The Scout picks out clubs and players who can be paired together effectively in opening squads for 2026/27 Fantasy Premier League and give FPL managers a great run of early fixtures.

Brighton and Man Utd

Owning a defender from both Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United can help you immediately profit from a great run of matches over the first five Gameweeks.

By rotating them (starting one and benching the other) according to whoever has the easiest fixture, you would face all THREE of this season’s promoted clubs across the first four Gameweeks alone.

Man Utd face Hull City and Ipswich Town in Gameweeks 1-2, while Brighton visit Coventry City in Gameweek 4.

Indeed, you would avoid all of last season’s top 10 clubs with this pairing, as Brighton host Leeds United in Gameweek 3 and Man Utd visit Fulham in Gameweek 5.

This kind schedule is also shown by the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), with three of those matches scoring only two.

Brighton and Man Utd rotation, GW1-5

GW
Club
Opp.
FDR*

1
MUN
HUL (A)
2

2
MUN
IPS (H)
2

3
BHA
LEE (H)
2

4
BHA
COV (A)
3

5
MUN
FUL (A)
3

*Scroll across on mobile to see full table. 1 = easiest possible fixture, 5 = hardest possible fixture

Who will be the best budget defenders?

There’s every likelihood that Brighton’s busy transfer window will force a revision of their best options at the back for the upcoming campaign.

The Seagulls sold centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke – their top-scoring player in 2025/26 Fantasy – to Tottenham Hotspur and have already bought two centre-backs: Pascal Struijk from Leeds United and Michael Svoboda from Italian side Verona, while Spurs’ Luka Vuskovic is also reportedy set to join the club.

Mats Wieffer looks certain to be reclassified from a midfielder to a defender this season after featuring as a right-back in 2025/26.

However, Wieffer’s potential for defensive contributions (DC) means he is unlikely to be priced under £5.0m this season. Wieffer collected DC points in 11 of his 23 starts (a success rate of 47.8 per cent), compared with left-back Ferdi Kadioglu, who earned four DC points across 34 starts, a success rate of just 2.9 per cent.

If Lewis Dunk keeps his place at centre-back in the 4-2-3-1 set-up, there’s an argument that he also merits a £4.5m price tag – the Englishman produced a goal and an assist across 31 starts and picked up only 16 DC points, a success rate of just 25.8 per cent.

For Man Utd, Patrick Dorgu’s starts as a winger under Michael Carrick suggest he could switch from a defender to a midfielder in 2026/27 Fantasy.

Notably, Harry Maguire’s 14 DC points and 46.7 per cent success rate both ranked top after Carrick took charge in Gameweek 22, an indication the Red Devils’ centre-backs will be priced over £4.5m this season. 

Again, it’s at left-back where there’s the most optimism of a viable budget pick.

Luke Shaw started all 38 matches last season, yet managed just one goal, an assist and six DC points. Although he did collect 10 clean sheets, Shaw’s total of 113 points works out at just 3.0 points per match.

Next: Fulham and Spurs

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