FPL Scout: Your guide to the perfect Fantasy Premier League start | OneFootball

Brentford have teamed up with Fantasy Football Scout to help bring you hints, tips and advice during the 2026/27 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season.

Scout will be using their expertise to provide info, advice and Gameweek tips which may prove useful in ensuring you sit at the top of your mini-leagues.

How far to plan ahead?

Each manager’s quest to collect the most FPL points involves picking players who are either in good form or have attractive upcoming fixtures. Ideally, both.

However, managers intending to use their first Wildcard chip early, allowing them to make unlimited free transfers before the next deadline, will not need to look too far ahead in the fixture schedule.

Many will see the three-week gap between Gameweeks 5 and 6 as a good time to activate the Wildcard. Others may prefer the November international break.

Once you have a rough plan in place, it is time to start looking for attractive fixture runs, at least on paper.

Gameweeks 1 to 6

Using Scout’s Fixture Ticker, which is free for all users, we can see that Everton, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Brentford have an appealing opening six Gameweeks.

This should see Igor Thiago (£8.0m), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£6.5m) and Luke Shaw (£4.5m) attract plenty of attention.

Some managers may choose to select two of Shaw’s attacking team-mates. Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) enjoyed an outstanding 2025/26 campaign, while Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) and Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) have both been generously priced.

Meanwhile, the early schedules of Sunderland, Bournemouth, Coventry City and Leeds United may be best avoided, although Brian Brobbey (£6.0m) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) are currently popular forward options.

Gameweeks 1 to 10

Extending the period to 10 Gameweeks sees Fulham and Arsenal join Newcastle and Brentford at the top of the ticker.

That is good news for managers wanting at least one Arsenal defender.

However, the prospects appear tougher for Brighton and Hove Albion, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.

Home and away pairings

To help create the Premier League fixture list, the 20 clubs are divided into 10 perfect, and often local, home-and-away pairings:

In every Gameweek, one team from each pairing will play at home.

Attractive rotations

However, FPL rotations are not quite that straightforward. A home fixture against a team such as Arsenal or Manchester City remains difficult, while a player visiting one of the division’s weaker teams probably should not be benched.

For example, in Gameweek 2, Aston Villa host Arsenal while Brighton visit Chelsea, making that particular pairing less appealing.

Each 15-man Fantasy squad has 11 starters and four substitutes, so a popular tactic is to own several budget-friendly goalkeepers and defenders and rotate them based on their fixtures.

The standout budget-friendly combinations

Brentford and Everton

Brighton and Manchester United

Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur

By combining a couple of useful rotation options with fixture-proof assets such as Fernandes, Erling Haaland (£15.5m), Gabriel Magalhães (£8.0m) and João Pedro (£7.5m), managers can quickly establish a solid base for their 2026/27 squads.