Scout Picks – Gameweek 30

This evening, we move onto Gameweek 30 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 Christina

I opted for David Ospina between the sticks since Newcastle are missing Papiss Cisse at St James’ Park tomorrow. Branislav Ivanovic, Ryan Bertrand and John Terry all offer both goal threat and clean sheet potential against Hull and Burnley.

Eden Hazard, with four goals in his last five away appearances, also looks a must, meanwhile Southampton’s Sadio Mane is an exciting selection, and proved he is not shy of shooting at goal against Chelsea. Underlying statistics have prompted me to opt for Christian Eriksen and Alexis Sanchez, while Olivier Giroud picks himself after scoring against Monaco midweek and with four times in his last four Premier League outings.

Tottenham frontman Harry Kane is up against Leicester and hasn’t gone two consecutive Premier league games without getting attacking returns since early December. In other words he is “due”. My “flair pick” is West Ham’s Diafra Sakho with his below 3% ownership and strong underlying shots in the box statistics in his favour.

Jonty

I’m looking to smash the Top 10,000 template this week and take a big risk in ignoring Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez. In their place I’ve gone for Diego Costa, who has a new Teflon-like ability to avoid yellow cards and got back into scoring ways last week. Aaron Ramsey more than matched Alexis Sanchez’s underlying attacking stats in Gameweek 29 and with a significantly kinder price tag looks a great bet for points in the Chilean’s absence from my picks.

By ‘going maverick’ I have the luxury of splashing the cash, with the pricey David Silva, Eden Hazard, Branislav Ivanovic and Oliver Giroud drafted in to give me Manchester City cover and extra Chelsea and Arsenal firepower.

For my budget picks I’ve looked to Southampton, with Toby Alderweireld a bargain at just 4.7m and Sadio Mane even better value in an attacking midfield role at 6.6m. With rotation affecting the Arsenal back line in recent weeks I’ve opted for the budget security of their goalkeeper David Ospina to bring in an expected clean sheet against Newcastle.

Meanwhile, Carl Jenkinson offers strong assist potential as well as the chance of a clean sheet when Sunderland visit Upton Park, according to my West Ham table. That leaves under 7m left for a striker, which is where the exceptional value of Harry Kane comes to my rescue.

Mark

For me, going without Sergio Aguero is still a risk too far. While he and City have been immensely frustrating of late, I’m not prepared to ignore him for an Etihad meeting with West Brom with City’s title challenge hanging by a thread. I can see points for the Argentine so I’ve kept the faith and will preserve funds elsewhere.

The rest of my forward line picks itself – Harry Kane and Olivier Giroud are unavoidable. There are some strong mid-price options on offer but I’d rather take risks with cut-price options in the middle of the park.

That means that Stewart Downing comes back into my Picks selection as cover for West Ham’s likely victory over a suffering Sunderland. Meanwhile, I’ll buy into Tim Sherwood’s revolution at Villa Park by backing Scott Sinclair to be in profit against his former club, Swansea.

Personally, I see both Eden Hazard and Sadio Mane as a must this weekend – the latter, in particular, looks primed to continue his recent emergence with further returns against Burnley at St Mary’s. As for Hazard, he’s a left-field Captain pick – I’ll discuss that further in the Preamble tomorrow.

At the back, there’s few surprises. Branislav Ivanovic goes on earning his keep and I’m struggling to see Arsenal and Hector Bellerin troubled by Newcastle, or Southampton and Ryan Bertrand stretched by the Clarets attack. Indeed, doubling on the Saints’ rearguard looks a worthy tactic, hence my selection of Fraser Forster in nets.

Paul

I’ve opted for a trio of Arsenal players as they head to under-strength Newcastle. At just 4.9, David Ospina looks a bargain against a side with a single goal in their last four, whilst I’m keeping faith in Alexis Sanchez in light of this week’s Monitor article. Olivier Giroud’s outstanding form ensures the Frenchman also earns a spot in my XI on the back of four goals in as many matches.

I’m taking a chance and ignoring Man City altogether here, due to Yaya Toure’s absence and the Baggies resilience under Tony Pulis. Instead, I’ve backing Spurs duo Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane for the home encounter against Leicester – the Foxes have conceded at least twice in all but one of their last 11 away trips and their defensive stats provide optimism for those holding Tottenham’s main attackers.

I’ve doubled up on Chelsea and Southampton in defence and midfield. Branislav Ivanovic and Ryan Bertrand offer points potential at both ends of the pitch, whilst Eden Hazard and Sadio Mane cannot be ignored against the porous defences of Hull and Burnley respectively.

This leaves me with two players to choose. First up, Aaron Cresswell has been West Ham’s standout defender this season with a goal and four assists already to his name – I’m backing him to do the business against Sunderland in Dick Advocaat’s first match in charge of the visitors. I’m also giving Christian Benteke the nod as Villa look for a fourth straight win at home to Swansea. The big Belgian is clearly a confidence player and it’s fair to say that, with three strikes in his last two, the arrival of Tim Sherwood has reignited his self-belief.

The Scores so Far

Some further daylight opened up between the Scouts and The Community in Gameweek 29 with Community champion Az taking the wooden spoon on 35 points. Meanwhile, Mark scored 40, Jonty notched up 42 and I accrued 43 points. That leaves Jonty and Mark level in the lead on 1485, myself with 1464 and the Community with 1386.