Fantasy football scout has leaned hard into Double Gameweek 36, and the split is clear: Manchester City and Crystal Palace are the only clubs with two fixtures. That is why the best Fantasy Premier League side carries three City players and two Palace picks.
Erling Haaland wears the armband, with Nico O'Reilly named vice-captain, in a selection built around City’s home games against Brentford and Crystal Palace’s visit to Everton before their own trip to Manchester. The combined five-player block from those two sides is the clearest sign of where the armband points this week.
Haaland and O'Reilly drive City
Haaland, Rayan Cherki and O'Reilly form the Manchester City triple-up. City are at home twice in Double Gameweek 36, and that fixture count pushed their players to the front of the Scout Selection.
Cherki has matched the 13 points of Haaland and O'Reilly in Double Gameweek 33, and his recent output gives the pick more weight than a simple punt. Across City’s last four matches, he has had 17 shots and created 14 chances, with a total of 31 shots involving him in that stretch.
O'Reilly has also delivered at home. Across his last three home appearances, he has returned 37 points, scored three goals and supplied one assist, while adding one clean sheet and six bonus points. That form is why he sits as vice-captain rather than a supporting cast piece.
Palace lean on defense
Dean Henderson and Maxence Lacroix make up the Crystal Palace double-up, and both choices come from the same logic: Palace have two matches, but the attack has been rotated heavily, so the safest fantasy value sits at the back. Henderson is fourth in the goalkeeper standings on 126 points and can climb into second spot if he keeps at least one clean sheet in DGW36.
Lacroix has been even steadier. He is the only Palace player to start and collect defensive contribution points in each of his last four matches, and Palace have conceded just one goal across their last four home matches at Selhurst Park. Those numbers explain why the Scout Selection stopped at two Palace players rather than chasing more risky attacking exposure.
Arsenal and Brighton also carry double-ups, with Gabriel and Bukayo Saka selected for the trip to West Ham United and Pascal Gross alongside Danny Welbeck chosen for Brighton’s home match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Gabriel has blanked only once in his last seven appearances, and he has two assists, four clean sheets, six defensive contribution points and nine bonus points in that run, while Saka is coming off a goal and assist in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Fulham and the decisive strike in the 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in midweek.
For managers building around Double Gameweek 36, the practical move is straightforward: the best team concentrates heavily on City and Palace because those are the only sides with two fixtures, then spreads the remaining slots across Arsenal and Brighton for fixture coverage. Haaland remains the headline captain pick, but the structure around him is what gives the selection its shape.
