The Scout Picks are back for another weekend of Fantasy Premier League action on the eve of Gameweek 9.
One of this season’s holy trinity of Sergio Aguero, Mohamed Salah and Eden Hazard has missed out again after Paul, Joe, Az and Peter submitted their Scout Squads.
As per usual, we have come in under our budget of £83m, this week with £0.1m to spare, taking into account the official FPL prices on Friday evening.
Goalkeeper
Rui Patricio (£4.6m) gets his first inclusion in the Scout Picks this season with Wolves’ defence looking very resilient over the first eight Gameweeks. The only team to have allowed fewer big chances than Nuno’s side are Manchester City, which shows their amazing potential for clean sheets. It’s a Watford side up next for Wolves, whose goal conversion rate of 3.8% over the last four Gameweeks is the joint-worst in the division.
Defenders
It’s a welcome return to the Scout Picks selection for Benjamin Mendy (£6.2m), who makes his first appearance since Gameweek 5. The Frenchman looks established back in the Manchester City team and has potential to do well at both ends of the pitch once again. He managed five assists in the first four Premier League matches of the campaign while Man City, as we’ve already read, have allowed the fewest number of big chances so far this season. Not surprisingly, Mendy was chosen as the top defensive pick by three of our pundits.
Andrew Robertson (£6.3m) is another returning face who we’ve got high hopes for this Gameweek. Liverpool face a trip to goal shy Huddersfield this weekend and we believe that a clean sheet is highly probable for the Reds. Meanwhile, the Terriers have not kept a clean sheet since Gameweek 3 so there is also promise of attacking returns for Robertson.
Matt Doherty (£4.8m) has already been described as the new Marcos Alonso and he has taken the Scout Picks by storm in the last few Gameweeks. Only Harry Maguire has more efforts on goal among defenders in the last four Gameweeks than the Wolves man and his time spent in the penalty box is why he has two double-figure hauls in a row coming into Gameweek 9. Don’t forget he also benefits from Wolves’ impressive defensive numbers too so looks like an all-round excellent defensive option for a great price. He was tipped by all four of our pundits.
Completing the defence is a more left-field option, quite literally, in Everton’s Lucas Digne (£4.8m). The Frenchman has actualy created the same number of chances as Doherty since Gameweek 5 and has taken the same number of shots. Furthermore, Crystal Palace have struggled to create chances in that time and are facing an injury crisis among their forwards. This could be the week where delivers FPL points at both ends of the pitch.
Midfielders
Raheem Sterling (£11.2m) was our clear favourite in midfield for Gameweek 9. The Manchester City man was the top pick for all four of our pundits. That’s not surprising when he looks like a potential captain candidate this week, and the fact that he has outscored Sergio Aguero in every home match so far this season. Sterling’s next oppponents Burnley have given up more shots than any other side in the league over the first eight matches so the England international will have plenty of opportunities to score on Saturday.
Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) returns to the Scout Picks after missing out for the first time this season in Gameweek 7. Paul, Joe and Peter picked him as their second choice, while Az went for a third place spot. We largely feel that he will come through the injury doubt and that he is the best attacking option available at Liverpool. The Reds may have disapointed offensively over the last four Gameweeks but they did face Spurs, Chelsea and Man City in that time.
Josh Murphy (£4.8m) gets a spot in the team as our budget enabler. He represents the first Cardiff City player to make it into the Scout Picks this season, and we didn’t just do it to annoy Joe! Since returning to the Bluebirds’ line-up in Gameweek 7, Murphy’s total of nine shots on goal is the second best in the league. This week he faces the only side left in the league without a clean sheet this season: Fulham. Even more interesting is the fact that Cottagers are particularly vulnerable down their right-flank, with only two teams conceded more chances down that side of the pitch than them. You won’t be surprised to hear that we have Paul to thank for that particular statistic.
Forwards
We could not look past Sergio Aguero (£11.3m) as the top forward option with Burnley coming to the Etihad Stadium. All four of our pundits backed him as the best in his position for Gameweek 9 with good reason. Despite playing fewer minutes than many of the other options during the last four Gameweeks, no player has more shots on goal or in the penalty area than Aguero in that time. We’ve already covered why Burnley will give him plenty of chances and we’re expecting another home match with attacking returns. Aguero is yet to blank at the Etihad this season.
Alexandre Lacazette‘s (£9.7m) form ensured our pundits gave him unanimous backing as the second best forward option for Gameweek 9. The Arsenal man has registered attacking returns in every single game he has started in 2018/19 and is about to face a Leicester side with only one clean sheet on the road thus far.
Callum Wilson (£6.4m) takes the final spot in our team but it was a close-fought battle between him and Aleksandar Mitrovic. In the end the Bournemouth man won out on cost although we think both options will do well. The only side to have scored more home goals than the Cherries in the Premier League this season is Man City while their next opponents Southampton have given up more big chances than every club apart from Fulham in the first eight Gameweeks.
Substitutes
DeAndre Yedlin (£4.5m) gets a place on the substitutes bench to reflect the fact that Newcastle’s fixtures have begun to swing. This week it’s Brighton at home, the Seagulls having drawn a blank in all but one of their away games this season. The only one they scored in was against Fulham who have the worst defence in the league.
We would have loved to put Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.4m) into the side but we were restricted by cost. Nobody has created more chances than him in the last four Gameweeks while he also ranks second in the whole league for shots over that period too.
Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.9m) gets his mention by being included on the bench this week. He is still doing well for efforts on goal, registering the same number as Sigurdsson since Gameweek 5 but with a higher concentration of them taking place in the penalty area.
Community Champion
Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Gameweek 8 is FPL Mountainer. He has opted for a 3-4-3 formation of Fabianski; Walker, Robertson, Doherty; Ozil, Walcott, Sterling, Salah; Lacazette, Ings, Wilson.
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 four and lost three so far, with Hazard is an FPL Legend (ConteClub) defeated 53-44 in Gameweek 8.
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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