We’ve picked out what we believe to be the best starting XI for Gameweek 15 of Fantasy Premier League.
Due to the quick turnaround following Gameweek 14, we haven’t had time to run a Scout Squad article – which means this has been chosen by the Fantasy Football Scout editorial team
As usual, we are within our budget of £83m and this week line-up in a 4-3-3 formation.
Goalkeeper
Hugo Lloris (£5.4m) is our goalkeeper of choice this week as Spurs prepare to face a Southampton side reeling from the sacking of manager Mark Hughes. The Saints have been pretty anaemic on the road this season anyway, averaging 0.66 goals per away game if you take out their recent 3-2 defeat facing the hapless Fulham defence.
Defenders
Aymeric Laporte (£6.1m) is our chosen Manchester City representative in defence mainly because of his likelihood of starting. The Frenchman has played every single minute of the league campaign so far and should continue that trend at Watford. While the defending champions have kept eight clean sheets after 14 matches, the Hornets have failed to score in three of their last four.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.3m) represents the Liverpool defence this week with doubts over whether Andrew Robertson will be fit in time to face Burnley. It’s also eight clean sheets for Jurgen Klopp’s men in 2018/19, and they could grow that number when they go up against a Clarets side bottom of the league for shots on target since Gameweek 1. Alexander-Arnold has demonstrated his ability for attacking returns too by scoring a free-kick against Watford in Gameweek 13.
Lucas Digne (£4.8m) comes back into the side ready to face a home match against Newcastle United. The Magpies have averaged 0.8 goals away from home this season while Everton have kept clean sheets in three of their last four Goodison Park outings. Meanwhile, Newcastle are the worst team in the league for allowing attempts from set pieces this year, playing into Digne’s hands as the Toffees’ primary corner taker.
Shane Duffy (£4.7m) could be the hero for Brighton in their derby encounter with Crystal Palace in Gameweek 15. The centre-back is the Seagull’s primary aerial threat and is about to face the defence that has conceded the most headed attempts in the last four Gameweeks. Add into the mix the Eagles’ troubles in front of goal, scoring in just three of their last seven matches, there’s a good chance that Duffy could get returns at both ends of the pitch.
Midfielders
If we’re not going to put Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) in the Scout Picks when Liverpool are facing Burnley, then we never will! The Clarets have conceded more shots than any other side in the league this season, and even allowed Crystal Palace to have 29 of them in Gameweek 14. How much more damaging will that be when Klopp’s Reds come to Turf Moor? Salah feels the most likely Liverpool player to fully capitalise with more shots in the box or on target in the last four Gameweeks than any of his colleagues. He looks assured of a start too, having been taken off early against Everton and doubts hanging over Sadio Mané’s fitness.
Leroy Sané (£9.4m) is one of the few Manchester City options that we can be fairly confident will start at Watford. Meanwhile, Raheem Sterling’s 90 minutes against Bournemouth, and competition from Riyad Mahrez, make him less sure of a place in the XI. The injury to Benjamin Mendy has given Sané a monopoly on providing width from that left-flank while Pep Guardiola has suggested the German international will keep playing if he sustains his current form. In his last four matches, Sané has averaged 9.75 points and has matched Raheem Sterling’s shots, shots on target and chances created figures from fewer minutes.
Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.5m) is another Everton player who makes it into the Scout Picks based on the frailties of upcoming opponents Newcastle. Their susceptibility to set pieces will play into the Icelandic international’s hands given his role in taking free-kicks. He is also the designated penalty taker for the Toffees. On top of that, he’s had the same number of shots in the last four Gameweeks as the in-form Sterling, registering an average of 5.25 points per game in that time.
Forwards
Harry Kane (£12.4m) gets back into the Scout Picks for Gameweek 15 ahead of that plum home fixture against Southampton. He has had at least double the number of shots on target in the last four games as any other player in the league. The second-best for that statistic in that time-frame has mustered just six. Given his lofty shot count of 19, just under five per game, since Gameweek 11, we think Kane is back to his Fantasy best. Meanwhile, Southampton have shipped 2.29 goals per away game this season and allowed Kane a hat-trick the last time they visited Wembley to play Spurs.
Marko Arnautovic (£7.2m) gets another Scout Picks inclusion ahead of West Ham’s hosting of Cardiff City. He has three returns in his last four matches while the Bluebirds are conceding on an average of two goals per away game this season. The Austrian may have dropped a little deeper than we’d like since the return of Chicharito to the starting line-up but he feels more assured of a start than anyone else. Not only is he a pivotal figure for West Ham, he was allowed to rest for the final 20 minutes of their 3-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday.
Callum Wilson (£6.9m) simply cannot stop scoring against the big teams after he netted at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The fact that he is the only striker to score an open play goal against Manchester City this season tells you about the kind of campaign he’s having. With a home match against Huddersfield Town this week, we can’t do anything but predict his scoring run to continue.
Substitutes
Fabian Balbuena (£4.4m) was originally in our starting line-up but we downgraded him to the bench given the slight injury doubt over him. Cardiff have just away goals in six matches this season so West Ham look good value for a clean sheet.
Xherdan Shaqiri (£7.0m) looks like he’ll get another Premier League start at Burnley on Wednesday night with the foot injury to Sadio Mané. That should allow him the chance to benefit from Burnley’s shocking defensive record this season.
Glenn Murray (£6.7m) has delivered attacking points in all but one home game this season, which bodes well ahead of Crystal Palace’s visit to the Amex Stadium. The veteran strike, of course, used to play for the Eagles so will be very incentivised to continue his impressive scoring record in home games.
Community Champion
Due to the quick turnaround between Gameweeks 14 and 15 there is no Community Champion this week.
Our competition with the community will resume for Gameweek 16.
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