We roll out the third set of Scout Picks in a week this evening as the frantic fixture list gives Fantasy managers plenty to fret over. We triple up on City for the visit of Villa and call upon a couple of Chelsea and Swansea options as the pair prepare for home encounters against Stoke and Norwich respectively.

Fraser Forster is selected between the sticks as Southampton go in search of a fifth clean sheet in six home appearances. Only Chelsea have managed to find the net at St Mary’s in recent outings, which bodes well for their chances of keeping Big Sam’s Sunderland side at bay.

Swansea skipper Ashley Williams welcomes Norwich to the Liberty on the back of scoring a midweek winner at Arsenal. Williams has already netted twice under new boss Francesco Guidolin, whilst his propensity for earning bonus points whenever his side keep a clean sheet is also key to our decision, considering that the Canaries have scored one goal in their last five away fixtures.

We’re keeping faith in Branislav Ivanovic as Chelsea welcome a Stoke side that have failed to score in two of their last three road trips. With two goals and three assists to his name since the departure of Jose Mourinho, the Serbian has plenty of threat going forward should the Blues concede.

We’re taking a punt on Aleksandar Kolarov for City’s match with a Villa outfit that have scored twice in their last five road trips. Given that Gael Clichy started both matches against Liverpool on Wednesday, we reckon that the Serbian – who was afforded a late second-half sub appearance at Anfield in midweek – will be unleashed from the off as Manuel Pellegrini goes on the offensive in a bid to bounce back from Wednesday’s 3-0 reverse.

Swansea’s home encounter with Norwich brings Gylfi Sigurdsson into contention. The playmaker – who has bagged five goals in the last nine – emerged from the bench to provide an assist in the midweek win at Arsenal as the Welsh club climbed six points clear of danger. With the Canaries conceding at least twice in all but one of their last eight league matches, the Icelandic international could prove a canny differential with just 5% ownership.

Willian comes in for Chelsea’s home clash with injury-hit Stoke. Handed a half-hour sub appearance against Norwich in midweek, the Brazilian looks poised to return to Guus Hiddink’s first XI this time around – he’s racked up 37 points in six home outings since the departure of Jose Mourinho.

Riyad Mahrez is our Leicester attacker of choice for the trip to Watford. The Algerian’s explosive potential persuaded us to pick him ahead of Jamie Vardy – in terms of double-figure hauls on the road, he leads the striker by six to one ahead of Saturday’s vital visit to Vicarage Road.

With six goals and four assists in his last seven league outings, Roberto Firmino rolls up to Selhurst Park in fine form. The Liverpool midfielder has served up four double-figure hauls over that period and now faces a Palace defence that’s conceded at least twice in each of their last four home fixtures.

We’re backing fit-again Yaya Toure to get amongst the points in City’s home encounter against Villa. With Kevin de Bruyne still injured, the Ivorian – who has netted six times this term to David Silva’s single strike – looks the midfielder most likely to rely upon as Manuel Pellegrini attempts to get his side’s title bid back on track.

Sergio Aguero holds the armband expectations of many Fantasy managers for the home match against travel-sick Villa. Given that Remi Garde’s side have collected three points in their last 13 road trips, the City striker has earned over 72% of votes in this week’s Captain Poll – a clear sign of our collective belief in his weekend prospects.

Everton’s home clash with West Ham brings Romelu Lukaku into our front two. The big Belgian has scored in all seven appearances for the Toffees against this weekend’s visitors and with James Collins’ absence adding to their defensive woes, will be confidence of extending that record.

Leicester’s trip to Watford offers Christian Fuchs the chance of points at both ends of the pitch. The Hornets have failed to score in six of their last eight now, whilst Fuchs – who has helped the Foxes to six clean sheets in ten – has earned assists away to Spurs and City in his previous four away appearances.

Newcastle’s clash with Bournemouth sees Georginio Wijnaldum warm the bench. Having scored all nine of his goals at St James’ this term, the Dutchman’s threat in the final third could prove the difference as Steve McClaren’s side look for a much-needed victory tomorrow afternoon.

We’re also backing Benik Afobe for the St James’ Park head-to-head. With four goals in his last seven appearances – including a midweek strike at home to Southampton – the winter signing has proven instrumental in steering Bournemouth away from the drop zone.

The Community Champions

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.

Red Devil leads the way after beating the Picks by 25 points in Gameweek 17.

As a result of the busy schedule, there was no Community Champion in midweek. Gameweek 27’s Community Champion Oghash was defeated 51 points to 31 by the Scout Picks.

Gameweek 29’s Scout Picks Community Champion, as selected by our lottery, is BabyB. His picks are as follows: Hart, Kompany, Morgan, Van Aanholt, Milner, Eriksen, Sigurdsson, Mata, Willian, Aguero, Sturridge.