We move onto Gameweek 10 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 Magerost
Ben Foster is my goalkeeper, as Leicester have been quiet of late and I don’t fancy the east Midlands side to score this week. In defence, I feel this is the week where John Terry will finally bang in a goal or two and Leighton Baines offers me attacking threat and a strong chance of bonus points. Arsenal’s clean sheet credentials are high, which books Calum Chambers a place in my team.
In midfield Alexis Sanchez’ form is too good to ignore at home to Burnley. Oscar gets the nod as my Chelsea midfielder – he is cheaper than the likes of Cesc Fabregas and has a far greater goal threat. Angel Di Maria may be expensive but he dominates Manchester United’s play and should do well against a far from resolute Manchester City defence. Sadio Mane is the cheaper option to Dusan Tadic in the Southampton midfield but looks the better option for goals.
Meanwhile, in attack West Brom’s Saido Berahino looks like he can score against anyone and has penalties in his locker. Graziano Pelle demands a place as the focal point of an increasingly strong Southampton side. Finally, I’m taking the chance that Diego Costa will play. If fit, he will score – his selection requires little other explanation.
Jonty
Ben Foster looks a good bet for a shut out, with Leicester facing a tough task scoring against a West Brom side with two clean sheets on the road already. Arsenal’s Calum Chambers is another solid budget pick this week when Burnley, who have scored just twice on the road, pay visit. I initially had cut price Felipe Luis as my Chelsea defensive cover, but found myself with an extra million and decided to treat myself to John Terry. Leighton Baines, with four assists in the last four matches, looks undroppable from my picks for the foreseeable future.
In midfield Alexis Sanchez has amassed an incredible 31 points in the last three matches and I can see him adding to that against Burnley. Eden Hazard is riding high in my Chelsea table, which suggests a Dusan-Tadic-in-Gameweek 8 style haul could be just around the corner. I want to be able to say ‘I was there’ when that happens.
Elsewhere in midfield I’m opting for a couple of budget differentials in the same tie. Strong underlying statistics, particularly for crossing and creating chances, give West Ham’s Stewart Downing a place, while four assists in the last five suggests Stoke’s Victor Moses could also be a reliable source of points this week.
Up front I’ve looked at the pictures of Diego Costa in training this week and can’t see him missing out. Saido Berahino’s five goals in the last four matches demand his selection. Meanwhile, Sergio Aguero’s nine-goal tally this season, plus five strikes in his last six meetings with Manchester United, make him another essential pick for me.
Mark
My defence picks itself this week as I continue to stand by both Leighton Baines and Branislav Ivanovic: both bristle with attacking threat and have home fixtures which look likely to garner defensive returns. Calum Chambers completes the back three as I just can’t see Burnley making an impression at the Emirates. I’ve gone for Adrian in goal as I see West Ham’s clash with Stoke at the Britannia as a battle of attrition which may well end in a narrow win for the Hammers – I’m expecting save points at least from the Spaniard.
Two of the midfield are a given – I dropped Alexis Sanchez in my picks last week and he delivered and it’s hard to see Burnley stopping him from recording another haul on Saturday. Dusan Tadic is another easy selection given his form: he makes Southampton tick and is central to all set-plays.
The other two slots were more difficult and I’ve followed some hunches. I can see Spurs scraping a narrow win at Villa Park and, given the home side’s anxiety, I see Mauricio Pochettino’s side picking them off on the counter-attack. Nacer Chadli is a key weapon on the break and I reckon he’ll nick another goal in Sunday’s meeting. The final midfield spot goes to Yannick Bolasie, simply because I see him terrorising the Sunderland back four with his pace and power.
Up front, I’ve put my faith in Diego Costa starting and, if that proves to be the case, I just can’t see him coming away from the QPR encounter without a goal. I’ve doubled on Arsenal’s threat at home to the Clarets by backing Danny Welbeck, while Romelu Lukaku is the final piece in my puzzle. The Belgian has back-to-back goals and I can see his muscle skittling the Swansea rearguard at Goodison as he goes head-to-head with the in-form Wilfried Bony.
Paul
I’m tripling up on both Chelsea and Arsenal for plum home clashes with promoted pair QPR and Burnley.
For the Blues, Branislav Ivanovic, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa come in against a side that have conceded more goals on their travels than any other side so far. Calum Chambers, Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck are drafted in for the Gunners – as mentioned in yesterday’s Captain sensible article, the Clarets have afforded their opponents more shots inside the box than any other side over the last four Gameweeks.
Everton’s home encounter with Swansea also brings Leighton Baines and Romelu Lukaku into contention. Both have excellent form – the latter has provided attacking returns in six of the last seven, whilst Lukaku, for all the shouts of inconsistency, has notched in four of the previous six Gameweeks.
In goal, Palace’s Julian Speroni gets the nod for Monday’s home clash with Sunderland. Expected to recover from a head knock, he has two clean sheets in the last three at Selhurst Park – only Chelsea have beaten him – whilst the Black Cats have failed to score in their last three road trips. Team-mate Wilfried Zaha is a punt; having ousted Jason Puncheon from the XI last weekend, he seems set to retain his spot on the Palace right.
Finally, Nacer Chadli completes my XI due to his underlying stats. The Belgian has matched Arsenal’s Sanchez for big chances (three) and efforts in the area (seven) over that period and faces an injury-hit Villa defence that’s conceded at least twice in each of the last five.
The Scores So Far
Mark won last week’s showdown with 61 points, nudging Jonty into second with 58 points. The Community, as managed by Saniul, picked up 45 points and I limped in last with an embarrassing 39 points.
This means that after eight rounds of fixtures, Mark moves into first on 538 points. I slip to second on 518, four ahead of Jonty’s 514, with The Community sitting in fourth place 415 points.
