Brentford - 26/27 Draft FPL Pre-Season Thoughts

Written 17th July 2026 · Everything here very much subject to change, subscribe to the podcast/YouTube channel for all the latest.

This blog is part of Draft FC's Team-by-Team 2026/27 early pre-season series — see all 20 previews in one place here

Set pieces are still a superpower

Remember when Keith Andrews replacing Thomas Frank was treated as a relegation certainty? An opinion steeped in a lot of irony as a spurs fan. The former set-piece coach took a team most people had going down and finished 9th on 53 points, missing out on Europe by goal difference alone. He's since signed a contract running to 2032 and the identity is exactly what you'd expect from his coaching background: direct, physical, and comfortably one of the best set-piece teams in the league (when considering set-piece goals for AND against).

Can Thiago do it again?

22 goals and 181 points from Igor Thiago, a surprise even for the most optimistic of Brenford fans. The issue? A healthy chunk of those goals were penalties and penalty hauls translate poorly from season to season - the volume of spot-kicks a team wins is far less stable than people assume - and the regression numbers back the instinct up. Now add AC Milan, Juventus and Atlético all circling, and you have the complete risk stack: regression risk and exit risk on the same player. He's still comfortably draftable - nailed, physical, on pens - but I think I'll end up ranking him slightly lower as the weeks tick by, rather than the top-8 pick his raw points suggest. And if he is sold, Brentford's penalties are up for grabs entirely, which on a team that wins this many set-piece situations is a genuinely valuable inheritance for one of the other guys. A preseason storyline to follow closely but I'd be surprised if another team could come in with the sort of financial offer that would tempt Brentford to part ways with Brazil's no. 9.

How far can Dango go?

You think I'd write a Brentford blog without giving my man his own sub-heading? Only Thiago and Kelleher posted higher tallies over the season but they both played far more minutes. Dango had the best points per 90 for Brentford at 5.4, with a second-best 4.3 points per appearance. There were times last year when he became the main casualty if Andrews wanted to change to a back-3, however I wonder if this season we see him become a lot more fixture proof once the stats guys give their impression of last season. I still don't think we've seen the best from him and the thing that gives me the most hope is he was able to improve his output despite landing at a new club and dealing with rotation. Expect to see him slightly too high in my rankings very soon...

The rest of the board

Damsgaard is the chief delivery man on the league's premier set-piece side - corners, free-kicks, 113 points with 12 defcon points thrown in. My honest read is that last season sits close to his ceiling, but in this team the deliveries alone keep the floor respectable. A sensible late-round option.

Schade disappointed me, and I say that as someone who you know likes him a lot. 8 goals and 5 assists is a dip compared to the year before but interestingly saw a big jump up in xOutput (xGI rose from 10 to 14). He needs to kick-on this season in order to prevent his career from plateauing. Lewis-Potter logged more minutes than I would have guessed last year and is, I think, safely considered a left-back now - a useful positional quirk if your platform still lists him as a midfielder, but I expect FPL to adjust accordingly.

Ins and wobbles: Schuster arrives at centre-back for around £15.6m from Salzburg and could start, Jaidon Anthony comes in for £15m for some extra depth and experience and Onyeka has gone to newly-promoted Coventry.

The opening run

Solid without being spectacular: Spurs at home in the opening Saturday teatime slot, Leeds away, Sunderland at home, Bournemouth away, Chelsea at home, Villa away. The pocket of value sits at GW2 to GW4 - Leeds, Sunderland and Bournemouth in succession is very playable, and it's the window where an Ouattara, Damsgaard or Schade could enter your plans if they're in the waiver pile.

Early verdict

Brentford continue to live up to their reputation as one of the best-run clubs in the league and Andrews has more than earned the benefit of the doubt. Thiago is the whole draft question here - I suspect he'll be one of those players that passes me by in drafts as other managers value him higher than me, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't love him in my team (again) at the right draft price. Damsgaard is the steady hand, Schuster the free square at the back, and I'll be watching preseason corner duty like it's a cup final.

Stay shook,

Draft FC Mitch

Where our full rankings live

As I said, these previews are just some of my notes and early thoughts, my complete top 240 rankings live within our members area. The Top 20 reveal stays free so keep your eyes peeled for that episode in early August. The rest though, plus all our other member benefits, sit inside a Draft FC membership and if you want to find out more about that, head here.

Our main content as ever will be via the podcast/YouTube channel so make sure you are subscribed so you don't miss out on any of the preseason episodes or gameweek previews as the season gets under way!