Fantasy Football Scout Review – Gameweek 5

There’s a long running joke on Fantasy Football Scout about not wanting to see The Scoutpicks  full of players you own, as that usually spells disaster. As you’ll see, from Andy85wsm‘s latest review, Gameweek 5 was the complete opposite.

Scout Picks

After a very average score of 52 in Gameweek 4, the Scouts were back with a bang with this week’s picks. Opting for a 4-3-3 formation, it was only Eden Hazard who failed to register attacking returns with four out of the other five attackers hitting double figures.

Even in defence this week there were some absolute gems. Southampton were able to get their first clean sheet of the season and in the process Cedric Soares picked up maximum bonus  to finish on nine FPL points. An old favourite from 2015/16 was back in the picks, in the form of Christian Fuchs. After picking up an assist and maximum bonus in the win over Burnley he finished on 12 points for the week. From Gameweek 9, Leicester have a great run of fixtures, which is likely to see further interest in their defence.

Because the pricey Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne weren’t in the Scoutpicks, the captain will be based on the next highest captain choice from Rate My team – Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho.

• Gameweek 5 score: 79 (89 with captain)
• Average score: 56 (62.8)
• Total score: 280 (314 with captain)
• Highest score: gameweek 5 – 79 (89 with captain)

Captain Sensible

With Bournemouth at home the Captain Sensible article unsurprisingly favoured Manchester City players, although it was Riyad Mahrez against Burnley that topped Rate my Team.

After blanking in the previous three Gameweeks, the Leicester midfielder’s patient owners were able to enjoy an assist. But with a single goal and that assist across five Gameweeks, is Rate my Team right to keep backing  Mahrez?

With De Bruyne and Iheanacho in second and third place, it was the Manchester City players that really brought in the big captain scores. The Belgian, who is in top form right now registered a goal and assist for the second week in a row and looks unstoppable right now. With three price rises already this week he could soon be the most expensive midfielder in Fantasy Premier League. Those that captained Iheanacho were also rewarded with his second goal and assist haul in a row. With Sergio Aguero back in Gameweek 6, it’s unlikely we’ll see Iheanacho near the Captain Sensible article for a little while, but should Aguero miss out any further matches he’s definitely one to watch.

• Gameweek 5 score – 0 points
• Total score – 2 points (from a possible 5)

Spot the Differential

This weeks differentials included Marko Arnautovic (£7.3m), who hadn’t scored or assisted at all this season. Alongside the Stoke midfielder were Wilfried Zaha (£5.4m) and Troy Deeney (£6.9m).

With 11 goals and six assists last season we may have expected to see more from Arnautovic at this point of the season. Stoke just haven’t turned up and conceded 10 goals in their opening four matches. Despite shipping another four goals shipped against Crystal Palace, the Austrian was at least able to get his first goal of the season, rewarding the Scouts with six FPL points. With a run of fixtures that includes West Brom, Sunderland, Swansea and Bournemouth all at home over the next seven fixtures will we see more goals and assists from the Potters’ prime asset?

Christian Benteke is now the leading man in the Crystal Palace attack and gives the midfielders someone to aim at. With this in mind Zaha was included in the picks. After Crystal Palace battered Stoke 4-1, The Scouts can feel somewhat unlucky to have not seen Zaha pick up any points. At £5.4m the young Englishman may see further investment, although Palace do have some tricky fixtures in the upcoming weeks.

After a bit of a slow start, Watford were able to put four goals past West Ham in Gameweek 4, and with that in mind The Scouts opted for Deeney at home to Manchester United. On paper this may have seemed like a tough fixture, but Watford really showed the kind of form that saw them finish 13^th last season. With a penalty towards the end of the game, Deeney ended on six points.

Currently owned by just 4.8% of all Fantasy Premier League managers, the Hornet’s spot kick taker really looks like a great differential over the next five fixtures (Burnley, Bournemouth, Middlesbrough, Swansea and Hull).

• Gameweek 5 score – 2 points
• Total score – 7 points (from a possible 15)

Scoutcast

Clean Sheets 

It was a full house this week as we all managed to pick a clean sheet. There were only four in total and each one was predicted on The Scoutcast, something that we may never see again. That means I stay ahead with three points, closely followed by the rest on two.

Jonty – Southampton – Total points 2

Mark – Leicester – Total points 2

Andy – Manchester City – Total points 3

Granville – Spurs – Total points 2

Fantasy Island Risks

Granville is finally off the mark after picking up an assist from Yannick Bolasie, for a goal that controversially was awarded to Romelu Lukaku. Elsewhere I picked the correct team but the wrong player in Saido Berahino. Jonty may count himself unlucky that he didn’t see points from Shane Long, the man himself thought he should have had at least a goal and an assist. Lastly, after backing him in the differentials, Mark went with Zaha and like me backed the right team but the wrong player.

Jonty – Long (0) – Total points 21

Mark – Zaha (2) – Total points 10

Andy – Berahino (0) – Total points 14

Granville – Bolasie (5) – Total points 11