The fixtures are now coming thicker and faster than the lovechild of Joey Essex and Usain Bolt, but our meeting of Fantasy minds, the Scouts, are ready for the weekend’s challenges.

Their Gameweek 15 wishlist includes a lot of standard fare – Mohamed Salah and Eden Hazard, Harry Kane up front – as well as some rare and inexpensive dishes, such as Lee Grant and Jonjoe Kenny.

Both of those cheap as chips options could well end up in the final Scout Picks side to enable the inclusion of expensive Chelsea defenders and three of the five top-scoring strikers of the season to date.

In fact, there looks like only small beans to quibble over in their choices; a good thing when two Gameweeks in a matter of three days affords us precious little of one of Fantasy life’s luxuries – time.

We’ll be back tomorrow to find out who makes the cut, so here’s the state of play to date, with our Scouts’ thought processes laid bare for you to dissect.

Peter says…

Don’t we just love the season of rotation?

And, looking at the plum home fixtures for Chelsea and for Manchester City, second-guessing Antonio Conte and Pep Guardiola is surely vital to our prospects this week.

Alas, in the absence of any reliable information, all we can do is pore over the data for minutes played and days rested, as if these are the only dynamics which influence a manager’s selection choice.

With that caveat firmly in place, I’m laying my crystal balls on the line to go for Marcos Alonso, Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata from the Blues, and for Nicolas Otamendi, David Silva and Sergio Aguero for the Etihad clash.

Both have fixtures promising huge hauls, against Newcastle and West Ham respectively – sides riding high in terms of goals conceded in recent weeks.

Half of my chosen six didn’t start the midweek fixtures, but that in itself may not be definitive for this weekend.

Beyond that, our understandable suspicion about José Mourinho’s intentions when travelling to face ‘big’ opponents renders their trip to Arsenal off-limits in my eyes, while Spurs and Liverpool only tempt me from an attacking perspective in their respective visits to Watford and Brighton.

The unstoppable Mohamed Salah is in my picks this week, along with Harry Kane, after I chose to leave out the England striker last week.

Two relegation-threatened teams that can’t score or defend meet at The Hawthorns, but I’m not expecting a thriller with my somewhat defensive selections of Ben Foster and bonus point hoover Mamadou Sakho.

Neither am I expecting Southampton to pop the Cherries’ backline, despite the Saints finding their scoring boots against Everton recently.

Asmir Begovic (46 saves this season) and Charlie Daniels (13 chances created) are slightly risky selections, nonetheless. In the absence of many stand-out striker options, Wayne Rooney is knee-jerked in for the visit of Huddersfield.

I’m more confident that Stoke City and Leicester City have enough about them to sink Swansea City and Burnley, despite the visitors each exhibiting defensive resilience on their travels, albeit at a cost to their own attacking menace.

I see Xherdan Shaqiri and Riyad Mahrez poaching points from midfield. Both players sit around the top ten midfielders for shots on target in the last six Gameweeks and trail only Mesut Özil and Aaron Ramsey for big chances created during that period, highlighting both their attacking and creative threat.

Jonty says…

As predicted, Gameweek 14 was full of rotation traps, with two of our selection Salah and Hazard benched and another, Leroy Sane, missing out through illness.

With the Chelsea maestro’s rest out of the way, a start at the weekend looks assured and has earned him top billing among my midfield selection. He enjoys a home clash with a Newcastle side that has shipped 11 on their travels, including two against West Brom last time out.

Penalties in his locker and three goals in his last five make the Belgian a good bet to reward our faith.

A starting place for Liverpool’s sensational winger also looks secure, particularly after he scored a brace in his 23-minute cameo against Stoke on Wednesday night. However, I’ve only handed him second billing as he travels to a Brighton defence that has proved resilient of late, with clean sheets in three of their last six.

After starting Manchester City’s last six in all competitions, I’m fairly certain Raheem Sterling will be benched this weekend for West Ham’s visit. But with the Hammers conceding more goals (19) than any other team on the road, and with Sterling now on 13 for the season for the Sky Blues in all competitions, I’m willing to take the chance that Pep Guardiola will once again name him in the starting XI.

Kane gets top spot among my striker selection and looks to be Hazard and Salah’s closest rival for the armband in spite of Spurs poor form, of three defeats in their last five.

His away record, of seven goals and more shots than any other player (33) is too strong too ignore, as are the defensive frailties of his hosts, Watford, who have shipped 15 at Vicarage Road – an unwelcome Premier League home record.

Among my differential candidates, I like the look of Charlie Austin and Oliver Giroud this week, who face Bournemouth away and Manchester United at home respectively.

Austin’s brace against Everton in Gameweek 13, and his benching in midweek, give me confidence he will start, and the Cherries’ concession of two goals to Burnley at home offers hope that he will find the net.

Meanwhile, Giroud’s midweek brace and likely start against United given Alexandre Lacazette’s absence, suggests that he could prosper when he faces a Red Devils side that has conceded in three of their last four road trips.

Paul says…

I’m backing Sam Allardyce to make an immediate impact on Everton’s fortunes at home to travel-sick Huddersfield this weekend.

The Terriers have failed to score in five successive road trips and have conceded 12 times in their last three away fixtures, which suggests that the Toffees can profit at both ends of the pitch.

Rooney is an obvious pick up front in light of his hat-trick against West Ham, although Jonjoe Kenny – priced at just 4.3 – has started each of the last six at right-back and served up 11 points in the Hammers’ encounter.

Elsewhere at the back, Arsenal’s Sead Kolasinac remains an option if Jose Mourinho reverts to bus-parking for Man United’s trip to the Emirates.

The Serbian is ranked third among defenders for shots (14) and efforts in the box (13), and sits second for both big chances created (five) and assists (four). Furthermore, his side have conceded just once in their last six at home.

Midweek rotation plays a part in my thinking here, with Cesar Azpilicueta and Hazard looking assured starters for Chelsea’s home match with Newcastle. Reluctantly, I opt for the former over Alonso, who I reckon will drop to the bench on Saturday lunchtime.

Similarly, Salah will surely be unleashed from the start for Liverpool’s trip to Brighton, while I also feel that Sterling will retain his spot on the Man City teamsheet at home to West Ham.

Given that a booking for Sane would rule him out of the Manchester derby, Pep Guardiola may well allow the German more time to recover from his midweek illness. Sterling has scored in two of his three appearances off the bench this season, underlining his potential for points even in limited minutes.

Watford’s Richarlison looks an assured starter for the visit of a Spurs side with one clean sheet in six. The Brazilian has scored or assisted in seven of his last nine and has already served up points against the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea this season.

Meanwhile, Kane could plunder the points away to a Hornets defence that’s conceded more home goals (15) than any side.

The Sane situation, allied with Morata’s 90 minutes against Swansea, elevates Gabriel Jesus in my forward ranks for that plum home clash with the league’s worst defence.

Mark says…

Like many other Fantasy managers, I’m still reeling from Wednesday evening’s events, still analysing the damage from the fallout and just thankful that we were all in it together.

Looking at my completed squad line-up, it appears that I haven’t learnt my lesson.

The likes of Alonso, Sterling and Aguero go into Gameweek 15 as rotation risks, but I’m almost weary of trying to anticipate the next move from Messrs. Guardiola and Conte.

I feel that Alonso is too important to the balance of the side to rest against Newcastle, while Sterling’s run of form is so irresistible, I just wonder if Guardiola will keep the faith and roll him out for a seventh successive match. We saw him ride out Sane’s form in much the same way.

As for Aguero, I’m still convinced that he will eventually emerge as first choice, and omitting one of the City strikers for the visit of West Ham just seems remiss.

Friday may find us turning to a big spend in midfield once again, with Hazard and Salah assured starters. That could open the way for a budget striker to earn some recognition, so I’m backing Tammy Abraham in this respect.

Stoke’s defence has been woeful of late and, despite the clash with Swansea City looking less than attractive on paper, I see goals in that match. Eric Choupo-Moting may also force his way in then, with a 3-5-2 perhaps the most likely set-up for Friday’s final Picks.

The Community Champion

Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Gameweek will be Lord, who is in his fourth season and finished in the top 5,000 in the overall rankings in his last two campaigns.

The Community Champion who has the best lead over the Scouts during 2017/18 will win a £100 Amazon voucher (currently we can only offer Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com vouchers).

Gameweek 14’s champion, A Manager Has No Name, was beaten (just) 52-50 by the Scouts. The champion to beat remains Gregor, who achieved victory over the Scouts by a 33-point margin in Gameweek 5.