOOOO

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

        Yeaaaaah buddy

      2. Bounce
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        You're a United fan, get a grip of yourself.

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

        Same here 🙂

        (all 3 will be benched next game, you just see! 😮 )

    7. Roy Hudd
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      "It was obvious Cancelo was going to be benched" brigade in 3...2...1....

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

        Came here to post this. Ironically we're beating them to it 🙂

    8. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      pointless owning cancelo at this point

      1. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        hardly gets attacking returns and benched continuously in dgw

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

          Usually you post shaite, but in this occasion i agree with you

          1. Hazz
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Bemba is the OMG Notification app.

          2. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
            • 13 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            thanks for the kind words

        2. Mr. O'Connell
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          *The Man City Lamptey

      2. Deulofail
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        What point? Which point? Don't see a point

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

        He will play next one it's okay

    9. Sun Jihai
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Aguero vs. no Fabianski - prime TC right there!

    10. Hazz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Aguero vs. Randolph 😮

      1. El Presidente
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        There's gonna be blood...

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

      Sort it out (K)DB

      1. Jafooli
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Thought you went Sterlo? 😉

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

          Last min change 😛

          1. Jafooli
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            😛

            GL mate....

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

              You too fella

    12. Party time
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Kun back on spot kick duty

      • Mr. O'Connell
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        The Man City Lamptey strikes again

      • Kaneyonero
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Have Cancelo, Gundo and Sterling. Need a dias og, gundo brace and a KDB red

      • g40steve
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Flappy owners in tears?

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

          Who owns him lol

      • Dosh
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        KdB and Aguero starting together game over

      • El Presidente
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Agueeroooooo

      • Jafooli
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Trott benched

        1. Fulchester's New Centr…
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Scenes

      • Free Hat
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Expected at least one benching for cancelo.
        So rather have him playing wolves than whu tbh.

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

        I think Cancelo plays the next 3 now

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

          Thanks for participating by stating your opinion on something. I shall reply in due course.

        2. Fulchester's New Centr…
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Mods!

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

          I agree.

      • Zladan
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Cancelo rested as expected.

        Aguero starting a shock. Would’ve been a huge TC differential.

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

        We’ve spent all week asking who to TC out of Kane, DCL, Bruno, Mo etc. And the answer will turn out to have been... Aguero!

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

          If anyone has gone TC Aguero they deserve a monster haul

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

          45-60 mins max

      • Mr. O'Connell
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Lamptey benched

        1. Mr. O'Connell
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Sorry, Cancelo. Easy to confuse the two.

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

            No, I don't think it is.

      • Balls of Steel
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        The forgotten man Kun Aguero returns!!!

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

          I didn't forget him. I've actually bigged him up a few times this week, but I just don't have the *inserts your name* to get him in!

          1. Balls of Steel
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            🙂 🙂 🙂

      • MoSalad
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Aguero TC was the one HA.... Anyone?

        No surprise about Cancelo being benched, he will probably come on for a bit in Midfield.

        KDB and Gundo let's go.

        1. Fulchester's New Centr…
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Somebody somewhere will have

      • TomSaints
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Sigh

        All week I was on sterling out and Aguero in as a punt. Watch him haul now. Just can’t get the 50:50 hold or twist calls right

        1. TomSaints
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Cancelo benched too.

          Pep ruining double game weeks like a pro

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

          You’ll feel better after Aguero gets 60 minutes total.

          1. TomSaints
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Maybe but just sense he’s going to haul.

            At this time of season you need to take some punts and get lucky. Missed opportunity

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

            And 2 points.

            Sorry, but I think he’s done as an FPL force now. Declined badly last season, coming off multiple injuries and now 32 years old.

            Not seeing it.

      • FortunesAlwaysHiding
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I have Aguero, Torres, and Zinchenko all starting for me in a draft league. Couldn't help laugh when I saw the starting line up. Against us as well, typical!

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

          This season in a nutshell 😀

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

            I can hardly complain to be fair! It's been wonderful for the most part.