Brentford's Strong Start in FPL 2026/27 Season

Brentford’s flying start to the 2026/27 campaign has come with a twist for Fantasy Premier League managers – and a little outside help.

The club has linked up with Fantasy Football Scout for the new season, giving FPL bosses a dedicated stream of data-driven advice, gameweek tips and strategy pieces aimed at keeping them ahead in their mini-leagues. On the pitch, Keith Andrews’ side did their bit to supply the talking points.

Sangaré steals the show

Tottenham Hotspur were blown away. By the 50-minute mark, Brentford were three up and cruising, a statement performance that instantly reshaped early FPL thinking.

New signing Mamadou Sangaré (£5.5m) arrived flagged as a potential DefCon magnet. He delivered that and more. On debut, the 24-year-old racked up defensive contributions and laid on two assists, powering his way to 14 points.

His first key involvement came with a sharp one-two with Dango Ouattara (£6.5m) down the flank, opening up space for a cutback that Keane Lewis-Potter (£5.5m) swept in for the opener.

Then came the chaos in the box. A Mathias Jensen (£5.5m) effort was parried, and Vitaly Janelt (£5.0m) reacted quickest to stab home Brentford’s second. Janelt joined Sangaré and Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) in hitting FPL’s DefCon threshold, underlining how aggressively Brentford’s structure rewarded defensive work.

The third goal summed up the night. Early in the second half, Antonín Kinský (£4.5m) could only push out another Sangaré strike, and Michael Kayode (£4.5m) arrived on cue to finish from close range.

Even Igor Thiago’s (£8.0m) rare miss from the spot – his penalty thudding against the post – barely registered in the context of the result. It hurt 1.5 million Fantasy managers. It did nothing to Spurs.

Kayode in the spotlight

Sangaré’s 14-point haul set the tone, but he was almost matched by Kayode, who finished just one point behind. While Ajer and Nathan Collins (£5.5m) both had opportunities to add goals to their clean sheets, it was Kayode who consistently found himself in decisive areas.

Brentford’s dominance was startling. They racked up 13 set-piece attempts – more shots from dead-ball situations than half of the Premier League managed in total in Gameweek 1. They outgunned Spurs 20-4 for efforts inside the penalty area. Four of those belonged to Kayode.

This wasn’t a one-off spike either. Last season, Kayode led all defenders for take-ons (107) and successful long throws into the box (38). The underlying numbers match the eye test: he’s a defender in name, but a constant attacking weapon.

For FPL managers, that profile is gold.

Brighton blaze, Hull stun, premiums blank

While Brentford grabbed the narrative, the biggest FPL scores of Gameweek 1 came from Brighton. Maxim De Cuyper (£4.5m) and Jack Hinshelwood (£6.0m) produced 17 and 16 points respectively as the Seagulls ripped through Aston Villa.

By half-time, Brighton were 4-0 up, with De Cuyper – listed as a defender – starring high on the left wing. His positioning and role will not have gone unnoticed by attentive managers.

Elsewhere, Hull City tore up the script. The play-off winners surged into a 2-0 lead at home to Manchester United, both goals coming from centre-backs Semi Ajayi (£4.0m) and Nobel Mendy (£4.0m). They held that advantage to the final whistle.

The fallout was brutal for heavily owned assets. Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) both blanked, as did Manchester City duo Erling Haaland (£15.5m) and Antoine Semenyo (£8.5m).

City still escaped, though. Marc Guéhi (£6.0m) and Joško Gvardiol (£5.5m) stepped up to rescue the champions against Bournemouth, salvaging points for those who backed their defence rather than their misfiring attack.

Early bandwagons form

The first Friday night of the season helped shape the initial transfer rush. Riccardo Calafiori (£5.5m) didn’t score, but his assist for the opening goal of 2026/27 instantly pushed him onto the radar and into many teams ahead of the next 6.30pm BST deadline.

Arsenal’s second goal was crafted by Christos Tzolis (£6.5m), who arrived with serious creative pedigree: seven pre-season assists on top of 23 in his final campaign for Club Brugge. That track record is translating quickly. Martin Ødegaard (£6.5m) then made it 3-0, reaffirming his status as a mid-priced midfield staple.

On Monday, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (£9.5m) and João Pedro (£7.5m) joined the party with double-digit returns, adding more names to the growing list of early-season “must-haves”.

Sangaré and De Cuyper now sit alongside them on countless watchlists, their opening performances too emphatic to ignore.

The armband dilemma

For all the noise, the captaincy picture remains familiar.

Despite their Gameweek 1 blanks, most managers are still expected to pin the Gameweek 2 armband on either Haaland or Fernandes – the top two FPL scorers from last season.

Haaland’s failure to score on City’s opening day was a first, but Crystal Palace arrive amid a turbulent summer and remain a tempting target for anyone trusting the numbers over one off-day.

Fernandes, even in defeat at Hull, still carved out three chances and created three more. The underlying involvement is there. Next up is a home clash with another promoted side, Ipswich Town, and that fixture alone will keep him firmly in the captaincy conversation.

Gameweek 1 has already shaken assumptions, exposed traps and thrown up new heroes. The question now is simple: who do you trust before the next deadline hits?