The Scout Squad – Gameweek 4

Now that the international break has excused itself and left, for a while at least, we can get back to the proper business of our Scouts putting their combined weight behind a team to beat our latest Community Champion.

Our Fantasy Football Scout regulars and current Hall of Fame #1 Peter Kouwenberg have approached Gameweek 4 with blanket agreement as to their first-choice keeper, but that harmony doesn’t extend to those who might well be patrolling in front of the Burnley stopper.

Peter has gone high end, Jonty rather more low rent, and the debate could rage for a while as a result.

The bickering looks likely to extend to midfield picks too, with Liverpool and Man United assets to the fore, but not necessarily the same ones across the Scout board.

At least there’s some agreement up top, with Romelu Lukaku and Alexandre Lacazette heavily favoured, the latter on the back of a visit from current Premier League punch bags Bournemouth.

Here are the initial thoughts of the often great and mostly good.

Paul Says…

Two clean sheets and an assist in the first three Gameweeks bodes well for Kyle Naughton as Swansea City welcome Newcastle to the Liberty.

Paul Clement’s recent switch to a wing-back formation also suits the former Spurs man – 60% of the Swans’ attacks have come down their right-hand side, more than any other team.

I’d love to have Alexis Sanchez on the list, but in light of his failed transfer to Man City, I’m banking on Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette for Arsenal’s home encounter with Bournemouth.

Both scored in the Gunners’ previous match at the Emirates and face a defence that is ranked bottom when it comes to shots conceded in the box over the opening three.

Elsewhere, Michail Antonio and Robbie Brady are shaping up as fine differentials, with 0.5% and 1% ownership ahead of home clashes against Huddersfield and Palace.

When on the pitch last season, Antonio was involved in 48.6% of West Ham’s goals, and I reckon he’ll deliver in their first home match of the season.

Brady’s 10 key passes and seven efforts on goal in the first three is all the more impressive given that he’s faced trips to Chelsea and Spurs. The Irishman’s dominance of set-pieces may well condemn the Eagles to a fourth successive defeat.

Jonty Says…

The first Gameweek back after an international break is among the hardest to predict, with fatigue and late injuries potentially causing havoc with team sheets.

Gameweek 4 is particularly tricky to navigate, with hard to judge clashes such as Manchester City hosting Liverpool added to the mix. In addition, some teams with a good fixture have woeful form, like Arsenal against Bournemouth to the Emirates.

I’ve therefore gone in search of certain starters in teams with kind fixtures.

The Burnley trio of Tom Heaton in goal, Robbie Brady in midfield and forward Chris Wood offer a good value selection to choose from when Crystal Palace drop by Turf Moor in search of their first win but having conceded six so far.

Wood looks particularly strong, having found the net against Spurs last time out, scoring a hat-trick for New Zealand last Friday and then being rushed back early from international duty to prepare for this enticing Eagles visit.

Among my most eyebrow-raising picks is Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, who certainly fits the bill of having an easy home tie and security of starts.

Granted the Gunners have only one win so far, but if their form is to improve Ozil looks like the man most likely to prosper.

The German scored a stunning goal on international duty in his national side’s 6-0 rout of Norway and has created 12 chances in the league so far – a tally only bettered by Manchester United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The Cherries, meanwhile, have conceded 40 chances and are another side still in search of victory.

Peter Says…

With Manchester City hosting Liverpool in the early kick-off on Saturday and Spurs visiting Goodison Park later that day, this Gameweek has a differential feel about it as four of last year’s top seven face each other.

That didn’t stop a rampant Liverpool tearing apart Arsenal last time out, but does perhaps encourage us to cast the net a little wider in our search for FPL returns.

Only Sadio Mane piques my interest from those two matches.

It remains difficult to look beyond Manchester United on current form, despite the fact that they visit a Stoke team which has strengthened at the back this season. Daley Blind, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku comprise this week’s triple up from the Red Devils.

You know it’s a peculiar week when you find yourself with four Burnley players in your selection, but their traditionally strong home form – coupled with Crystal Palace’s failure to start the season – left me scratching my head for who to leave out.

Eventually, Sam Vokes made way as I opted for a more defensive trio of Tom Heaton, Ben Mee and Robbie Brady.

It was a similar structure in my selection from Southampton, who seem well set up to keep clean sheets, despite some shaky defensive statistics. Fraser Forster, Ryan Bertand and Nathan Redmond all look capable of decent returns at home to Watford.

Alexandre Lacazette’s surprising omission from the Gunners’ starting line-up in the capitulation against Liverpool sees him languishing in fourth place in the captain’s poll at the time of writing.

Anyone who saw that match will feel well justified steering clear of Arsenal’s assets for now. But Arsene Wenger seems to have an uncanny knack of keeping the wolves at bay with one adequate performance when his side seem lost, and Lacazette looks sharp enough to both start and score against Bournemouth.

Mark Says…

Gameweek 4 should have been straightforward – we should really be building our picks, and perhaps our teams, around Arsenal’s attack and defence.

But the catastrophic Anfield performance has largely killed that route off, with Alexis Sanchez – surely a shoo-in for this fixture on paper – too risky to consider amid Emirates unrest.

I’ve thought better of an Arsenal defender, although I did flirt with Hector Bellerin, just briefly.

Instead, Alexandre Lacazette is fortunate to fill one of my top two striker positions, mainly because Gameweek 4 looks so treacherous for attacking returns.

With Man City facing off with Liverpool and Spurs at Goodison Park, our attacking heavy-hitters come packaged with caveats.

Romelu Lukaku is my top striker selection, but even my confidence in him is wavering. I’m expecting Stoke City to be disciplined in defence and with a first Champions League tie looming three days later, I just wonder if Jose Mourinho will keep the horses on the leash.

This could be a Gameweek for the differential to flourish – Robbie Brady, Michail Antonio and Tammy Abraham are my nominations with this in mind.

A tough, tough set of fixtures. Just the right time to make the Wildcard active, eh?

Community Champion

Representing the Community against the Scout Picks in Gameweek will be Darth_Krid, who is in his fifth season, with impressive finishes of 1,165 and 805 in his last two campaigns.

The champion who has the best lead over the Scouts during 2017/18 will win a £100 Amazon voucher (currently we can only offer Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com vouchers).

Gameweek 3’s champion, Malcolm Tucker for England, defeated the Scout Picks by a 29-point margin, making him a tough manager to beat for the £100 prize.