Scout Picks – Gameweek 11

We turn away from a 3-5-2 and opt for a rare 4-3-3 formation in Gameweek 11’s Scout Picks. Southampton, Spurs and Everton supply our starting XI with a pair of players apiece, whilst we load up on City’s main men in anticipation of a goal haul at home to Norwich’s dire defence.

With Seamus Coleman now a real doubt due to a stomach bug, we turn to Tim Howard as coverage of the Everton defence for a home encounter against Sunderland. At 5.1, the US international has earned save points in eight of the first ten Gameweeks and faces an attack that has failed to score in each of their last three road trips.

Virgil van Dijk is our Southampton defender of choice for the visit of Bournemouth. The Dutchman racked up ten goals and six assists for Celtic last season and has already scored twice in six appearances for the St Mary’s outfit, underlining his points potential in the opponents’ box for Sunday’s clash with Eddie Howe’s strugglers.

City’s home clash with Norwich brings Aleksandar Kolarov into contention. With Vincent Kompany back in the mix, the league leaders’ prospects of a clean sheet have improved, whilst the Serbian’s raids down the left see him sit second for both attempts (14) and key passes (16) amongst defenders so far.

Tottenham’s out-of-position prospect Eric Dier is brought on board for Monday night’s visit of Villa. The youngster has already netted twice from his central midfield berth and bearing in mind that Mauricio Pochettino’s team have conceded just once in their last four at the Lane, Dier looks a viable option for points at both ends of the pitch.

We also call upon Newcastle’s raiding right-back Daryl Janmaat at home to Stoke for the final slot in our four-man defence. The Dutchman has served up a goal and assist over the Magpies’ last three matches at St James’ and has fired more attempts on target (six) than any defender this term.

Kevin de Bruyne is the first of our two big hitters in the centre of the park. The Belgian has racked up 30 points in his three home appearances and, up against a Norwich defence that lost six goals at Newcastle in their last road trip, it’s little wonder that he’s leading the way in this week’s Captain Poll.

Arsenal’s trip to Swansea hands Alexis Sanchez another chance to get amongst the goals. After a slow start to the season, the Chilean has found his top form and produced three sets of double-figure hauls in the last four Gameweeks. Having netted four times in his last two away matches, he’ll fancy his chances against a defence with just two clean sheets to their name.

Sadio Mane also makes our three-man midfield. The Senegal international has three goals and an assist in the last four Gameweeks and will be fully refreshed for the visit of Bournemouth, after serving a one-match suspension against Villa in midweek. Given that the Cherries have conceded five times in the last two, Ronald Koeman’s side will be heavily backed heading into Sunday’s match.

A hat-trick at Bournemouth last weekend suggests that Harry Kane is finally starting to rediscover the form that took the top-flight by storm last season. Furthermore, the Spurs frontman has produced more shots on target (12) than any striker in the last four and now faces a Villa defence that’s conceded at least twice in each of their previous four road trips.

We call upon Romelu Lukaku to do the business as Everton entertain Sunderland at Goodison. There’s no doubt the Belgian can frustrate as a Fantasy asset but bearing in mind the Black Cats backline has allowed their opponents more shots inside the box (103) than any side this season, he could be set to add to his five-goal tally this Sunday.

Wilfried Bony completes our three-man frontline as City prepare for the visit of Norwich. Manuel Pellegrini’s men have now racked up 16 goals in their last three home domestic matches and with two goals and an assist in his previous league appearance at the Etihad, the Ivorian is proving an able short-term deputy for Sergio Aguero.

Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma makes the bench for the visit of Liverpool. Granted, the Blues have struggled for defensive returns in recent weeks but bearing in mind their visitors have scored just three times in five road trips, a clean sheet could be on the cards for the hosts tomorrow lunchtime.

Ross Barkley completes our quota of three Everton players for the visit of Sunderland. The playmaker took his tally to three goals and as many assists with a strike at the Emirates last weekend and has already surpassed last year’s attacking output. The Merseysiders have put three past the likes of Southampton, Chelsea and West Brom this term and look strong favourites against Big Sam’s strugglers.

With five goals and as many assists to his name, Graziano Pelle has played a part in ten of Southampton’s 16 strikes this season. The Italian found the net in a midweek home cup win over Villa and with three strikes and a trio of assists in his last four league fixtures at St Mary’s, is second only to De Bruyne in this week’s Captain Poll.

THE COMMUNITY CHAMPION

Having scrapped the weekly vote idea from last season, we now operate a lottery system to pick our weekly candidates. The community member who beats our picks by the biggest margin over the campaign will win a £100 Amazon Voucher and a place in our Contributors and Moderators League for the following season.

In Gameweek 9, Community Champion Boris Bodega came close to taking the lead after beating the Scouts 49 to 34 in Gameweek 10. However, his 15-point advanatage was still one point short of Massive, who retains top spot – he beat us by 16 points in Gameweek 6 and stays in the lead to claim the £100 Amazon voucher.

This week’s Community Champion is S Kuqi. His team is as follows: Cech, Kompany, Rose, Van Dijk, Mane, Sterling, Yaya, Eriksen, Pelle, Kane, Giroud.