Brentford and Fantasy Football Scout Join Forces for 2026/27 FPL

Brentford have linked up with Fantasy Football Scout for the 2026/27 Fantasy Premier League season, a partnership aimed squarely at giving FPL managers an edge. Scout’s data-heavy insight will feed into regular tips, advice and gameweek pointers, all with one target: keeping you ahead in those mini-leagues.

Best of the Bees

Keith Andrews’ Brentford didn’t just start well. They tore into the new campaign.

By the 50th minute against Tottenham Hotspur, the Bees were three up and cruising, a statement performance that immediately reshaped early FPL narratives.

New signing Mamadou Sangaré (£5.5m), flagged in last week’s piece for his potential to hoover up defensive contributions (DefCon) points, delivered exactly that – and then some. On debut, he hit the DefCon mark and laid on two assists.

The first came from a sharp one-two with Dango Ouattara (£6.5m), Sangaré bursting on and cutting the ball back for Keane Lewis-Potter (£5.5m) to open the scoring. Brentford smelled weakness and didn’t let up.

Vitaly Janelt (£5.0m) reacted quickest to a rebound after a Mathias Jensen (£5.5m) effort, slamming in the second. Janelt joined Sangaré and Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) in hitting that DefCon threshold, underlining just how busy and effective Brentford’s defensive unit was.

Then came the third. Early in the second half, Antonín Kinský (£4.5m) could only push out Sangaré’s strike, and Michael Kayode (£4.5m) was on hand to finish from close range.

Even when Igor Thiago (£8.0m) stepped up and smacked a penalty against the post, the damage to Spurs was already done. The miss didn’t change the result, but it did sting the 1.5 million FPL managers who had backed him.

The Spotlight

Sangaré’s 14-point haul turned heads, but he wasn’t alone.

Just a single point behind him sat Kayode, whose performance went beyond a simple tap-in. While fellow defenders Ajer and Nathan Collins (£5.5m) both had chances to add goals to their clean sheets, it was Kayode who consistently appeared in the right zones at the right moments.

Brentford’s dominance was stark. They racked up 13 set-piece attempts – more than the total shot count managed by half of the Premier League sides in Gameweek 1. From open play, they swarmed the box too, outshooting Spurs 20-4 for efforts inside the penalty area. Four of those chances fell to Kayode alone.

His threat is no fluke. Last season, he led all defenders for take-ons (107) and successful long throws into the box (38). That blend of direct running and long-throw chaos makes him a rare FPL asset: a defender who can hurt opponents in multiple ways.

Best of the Rest

Elsewhere, the top scorers of Gameweek 1 came from the south coast.

Brighton’s Maxim De Cuyper (£4.5m) and Jack Hinshelwood (£6.0m) exploded with 17 and 16 points respectively. The Seagulls were four goals up on Aston Villa by half-time, with De Cuyper, listed as a defender in FPL, starring high on the left wing and punishing those who ignored him.

At the same time on Saturday, play-off winners Hull City were busy ripping up another script. They surged into a 2-0 lead at home to Manchester United, with centre-backs Semi Ajayi (£4.0m) and Nobel Mendy (£4.0m) both finding the net.

The Tigers held that scoreline to the end. The fallout for FPL was brutal. Popular picks Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) blanked, as did Manchester City duo Erling Haaland (£15.5m) and Antoine Semenyo (£8.5m).

City still escaped with something, thanks to their defence. Marc Guéhi (£6.0m) and Joško Gvardiol (£5.5m) stepped up against Bournemouth, salvaging the Cityzens when their big-name forwards misfired.

In Demand

The transfer market has reacted quickly.

Riccardo Calafiori (£5.5m) didn’t score on opening night but still made a mark, assisting the first goal of the 2026/27 campaign on Friday. That was enough to push the Arsenal left-back into the bracket of most-bought players ahead of Friday’s 6.30pm BST deadline.

Arsenal’s second goal came from another familiar creative source. Christos Tzolis (£6.5m), who laid on seven assists in pre-season and racked up 23 in his final Club Brugge campaign, produced again. Martin Ødegaard (£6.5m) then made it 3-0, reinforcing his own appeal as a mid-priced midfield option with a proven track record.

On Monday, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (£9.5m) and João Pedro (£7.5m) added their names to the early-season bandwagon list, both posting double-digit scores and forcing managers to rethink their premium and mid-range structures.

Sangaré and De Cuyper now sit firmly alongside that group on countless watchlists, their Gameweek 1 performances too strong to ignore.

Captaincy Calls

Gameweek 1 may have bruised some egos, but the armband picture is unlikely to swing wildly.

Despite letting their backers down, most captaincies in Gameweek 2 are still expected to land on Haaland or Fernandes – last season’s top two FPL performers.

Haaland’s blank was notable: the first time he has failed to score on a City opening day. Even so, Crystal Palace arrive next in difficult shape after a troubled summer, and few managers will be brave enough to turn away from the Norwegian with that fixture on the horizon.

Fernandes, for his part, still found a way to stay involved at Hull. He carved out three chances and created three more, even as United failed to score. Next up is a home game against another promoted side, Ipswich Town.

For FPL managers, the question is simple: stick with the proven giants, or ride the early wave of Brentford’s Bees and Brighton’s breakout stars?