Brentford's Sangaré Shines in Fantasy Premier League Opener
Brentford have joined forces with Fantasy Football Scout for the 2026/27 Fantasy Premier League season, and Keith Andrews’ side wasted no time providing managers with fresh data – and a few shocks – in Gameweek 1.
Sangaré sets the tone
Tottenham were blown away. By the 50th minute, Brentford were three goals up and cruising, the kind of statement start that instantly reshapes FPL thinking.
New signing Mamadou Sangaré (£5.5m), tipped last week for his potential to rack up defensive contributions (DefCon) points, delivered exactly that – and more. On debut, he hit the DefCon threshold and supplied two assists.
The first came from a slick one-two with Dango Ouattara (£6.5m), freeing the winger to cut the ball back for Keane Lewis-Potter (£5.5m) to sweep in the opener.
Then came the chaos in the box. Mathias Jensen (£5.5m) saw his effort parried, and Vitaly Janelt (£5.0m) reacted quickest to bury the rebound for 2-0. Janelt, like Sangaré and Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m), also triggered DefCon scoring, underlining Brentford’s value at the back.
Early in the second half, Sangaré drove at goal again. Spurs keeper Antonín Kinský (£4.5m) could only push his shot into the path of Michael Kayode (£4.5m), who tucked in from close range. Three goals, three different scorers, one dominant performance.
Even when Igor Thiago (£8.0m) smacked a penalty against the post, it barely registered beyond the groan of 1.5 million Fantasy managers. The result was never in doubt. Only the points were.
Kayode’s all-action appeal
Sangaré’s 14-point haul grabbed headlines, but Kayode finished just one point behind and announced himself as a serious FPL option.
While fellow defenders Ajer and Nathan Collins (£5.5m) both had chances to add goals to their clean sheets, it was Kayode who kept arriving in the danger zone. He finished with four shots inside the penalty area, part of a wider picture of Brentford dominance.
The numbers were brutal. Brentford racked up 13 set-piece attempts – more than half of Premier League sides managed in total shots in Gameweek 1. They outshot Spurs 20-4 for efforts inside the box, pinning them back and swarming every second ball.
Kayode’s underlying profile only strengthens his case. Last season he led all defenders for take-ons (107) and successful long throws into the box (38). With Brentford leaning heavily on set plays and long throws again, his ceiling looks high on both sides of the ball.
De Cuyper, Hinshelwood headline the rest
Away from west London, Brighton produced the biggest FPL hauls of the opening weekend.
Maxim De Cuyper (£4.5m) and Jack Hinshelwood (£6.0m) posted 17 and 16 points respectively as the Seagulls ripped through Aston Villa, racing into a 4-0 lead by half-time. Listed as a defender but deployed on the left wing, De Cuyper was the standout budget revelation.
At the same time on Saturday, play-off winners Hull City were busy writing their own 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.
Hull held on, delivering a double blow to some of FPL’s most popular assets. Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) blanked, as did Manchester City pair Erling Haaland (£15.5m) and Antoine Semenyo (£8.5m).
City needed rescuing, and it came from the back. Marc Guéhi (£6.0m) and Joško Gvardiol (£5.5m) stepped up against Bournemouth to salvage a result, even as the heavy-hitting forwards misfired.
Early bandwagons: Arsenal, Chelsea, Brighton, Brentford
The transfer market reacted quickly.
Riccardo Calafiori (£5.5m) didn’t score on Friday night, but his assist for the first goal of the 2026/27 campaign was enough to send his ownership climbing before Friday’s 6.30pm BST deadline. His advanced role on the left only adds to the appeal.
Arsenal’s second goal in that game came from another emerging creator. Christos Tzolis (£6.5m), fresh from seven pre-season assists and 23 in his final Club Brugge campaign, laid it on. Martin Ødegaard (£6.5m) then made it 3-0, reminding managers why he remains a mid-price staple.
On Monday, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (£9.5m) and João Pedro (£7.5m) both delivered double-digit returns, igniting early debates over premium and mid-range midfield structures.
Sangaré and De Cuyper have now joined that group on countless watchlists. One is a DefCon magnet in a set-piece machine. The other is a £4.5m defender playing like a winger in a free-scoring side. Fantasy managers don’t need much more invitation than that.
Armband dilemma: trust the elite?
Gameweek 1 hurt a lot of captaincy calls, but the big names are unlikely to lose the armband en masse.
Despite blanking, Haaland and Fernandes – last season’s top two FPL scorers – will still attract the majority of Gameweek 2 captaincies.
Haaland failed to score on a City opening day for the first time, yet Crystal Palace arrive amid a turbulent summer and remain a fixture many managers will happily target.
Fernandes, even in defeat at Hull, still carved out three chances and created three more. The underlying numbers stayed strong. Next up is a home match against newly promoted Ipswich Town, exactly the sort of fixture that tempts managers to go back in with the captain’s armband.
Gameweek 1 belonged to the unexpected names. Gameweek 2 will reveal whether the template bends to them – or snaps back to the usual giants.
