For the third week in a row, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Aguero and Eden Hazard have all been included in the FFS Scout Picks.
After making some tough decisions on the squad selected by our pundits Paul, Joe, Az and Peter, we’ve pulled together what we believe to be the best XI for Gameweek 6.
This week we’re lining up in the 4-4-2 formation and are £0.1m inside our £83m budget for the line-up.
Goalkeeper
Wayne Hennessey (£4.5m) gets the nod in goal in what proved to be a tricky decision. The Crystal Palace man did not get any top picks from our pundits but was name-checked by all four. Most of the other options did not allow us as much freedom to pick the optimum attacking assets, so we’ve gone with Hennessey as a cost-cutting measure.
Defenders
Andrew Robertson (£6.2m) returns to the Scout Picks selection for a fourth appearance of the season. The Liverpool left-back is our headline option in defence after being chosen as the top pick by three of our pundits. Only Joe refrained from putting Robertson top of his list, but he still ranked him in second place. As ever, either one of a clean sheet and attacking returns looks likely against Southampton.
Marcos Alonso (£6.8m) is up next ahead of a trip to West Ham. The Chelsea man has registered returns in all but one of his five appearances in 2018/19 and has a good chance of involving himself in goals against a leaky West Ham defence. Joe was the only one to assign a top pick to Alonso, but Paul, Az and Peter all stuck him in second place.
With Wilfried Zaha and James Tomkins back to full fitness, it’s difficult not to include Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.1m) in the Scout Picks selection. A home meeting with goal-shy Newcastle is the perfect opportunity for the young right-back to demonstrate the incredible value he can offer this season. We’re expecting another clean sheet for the bargain defender.
Rounding off our back four is Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell (£5.0m). He comes into the line-up for two reasons. The first is that he was name-checked by Paul, Joe and Peter, but also because team-mate Kasper Schmeichel was highly requested too. The Foxes face a Huddersfield with just two goals to their name in five matches and none from open play. Chilwell has been spending plenty of time in opposition penalty boxes, so we think there’s potential for attacking returns too.
Midfielders
Once again, our pundits were split equally between two big names in midfield. Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) continues his incredible streak of featuring in the final Scout Picks selection for the sixth week in a row. Paul and Joe picked him as their top option while Az and Peter selected him in second place. Not a huge shock, considering Salah is currently top among all players for penalty box touches, shots in the box and chances created. Furthermore, he is second for shots on target, total efforts on goal and big chances.
Not surprisingly, Eden Hazard (£10.9m) has also been included. Az and Peter chose the Chelsea man as their number one, with Paul and Joe opted for a second place. As we found earlier this week, Hazard has been bettering Salah for minutes per passes received, penalty box touches, crosses, shots on target and successful passes in the final third.
David Silva (£8.5m) gets a second successive selection after finally scoring his first goal of the season against Fulham. Ironically, his underlying numbers weren’t as impressive as usual in that game but he remains top of the charts for chances created, alongside Salah. It is expected that Manchester City will record a big win at Cardiff and Silva looks the most assured midfielder to start and record returns.
Completing the midfield quartet is Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser (£5.7m). This is his first inclusions in the Scout Picks XI since Gameweek 3, and his third of the season so far. While his underlying numbers indicate he is more of a creative player than a goal-scoring one, his next opponents Burnley look equally as vulnerable in wide areas as Leicester did.
Forwards
Another week, another inclusion in the Scout Picks for Sergio Aguero (£11.4m). The Man City forward gets a place in the starting XI for a sixth week in a row ahead of that appealing trip to Cardiff City. Aguero has still had more shots than any other player this season suggesting he will have plenty of opportunities to punish the newly-promoted side. He was chosen as the top pick by Paul and Peter.
Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.8m) had the honour of being tipped as the top forward option by Joe and Az for Gameweek 6. The Fulham man remains top of the whole division for shots on target and is particularly dominating his aerial battles. Crucially, headed goals seem to be something of a weakness for Watford, his next opponents.
SUBSTITUTES
Ederson (£5.6m) is among the honourable mentions this week. We think Man City stand a good chance of keeping a clean sheet against Cardiff but we could not find a cost-effective way of reflecting that in the starting XI. With Benjamin Mendy ruled out of Gameweek 6, Ederson looks the next surest route into the champions’ defence.
Chris Smalling (£5.8m) is our stand-in defender as Manchester United look well-placed to pick up a clean sheet against Wolves. He was name-checked by three of our pundits while Paul asked for David de Gea (£5.9m). Unfortunately, both of them were too expensive to get into the first XI.
James Maddison (£6.6m) has been quite lucky to have found the net so often this season but our Scout Picks pundits still believe the points will continue for him. A home match against Huddersfield should definitely yield attacking returns for the Foxes and Maddison seems the most cost-effective option here.
Callum Wilson (£6.3m) makes it onto our bench once again, mainly because he is still more expensive than Fraser. But, of course, we still believe he will register FPL points against an out-of-form Burnley side. He remains joint-top for shots in the box with Salah.
Community Champion
Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Gameweek 6 is Hasselbaink Forever, who has opted for a 3-4-3 line-up of: Alisson; van Dijk, van Aanholt, Sakho; Hazard, Mané, Sané, Richarlison; Mitrovic, Lacazette, Giroud.
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 Scouts have won two and lost three so far, zophar narrowly winning by 76 points to 71 in Gameweek 5.
Eden Wizard still leads the way, with his Gameweek 2 victory over the Scout Squad crew coming by a 77-68 scoreline.
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