The Scout Picks – Gameweek 34

With ten sides set to play twice, Fantasy managers are braced for what could be a season-defining Gameweek across many a mini-league. We triple up on Arsenal and United ahead of two home matches apiece, whilst West Ham supply us with a couple of players for a marathon six-day round of fixtures.

United’s pair of home matches against Villa and Palace earn David de Gea the keeper’s jersey. The Red Devils have chalked up ten clean sheets in 15 attempts at Old Trafford and conceded fewer goals than any side in front of their own fans ahead of their showdowns with two of the bottom five.

We’ve opted to double-up on United and call upon Chris Smalling for our three-man defence. Although Louis van Gaal hinted at rotating his squad earlier today, the centre-half’s security of starts still looks as reliable as ever for the Gameweek ahead.

The in-form Hector Bellerin looks a solid prospect for points at both ends of the pitch ahead of visits from Palace and West Brom. Arsenal are second only to United for home goals against, whilst the raiding right-back’s form further up the field has delivered a goal and three assists in his last trio of league appearances.

West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell is selected for the upcoming encounters against Leicester and Watford. The Foxes have scored more than one goal in one of their last four home matches, whilst Watford have drawn blanks in five of their previous six road trips. With a goal and four assists to his name, the raiding left-back looks the likeliest source of points at both ends of the pitch for Slaven Bilic’s side.

Philippe Coutinho earns a place in our XI. Granted, he was rested against the Potters last weekend but we reckon that with an eight-day gap between the midweek clash against Everton and the showdown with Villarreal, his chances of starts might not be scuppered too much. The Brazilian has scored in each of his last two league outings and with a goal and assist against Dortmund last night, approaches the double in fine fettle.

Alexis Sanchez is nailed-on for this week’s Scout Picks on the back of three goals and as many assists in the last five Gameweeks. At a time where the more popular Mesut Ozil (41% ownership) has managed just a single strike in five, the Chilean looks to have found his best form of the season just in time for Arsenal’s pair of enticing home matches against Palace and the Baggies.

Alex Iwobi’s superb form cannot be ignored for the Gunners’ pair of fixtures. At a price of 4.6, he’s produced points in all three of his starts and betters both Sanchez and Ozil for shots and attempts inside the box since cementing his spot in Arsene Wenger’s line-up in Gameweek 31.

West Ham’s Dimitri Payet also earns the nod. Although a trip to Leicester is anything but easy, the Frenchman – who has already scored against Claudio Ranieri’s men this season – tends to be more explosive on the road, with four of his five double-figure hauls arriving in away matches. With a home match against Watford in midweek, the Hammers playmaker will fancy his chances of maintaining the form that’s seen him produce returns in five of the last seven Gameweeks.

A goal and assist in his last two appearances brings Andros Townsend onto our Gameweek 34 radar. Whilst Georginio Wijnaldum has gone off the boil ahead of back-to-back home clashes with Swansea and City, the winter signing looks increasingly pivotal to Newcastle’s prospects of beating the drop.

With five goals in his last six away appearances, Sergio Aguero is nailed-on for City’s double Gameweek. The Argentine first travels to Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea haven’t kept a clean sheet since Gameweek 13, before visiting a Newcastle backline that he breached five times back in early October.

We turn to the red half of Manchester to draft in Anthony Martial for United’s home encounters with Villa and Palace. As discussed in this evening’s Captain Sensible article, the Frenchman’s run of four goals, three assists and ten bonus points in his last seven at Old Trafford makes him a very enticing option as the Red Devils attempt to close in on a top-four finish.

Although Jurgen Klopp rang the changes last week ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Dortmund, we’re still banking on Dejan Lovren for the upcoming matches against Bournemouth and Everton. As mentioned above, we’re hoping that rest and rotation may not be quite as necessary in Gameweek 34, though Gameweek 35 at home to Newcastle will be another matter altogether.

City’s progress to the Champions League semi-finals could be set to benefit Samir Nasri once more. Omitted from their European squad, the Frenchman grabbed a goal and two bonus points against West Brom last week and with David Silva ruled out again, could be in line to retain his starting role for the double.

Aleksandar Mitrovic completes our squad. The Serbian seems to have won the battle to lead the line under Rafa Benitez and three goals in as many matches bodes well ahead of his pair of home encounters.

The Community Champions

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 addition to a shot at the £100 Amazon prize, FantasyBet are offering a chance for further prizes to Community Champions that are eligible to play their games. More details can be found here.

Red Devil leads the way after beating the Picks by 25 points in Gameweek 17.

Gameweek 33’s community champion Geordienufc1 tied with the Scout Picks on 61.

The Gameweek 34 Community Champion is Larry Legend, who has selected the following team: De Gea, Smalling, Fosu-Mensah, Koscielny, Sanchez, Ozil, Lanzini, Milner, Aguero, Sturridge, Mitrovic.