Brentford have teamed up with Fantasy Football Scout to help bring you hints, tips and advice during the 2024/25 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 the Bees
Yoane Wissa (£6.0m) repeated his opening-day heroics from the 2023/24 campaign again this season. The forward scored the winner against Crystal Palace after Nathan Collins’ (£4.5m) initial shot was denied. Only four players throughout the league beat his 11-point haul in Gameweek 1.
Alongside the 27-year-old on a team-high two goal attempts was Vitaly Janelt (£5.0m). The midfielder was also one of three players to create a chance for their Brentford team-mates.
In addition, well-owned goalkeeper Mark Flekken (£4.5m) gained two save points because he was able to stop six shots.
The Spotlight
Before netting for himself, Wissa set up Bryan Mbeumo (£7.0m) to put the Bees 1-0 up. It’s the ninth time these two have combined for a Premier League goal, with the Cameroon international creating three chances for team-mates.
Mbeumo began the 2023/24 with four goals in four matches and, by Gameweek 10, had already racked up scores of 16, 14 and 13 points.
He was behind just Erling Haaland (£15.0m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) for expected goal involvement (xGI, 9.39) at this stage. However, an ankle injury suffered in Gameweek 15 kept him sidelined for three months.
Mbeumo has already found his shooting boots in the 2024/25 season. His nine-point return in Gameweek 1 was only bettered by eight players across the game.
The Cameroonian also took three penalties last season and successfully converted them all - if Mbeumo is on penalty duty for the Bees this season, this will further his appeal to FPL managers.
Best of the Rest
Like Mbeumo, Mo Salah (£12.5m) also has a good record in Gameweek 1, which he added to against Ipswich Town. His goal, assist and three bonuses took the Egyptian to 14 points; the most in Gameweek 1.
Almost matching Salah were Arsenal pair Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) and Kai Havertz (£8.0m), assisting each other to both return a dozen points from a goal and an assist a piece. The only other player to better Wissa was Brighton and Hove Albion’s Danny Welbeck (£5.5m).
Elsewhere, clean sheets for the expensive Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool defenders pleased many managers, with Pedro Porro (£5.5m) scoring for the 35.5% of managers who own him.
In Demand
It is no surprise to see Havertz, Salah and Saka amongst the five most-bought players for Gameweek 2. However, it is the new Manchester United defender, Noussair Mazraoui (£4.5m), who curiously tops the list with over 269,000 purchases. Wissa is the most popular Brentford buy ahead of Gameweek 2.
Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) and Kieran Trippier (£6.0m) are two of the most sold.
Captaincy
Despite being handed the record-breaking FPL starting price of £15.0m, Haaland still found himself in over 50% of Gameweek 1 squads. Most of these managers bought the forward with his Gameweek 2 fixture against Ipswich in mind. With a goal already in Gameweek 1, managers may be tempted to use their Triple Captain chip on the Norwegian.
Those without Haaland may opt for a Man City colleague, like Phil Foden (£9.5m) or Kevin De Bruyne (£9.5m). However, an alternative route is to captain a Spurs attacker against Everton. Spurs created 12 chances against Leicester in Gameweek 1, so Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) could be a good differential captain.