Scout Picks – Gameweek 28

We’re just hours away from Gameweek 28 of this season’s Scout Picks, where Mark, Jonty, a different member of the community and I pick an XI for the upcoming round of fixtures. Each week, our line-ups go head-to-head and over the course of the season we’ll be keeping a tally of the points as we go along, with the budget now sitting at 84.0 apiece for our starting line-ups.

The Community – Managed by andy85wsm

We start off with Ben Foster in goal against a Villa side who have still only scored 13 goals all season. Next up, we have the attacking Alberto Moreno with a plum home fixture against Burnley. Its hard to pick clean sheets for me this week so I’ve gone for Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand at home to Palace and Gael Clichy – while Man City haven’t been great at the back, I fancy them to nick a clean sheet against Leicester and the left-back could get attacking returns.

I had to have a Liverpool midfielder this week and my pick is Philippe Coutinho, off the back of an impressive match against City. Again, I needed City coverage here and opted for David Silva, who has been consistent of late. Mesut Ozil is my Arsenal pick with a nice fixture against QPR away. Lastly we have Sadio Mane as our cheaper midfielder. I know the Saints haven’t been scoring a great deal but I think Mane will help them get a goal against Palace.

Two of our strike force pick themselves – Sergio Aguero against Leicester is a must have and Harry Kane is always good for a goal. After two strikes against Sunderland, I’m sticking with Wayne Rooney, who’ll be on penalties against a poor Newcastle side.

Jonty

The double Gameweek dominates my selection this week, with five players from Spurs and QPR’s ranks gracing my side. With rotation fears surrounding the Tottenham defence, I’ve opted for the security of Hugo Lloris, while up front, Harry Kane’s 14 goals, 25 bonus points and five double-digit points hauls make him a must. Christian Eriksen looks another important player. When benched he often comes on at half time – making rotation less of a worry – plus he has never gone more than three league outings without finding the net and entertains Swansea on the back of a three-match goal drought.

For QPR, Charlie Austin, who has only failed to score above four points across a two-match block twice this season, is another must for me. His 14 goals, with three against Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal, also help his cause in what is a potentially tough pair of fixtures for the West London side. For value I’ve gone for Yun Suk Young, who, if QPR can keep it tight, should at least fetch me four points.

Elsewhere I’ve looked to fixtures and form. My pick of these is Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, who will fancy his chances of adding to his 17 goals when Leicester visit. Mesut Ozil continues to make a mockery of Alexis Sanchez’ price tag and remains my Arsenal attacking player of choice. In defence, Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic and Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel offer points potential at both ends of the pitch.

Mark

Sadly, the Scout Picks are just that little bit too obvious in the light of the Double Gameweek.

The forward line selects itself. Harry Kane is a must, with Charlie Austin alongside him as probably the only attacking player guaranteed to start the pair of 90 minutes. Sergio Aguero’s place, with Leicester at the Etihad, is also without question.

With Christian Eriksen taking up an inevitable midfield spot, my only decision surrounded how much further to go with the Spurs picks. In the end I opted for Hugo Lloris because he offers security of start and save points in the absence of clean sheets. Few will shell out the 5.6 for the Frenchman but, as a short-term punt, he’s worthy of the pick.

The Arsenal lineup at Loftus Road was just too difficult to predict for me so I avoided them completely, instead opting for Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling in midfield and Martin Skrtel in defence – the latter selected for his threat in the air against a Burnley side caught out from a set-piece again at the weekend.

Chelsea contribute the trusty Branislav Ivanovic and Eden Hazard so my only real “punt” of interest is on Southampton’s Sadio Mane – a player I own and have kept patience with through a five game lean period. I’m backing Ronald Koeman to shake up his attack at home to Palace, perhaps even starting Mane and Shane Long up top. Mane is the one “differential” in my own FPL side and so I’ve retained him in my Picks.

Paul

Tottenham supply a trio of players for the double Gameweek. Hugo Lloris looks more reliable than any defender in terms of pitch time, whilst Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane, with six and five double-figure hauls respectively, come in for the clashes against Swansea and QPR. For the R’s, I’ve opted for Charlie Austin ahead of back-to-back Loftus Road encounters.

Branislav Ivanovic and Eden Hazard continue to plunder the points and travel to a West Ham side in freefall as Jose’s troops look to strengthen their spot at the summit. Raheem Sterling and Sadio Mane both started up front last weekend and have excellent home clashes against two porous defences in Burnley and Palace respectively.

Alberto Moreno’s raiding runs from left wing-back earn him the nod – with Jordon Ibe sidelined, there’s little chance of rotation here. Gael Clichy and Sergio Aguero are both drafted in for City’s home match with Leicester. Rested at the weekend, Clichy looks set to return to the XI, whilst Aguero could run riot against the Foxes leaky backline.

The Scores So Far

Mark topped the week with 55, followed by Community Champion Zasa with 54, myself on 52 and Jonty with 50. Jonty retains the lead in the overall standings with a score of 1396, followed by Mark with 1388, while I have 1,368 and The Community has 1,304.

Remember that this week only the first match for Spurs and QPR counts towards the final score for the Community challenge. This is to ensure all community champions have an equal shot at the top Gameweek score of the season prize of a £100 Amazon voucher. Nonetheless, the three Scouts have focussed our teams on the full 11 matches in order to ensure our overall site Scout Picks are mainly weighted towards the double.