After an incredible last round of fixtures, we move onto Gameweek 9 of this season’s Scout Picks, where every Friday, Mark, Jonty, a different member of the community and I 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.
Similarly to the last few Gameweeks, we’ve kept the budgets at 83.5m apiece for our starting line-ups.
The Community – Managed by Saniul
For my Community Picks this week, I have chosen a XI which, irrespective of ownership, has both form and an easy fixture on its side.
In goal, I’ll have Hugo Lloris. The highest points scoring keeper points among keeper is looking for a third home clean sheet against Newcastle, who, in spite of last week’s win, still need to improve a lot offensively.
Southampton are on a dream run, and Ryan Bertrand will expect points at both ends of the pitch against Stoke. The same applies for Seamus Coleman. Having marked his return from injury with a goal last week, he’s up against a Burnley side who have completely lost their way. Ron Vlaar takes the last spot, with Villa looking to replicate the early season solidity that produced three clean sheets in the first four.
Alexis Sanchez has scored in three of his last four starts, and against a Sunderland side which just shipped eight, I expect him to continue his streak. With two goals and an assist in the last three, Oscar seems primed to hit a porous United defence. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Swansea finally end their plum run of fixtures with a home match against a porous Leicester defence, while last week’s top scorer Dusan Tadic has another awesome fixture at home to Stoke. My fifth midfield spot goes to Nacer Chadli – the Spurs man goes in search of a firth goal of the season as Newcastle arrive at the Lane.
Among the strikers, Sergio Aguero picks himself. For the other spot, I turn to another differential. Romelu Lukaku hasn’t had the start to the season he wanted, but with three goals in the last five, he’s finding him form ahead of a trip to Burnley.
Jonty
In goal I’ve opted for Villa’s Brad Guzan, who has bagged save points in four out of the last eight fixtures. With 15 points last week and Burnley as opposition I can’t see Leighton Baines’s points potential drying up – no defender has made more passes in the final third or created more chances than the Everton man this season. Neil Taylor is my Swansea defender of choice. There is a good chance of a clean sheet when the Swans take on Leicester, who have the lowest goal attempt tally away from home in the Premier League.
As with my own team, I’ve tripled up on Southampton cover with Ryan Bertrand, Graziano Pelle and Dusan Tadic. While another 8-0 victory is unlikely, this trio should still bring in significant defensive and attacking points to my picks. Arsenal look a bit out of sorts, but Alexis Sanchez’s potential remains strong.
No midfielder has notched up as many shots in the box as Raheem Sterling and Nacer Chadli this season. Sterling certainly looks primed for goals against a Hull side that has conceded the most shots in the box away from home. I’m shunning Chadli this week in favour of his team mate Christian Eriksen, who has scored three goals in the last five matches.
Up front last week’s four-goal hero Sergio Aguero is nailed on, while West Brom’s Saido Berahino is my cheap attacking differential. At just £5.7m and up against Crystal Palace I fancy he will add to his already impressive tally of six goals.
Mark
While I believe we’ll see Diego Costa on the pitch at Old Trafford, I can’t take that risk with my Picks and have stuck Sergio Aguero (the obvious captain choice), flanked by a pair of differentials in Wilfried Bony and Saido Berahino. Both have home ties against defences that will grant them opportunities, so I’m confident on a spread of goals up top.
In midfield, I opted for Christian Eriksen over my own Nacer Chadli, just because I feel he’s the man in form – I can see Spurs notching a couple against Newcastle at the Lane. I have to stick with Southampton’s Dusan Tadic at home to Stoke after he served me so well last weekend and, equally, Raheem Sterling has to get the nod again with Hull turning up at Anfield nursing key injuries; there’s even a chance that Sterling will get a run in a central attacking role.
The last midfield spot was between Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez and the Gunners’ man just squeaked in ahead of the Belgian. I can see Arsene Wenger’s men fetching a couple of goals at Sunderland and, lately, the Chilean has been at the hub of all things good for Arsenal.
At the back I’ll go with Lukas Fabianski against a Leicester side who drew a blank at Newcastle last time out. Ryan Bertrand has to earn another start with the Saints the most solid rearguard on show, while both Younes Kaboul and Craig Dawson are slight gambles alongside him. I can see Newcastle struggling to break Spurs down, while the Baggies rearguard is determined and tough enough at home and I can see them frustrating Neil Warnock’s men at the Hawthorns.
Paul
In defence, Lukas Fabianski comes in between the posts as Swansea host a Leicester side with one away goal all season. Ryan Bertrand, Leighton Baines and Craig Dawson all offer a decent shout for points at both ends of the pitch – West Brom have conceded one big chance in the last four ahead of the visit of Palace.
In midfield, I’ve opted for Eden Hazard as Chelsea take on United’s porous defence. Nacer Chadli’s close-range threat earns him a place for Spurs’ home clash with Newcastle, whilst Raheem Sterling and Dusan Tadic are top amongst midfielders for shots on target this season ahead of home clashes with Hull and Stoke.
Up front, I’ve kept faith with the same three from last week. Sergio Aguero, Graziano Pelle and Danny Welbeck all have strong underlying statistics and the form to get amongst the goals once again for upcoming encounters with West Ham, Stoke and Sunderland.
The Scores So Far
Jonty triumphed in last week’s goals bonanza with a total of 95 points, whilst Mark took second and I finished third with 86 points. The Community, as managed by Davros, picked up 40 points from a team of differentials.
This means that after eight rounds of fixtures, I narrowly lead with a total of 479 points. Mark is second on 477, Jonty takes third with 457 and The Community sit in fourth place 370 points.
As mentioned earlier this week, we are now offering a £100 Amazon voucher for the highest scoring Community team in any given Gameweek.*
The current leader is HVT, who is in pole position with a total of 56 points. Click the above link to find out more.
*For reasons of fairness, only the first 10 fixtures of a double Gameweek will count in this competition.
