With the deadline for Gameweek 16’s midweek set of fixtures just a few hours away, we take some time this afternoon to reveal the players who have won selection in our Scout Picks.
The continued quest for value between the sticks has brought us to Darren Randolph (4.4) for the first time.
The 0.6% owned Irishman has delivered save points in three of four appearances since wrestling the number one jersey from Adrian, but it is West Ham’s clean sheet potential that persuades us to take a punt this week.
Randolph hosts a Burnley side that has managed to score just once away from Turf Moor and has mustered fewer goal attempts than any other team on their travels.
We’ve also opted for value in selecting West Brom’s Jonny Evans (4.5), when Swansea City drop by the Hawthorns.
The 7.4% owned Baggies defender has a goal and clean sheet across his last two fixtures, while Swansea’s attack has stuttered away from the Liberty Stadium, scoring just six goals in seven road trips. Evans gets the nod over team-mates Gareth McAuley (£4.9m) and Chris Brunt (£4.9m) in order to keep us within the 84 million budget.
The money saved by opting for this bargain basement duo has enabled us to splash our cash on two heavyweight defenders, offering the prospect of returns at both ends of the pitch.
Despite missing six matches through injury, Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby Alderweireld (6.3) has registered 10 goal attempts and hosts a Hull City outfit that has conceded 32 times, more than any other Premier League side.
Clean sheets prospects are also high for the 10% owned Belgian, with Mike Phelan’s troops only mustering five goals across their seven away outings.
There’s no shifting Marcos Alonso (6.3) from our weekly Picks on current form, particularly while Chelsea’s schedule continues to shine.
The 7.8% owned Spaniard has only failed to deliver a clean sheet or attacking returns in a single match since making the left-wing back role his own in Gameweek 7. He travels to a Sunderland side that has conceded 14 goals at the Stadium of Light.
In midfield, a couple of value players are drafted in to ensure we can maximise the number of premium attacking picks in our budget.
Wilfried Zaha (5.6)’s form alone warrants selection.
The Crystal Palace winger has delivered attacking points in six of the last seven Gameweeks, including a sensational 16-point return via a goal and two assists away to Hull City last weekend.
Zaha has been drafted in by more than 91,000 FPL managers since that Tigers encounter.
While Manchester United’s visit to Selhurst Park may not appear profitable on paper, we feel that a blooming Zaha will be keen to punish his former club who will also be forced to shuffle their defence in the absence of the suspended Antonio Valencia.
West Brom’s Matt Phillips (5.4) has also made a mockery of his lowly price tag.
In the last five Gameweeks, the 7.4% owned Scotsman has scored three goals and recorded the same number of assists.
Gameweek 16 visitors Swansea offer him an extremely enticing fixture, with Bob Bradley’s troops conceding 15 goals on their travels, securing just a single shut-out.
With this pair in place, we can afford away specialist Alexis Sanchez (11.7) for Arsenal’s visit to Everton.
No other midfielder has scored more goals, had more shots on target or created more chances on their travels than the 35% owned Chilean. A 23-point FPL return in the Gunners’ last away tie, against West Ham, offered a timely reminder of his explosive potential on the road.
We have tripled up on Spurs assets and handed a place to Christian Eriksen (8.4) ahead of Hull’s visit.
The 8.8% owned Dane provided three goals and an assist in two appearances prior to last Sunday’s defeat to Manchester United. Central to Spurs’ dead-ball scenarios, he looks likely to be a pivotal figure in Wednesday’s contest.
West Ham United’s 9.6% own set-piece specialist, Dimitri Payet (9.1), has been quietly racking up attacking returns across a testing run of fixtures.
He has scored or assisted in all of his last three league outings, against Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.
The schedule is about to smile on West Ham and Payet, with Wednesday’s London Stadium meeting against Burnley certainly tempting investment. The Clarets have conceded 15 goals and kept just one clean sheet on their travels.
Our trio of Spurs options is completed by Harry Kane (11.3), who tops our Gameweek 16 Captain Poll for good reason.
Not only does the 19.4% owned striker face that obliging Hull City backline, he also boasts exceptional recent home form, scoring a brace in his last two White Hart Lane run outs.
Thanks to those savings in midfield and defence, we have money left over to offer our final Scout Picks place to Diego Costa (10.9), who is FPL’s most popular player and leads the Golden Boot race with 12 goals.
That aforementioned fragile Sunderland defence looks to be no match for a player that has only failed to bring in attacking returns in two of his 15 Gameweek starts thus far.
At a cost of 4.5, Stoke’s Erik Pieters is another strong value pick this Gameweek.
The 4.9% owned full-back has earned a place on our bench after helping the Potters earn two clean sheets in the last three Gameweeks.
He hosts a Southampton side at the bet365 Stadium that has only managed to score six goals on their travels all season and who are without injured striker Charlie Austin.
Yaya Toure (7.5) marked his return to the Manchester City first team in style in Gameweek 12 with a brace against Crystal Palace.
Limited to a substitute appearance in his side’s 4-2 away defeat to Leicester City at the weekend, he looks set to start at home to Watford tomorrow night. With Sergio Aguero absent through suspension, the 1.4% owned Ivorian may also be on spot-kick duties.
Swansea City’s porous backline has prompted us to offer a bench place to our third West Brom pick, Salomon Rondon (6.5).
With 10 goal attempts and just one successful strike over the last four matches, my goals imminent table suggests the striker is due to reward his 5.2% FPL ownership.
The Community Champion
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. The current champion to beat is Boris Bodega, who achieved a 33 point margin of victory over us in Gameweek 15.
This week’s champion is Bash Villa, who has an overall rank of 4,258 and is now in his sixth season. He has selected a 3-4-3 line up of: Grant; McAuley, Brunt, Ogbonna: Payet, Alli, Eriksen, De Bruyne; Costa, Kane, Rondon.
