After the swift turnaround of Gameweeks 14 to 16, the Scout Squad panel have had a little more time to chew on their latest long-list of players to be considered for our regular Scout Picks feature on Friday.

The 72 nominations listed will be narrowed down to a squad of 14 (with the starting XI not exceeding a total cost of £83m) ahead of the Gameweek 17 deadline at 11:30 GMT on Saturday.

Regulars Joe, Peter and Paul are this week joined by myself, filling in for the unavailable Az.

The panel expands on their notable selections and omissions in the article below.

Most popular picks: Marcos Alonso, Matt Doherty, Felipe Anderson, Harry Kane, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Javier Hernandez, Raul Jimenez (four), Ederson, Ben Foster, Jonas Lossl, Ben Davies, Raheem Sterling, Roberto Pereyra, Aleksandar Mitrovic (three)

Paul said…

Fine home fixtures for Manchester City and Spurs means that doubling up on both their attacks could be the best route to success for this week’s Scout Picks.

As always, I’m throwing in a couple of differentials to balance out the list of usual suspects.

Crystal Palace, somewhat surprisingly, have recorded more shots (55) than any other side in the last three Gameweeks and are second only to Man City for efforts in the box (32 to 34).

Max Meyer has been one of the Eagles’ most promising players in that spell – indeed, his nine shots and five efforts in the box both match Eden Hazard, for example.

The German has also supplied eight key passes, earning an assist at West Ham last weekend.

With their goal threat on the rise, the Eagles will fancy their chances against Leicester at Selhurst Park.

I also reckon that Watford’s threat at set-pieces could prove the undoing of Cardiff, with Jose Holebas and Troy Deeney the key protagonists.

The Greek has created 19 chances from dead-ball situations this season, which ranks second overall.

Deeney’s aerial ability can benefit the most against a Bluebirds defence that sits fourth bottom for chances conceded from set-plays.

Joe said…

On this week’s Scoutcast we discussed how Fulham, Burnley and Bournemouth have emerged as the Premier League’s latest whipping boys, who are struggling to keep teams at bay.

Over their last four matches, they have collectively allowed opponents to have 136 penalty area attempts and have shipped 26 goals over that time frame.

This means I’m strongly advocating heavy representation from the three teams that face them.

For Tottenham’s hosting of Sean Dyche’s troops, I’d like to see both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min deployed. No player has had more shots than the South Korean over the last four Gameweeks. The England marksman has also impressed of late, with four goals and two assists in his last five starts.

A West Ham attacking double-up also looks key for their visit to Fulham. Felipe Anderson’s five successful strikes since Gameweek 11 make him a shoo-in. Up front, Javier Hernandez is also excelling for the Hammers, with four goals over the same period.

Mohamed Salah cruelly exposed Bournemouth’s increasingly frail defence last weekend and I’m backing Wolves striker Raul Jiminez and attack-minded defender Matt Doherty to also cut through the Cherries backline with ease.

Elsewhere, Manchester City dominate my thoughts ahead of a visit from an Everton side that conceded a worrying 15 shots against Watford on Monday, with only the Cottagers shipping more during Gameweek 16. Raheem Sterling looks a strong captaincy candidate this week for those without Harry Kane.

The Hornets also deserve representation, for Cardiff’s visit, with midfielder Roberto Pereyra my favoured option. His two assists against Everton last time out impressed and add to a season haul that includes five goals and two double-digit Fantasy Premier League points hauls.

Peter said…

With attacking points from Lucas Digne and Matt Doherty providing the few crumbs of comfort from a terrible Gameweek 16 on a personal note, I’ll hopefully be forgiven for putting my faith this week in a quintet of defenders who have more than a hint of offensive threat, none of whom faces opposition from the top six.

Doherty has become a mainstay of my selections for obvious reasons. Our “Irish Alonso” tops the charts for both attempts (23) and big chances (4) this season and only three defenders have created more chances than the Wolves’ wingback’s 19, although a clean sheet may be hard to come by against Eddie Howe’s potent Cherries.

One of those three is Watford’s Jose Holebas, who trails only Digne (31) for chances created and leads the way for big chances created (8). The Hornets entertain a Cardiff side who have shown signs of life recently but who nonetheless have conceded more goals (30) than anyone other than Fulham (40), Burnley (32) and Southampton (30).

My remaining trio hail from the big three London sides as Sead Kolasinac, Ben Davies and Marcos Alonso join my selections. Davies may be seen as something of a gamble, but with Danny Rose starting against Barcelona and Mauricio Pochettino hinting at rotation I’m keen to take advantage of that mouth-watering home fixture against Burnley.

Kolasinac also seems worth the slight rotation risk – the Bosnian has had more touches in the final third (165) than anyone apart from Digne over the last six Gameweeks, leading to the creation of four big chances.

The north London rivals provide a further trio of players this week, as big-hitting Harry Kane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang go in search of goals against the Clarets and the Saints respectively, my budget padded out by adding Raul Jimenez to the mix.

Then again, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Javier Hernandez don’t exactly break the bank and the Hammers visit to Craven Cottage has the potential to be a goal-filled spectacle. Fulham are yet to keep a clean sheet, with West Ham managing only two of their own (a dubious honour which they share with Manchester United, of all teams).

At the other end, the recent Scout article highlights the potential of both Hernandez and Felipe Anderson, whilst Mitrovic is showing glimpses of potential with two goals and an assist in his last four, which included a trip to Stamford Bridge.

Neale said…

With Harry Kane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang enjoying such appealing fixtures and Mohamed Salah up against a Manchester United side who have shipped more shots on target than 14 other clubs this season (keeping only two clean sheets along the way), we’ll need plenty of cut-price options to offset any lavish spending in midfield and attack.

Lucas Moura and Riyad Mahrez are more budget-friendly routes into the Spurs and Manchester City midfields, with both of these attack-minded players having been rested to the bench in midweek and looking decent bets to return to their respective starting XIs on Saturday.

Lucas looked sharp at the Nou Camp upon his introduction and I wonder if this weekend we will finally see Son Heung-min, who has started all four of Spurs’ games in December, handed a breather for the visit of a Clarets side conceding over 20 shots per game on average.

Chris Lowe is a budget defender I’m keen on this Gameweek. Aaron Mooy’s knee injury has sidelined the Australian until February and I sense we’ll see more of the fit-again wing-back, who has taken 19 corner-kicks already this season, at dead-ball situations. Newcastle’s fallibility at set plays has been well-documented and with the likes of Christopher Schindler and Zanka to aim at, there is every chance that the German defender can bank a third assist of the season at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday.

The Magpies have conceded more crosses from their right flank than any other club this season, too, so Lowe – supplier of 70 deliveries already in 2018/19 – could even prosper from open play.

Ricardo Pereira is a bit of a wildcard name but Roy Hodgson’s side will be without the suspended Wilfried Zaha and James Tomkins this weekend – probably the only two Palace players who have caught my eye from an attacking perspective when watching the Eagles this season (Tomkins being omnipresent at set-piece situations).

If a shoulder injury puts put paid to Patrick van Aanholt’s availability too, then that is another attacking weapon of Palace’s out of commission; even if he plays, the Dutch left-back is somewhat of a liability from a defensive perspective and the forward-thinking Pereira could exploit an area where the Eagles have allowed 183 crosses from this season (only Bournemouth have allowed more from their left flank).

Leicester’s underlying defensive stats are really impressive this season, while Palace’s recent upturn in chance creation (the most attempts on goal by any Premier League side in the last four Gameweeks) perhaps owes much to the “Burnley effect” in Gameweek 14 – Palace racked up 29 shots in that match.

Speaking of Pereira, I’m opting for his homonym-sake in midfield.

Roberto Pereyra emerged from the 2-2 draw with Everton on Monday with two assists but how he didn’t get on the scoresheet in that encounter is a mystery.

The Argentinean is a real menace when he wants to be and looked to be back in the groove at Goodison Park – no FPL midfielder had more shots than the Watford man in Gameweek 16.

Drifting into dangerous positions from the left flank, I see the “inverted winger” being a beneficiary of the Isaac Success-Troy Deeney partnership, with Watford’s strike pair such a handful and creating space behind them by fully occupying the opposition centre-backs.

The Community Champion

This week’s challenger is #FPLGuru, whose 89-point Gameweek 16 shot him up to an overall rank of 12,540.

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, Dr Mantis Toboggan (DC2), beat our Scout Picks 83-69 with a 3-4-3 line-up of Fabianski (1); Digne (10), Doherty (7), Kolasinac (8); Salah (21), Son (14), Richarlison (7), Martial (0), Paterson (9); Aubameyang (5), Lacazette (1)

fclackless’s Gameweek 10 victory over the Scout Squad crew by a score of 77-44 remains the deficit to beat.

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