Ahead of the new season in Fantasy Premier League, The Scout looks at players who could have a major impact on their team and the role they could play.

Jack Hinshelwood’s impressive finish to the last campaign for Brighton & Hove Albion suggests he can have a bigger say in 2026/27 Fantasy.

Hinshelwood had struggled to secure a regular role in the opening two-thirds of 2025/26, starting only seven of the Seagulls’ first 25 matches and producing just one goal and two assists.

However, Hinshelwood then went on to start all of Brighton’s remaining 13 fixtures. Playing in a No 10 role, he showcased his all-round potential by scoring three goals and supplying a further three.

Hinshelwood’s 2025/26 season

 
GW1-25
GW26-38

Starts
7
13

Substitute appearances
7
0

Goals
1
3

Assists
2
3

Scroll across on mobile to see the full table

Brighton’s relatively kind early schedule boosts the prospects of their key attackers for managers’ opening squads in 2026/27 Fantasy.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side will face only two of last season’s top six teams in the opening seven Gameweeks, and both those matches are at home – they face Aston Villa in Gameweek 1 and Arsenal in Gameweek 5.

As the table below shows, Brighton face promoted Coventry City, as well as two of last season’s promoted clubs, Leeds United and Sunderland, over this spell. 

That run is also reflected by the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), with just two of Brighton’s first seven matches scoring more than three. 

Brighton’s opening seven matches

GW
Opp.
FDR*

1
AVL (H)
3

2
CHE (A)
4

3
LEE (H)
2

4
COV (A)
3

5
ARS (H)
4

6
SUN (A)
3

7
CRY (H)
3

*1 = easiest possible fixture, 5 = hardest possible fixture

An assessment of the underlying statistics looks even more encouraging for Hinshelwood’s chances of getting more goals this season.

Across Gameweeks 26-38, he was Brighton’s No 1 player for shots, shots in the box and big chances, which are situations where a player is expected to score.

He also created 12 chances in those 13 outings, a total bettered by just three team-mates. 

In fact, Hinshelwood’s goal threat compared favourably with the very best among all midfielders in Fantasy in that period.

His 28 shots ranked fifth, while his 23 shots in the box were bettered by only two players in that position in Fantasy – Nottingham Forest‘s Morgan Gibbs-White and Liverpool‘s Cody Gakpo, who had 26 and 24 respectively.

He also placed joint-third for big chances alongside Brentford‘s Kevin Schade, with his total of eight putting him just behind the nine of Gibbs-White and Crystal Palace‘s Ismaila Sarr.

Hinshelwood’s goal threat compared, GW26-38

 
Total
Brighton rank
Midfield rank

Shots
28
1
5th

Shots in box
23
1
3rd

Big chances
8
1
=3rd

Having ultimately finished last season on only 91 points, Hinshelwood is likely to remain in the budget budget bracket for 2026/27, with a cost of no more than £6.0m expected.

If he can profit from his kind early fixture schedule, the midfielder could provide great value in your opening squad.

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