Less than 24 hours after Gameweek 34 came to its conclusion, we roll out our Scout Picks for the weekend’s seven fixtures. Man City, Leicester and Southampton supply us with a couple of players apiece, whilst we call upon a solitary Gunner and triple up on title-chasing Tottenham ahead of West Brom’s visit to the Lane.
Man City’s home clash against an out-of-sorts Stoke looks conducive to their clean sheet potential in Saturday’s early kick-off. With question marks over the make-up of Manuel Pellegrini’s back-four ahead of the Champions League clash with Real Madrid, though, we’re opting for Joe Hart’s security of starts as a route into a defence that’s been breached just three times in the last seven.
Christian Fuchs comes in for Leicester’s King Power head-to-head with Swansea. The Foxes racked up fifth straight shut-outs prior to last week’s draw against West Ham and will be looking to grind out another three points in their bid for the title on Sunday, whilst the Austrian’s four assists and 21 bonus points strengthen his appeal.
Virgil van Dijk offers a decent chance for points at both ends of the pitch this weekend. The centre-half, who has netted three times already this season, travels to a relegated Villa outfit with a single strike in their last six league matches.
Tottenham’s home clash with West Brom affords Toby Alderweireld the chance to consolidate his spot at the top of the FPL defender standings. With four goals and three assists to his name, the Belgian will be confident of a fifth clean sheet in six against a Baggies side that has scored just once in their previous five.
We’re backing Riyad Mahrez to end his three-match drought in the absence of Jamie Vardy this weekend. The Algerian racked up 21 points against weekend visitors Swansea at The Liberty back in Gameweek 15 and faces a defence that’s mustered a single clean sheet on the road all season.
Dele Alli returns to the Scout Picks on the back of three goals in his last two appearances. After failing to find the net in eight matches, the Spurs youngster seems to have found a second wind and looks back to his swashbuckling best at home to a Baggies defence that’s conceded twice in three of their last four away fixtures.
Alexis Sanchez is nailed-on for Arsenal’s trip to Sunderland. The Chilean has belatedly found his best form of the campaign, with a brace against West Brom taking his tally to six goals and two assists in six appearances ahead of Sunday’s encounter.
With Sanchez on board and two big-hitters up front, we turn to Bournemouth’s budget midfielder Joshua King as our final midfielder. Plying his trade up front in recent matches, the Norwegian has scored in four of his last six matches and hosts a Chelsea defence with a single clean sheet – against Villa – in their last nine.
Southampton’s trip to Villa also brings Graziano Pelle into our plans. With four goals and three assists in his last five outings, he looks poised to heap further misery on the midlands outfit this weekend.
Harry Kane comes in for Tottenham’s home clash with West Brom. After bagging a third brace in five appearances during Monday’s win at Stoke, his relentless run of form looks poised to put the Baggies to the sword on Monday evening.
A home encounter with Stoke earns Sergio Aguero the final place in our XI. Another player who seems to have stepped up a gear in recent matches, the Argentine’s six goals in the last four fixtures have earned him top billing in this week’s Captain Poll as he welcomes a defence that has conceded four times in their last two fixtures.
Jurgen Klopp’s team sheet at Bournemouth last week is the main reason we’ve been reluctant to promote Liverpool’s players in our starting line-up for the plum home clash against Newcastle. Dejan Lovren is our bench-warming defender, though, as the Reds look to build on the midweek 4-0 derby win over Everton.
Roberto Firmino was nearer to making our first XI but had to be sacrificed in order to acquire Sanchez, Kane and Aguero. With Divock Origi sidelined, the Brazilian’s chances of starting against Newcastle – either in a central support role or as a “false nine†– seem more likely. Five double-figure hauls in his last 11 sums up his explosive potential against a defence without a clean sheet on their travels since Gameweek 12.
Sunderland’ home clash with Arsenal brings Jermain Defoe into consideration. After bagging his thirteenth of the season last weekend, he faces a Gunners backline that’s been breached at least twice in three of their last four on the road.
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.
The Scout Picks beat Gameweek 34’s Community Champion Larry Legend by 133 points to 126.
The Gameweek 35 Community Champion is Mark-O Pirlo, who has selected the following team: Cech, Alderweireld, Fuchs, Bertrand, Alli, Sanchez, Mane, King, Kane, Aguero, Long.
