Scout Picks – Gameweek 4

It’s time for Gameweek 4 of this season’s Scout Picks, where every Friday, myself, Mark, Jonty and a different member of the Community pick an XI for the upcoming round of fixtures. Each week, our line-ups go head-to-head and over the course of the season we’ll be keeping a tally of the points as we go along.

Similar to the last two Gameweeks, we’ve kept the budgets at 83.5m apiece for our starting line-ups.

The Community – Managed by Arvination

With Leicester at home, Stoke’s Asmir Begovic looks well placed for a clean sheet as does Liverpool’s Alberto Moreno against Villa. The attack-minded Nathaniel Clyne and Branislav Ivanovic offer returns at both ends of the pitch.

Fixtures conspire to make Eden Hazard and Raheem Sterling automatic picks for me. Wilfried Zaha is in my selection after a fantastic performance in Gameweek 3 – he also has the potential as an out of position prospect when Crystal Palace entertain Burnley. Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria will be keen to impress on his home debut and could be set to prosper, especially if Luis Van Gaal opts for a 4-3-3 formation.

In attack Diego Costa started and scored a brace the last time he had an injury scare – I dare not leave him out even if he is still a doubt. Steven Naismith is the cheap forward that just keeps on giving, with three goals in as many appearances, and I expect him to continue his form against West Brom. With Daniel Sturridge doubtful, Mario Balotelli will be the main forward for Liverpool – he was unlucky not to score against Tottenham and I’m sure he’ll repay my faith.

Jonty

Stoke, Liverpool, Chelsea and Southampton all look primed for clean sheets this week. Asmir Begovic gives me a reliable route into the Stoke backline, while Dejan Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne and Branislav Ivanovic offer the dual prospect of attacking returns as well.

Eden Hazard looks to be the Chelsea midfielder of choice at home, with 10 goals of his 14 goals last season coming at Stamford Bridge. Raheem Sterling’s form is sensational but I’m looking for something different this week. He’ll be in all my rivals’ teams so I’m taking a gamble on old-stager and Liverpool penalty taker Steven Gerrard. Elsewhere my midfield is dominated by differentials, with Chadli and Kevin Mirallas’ underlying attacking statistics impressing me enough to include them.

I’m not falling for the old Diego Costa is injured ruse again. A doubt or not Chelsea’s in form frontman is in my team. Mario Balotelli looks certain to start in Daniel Sturridge’s absence and was another top attacking performer in Gameweek 3. Finally, another with impressive underlying statistics is Southampton frontman Graziano Pelle. He could be another vital differential as I look to haul myself from the foot of the Scout Picks.

Mark

The selection was pretty straightforward this week. Despite the stuttering start to the season, I really can’t see QPR spoiling the party for United at Old Trafford and I’m predicting a comfortable afternoon for Louis van Gaal – resulting in David De Gea and Wayne Rooney finding their way into my lineup.

With Diego Costa a shoo-in right now, the only real decision I had to make was to whether to back Mario Balotelli or look to Raheem Sterling to cover the Liverpool attack at home to Villa: I opted for the latter. The third striker spot goes to Southampton’s Graziano Pelle, then; he got off the mark at West Ham last time out and I reckon he’ll deliver again when the Magpies pay visit.

The midfield was interesting. Again, it was a close run thing between Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas and I’ve gone for the value offered by the Spaniard although I do expect Hazard to be a key factor in the top of the table clash with Swansea.

Elsewhere, I’m backing Wilfried Zaha to start and prove a match winner for Palace against Burnley and I just fancy Kevin Mirallas to come good for Everton at West Brom. The Toffees are shipping goals so I expect Roberto Martinez’ side to need a couple to get anything from their trip to the Hawthorns. If that’s the case, I can see Mirallas in the points.

Paul

I’ve loaded up on Chelsea for the home encounter with Swansea – all three of their in-form players, Branislav Ivanovic, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa – are drafted in. Three Liverpool options also get the nod. Javier Manquillo seems set to benefit from injuries to Glen Johnson and Jon Flanagan at right-back, while I’ve also gone for Raheem Sterling and Mario Balotelli, with the latter looking key in the absence of Daniel Sturridge. Brendan Rodgers has confirmed Balotelli has been suffering from illness this week but will be fit for Saturday.

Elsewhere at the back, Marc Wilson (4.5) gives me a budget route into Stoke’s defence for the visit of Leicester, while Fraser Foster comes in for the Saints’ clash with Newcastle. I’m willing to roll the dice on Angel di Maria – with doubts over the United forward roles, he looks a safe option at home to QPR. For my final two selections, I’ve turned to the stats – Nacer Chadli’s five shots in the box is second for midfielders so far, while Graziano Pelle has produced eight attempts from close-range – second only to Costa.

The Scores So Far

It was a Gameweek 3 to forget for all of us after Sergio Aguero, Stevan Jovetic and Wayne Rooney all blanked. Four points separated all four teams – I scraped a win with just 41 points, while Mark and Jonty, with 40 and 39 points respectively, pipped The Community – as managed by Innsie – into fourth with 37 points.

This means that after three rounds of fixtures, I have 154 points, The Community has 145, Mark has 137 and Jonty has 136.