The Scout Squad – Gameweek 24

The Fantasy ‘Brains’ Trust that is Hall of Famer Peter Kouwenberg and Fantasy Football Scout regulars Mark, Jonty and Paul have convened and come up with their long lists for Gameweek 24’s fixtures.

There are some match-ups that scream goals, so it’s no surprise to see three forwards – Harry Kane, Roberto Firmino and Sergio Aguero – appearing in all of our Scouts’ selections.

The trio represent a significant outlay, and money is likely to be tight anyway as our panel have also gone big on defensive stars – think Marcos Alonso and Nicolas Otamendi – so budget buys will no doubt make the final cut as well.

That could mean a surprise inclusion for Callum Wilson, albeit probably on the bench, while Jordan Pickford is looking 99% certain to feature between the sticks and in-form midfielders Marko Arnautovic and Riyad Mahrez are also in the frame.

All will be revealed on Friday, with the one vote from Jonty for Chelsea chance-misser Alvaro Morata probably this week’s bravest and most likely to be roundly mocked punt of the Gameweek.

Feel free to make some popcorn in preparation for that, and in the meantime here are the Scouts’ selections and the reasons behind them.

Jonty Says…

There’s an eyebrow-raising name in my forward selections, Alvaro Morata, a player who has been dumped by more than 100,000 Fantasy Premier League managers since Saturday and has only found the net once in his last six run-outs.

But I have a strong feeling the Chelsea forward will prosper in his away encounter with a Brighton side that has conceded a league-high 16 goals from set plays and was brutally exposed by West Brom’s aerial threat at corners last time out.

I may very well be on my own in giving tentative support to the Spaniard, but with more headed goals (six) and more headed goal attempts (19) than any other player, Morata perhaps deserves one more week to prove himself.

Elsewhere, I like the look of Leicester assets at home to Watford.

Of my three Foxes, I’m most keen on Riyad Mahrez, who is owned by just 12% of FPL managers but is the sixth highest scoring player and already has three double-digit hauls this campaign.

Dele Alli’s five goals in his last four head-to-heads with Southampton make him my favoured Spurs midfielder for his side’s visit to St Mary’s. I will strongly advocate pairing him up with Harry Kane this week.

Another attacking double-up I’m endorsing is Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and FPL’s second highest scoring forward Roberto Firmino. The pair travel to a Swansea City side that has conceded 17 goals at home.

A final mention goes to Everton boss Sam Alladyce, who on Match of the Day last weekend declared that he wanted to create the most boring team in the league after his side’s bruising 4-0 defeat at Spurs.

This significantly raises the clean sheet prospects of the Toffees, and has ensured that Jordan Pickford takes top spot among my keepers.

Paul Says…

Whittling down the options in defence and midfield was the trickiest part of assembling my squad as I feel there are so many valid options to consider this week.

Along with the usual candidates, Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi makes the cut for the visit of Crystal Palace.

The German found the net in the Gunners’ 3-2 win over Roy Hodgson’s side in Gameweek 20 and should profit from their fine defensive form against so-called lesser sides.

So far this season, Arsene Wenger’s men have hosted six teams outside of the current top eight, conceding just one goal.

Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell is a budget enabler I’m keeping an eye on.

Priced at 4.3 in FPL, the left-back has started seven of the last eight league matches that he’s been available for ahead of a visit from Watford.

Handed the night off against Fleetwood Town yesterday, he offers a cut-price route into a defence that’s racked up four straight clean sheets in all competitions, including last Saturday’s trip to Chelsea.

Xherdan Shaqiri looks vital to Stoke City’s chances of getting off to a winning start under Paul Lambert.

Visitors Huddersfield arrive at the bet365 with a dire defensive record – they are without a clean sheet in their last eight road trips, conceding 21 goals in those matches.

The Swiss schemer has played a part in 50% of his side’s home goals, creating more chances (21) and big chances (six) than any team-mate.

Peter Says…

The much-deliberated “template” generally hit the mark last Gameweek, with the likes of Salah, Son Heung-min, Marko Arnautovic, Kane and Firmino all delivering.

With popular Manchester City assets also welcoming a beleaguered Magpies outfit to the Etihad, dare we look outside these familiar and in-form faces this week?

The short (and somewhat cowardly) answer is no.

Many managers will undoubtedly have to wait until after the Saturday afternoon matches before the lion’s share of their players set foot on the pitch, with the aforementioned Etihad clash kicking off at 5.30pm and Spurs and Liverpool visiting their respective opponents on Sunday and Monday.

I’ve stacked my selections with tasty delights from those three dishes, given the potency of firepower demonstrated by the Champions League trio in their last six matches (a combined 51 goals) when contrasted with their opponents’ defending during that period (29 conceded).

That said, Newcastle boast one of the meanest defences recently and are surely likely to defend as deep as they did when Citizens edged them out 1-0 in Gameweek 20.

That only leaves two midfield slots, and who better to fill the first than Arnautovic as the Austrian is on a hot streak of five goals and two assists from his last five matches.

Unlike Carillion, my budget wasn’t propped up by government hand-outs, so it’s with some regret that I have to overlook another in-form player by bringing in Marc Albrighton over Riyad Mahrez to fill the final position.

Having blown most of my budget on the big guns, it’s the mid-to-low end of the market which accounts for the remainder of my squad.

I’ll be praying for an absence of goals at Turf Moor, Goodison Park and the Bet 365 Stadium – five of the six sides involved have the bluntest attacks in the league, with only the Red Devils the exception.

Mark Says…

For a moment there it was starting to look like we could be driven to reverting to three strikers in a 3-4-3, but once again a combination of budget and choice in midfield looks set to scupper that.

If we are forced to select a front two, I’ve no doubt that I’ll be shouted down and that Roberto Firmino will join team-mate Mohamed Salah in Friday’s Picks.

It’s difficult to object to that pairing given Liverpool’s showing on Sunday against Manchester City, but I do feel that Monday night’s trip to Swansea will be a very different prospect for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

The struggling Swans won’t attempt to play their way out of the press or keep a high line like Pep Guardiola’s men, so Liverpool’s will likely have to conjour opportunities from different angles. I feel that Philippe Coutinho’s absence is far more likely to be felt in this scenario. We shall see.

Instead, I’m either advocating the spend on Sergio Aguero, or pairing Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, simply because I don’t see Watford putting up a resistence to the Algerian’s sparkling form. And when Mahrez is on his game, Vardy should, one way or another, find his way into the points.

The Community Champion

Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Gameweek 17 will be Tommo1888 who, with a rank of 17,700, is well on course to beat his highest career finish of 93,427, in 2011/12.

The Community Champion who has the greatest margin of victory over the Scouts during 2017/18 will win a £100 Amazon voucher (currently we can only offer Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com vouchers).