The Scout Squad panel are back with 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 7 deadline at 11:30 BST on Saturday.

Peter “three top 300 finishes” Kouwenberg and Scoutcast regulars/site contributors Az, Joe and Paul explain their noteworthy squad selections and omissions in the article below.

Manchester City’s home encounter with poor travellers Brighton and Hove Albion has persuaded each of our panel to nominate a defender, midfielder and forward from Pep Guardiola’s side, with unanimity over Sergio Aguero‘s inclusion.

Wolves and Spurs are well-fancied, as Harry Kane gets a clean sweep of nominations for the first time in 2018/19.

Our knowledgeable quartet are also anticipating goals at Goodison Park, with Richarlison and Aleksandar Mitrovic receiving four votes each.

Most popular picks: Rui Patricio, Matt Doherty, Kieran Trippier, Richarlison, Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane, Aleksandar Mitrovic (four), Joe Hart, Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling, Ryan Fraser, Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Alexandre Lacazette (three)

Paul said…

Our choice of premium players for the Scout Picks XI may ultimately determine its success.

Man City and Spurs have the fixtures to justify overlooking Mohamed Salah and Eden Hazard for their head-to-head at Stamford Bridge.

My one concern with Sergio Aguero is that his pitch time was managed on either side of City’s Champions League match with Lyon – 53 minutes at home to Fulham in Gameweek 5, followed by an hour away to Cardiff last weekend.

While I back Aguero to start, I’m hoping that Pep Guardiola doesn’t opt for a similar approach with his star striker on Saturday, given that City are back in Europe next midweek.

Son Heung-min is admittedly a gamble in midfield, though could be worth considering if Harry Kane is beyond our budget.

The South Korean was handed his first league start last weekend, and, having been omitted from last night’s Carabao Cup XI, could be unleashed against Huddersfield.

Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli’s lack of cutting edge can work in Son’s favour, the pair scoring one league goal between them this season.

In his previous meeting with the Terriers, Son netted both Spurs’ goals in a 2-0 home win.

Elsewhere, Cardiff’s Sean Morrison carries a decent goal threat from defence.

In terms of underlying numbers, Morrison is the only defender to be ranked top for expected goals for his side. No Cardiff player has bettered his two big chances or seven key passes ahead of Burnley’s visit.

Morrison served up two clean sheets and a pair of assists prior to last weekend’s loss to Man City. Meanwhile, The Clarets arrive with just two goals from their three road trips.

Newcastle’s weakness from dead-ball situations promotes a double-up on Harry Maguire and James Maddison at St James’ Park.

The Magpies have conceded 31 efforts from set-plays, more than any other side.

Maddison’s delivery looks tailor-made for Maguire, whose goal threat appears to be on the rise.

All four of his efforts in the box have arrived in the last two Gameweeks.

Joe said…

As discussed on this week’s Scoutcast, Chelsea’s home clash with Liverpool looks tough to call and historically the omens are not good from a Fantasy Premier League perspective. Neither side has scored more than a goal in their last three league clashes and there’s only been one clean sheet over that run, when Chelsea won 1-0 in May last season.

With plenty of other good options elsewhere I’m going to swerve this clash of the titans.

Manchester City’s hosting of Brighton looks far more enticing, with a clean sheet and attacking points likely. With doubts over Benjamin Mendy’s fitness, I’ve opted for Aymeric Laporte for Sky Blues defensive cover. At £5.6m he’s kindly priced and has started all league games so far. Sergio Aguero’s midweek Carabao Cup rest suggests he will also start against a Brighton outfit that has shipped 11 goals this campaign. Raheem Sterling’s mere 35-minute run-out against Oxford United also indicates he will make this weekend’s first XI.

The Goodison Park encounter between Everton and Fulham looks like offering us lots of goals, with Toffees talisman Richarlison and Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic set to prosper. The Serbian striker has notched five goals and an assist this season, while the Brazilian has found the net three times in just four starts.

Burnley’s impressive 4-0 defeat of Bournemouth last time out plus an easy trip to relegation certainties Cardiff sees me select two Clarets players – Joe Hart and Johann Berg Gudmundsson. The former England stopper is top for saves this season and his clean sheet prospects are buoyed by the return from injury of Steven Defour. The Belgian helped Sean Dyche’s troops keep ten clean sheets in the 24 matches he was involved in last season. Meanwhile, the Icelander’s two assists against the Cherries last weekend underlined his superb creativity.

Az said…

Quite a tough one this week, with the Liverpool v Chelsea game meaning that a lot of the usual Scout Pick go-tos aren’t as appealing as they have been. I’ve kept faith with Mohamed Salah though, who just about clings on to a spot in my picks. I think Liverpool will just have too much for Chelsea, even at Stamford Bridge, and I actually think this is a great game for Salah against his former club to show that he hasn’t lost his edge this season.

There are a couple of standout games for me.

I couldn’t choose between Jonny and Matt Doherty in defence for Wolves, so I have gone for both of them. Jonny looks really unlucky not to have registered some attacking returns yet and seems to do better on the Bonus Points System. This is a great game for him to show that he can rival Doherty for a spot in our teams and I can’t see anything other than a clean sheet for Wolves in this one.

Spurs look set to put a woeful Huddersfield to the sword, meanwhile. Even though I have not been overly impressed with the Lilywhites, a win seems inevitable. Dele Alli looks a great pick this week now he’s back from injury, as does Kieran Trippier who is on set pieces.

Manchester City also look assured of beating Brighton, who have only won one point away from home in three attempts. I really can’t see a surprise here, even with Anthony Knockaert playing his best football in years. Raheem Sterling, Aymeric Laporte and Sergio Aguero all look likely to start and could inflict some real damage.

For a differential captain punt (because let’s face it, we’re all going for Aguero), Richarlison has to be considered. Fulham are absolutely terrible in defence and the Brazilian looked threatening on his return to the Everton side against Arsenal (in the first half at least). I’m expecting goals in this game and both Richarlison and Aleksandar Mitrovic should prosper. I’m also really hoping Richarlison gets to play up front; I’m licking my lips at that prospect and the signs are good with Cenk Tosun’s benching last week.

Up front, my forwards pick themselves really. Along with Aguero, I really like the look of Alexandre Lacazette, who is making the most of his chances and is playing for an Arsenal side who are starting to find their feet. I’ve reluctantly put Harry Kane in my picks, because of the opposition, but I won’t be taking a hit to get him in my own team. I do think if he’s going to challenge for the Golden Boot this year, he needs to score a couple of goals in the next few games. Mitrovic and Jamie Vardy carry the most attacking threat for their teams and are playing against quite porous defences so I definitely wouldn’t bet against them to score a few goals between them.

Peter said…

Away from the Etihad and Molineux, I’ll acknowledge that most of my selections this week don’t possess both of the sought-after qualities of great form and fixture, but let’s kick off with a quick focus on the Citizens and Wolves.
With a trip to face Hoffenheim on Tuesday, the fact that Aymeric Laporte, Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero were all rested against Oxford United does not guarantee the full 90 minutes (or even a starting berth) come Saturday. However, the league’s most potent offence and second-tightest defence clearly command our full attention as Brighton roll into town without a clean sheet to their name.

Averaging a chance every 14.5 minutes, Aguero has shown that he doesn’t always need a full match to get in on the action, whilst Sane seems likely to profit if Benjamin Mendy’s absence continues. Laporte, meanwhile, has had eight attempts on goal this season, although only half of these were inside the box and just two on target.

Like City, Wolves have only conceded four big chances this season, despite already facing both Manchester clubs. The visiting Saints welcome back Danny Ings but have only six goals to show for their (sixth-highest total of) 85 shots. A defensive double-up of Rui Patricio and Matt Doherty seems in order, particularly given that no defender can better the Irishman’s eight shots in the box.

I’m also backing Raul Jimenez, who only trails Aguero and another of my picks, Aleksandar Mitrovic, for attempts amongst strikers. A slight warning, though, that Southampton sit mid-table as far as shots and goals conceded are concerned.

Harry Kane’s selection required more deliberation than in previous seasons and the decision of whether to play hokey-cokey with another premium player such as Mohamed Salah for the coming run of Huddersfield, Cardiff and West Ham is understandably occupying many an FPL manager’s thoughts. Whilst I personally am probably going to focus my own transfers elsewhere, there have been some signs of life in Kane, who has as many goals (three) as and only one fewer assist (one) than Liverpool’s talismanic Egyptian and I anticipate that his undoubted potential will see him make the final Scout Picks this week.

My final thoughts are on the weekend’s glamour tie as the Bluebirds host the Clarets, a game possibly spared final billing on Match of the Day purely because it takes place as the sole fare on offer on “Super” Sunday. Neither team has looked prolific this season with a combined tally of ten goals, four of which came in Burnley’s last fixture against Bournemouth. Indeed, Cardiff have found the net just twice in their three home fixtures and Burnley likewise in their three away games.

Let’s put the “expected goal involvement” (xGI) to the test and back Sean Morrison to get involved in the event that Cardiff can add to that tally, given that the centre-half currently tops that delta for defenders and already has two assists to his name.

The Community Champion

This week’s champion is Boris Bodega, whose best finish in five seasons of competing was 80,866 in 2016/17.

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, Hasselbaink Forever, lost out to our Scout Picks 51-59 with a 3-4-3 line-up of Alisson (6); van Dijk (1), van Aanholt (6), Sakho (6); Hazard (3), Mane (3), Sane (6), Richarlison (2); Mitrovic (8), Lacazette (8), Giroud (2).

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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