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, 29 days ago

    Never hoped for a broken City CS this much before...

  2. Konstaapeli
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 29 days ago

    Foden fail.

  3. Jafooli
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 29 days ago

    How often has Foden been brought on as a sub this season and for, on average, how many minutes?

    Thanks

    1. Nerdlinger
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Well pretty sure I can recall it happening once, so there's that hope for us! On the bright side there's no way Kun goes the 90 and Phil only did 75 mid week so can see him coming on for half hour or so

      1. Jafooli
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Hope so, ahead of Sterling 😮

        1. Nerdlinger
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Think any of the other midfielders / attackers could be brought off tbh. Pep loves a Mahrez 70min substitution

          1. Jafooli
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 29 days ago

            Also true....and KdB, just back from injury

            Foden surely gets 20mins or so....

            1. Nerdlinger
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 29 days ago

              Yeah I reckon so, definitely hopeful anyway

    2. Konstaapeli
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Not even on bench.

      1. Nerdlinger
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Except he his...

        1. Konstaapeli
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Is he? Eurosport app says otherwise

          1. Nerdlinger
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 29 days ago

            Time for a new app! 😉 Fotmob is decent.

      2. Brimble82
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Yes he is

        1. Konstaapeli
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Good. Lets hope for haul against tired legs.

    3. Van der Faart
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      6 times for an average of 21 minutes but that includes a 1 minute and 9 minute cameo

      1. Jafooli
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Cheers VdF....so 4 decent sub appearances, that's okay, will accept that probability

  4. Revival
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 29 days ago

    Anyone's benchboost in tatters now after that City lineup?

    1. Neevesy
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Yep, have Ederson.

      1. Neevesy
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Ignore this, my mate texted me a fake line up with Ederson lol

    2. @persecuted_by_mods
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Doesn't make sense as nobody would ever bench those players anyway

    3. AIRMILES
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      FPL updated.

    4. Coys96
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Updated

    5. Bury94
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Updated

    6. Fudgy
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Updated

      1. Big boy Bowen
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Good luck Fudgy, what did you do this week?

        1. Fudgy
          • 4 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Raphinha and Ings to DCL + son and captained Kane

          Thanks pal

    7. Neevesy
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Anyone else put in Ederson so not to gamble on Pep roulette? Or just me?

      Honestly, this season has been an absolute joke from the start.

      BB with Ederson.

      1. Big boy Bowen
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Knowing my luck even I went for Ederson Pep would rest him

      2. money face bandwagon
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        yeah just that he is abit too expensive, not enough save points too. will rather go with a city defender and ride out the rotation. it will even out.

    8. BENOIT
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Timo time for 27 onwards...

      Great fixtures, seems nailed. Anyone else tempted?

      1. Holmes
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        probably lateriser

        1. BENOIT
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Aye. Unfinished business for sure

      2. Big boy Bowen
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        No too expensive

      3. Rupert The Horse
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Has he ever scored?

        1. BENOIT
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Previous gameweek against Newcastle. Averaging 6 ppg since Tuchel arrived

      4. Miguel Sanchez
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        If he finds his finishing boots maybe

      5. CONNERS
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Will be getting Mason Mount instead.

    9. The Red Devil
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Cancelo benching was probably expected & he's a player for the long haul
      PS- anyone took a cheeky TC punt on Aguero?

    10. 2999 - Lady of Legend
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      53 mins, quicker than I expected.

      1. Rupert The Horse
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        You sound like my wife.

    11. Jindaljain
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Sterling TC super fail

      1. money face bandwagon
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        if u captain a city player..expect 1 start + 1 benching. nevertheless, he might score more points than many options when he does play

      2. CONNERS
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        If he repeats Gundo's single game score from the last double you'll be ok mate.

    12. Muscout
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      71 points ahead of my rival
      He has Kane TC while I have him (C)

      How should I feel? Lol
      How many points do I want Kane to get?

      1. Thomas Shelby from Birmingh…
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        -1

      2. bench boost for every gamew…
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        You want as little as possible

    13. Thomas Shelby from Birmingh…
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Who wins?
      1) Sterling, Kane, Bruno
      2) Salah, Vardy , Barnes

      1. Jindaljain
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        1

      2. MrZ
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Tough but B maybe

    14. CONNERS
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      The Captain Hindsight in me says it's time to move from double City defence to double attack.

    15. Captain_Shirokov
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 29 days ago

      Matt Targett transferred IN Grealish.

      UH oh

      1. Hazz
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Told off & told to muddy the water? 😆

      2. @persecuted_by_mods
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Thought they were banned from playing

        • PogChamp
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Has to be trolling. Surely??

        • CONNERS
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Obviously punishment for the leak (on the bosses orders).

      3. Hazz
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 29 days ago

        Varied captain picks & chips played in my private league. Should make for an interesting/annoying gameweek!

        1. @persecuted_by_mods
            3 years, 29 days ago

            Captaincy is key, I favour Kane gundo but lots have gone bruno DCL salah

            1. Hazz
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 6 Years
              3 years, 29 days ago

              Of course. I've gone Kane too. Couple of Bruno (C)/(TC) above me so when (not if!) he hauls, that'll be painful!

        2. Hazz
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          https://twitter.com/insider_fpl/status/1365631657869508611?s=19

          Tarkowski knows he's up against Kane (TC).

          Lad.

          1. Fulchester's New Centr…
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 29 days ago

            Lovely stuff

        3. Big Bad Barry
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Sterling @ to come on and net! 🙂

        4. DGW Sane TC Fail....
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          And after all this drama west ham are going to win one nil

        5. money face bandwagon
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          anyone surprised that kun is going to score?

        6. Subzero (-4)
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          *Please note I am not saying this is in anyway true!!!!!

          My mini league group at work has been circulating Kane injury rumours. Is this total BS or is there anything anyone has heard that may support this. Trying to work out if it’s just mind games or if there has been something out there suggesting this?

          Thanks in advance 🙂

        7. Champions League Varane
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          ML rivals TC Kane and I BB with just him captained. What do I want? A blank?

        8. Firminooooo
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Retro Aguero(TC) anyone?

          1. Rupert The Horse
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 29 days ago

            TC isn’t retro

        9. 272MK
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          I missed the deadline, and my captain is Gundo

          Gundo PLEEEEEEAAASE. PEEEELEEEEEEEASE.

          Haul and gets some rest.

        10. grumpyman
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          My team has now become ‘moderately differential’ according to LiveFPL. This has normally mean red arrows incoming for me

        11. AC/DC AFC
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Fpl Insider
          [2021-02-26] [LIV] Diogo Jota has transferred OUT their own teammate Salah! #FPL #GW26

        12. g40steve
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 29 days ago

          Absolute joke ref