Less than 24 hours after Gameweek 18 came to its conclusion, we’re back in the Scout Picks saddle yet again. Arsenal’s home clash with Bournemouth holds the biggest appeal this time around as we back a trio of Gunners to bring in the points as they look to recover from yesterday’s shock loss at St Mary’s.
We’ve opted for Maarten Stekelenburg as Southampton make their way to Upton Park tomorrow. Having kept out Arsenal at St Mary’s, the Dutchman could be in line for further defensive returns, given that the injury-hit Hammers have scored once in the last four Gameweeks.
Palace’s Scott Dann looks a strong shout for points at both ends of the pitch at home to Swansea. The 5.6-priced centre-half has already scored three times this term and has registered four efforts inside the box in as many matches, whilst the Swans have netted just twice in five ahead of their Selhurst Park head-to-head.
West Brom’s Craig Dawson gets the nod for the visit of Newcastle. The Baggies right-back netted his second strike of the season against Liverpool recently and faces a Magpies attack that’s scored just five times on their travels this term.
We call upon Hector Bellerin as our final defender, with Arsenal desperate to atone for their St Mary’s mauling. The right-back’s raids have already served up a pair of assists and he should be less prone to rotation than fellow full-back Nacho Monreal, if Arsene Wenger decides to shuffle his defensive pack for the Cherries’ visit.
Having suffered a rare blank at Southampton, Mesut Ozil has the chance to quickly make amends for his 50% owners at home to Bournemouth. With 15 assists already accrued, the German will fancy his chances of picking apart a backline that’s chalked up just one clean sheet on their travels.
We’re expecting goals at the King Power on Tuesday evening and draft in Riyad Mahrez as Leicester look to recover from their weekend loss at Liverpool. Although he’s tended to perform better on his travels, the Algerian has still managed four sets of double-figure at home, whilst the City defence has one shut-out in eight and is likely to be without Vincent Kompany yet again.
Kevin de Bruyne rolls up to the Foxes in fine form. The Belgian delivered his second 16-point haul in the last five Gameweeks against Sunderland on Saturday and with Tuesday’s match set to be an end-to-end affair, his security of minutes earns him the nod as our preferred City attacker.
Stoke’s in-form Marko Arnautovic takes the final slot in our four-man midfield. The Austrian – who bagged his sixth of the season in yesterday’s win over United – sits joint-top amongst midfielders for attempts on goal in the last four Gameweeks and now travels to Goodison Park, where Everton have kept just one clean sheet so far.
Olivier Giroud makes it a full house of Arsenal players for the Emirates match with Bournemouth. The Gunners have scored at least twice in all but one of their last six home encounters, and, having notched in seven of his last ten, the Frenchman has proven almost as consistent as team-mate Ozil over the previous couple of months.
Everton’s home form brings Romelu Lukaku into contention for the visit of Stoke. The Toffees are second only to City for goals scored in front of their own fans and with the big Belgian netting in each of the previous four at Goodison, he’s sure to pose Mark Hughes’ resilient rearguard problems aplenty tomorrow.
Harry Kane makes his way to Watford on the back of a 13-point haul against Norwich on Boxing Day. Although the Hornets have been mainly resilient at home, they have, nonetheless, conceded against top six sides such as Palace, Arsenal and United at Vicarage Road, whilst the Tottenham frontman’s record of five strikes in his last four road trips bodes well for his 31% ownership.
Alberto Moreno comes in for Liverpool’s trip to Sunderland. The left-back has earned four bonus points over his side’s last two clean sheets, and, in spite of a lack of attacking returns, he’s still produced four shots and ten key passes in the last four Gameweeks – more than any other backline option.
Rested for the weekend trip to Spurs, Wes Hoolahan is poised to earn a recall as Norwich host Villa at Carrow Road. The Republic of Ireland international scored in his previous home appearance and faces a defence that has conceded in every road trip since Gameweek 1.
With Graziano Pelle still injured, Shane Long is poised to keep his starting berth for Southampton’s trip to West Ham. Having bagged a brace against Arsenal, he’ll he hoping to take advantage of a Hammers backline that has concerns over both James Tomkins and Aaron Cresswell ahead of tomorrow’s Upton Park clash.
The Community Champion
Having scrapped the weekly vote idea from last season, we now operate a lottery system to pick our weekly candidates. The community member who beats our picks by the biggest margin over the campaign will win a £100 Amazon Voucher and a place in our Contributors and Moderators League for the following season.
Gameweek 18’s community champion Saint Slaven lost out to the Scouts by 46 points to 58. Red Devil leads the race to claim the £100 Amazon voucher, having beaten us by 25 points in Gameweek 17.
There is now a break in the selection of community champions due to the fast turnaround of matches. We will resume the search for a community champion to take on the Scout Picks ahead of Gameweek 21.
