Gameweek 37 Scout Picks – Title chasers make the cut

We are backing the attacks of Manchester City and Chelsea in Gameweek 37.

The defending champions host Leicester in a key clash for their hopes of winning a second successive Premier League title under Pep Guardiola.

Meanwhile, Chelsea host a Watford defence that has been quite obliging in the calendar year of 2019.

In order to get our 11-man side we reviewed our Scout Squad submissions from Paul, Neale, Az and Peter to come up with the final selection.

This week we line up in a 3-4-3 formation and at £82.9m, we are £0.6m inside our budget.

Goalkeeper

Bernd Leno‘s (£4.9m) inclusion in the Scout Picks was an easy one this week. The Arsenal goalkeeper was selected as the best option in his position by all four of our pundits ahead of Brighton’s visit to the Emirates Stadium. That’s because the Seagulls have been especially shy in front of goal recently, their strike against Newcastle last time out the first in over 12 hours of football in all competitions. Over the last four away matches, Brighton are also bottom of the league for goal attempts, shots in the box, efforts on target and big chances.

Defenders

Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.7m) is our chosen representative from the Liverpool defence for Gameweek 37. His inclusion actually stems more from his attacking capabilities given his role in set pieces for the Reds. It has been well-documented how Newcastle have struggled to deal with dead ball situations this season, and have conceded more headed chances than any other Premier League team in 2018/19. Meanwhile, with Miguel Almirón out injured and Ayoze Pérez a fitness doubt, a clean sheet looks likely for Alexander-Arnold too.

Lucas Digne (£5.4m) and the Everton defence have quietly been racking up the defensive returns in recent weeks with seven clean sheets in their last nine Premier League matches. The last time they were breached at home was back in Double Gameweek 25, with Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United all blanking at Goodison Park since. Burnley come to Merseyside tonight with their season wrapped up and little left on the line, while Digne himself still has a role in set pieces and has created 10 chances in the last four home matches – the joint second-best of any defender in that time.

Likewise, there appears to be a chance of returns at both ends of the pitch for Luke Shaw (£5.0m) in Gameweek 37. Manchester United might not be in the best form right now, but this weekend sees them travel to a Huddersfield side that is averaging just 0.5 goals per home game this season. Meanwhile, Shaw himself has produced more big chances than any other defender over the last four matches. Furthermore, the Terriers have conceded the most chances from their right of any team over the last six matches.

Midfielders

Three of our Scout Squad pundits selected Raheem Sterling (£11.6m) in their top two midfielder slots for Gameweek 37. That’s understandable considering his importance to Manchester City as they chase another Premier League title under Pep Guardiola. In the last four home matches, no player has more shots on target than Sterling, who has been offering a hugely impressive 72% accuracy in that time too.

Eden Hazard (£10.9m) could be set to put on a memorable display in what might prove to be his final Premier League match for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Watford have conceded more big chances than any other top-flight side since the turn of the year and have averaged 2.8 goals against in their matches away at top-six clubs this season. Hazard looks capable of capitalising on that with four goals and two assists in his last four at home, making for three double-figure hauls in that time.

We believe that Son Heung-min (£8.8m) will come back into the Spurs side to face Bournemouth in Gameweek 37 after missing the Champions League semi-final first leg through suspension. As much the midweek trip to Ajax will be important to Mauricio Pochettino, he will need his best players out to record a positive result at the Vitality Stadium to secure a place in the top four. With Fernando Llorente occupying the centre-forward role on Tuesday night, chances are, Son will come in for him to attack a Bournemouth side without a clean sheet at home since Gameweek 24. Furthermore, the South Korean has four goals in two Premier League meetings with the Cherries.

Diogo Jota (£6.3m) was by far the most popular budget midfielder among the Scout Squad for Gameweek 37. Neale, Az and Peter all included him in their submissions ahead of Wolves’ home clash with Fulham. The Cottagers may have kept three clean sheets in a row but are still shipping a fair number of shots. They remain in the bottom five for shots allowed in the box and big chances conceded over the last four away matches. Meanwhile, Jota has four attacking returns in his last four at Molineux.

Forwards

Sergio Aguero (£11.9m) was unanimously considered the best forward option by our Scout Squad panel for this weekend. That’s because the Argentinian has attacking returns in every single home match he has started this season. Furthermore, he has better minutes per chance and minutes per chance created than Sterling over the last four home matches, bettering his colleague for expected goals (xG) too. Also, Aguero enjoys playing against Leicester, netting four times in this exact fixture last season.

Raúl Jiménez (£7.0m) was chosen as the second-best forward option for Gameweek 37, with Neale, Az and Peter his biggest fans. The Mexican has had a little bit of an issue with accuracy in recent weeks, with just two shots on target, but as we already saw, Fulham are still offering plenty of opportunities to their opponents when away from home. At the very least, Jiménez got back to scoring ways as he found the net at Watford in Gameweek 36.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.4m) completes the Scout Picks line-up ahead of that Friday night meeting with Burnley. Only one forward priced under £9.0m has had more shots in the box than the Everton man over the last four matches. That has seen Calvert-Lewin contribute attacking returns in each of his last three home appearances. Meanwhile, the Clarets are without a clean sheet on the road since Gameweek 23.

Substitutes

Scott Dann (£4.4m) makes his way into the Scout Picks for the first time this season. The Crystal Palace centre-back has been enjoying his return to first-team action and has actually recorded five efforts in the box during the last three matches, ranking him second among defenders. Opponents Cardiff have been particularly shy in front of goal of late and are susceptible to headed efforts.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£5.2m) has been arguably Chelsea’s most effective attacking player outside of Hazard in recent weeks and we think he stands a decent chance of getting returns against that poor Watford defence. He came off with cramp on Thursday night so he’s not assured of a start, hence why he’s only on our bench, but he has registered the same number of shots as Hazard in his last four at home.

Shane Long (£4.7m) has scored four goals in the last five matches as he continues to offer incredible value. This week, Southampton head to a West Ham side plagued by defensive problems this season. The budget asset is second for big chances among forwards in the last four matches so should continue enjoying opportunities to reward his owners.

Community Champion

Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Gameweek 37 is Greyhead. He has opted for a 3-4-3 of Rico; Kolasinac, Coleman, Shaw; B Silva, Hazard, Pogba, Sigurdsson; Rashford, Vardy, 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.

It was a win for the Scout Picks over Johannes in Gameweek 36 by a 85-72 scoreline. fclackless‘s winning margin of 33 points (77-44) in Gameweek 10 is still the current target to beat.