The Scout Squad panel return to offer their long-list of candidates to be considered for our regular Scout Picks selection on Friday.

The 72 nominations will be whittled down to a squad of 15 (with the starting XI not exceeding £83m and no club represented by more than three players) ahead of the Gameweek 6 deadline at 11:30 BST on Saturday.

Peter Kouwenberg – who has finishes of 289th, 129th and 138th to his name – and Scoutcast regulars/site contributors Az, Joe and Paul explain their noteworthy squad selections and omissions in the article below.

There was a degree of consensus among our panel this week, with seven players receiving unanimous support and a further ten assets being nominated by at least three of our esteemed experts.

Despite concerns about his output, Mohamed Salah is backed across the board by Paul, Joe, Az and Peter, along with form players such as Eden Hazard, Ryan Fraser, Marcos Alonso, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Andrew Robertson.

Crystal Palace and Leicester City players have been well-supported – particularly in defence and between the sticks – but there is not a single vote for Benjamin Mendy, with fitness concerns plaguing the Manchester City left-back.

Most popular picks: Wayne Hennessey, Andrew Robertson, Marcos Alonso, Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah, Ryan Fraser, Aleksandar Mitrovic (four), Ederson, Kasper Schmeichel, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Ben Chilwell, Chris Smalling, David Silva, James Maddison, Sergio Aguero, Roberto Firmino, Alexandre Lacazette (three)

Paul said…

Form dictates the vast majority of my squad, with Romelu Lukaku pushing for the premium forward role ahead of Sergio Aguero on the back of four goals in as many starts.

I’ve reluctantly overlooked Benjamin Mendy due to doubts over his fitness to face Cardiff. As a result, I’m a little wary that David Silva could be the only Manchester City player to claim a place in our Scout Picks XI as you’d expect them to deliver big hauls against Neil Warnock’s side.

Again, I’m turning to defence for the differentials.

Crystal Palace and Leicester City have standout home matches that offer strong alternatives for those looking beyond the obvious names.

Crucially, their visitors, Newcastle and Huddersfield, sit joint-bottom for attempts on goal, with 40 apiece.

They have scored just four and two goals respectively.

James Tomkins’ return to action was a big bonus for Palace last weekend at Huddersfield – they have two clean sheets in the three matches he’s started.

The centre-half is always a big threat in the opposition area and has netted three goals in back-to-back seasons. He will entertain a Magpies’ defence that have conceded more attempts from set-plays (22) than any other side this season.

Ben Chilwell has been overshadowed by fellow full-back Ricardo Pereira at Leicester. Managers have flocked to the Portuguese after his run of three assists in the first five Gameweeks.

Yet the underlying numbers remain in Chilwell’s favour. He has recorded at least double the number of shots (four to two) and crosses (31 to 15) than the summer signing.

Adding to his appeal, the England U21 star also earned two bonus points in Leicester’s only clean sheet of the season.

Joe said…

Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic is making a mockery of his £6.8m price tag this season with four goals and an assist in just five games and gets top billing among my striker options.

His home clash with Watford looks particularly enticing given he is top for headed goals (three) and the Hornets are among the seven worst sides in terms of conceding headers in the box.

Romelu Lukaku is another forward I’d like to see represented. With four goals and nine shots on target, only Mitrovic is shooting more accurately than the Manchester United man this season.

I back a three-strong frontline this time around and want to see Robert Firmino represented. With a goal in each of his last three run-outs in all competitions the Brazilian looks to be in menacing form ahead of Southampton’s visit. A double-up with his team-mate and Captain Poll leader Mohamed Salah is expensive but I think there are enough cheap options this week to accommodate both.

Chief among these budget enablers is Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has recorded an assist, two clean sheets and maximum bonus returns on two occasions. He hosts a Newcastle outfit with the joint-lowest number of shots (40), along with Huddersfield, this season.

Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser is another value option to help balance the books. The flying Scot racked up an incredible 18 FPL points last time out and squares up to a Burnley side that has shipped a record 103 shots this season.

Another forward I’ve put forward, more with the Spot the Differential articles in mind, is Olivier Giroud, who looks to have won over the Chelsea management and faces a West Ham outfit he has scored against on five occasions while at Arsenal.

Az said…

A stressful week for my own team as I wrestle with the need for Eden Hazard versus the prospects of Mohamed Salah at home to Southampton. There are some tough calls as well for my Scout Picks.

I’ve tripled up on Liverpool: Andrew Robertson is a no-brainer due to his threat going forward and form, while Roberto Firmino gets a look-in as he played limited minutes at the weekend and during the week. I wrestled with who to go for out of Salah and Sadio Mane and in the end chose the Egyptian – but a lack of form, a Champions League fixture and added pressure to deliver does worry me with regards to the off-form midfielder.

This is why I’ve gone for Eden Hazard as my top pick this week, and realistically, I don’t know if I can stomach going without him as he goes up against West Ham on Sunday afternoon.

In defence, I’ve gone for Ederson in goal for Manchester City due to a lack of real security of starts for their other defenders. Marcos Alonso blanked for the first time last week, but I don’t think he’ll be out of the points for long with Chelsea’s current form.

I’m still smarting from Aaron Wan-Bissaka being rooted to my bench, but I’m definitely playing him against Newcastle at home, which in my mind is the most likely game of all to have a clean sheet for the home side. Palace have the immovable objects of James Tomkins and Mamadou Sakho back in the side, too.

In midfield – other than Hazard and the Liverpool assets – I really like the look of David Silva against Cardiff this week, after the Spaniard finally delivered on his promising underlying stats at the weekend. In contrast, James Maddison continues to get “lucky” and I’m going to ride that streak against a toothless Huddersfield. I think the time is nigh for him to score a “proper” goal.

It would also be silly to overlook Ryan Fraser against a Burnley side who are conceding an alarming amount of shots and goals.

It’s nice to have a dilemma with the forwards. I’m happy with the ones I have selected but did chop and change my rankings of them many times before settling on this order. Sergio Aguero‘s small injury was a bit of a worry but he looks to have shaken off his ankle knock after featuring in midweek.

I’ve gone for Aleksandar Mitrovic as my main pick as he will cause Watford a lot of trouble with the number of shots (especially headers) he has recorded – I would be amazed if he came away from that game without a goal.

Alexandre Lacazette and Callum Wilson are both in good form and have decent fixtures against Everton and Burnley, respectively: both of these sides are shipping goals for fun at the moment.

Peter said…

Will this be the week that managers who ditched their Liverpool assets come to regret their disloyalty? Possibly not, if Jurgen Klopp chooses to rest his star players on Saturday in the midst of a frenetic run of fixtures. Certainly not, if the likes of Eden Hazard (backed again this week) and Ryan Fraser were their replacements in Gameweek 5.

Nonetheless, a home fixture against a Saints team which has already conceded 13 big chances is too enticing for Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah, with the conflict between the Egyptian’s underlying statistics versus actual points return spookily familiar after Harry Kane burned me repeatedly last season.

Fulham, Burnley and West Ham are the only teams to have conceded more big chances than Southampton and I’ve chosen a midfielder from each of their opponents: Roberto Pereyra, Fraser and Hazard respectively. Pereyra’s place on the bottom rung of the ladder is attributable to the downturn in his statistics in the last couple of games.

On the flip side, Fulham’s somewhat gung-ho approach has led to 20 attempts for Aleksandar Mitrovic, second only to Sergio Aguero (25), who keeps his place albeit with an even bigger health-warning than usual about possible rotation.

Form, fixtures and value combine at Selhurst Park, although Wilfried Zaha may need extra strapping with visitors, Newcastle, guilty of more fouls this season than any other team. Aaron Wan-Bissaka saved many a Gameweek last time out and already has more bonus points (six) than any other defender bar Marcos Alonso.

It’s fair to say Crystal Palace have ridden their luck a little this season, outperforming the expected goals conceded (xGC) figure by more than any other team, but that can be set against Newcastle’s own dire expected goals (xG) figure, with only Huddersfield trailing the Magpies.

Arsenal are a puzzle. Ten goals in their last four games and yet no one player truly sets himself apart from the rest. Their visitors, Everton, made the Hammers look like world-beaters on Sunday and you would have to back the Gunners to continue their excellent form in front of goal against a Toffees side without a clean sheet to their name this season. I’ve gambled on Alexandre Lacazette this time out.

The Community Champion

The Community Champion who has the best lead over the Scouts during 2018/19 will win a £100 Amazon voucher (currently we can only offer Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com vouchers).

Last week’s champion, zophar, beat our Scout Picks 76-71 with a 3-4-3 line-up of McCarthy (0); Mendy (0), Doherty (12), Alonso (2); David Silva (11), Hazard (20), Pedro (2), Ozil (10); Aguero (7), Lacazette (5), Ings (7).

Eden Wizard’s Gameweek 2 victory over the Scout Squad crew by a score of 77-68 remains the deficit to beat.

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