I believe the scripting exists across all difficulty levels. Naturally, the higher the difficulty, the more pronounced the scripting becomes. But if someone is consistently winning Master League matches 5–0 or 6–0, even in derbies, on the "Top Player" difficulty, they should have access to even tougher challenges, especially since they’re already managing such dominant results despite the heavy scripting. I don’t think this makes the scripting any less annoying or unfair, though. I hate scripting even when I win.
I’ve managed to minimize the scripting in FL 26 (I haven’t downloaded 27 yet) by using a "Dynamic Difficulty" mod. I set it to -1/2 (engine/2), meaning the first variable is handled by the game engine, while the second remains constant. I’ve capped the first variable at a maximum of 3. After testing various fixed combinations (like 2/5, 3/5, and -1/5) which didn’t yield great results, this configuration proved to be the best. It preserves the natural flow of the game and the season, keeps derbies challenging, and maintains match momentum. Even with these changes, the matches where "scripting" is most noticeable are still derbies played in the League. However, it is clearly less pronounced than it was before this setup.
I play Master League on "Top Player" difficulty, and I also use a gameplay mod by Marlon Anthony (based on work by Aoba), which he shared on his channel a month or two ago. Foul calls can still be frustrating at times, but generally speaking, the referees seem to apply similar standards to both me and the CPU. The most annoying issue (though one I’ve grown accustomed to) is the behavior of the goalkeepers. In many situations where a keeper should ideally come off their line to narrow the angle, they remain rooted near the goal line; this is the same behavior seen in the vanilla game and in other gameplay mods I tested months ago.
