With Wednesday’s Scout Squad article previewing the candidates up for consideration, the time has come to reveal who has made the final Gameweek 30’s Scout Picks.
In goal, we’ve opted for the budget friendly price tag of Kasper Schmeichel (4.9), ahead of the visit of a Stoke City side that has failed to find the net in each of their last three road trips.
Craig Shakespeare’s men are without a clean sheet since Gameweek 20 but, following his outstanding display at the London Stadium last time out, we’re drawn to Schmeichel’s save point potential and believe that he can also deliver a first shut-out under the new regime.
With Manchester City facing Arsenal, a Merseyside derby at Anfield and Chelsea colliding with a newly resolute Crystal Palace backline, there is community chatter suggesting that it could be worthwhile ignoring an attacker for the captaincy and instead dare to skipper a defender.
This is reflected in two of our defensive picks, with Chelsea wing-back Marcos Alonso (6.8) and Manchester United’s raiding right-back Antonio Valencia (5.9) both earning selection due to their considerable potential for points at both ends of the pitch.
Alonso has racked up more goal attempts than any other defender since his Chelsea debut, recording four goals and assists, while being part of a backline with a league-high 13 clean sheets to their name. With Sam Allardyce’s Eagles expected to offer little ambition at the Bridge, a clean sheet looks like a minimum expectation for the Spaniard.
Valencia also looks well placed for returns, having produced a goal, assist or clean sheet in five of his last six. Old Trafford visitors West Brom have the third-worst tally of away goal attempts this campaign, while the Baggies have claimed just a single shut-out on their travels – way back in Gameweek 1. With more than 124,000 new owners, Valencia is also the most popular player in FPL’s transfer market over the international break.
Squeezing this duo into our 84 million budget has lead us to search for value with our third defender selection.
With the injured Danny Rose still absent for Spurs, we have the ideal cut-price option in Ben Davies (4.8), who continues to deputise at left wing-back. Only Christian Eriksen has created more chances and delivered more crosses for Spurs since Davies broke into the side in Gameweek 24 – that includes Kyle Walker, the most popular FPL defender.
Burnley may have conceded just 12 goals at Turf Moor, but we believe that the top owned FPL midfielder Dele Alli (8.9) has enough threat to also prosper for Spurs, having struck seven goals already on the road.
In addition, the England midfielder looks to have adopted penalty duties in the absence of the injured Harry Kane following his converted spot-kick against Southampton in Gameweek 29.
In our Scout Squad article, we highlighted how selecting Alexis Sanchez (11.6) would be a victory for form over fixture when his Arsenal side host Manchester City at the Emirates on Sunday.
With four goals and two assists in his last six league starts, plus a goal and an assist for Chile on Tuesday against Venezuela, the 26.3% owned midfielder looks impossible to ignore, despite visitors City keeping four clean sheets in their last six.
Another in-form midfielder who demands attention is Bournemouth’s 12.4% owned Josh King (5.8), who has nine goals in 11 league starts and visits a Southampton backline that has shipped ten in their last six.
Elsewhere, Gylfi Sigurdsson (7.8) once again joins our XI in a week where he is also garnering interest as a captaincy option, ahead of Middlesborough’s visit to the Liberty Stadium.
The Swansea set-piece specialist has scored eight times and assisted a further 11 this season, while ‘Boro have just one shut-out in their last six.
Southampton’s Dusan Tadic (7.0) completes our five-man midfield with goals expected at St Mary’s. As with the 2015/16 season run in, the Serb has once been quietly racking up points at the business end of a campaign. With a goal and three assists in his last trio of league starts, and with penalties also in his locker, we think Tadic will reward our faith and boost his meagre 2% ownership ahead of the Saints’ looming double Gameweeks.
Jamie Vardy (9.8) has been the player to benefit most from the change of management at Leicester City. The striker has netted three times and assisted a further two in Craig Shakespeare’s trio of league games in charge.
With a visit from a Stoke side that has won just two of their last 26 league visits to Leicester, the Foxes’ marksman, who has attracted 111,000 new owners over the international break, is a shoo-in for our frontline.
Form once again prevailed over fixtures in our selection of Everton’s Romelu Lukaku (10.5).
He travels to Anfield for the Merseyside derby on the back of nine goals in his last six, as well as a goal for Belgium against Greece over the international break. While derby matches can throw the formbook out of the window, Lukaku’s hot-streak is just too compelling to ignore. His burgeoning 47.1% ownership also makes him a dangerous player to be without should he prosper once again.
With four goals since becoming a regular in the Swansea City backline, our defensive substitute Alfie Mawson (4.6) gives us both attacking and shut-out potential for ‘Boro’s visit. Steve Agnew’s side have constantly struggled for a cutting edge and have scored fewer goals than any other side, indicating that a fifth Swans clean sheet could be on the cards.
Chelsea’s Pedro (7.2) is perhaps unfortunate to be consigned to the bench; he looks a certain starter against Palace and has produced two goals and two assists in his last four Gameweeks. However, with Victor Moses an injury doubt, we just have reservations, with Antonio Conte possibly considering the Spaniard for a more withdrawn wing-back role.
Andy Carroll (6.3) claims our final bench spot. He collides with a Hull City defence at the KCOM Stadium that has shipped 23 goals and kept just one clean sheet in front of their own fans. Carroll has started the last three and was only denied a major haul by Kasper Schmeichel’s heroics in Gameweek 29.
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.
The Gameweek 30 champion is GWitbrock, who has opted for a 3-4-3 line up of: Fabianski; Alonso, Walker, Mawson; Tadic, Pedro, A Ayew, Mahrez; Vardy, Defoe, Aguero.
