Two goals were shared in Sunday’s Gameweek 8 clash between Hull City and Brentford.

Here are our Scout Notes from the MKM Stadium.

THIAGO IN FOR JOAO PEDRO?

Although Igor Thiago (£7.8m) began 2025/26 brilliantly, he experienced a slower start this time, not producing anything until Gameweek 5’s goal against Chelsea.

However, the subsequent three have each featured an assist, pouncing on Ryan Giles‘ (£4.0m) poor 63rd-minute clearance in order to nudge the ball towards Dango Ouattara‘s (£6.2m) tap-in.

If you believe in form over fixtures, FPL’s fourth-best individual for expected goal involvement (xGI, 4.95) could be the ideal replacement for Joao Pedro (£7.9m), should he be injured. If you’re the opposite, it’s off-putting to see Brentford sit bottom of our Fixture Ticker over the next six Gameweeks.

QUIET SCHADE

A popular purchase in recent times, Kevin Schade (£6.2m) was quiet here. He set up nothing for others, while the sole shot came when Dango’s pull-back found him in a central location near the six-yard box, only to see the effort blocked by teammate Thiago.

In fact, the German was outshone by Dango, who accumulated three creations, four attempts and two big chances.

So, when it was time to bring Jaidon Anthony (£5.9m) on, Schade had to make way. Anthony immediately played a crucial role by providing the aforementioned cross that Giles struggled with.

If owners decide it’s now time to sell Schade, Marcus Tavernier (£6.3m) and Johan Manzambi (£6.0m) are similarly-priced exit routes.

DEFCON FOR SANGARE

Meanwhile, thanks to Vitaly Janelt (£5.0m) and Yehor Yarmoliuk‘s (£4.8m) suspensions, Mamadou Sangare (£5.5m) finally re-entered Brentford’s starting XI.

He failed to shoot, but once again showed that he’s great at earning defensive contribution (DefCon) rewards.

Racking up 20 instances easily took him over the 12-action threshold, ensuring he’s averaging a whopping 15.5 per 90 minutes.

Yet ’90’ is the problematic part of that. All four occasions when Sangare has exceeded 45 minutes ended with DefCon points, but this was his first time since Gameweek 4.

A positive outlook thinks maybe it’s now his place to lose, knowing Yarmoliuk must also miss next Saturday’s match.

BETTER FROM HULL

The other DefCon triumphs belong to Michael Kayode (£4.6m), plus Hull trio Semi Ajayi (£4.2m), five-time achiever John Egan (£4.1m) and Mohamed Belloumi (£5.2m). The latter had four goal attempts, including one where nifty footwork led to a side-netting shot.

Expected goals (xG) data says a draw was the right result. One that keeps the Bees unbeaten (yet winless) on the road, and Hull undefeated at home.

To keep their heads above water, Sergej Jakirović’s side needs to go one better when hosting Ipswich Town next week, and thankfully this was a better performance than Gameweek 7’s mediocre defeat at Fulham.

The deadlock-breaking goal also derived from an opposition error. Caoimhin Kelleher‘s (£5.0m) trouble-making pass put Aaron Hickey (£4.5m) in danger, who had to foul Tim Iroegbunam (£5.0m) inside the box.

Oli McBurnie (£5.5m) duly scored the penalty to grab his first strike of the season. Apart from that, a late Joe Gelhardt (£5.0m) chance went wide, as Konstantinos Tzolakis (£4.7m) made five saves – enough to put him first in this category overall (31).