FPL Scout: 2025/26 Season Preview | OneFootball

Brentford have teamed up with Fantasy Football Scout to help bring you hints, tips and advice during the 2025/26 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 on top of your mini-leagues.

Best of 2024/25

As a team, Brentford ended the campaign joint-fifth for goals (66) and seventh for big chances (109), boasting two of FPL’s best eight players for points.

Departing forward Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) had multiple routes to points and crossed more than anyone else (202), while partner in crime Yoane Wissa (£7.5m) ranked fifth for big chances (34). As for non-penalty expected goals (NPxG, 18.59), only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (£14.0m) did better than the Congolese forward.

Elsewhere, the only individual with more attacking returns than Mbeumo’s 29 was the sensational Mohamed Salah (£14.5m). The Liverpool star broke FPL’s all-time record for points, doing so by Gameweek 28. He ended on a tally of 344, aided by 18 double-digit hauls.

Despite a slow start and finish, Alexander Isak (£10.5m) became essential during the middle period. Those 18 goals in 18 matches ensured he was the number one FPL forward.

Cole Palmer‘s (£10.5m) final 16 outings brought only one goal and three assists. It couldn’t undo his great start, though, just like Chris Wood (£7.5m). Last season’s biggest bargain, the experienced striker slowed after Gameweek 25 but still reached 200 points.

At the back, Jordan Pickford (£5.5m) retained his title of top-scoring goalkeeper, though former Bee Mark Flekken received the most save points (39) and Liverpool led the way for clean sheets (14).

Popular picks for 2025/26

One week after the game’s relaunch, Chelsea’s João Pedro (£7.5m) is surprisingly the highest-owned player.

Even more popular than Salah, perhaps this is partially explained by his three goals in two Club World Cup matches.

Also in over 40% of current squads is his Chelsea team-mate Palmer. Assuming the latter stays on penalties, that surely dents Pedro’s potential – five of last season’s 10 league goals at Brighton were from the spot.

Isak exceeds 30% ownership, just like exciting new attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz (£8.5m).

Meanwhile, the most-selected goalkeeper is Brentford's Caoimhín Kelleher (£4.5m). Priced nicely, he kept four clean sheets in 10 matches when filling in for Alisson (£5.5m) at Liverpool last term.

Flekken was an example of how the west Londoners' playing style is ideal for collecting save points. The Bees conceded the second-most overall shots (647) but allowed the seventh-fewest big chances (80).

By letting opponents have 233 efforts from distance, ‘simple’ stops were quickly accrued.

New changes to FPL

Recent FPL announcements revealed a bunch of alterations and new point-scoring methods that will transform the 2025/26 game.

Previously strict assist rules have been relaxed, while there’s no more Assistant Manager chip. Instead, every squad gets two Wildcards, Free Hits, Bench Boosts and Triple Captains to use – one for each half of the season.

Furthermore, the impact of this winter’s Africa Cup of Nations means that all managers will see their Gameweek 16 allowance of free transfers topped up to five.

However, the biggest addition is defensive contribution points that should increase the appeal of centre-backs and defensive midfielders.

Clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles are about to be rewarded. If a defender accumulates 10 of these in one match, they’ll earn two extra points.

If a midfielder or forward racks up 12 or more (adding recoveries into the mix), they also get two.

In 2024/25, the average Premier League match rewarded 3.3 players for this, so it’s a big deal.

Exciting differentials

In FPL, a differential is a player with low ownership who has the potential to do very well. These can help you shoot up the rankings and mini-leagues.

For example, Kevin Schade (£7.0m) is in 2.6% of squads right now. The attacker’s Gameweek 13 hat-trick and assist meant he recorded last term’s second-biggest score from a single match. He went on to net 11 times, including four in the final five encounters.

Midfield colleague Mikkel Damsgaard (£6.0m) joined Mbeumo inside the league’s best eight for creating chances (63), which led to an impressive 11 assists.

Looking at other clubs, Nikola Milenković (£5.5m) would have overtaken Joško Gvardiol (£6.0m) as the number one defender, had defensive contribution points been around.

He has promising early fixtures, as does Chelsea’s Pedro Neto (£7.0m) and Wolves’ Jørgen Strand Larsen (£6.5m).

None of the above surpass 8% ownership!