Scout Picks – Gameweek 22

Just three days after publishing the Gameweek 21 Scout Picks, we return with another new batch of candidates for your Friday night perusal. Tottenham and Man City supply us with a total of five players ahead of very favourable home fixtures, whilst we call upon a couple of Foxes as second-placed Leicester make their way to Villa Park.

Fraser Forster earns his first appearance of the season for Southampton’s home encounter with West Brom. The fit-again keeper’s return to action helped the Saints to a second successive clean sheet at St Mary’s and he now faces a Baggies outfit with just eight goals in their travels – only Newcastle have registered less.

Tottenham’s home encounter with Sunderland brings Toby Alderweireld into our defence. Mauricio Pochettino’s men have conceded just three goals in the last five Gameweeks, whilst the Belgian’s attacking potential has already served up two strikes and three assists thus far.

Rested to the bench in midweek, Aleksandar Kolarov looks set to return to City’s starting line-up for the home encounter with Palace. The raiding left-back already has two goals and a couple of assists to his name, whilst the Eagles’ recent record – without a goal in the last four Gameweeks – suggests the hosts could be in line for a third clean sheet in four tomorrow.

Leicester’s Robert Huth heads to Villa Park looking for a fourth straight shut-out this weekend. The German – now down to just 4.3 – bagged the midweek winner at Spurs, highlighting his attacking abilities in and around the opposition box.

Man of the moment Dimitri Payet is an obvious candidate as West Ham visit a Newcastle defence with a single clean sheet in nine. The Frenchman has produced points in nine of his 13 league starts for Slaven Bilic’s side and bagged both goals in a 2-0 win over the Magpies earlier this season.

We’re also backing Georginio Wijnaldum in the St James’ Park head-to-head. Priced at just 6.8, the Dutchman has scored all eight of his Premier League goals at home this term and got on the scoresheet against United in midweek, taking him to fourth in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) midfield standings.

Deli Alli is also selected for Tottenham’s plum home clash with Sunderland. Three goals and two assists in his last seven league outings makes a mockery of the summer signing’s current 5.5 price tag.

A trip to Stoke is no easy task but with the pressure on at the summit, Mesut Ozil remains the Arsenal man most likely in our estimations. Granted, the German has blanked in three of his last four but having played a part in 19 of his side’s 37 goals, we reckon he could be back in the points at the Britannia.

We’re keeping faith in Riyad Mahrez for the trip to Villa in spite of Leicester’s recent goal drought. Prior to their 1-0 win over Palace in midweek, Remi Garde’s side had failed to produce a single clean sheet at home, whilst the Algerian’s explosive potential on the road – as evidenced by five double-figure hauls on his travels – is enough to earn him a Scout Picks spot.

Leader of this week’s Captain Poll, Harry Kane will be looking to get back amongst the goals as Sunderland roll up to the Lane. The 9.9-priced frontman has served up two sets of double-figures in five of his last home appearances, underlining his armband appeal as he hosts the league’s most porous defence tomorrow lunchtime.

After blanking against Everton on Wednesday evening, a home clash with out-of-sorts Crystal Palace offers Sergio Aguero the chance to get back amongst the points. The Argentine has netted seven of his eight league goals at the Etihad this season, whilst the Eagles arrive on the back of an away loss to basement-dwellers Villa.

Bournemouth’s Charlie Daniels warms the bench for the visit of Norwich. The Canaries have netted just three times in their last five road trips, whilst Daniels has already produced a converted spot-kick and two assists in the final third.

A goal and assist at home to Sunderland highlighted Andre Ayew’s Fantasy potential. Fielded up front by Swansea boss Alan Curtis in recent weeks, the Ghana international has produced five goals and three assists at the Liberty, compared to two strikes on his travels, and welcomes a Watford side that’s conceded twice in each of the last four Gameweeks.

Finally, we’re also placing our faith in Southampton striker Shane Long, who welcomes former club West Brom to St Mary’s this weekend. The Irishman has racked up three goals and four bonus points in his last two home appearances and faces a backline with just a single clean sheet in 11 Gameweeks.

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.

In addition to a shot at the £100 Amazon prize, FantasyBet are offering a chance for further prizes to Community Champions that are eligible to play their games. More details can be found here.

Gameweek 17’s community champion Red Devil is the leader so far, having beaten the Scout Picks by 69 points to 44.

Gameweek 22’s Community Champion as selected by our lottery, is FantasyFootballFrog.
His picks are as follows: Butland, Van Dijk, Fuchs, Otamendi, De Bruyne, Lamela, Arnautovic, Payet, Kane, Aguero, Ighalo.