Scout Picks – Gameweek 23

After announcing the players under consideration in Sunday’s Scout Squad article, the time has come to reveal those who have claimed a spot in our Gameweek 23 Scout Picks.

A home tie against travel-sick Leicester ensured that Tom Heaton (5.0) was a shoo-in for our goalkeeper’s slot. Of the Burnley stopper’s 93 points, the majority (53) have been earned at Turf Moor, where he’s registered four shut-outs and 39 saves, conceding just nine times. The Foxes look set to boost his impressive home statistics – they’ve notched just a solitary goal over their last four Premier League outings.

Rampaging full-backs claim all three of our defensive picks.

Danny Rose’s (6.1) two goals and three assists help earn a call-up as our cover of Spurs’ defence for their visit to the Stadium of Light tonight.

Sunderland’s form has been in freefall in recent weeks, with 11 goals conceded over the last four matches – more than any other side over the same spell. With Patrick van Aanholt now departed, the Black Cats have also lost some attacking impetus and will be looking to Jermain Defoe to punish his former side – he has just a single goal in nine outings against Spurs over his career.

We’re backing the Spurs shut-out, then, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side having conceded just 11 goals in as many matches on their travels – second only to the Chelsea rearguard.

Despite a 6.5 price tag, we’ve managed to squeeze Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin into our 84 million Scout Picks budget ahead of Watford’s visit to the Emirates.

The 14.9% owned Spaniard earned three nominations in our Scout Squad article, as a player capable of harvesting points at both ends. The Hornets have conceded 21 goals on the road, with just ten goals scored, and the attack-minded Bellerin will get to run at a weakened Watford left flank, without the suspended Jose Holebas.

Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia (5.5) snatches our final defensive berth for Hull City’s visit to Old Trafford.

Wednesday’s match-up should grant the Ecuadorian defender ample opportunity to gain clean sheet points and perhaps a second assist of the campaign – a modest return for a full-back that has provided more successful crosses (31) than any other FPL defender so far.

Sunderland’s dire defensive form has prompted us to triple up on Spurs assets and opt for both Dele Alli (8.8) and Christian Eriksen (8.7) in midfield.

In terms of attacking goal power, Alli is currently in a league of his own as an FPL midfielder, with an impressive nine strikes in his last eight outings in all competitions.

Eriksen is without a goal in six Gameweeks but has, nonetheless, produced six assists over that spell. Six double-digit hauls in his last ten Gameweeks underlines a potential to deliver big returns.

Sam Allardyce is still toiling to extract clean sheets and victories from his Crystal Palace side. Their obliging defence offers Gameweek 23 hosts Bournemouth room for optimism ahead of the Vitality Stadium clash and has us turn to Junior Stanislas (5.3) as a midfield “enabler”.

Owned by just 4.2%, the winger has a goal and two assists in his last four outings and, should Callum Wilson find himself back on the bench in tonight’s encounter, Stanislas will be on spot-kicks in addition to hogging set-piece duties.

There’s further value in our five-man midfield with Swansea City schemer Gylfi Sigurdsson (7.2) earning a Picks recall.

His winning goal in the unlikely 3-2 victory away to Liverpool in Gameweek 22 suggested that Paul Clement is beginning to lift the struggling Swans, with Sigurdsson surely the key figure in their bid for survival. With a 48% involvement in his side’s goals, aided by a dominance of set-pieces, the Icelander is backed to produce again in the clash with a Southampton side who will be without Virgil van Dijk’s influence in defence.

With Stanislas and Sigurdsson on board, we’re able to stretch to captain poll leader and FPL’s most popular midfielder, Alexis Sanchez (11.9).

Omitted from the starting line-up for the FA Cup trip to Southampton, the Chilean will look to maintain the Premier League form that has served up goals in three successive Gameweeks and attacking points in nine of his last ten. The Watford defence seems unlikely to cope with the Arsenal attack and keep Sanchez at bay.

Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic (11.7) ranks next on our Captain Poll and was rested over the weekend’s FA Cup fixtures.

Like Sanchez, the Swede has been another ultra-consistent source of points, having delivered returns in six of his last seven Gameweek encounters. Even with Hull City showing improvement under Marco Silva, we have to back United’s veteran striker to return to the scoresheet following a Gameweek 22 blank at Stoke.

Burnley hitman Andre Gray (6.2) claims our final starting berth. Owned by just 5.6% of FPL managers, the striker faces up to a Leicester City defence that has allowed 24 goals on the road. Having scored five goals in as many Gameweeks, four of which arrived at Turf Moor, Gray will be optimistic of profitable evening’s work against the erratic Foxes.

Sam Allardyce’s admission that he would be satisfied with a 0-0 draw from Palace’s visit to the Vitality Stadium earns Bournemouth defender Charlie Daniels (5.3) a place on our bench. We’re expecting limited attacking ambition from the Eagles, but Bournemouth and Daniels will certainly provide a test of the visitors’ resolve. The Cherries left-back already boasts two goals on home turf and four double-figure hauls over the season.

Stoke City’s four clean sheets at home make the bet365 Stadium a testing ground for Everton’s recent form. However, Ross Barkley (7.0) has shown enough over recent Gameweeks to deserve consideration. A Scout Picks bench role arrives on the back of an impressive recent run that has seen him fetch a goal and two assists in the last four outings.

Olivier Giroud (8.7) was another regular starter rested for the FA Cup, which should ensure a recall for the visit of Watford to the Emirates.

Despite failing to return points against Burnley in Gameweek 22, his four goals in the previous quartet of matches retains our interest in the 10.5% owned Arsenal striker. We feel that the Frenchman will react to mounting competition for starting roles in the Gunners attack by making a return to the scoresheet against the Hornets.

Community Champion

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. The current champion to beat is Boris Bodega, who achieved a 33 point margin of victory over us in Gameweek 15.

The Gameweek 23 champion Athletico Timbo has opted for a 3-4-3 line-up of De Gea; Koscielny, Walker, Brunt; Walcott, Eriksen, Pogba, Barkley; Aguero, Carroll, Giroud.