For the third time in a week, we have produced a line-up which we believe to be the best for Fantasy Premier League.
It’s been a manic turnaround this week and it comes to an end with our selection for Gameweek 16.
With a bit more time to prepare than we had for Gameweek 15, we consulted our Scout Squad once again, this time Joe, Az, Peter and Neale on the panel.
We have whittled down their choices to a 3-4-3 line-up valued at £82.5 (at time of writing).
Goalkeeper
Lukasz Fabianski (£4.6m) gets the nod in goal this week as West Ham prepare for a home match against Crystal Palace. He was chosen as the top option in this position by Joe, Az and Neale. While the Hammers have just one clean sheet at the London Stadium this season, they came incredibly close against Cardiff City, while the Eagles have largely struggled in front of goal. Their victory over Burnley owing to the Clarets accommodating nature at the back.
Defenders
As we get closer to Christmas we seem to be spending less and less money on defence in the Scout Picks each week. For Gameweek 16, Matt Doherty (£5.0m) is our most expensive player in this position as Wolves face a trip to Newcastle United. The Magpies have only scored in two of their last five matches at home so there’s a chance Doherty could get a clean sheet, but his attacking play this season means he always stands a chance of a goal or an assist.
Sead Kolasinac (£4.9m) has the honour of being the first Arsenal defender to make the Scout Picks this season. He was mentioned by Joe, Az and Neale ahead of the Gunners’ hosting of Huddersfield Town. While Unai Emery’s men have not been defensively sound this season, no team has scored fewer goals than Huddersfield. Furthermore, the Bosnian left-back has created 10 chances of the last four Gameweeks, claiming two assists in that time.
Despite Everton struggling to get the predicted result against Newcastle, Lucas Digne (£4.8m) gets another shot at the Scout Picks for Gameweek 16. It’s Watford who come to Goodison Park on Monday night, with just two goals in their last four matches, and the Hornets have found the net in only two of their last five away matches. Meanwhile, Digne continues to be involved in set pieces for Everton.
Midfielders
Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) goes into the Scout Picks once again, riding on the backing of all four Scout Squad pundits. Joe, Az and Neale put him down as the best option in this position for Gameweek 16 while Peter had him at second. As we recently noticed in this week’s latest Captain Sensible article, Salah has produced a nice balance between goal threat and creativity in the last four Gameweeks, comparing favourably with other options in spite of missing most of Gameweek 15. That rest against Burnley stands him in good stead to start at the Vitality Stadium, where he will face a Bournemouth defence that has allowed more shots in the penalty box than any other side from Gameweek 12 onwards.
Raheem Sterling (£11.6m) comes back into the side after missing out on a place in both the Manchester City starting XI and our own in Gameweek 15. We figured that the England international would probably be benched for the trip to Watford, but there is no way he won’t play against Chelsea. It is a huge match for Manchester City, which allows them to further demonstrate their ability to see off competition from other members of the big six. Sterling has four goals and five assists in his last five starts and looks the most likely to excel for Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Robert Snodgrass (£5.3m) comes in as a budget alternative to Felipe Anderson, who was chosen by all four of our pundits. We made the switch in order to facilitate greater spending on Salah and Sterling, as well as our forward line. The Scottish midfielder has actually created more chances than Anderson in the last four Gameweeks.
Callum Paterson (£5.3m) and Cardiff have a home match against Southampton in Gameweek 16 and it looks well-timed for the Bluebirds to exploit the Saints’ current situation. It will be the first game in charge for new manager Ralph Hasenhüttl and, with such a tight turnaround, his appointment is unlikely to take effect. Meanwhile, only Newcastle and Manchester City have had more efforts on goal in their last four home matches than Cardiff.
Forwards
Harry Kane (£12.5m) was tipped by all four of our pundits this week following his 12-point haul against Southampton on Wednesday. It’s a Leicester side he’s scored seven goals in his three matches against up next and he remains top of the league for shots on target in the last four Gameweeks.
Alexandre Lacazette (£9.6m) is the chosen Arsenal representative this week. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang actually got more support in the Scout Squad article but for financial reasons, we’ve gone with his French colleague. We actually believe Lacazette is likely to be involved, having featured from the bench twice across Gameweeks 14 and 15, while Aubameyang has played 180 minutes. In those two matches, he managed a goal and an assist.
Raúl Jiménez (£6.0m) completes the Scout Picks XI this week as the most popular of the budget forwards among our panel of pundits. All of them tipped the Mexican apart from Az as Wolves prepare to face Newcastle. The Magpies have conceded an average of 1.63 goals per home game this season while only Kane and Salomón Rondón have had more shots than Jiménez since Gameweek 12.
Substitutes
Sean Morrison (£4.7m) gets a place on the bench after picking up the backing of Joe and Peter. While Cardiff haven’t been too hot defensively this year, the home match against Southampton offers more potential for a clean sheet than usual. But crucially, no defender has had more touches in opposing penalty boxes than Morrison in the last four Gameweeks, indicating his goal threat.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£5.9m) has another favourable match-up this week as Burnley host a Brighton side susceptible to headed efforts this season, especially away from home. As the set piece taker, Gudmundsson could benefit.
Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez (£6.3m) is likely to be Manuel Pellegrini’s full-time replacement for the injured Marko Arnautovic so he should be considered a Fantasy stand-in too. In the four matches previous to Gameweek 15, the Mexican had actually registered more shots than his Austrian colleague from fewer minutes.
Community Champion
The Community Champion returns after the manic turnaround of the midweek games. Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Gameweek 16 is Dr Mantis Toboggan (DC2). He has opted for a 3-5-2 formation of Fabianski; Digne, Doherty, Kolasinac; Salah, Son, Richarlison, Martial, Paterson; Aubameyang, Lacazette.
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 eight and lost six so far, with Prasun Singhal defeated 57-43 in Gameweek 14.
fclackless‘s winning margin of 33 points (77-44) in Gameweek 10 is the current target to beat.
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