We are opting for a triple-up on Manchester City options for the Gameweek 10 Scout Picks.
The visit of Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium looks likely to be an open game – which should help many of our favourite Fantasy assets.
After scouring through David, Neale, Paul and Geoff’s selections from this week’s Scout Squad submissions, we have come up with our starting XI.
We line-up in the 3-5-2 formation for Gameweek 10, coming in at £82.9m – just £0.1m inside our budget of £83.0m.
Goalkeeper
Despite earning plenty of criticism of late, Roberto Jiménez (£4.4m) gets a place in the Scout Picks for the first time this season. He earns his place less for his ability and more for a budget price and West Ham’s clean sheet potential in Gameweek 10. The Hammers host a Sheffield United side that have not caused too much trouble for opposition defences of late. Yes, they may have beaten Arsenal in Gameweek 9, but over the last four matches, the Blades sit in the Premier League’s bottom two for big chances and shots on target.
Defenders
Do we need to keep explaining Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s (£7.2m) credentials for the Scout Picks? Gameweek 10 is another in a long line of Gameweeks where Liverpool’s right-back was unanimously chosen as the best option in his position for the upcoming action. Over the last four Gameweeks, no FPL defender has created more big chances while Spurs have been poor at the back recently.
Willy Boly (£5.0m) represents the Wolves defence for us this week as they travel to face Newcastle. The Magpies are currently bottom of the league expected goals (xG) from open play in the last four Gameweeks, while Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have kept two clean sheets in their last three matches. Finally, Boly carries some threat from set-pieces, often the weakness in Newcastle’s defence.
From Gameweek 6 onwards, Diego Rico (£4.2m) is level with Alexander-Arnold for big chances created and has played more key passes than the Liverpool man too. With Bournemouth travelling to face Watford this weekend, the left-back’s chances of registering more returns look good. Watford remain in the bottom five for xG over the last four Gameweeks and have registered the highest expected goals conceded (xG) score too.
Midfielders
We wanted to include either member of Liverpool’s key attacking duo in the Scout Picks for Gameweek 10 as we expect them to record a positive result against Spurs. Over the last four away matches, Mauricio Pochettino’s men are in the bottom two for shots conceded in the box and shots on target faced – which bodes well for the reds. In our opinion, either one of Sadio Mané (£11.8m) or Mohamed Salah would do you fine this week, we’ve gone with the former. In each of his last two Premier League matches at Anfield, Mané has registered a double-figure score.
Kevin de Bruyne (£10.1m) looks poised for a strong showing in Gameweek 10. Manchester City welcome an Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium, a side that has conceded an average of two goals per away match this season. The Belgian himself has double-figure hauls in all three of his Premier League appearances at home this season, racking up a total of two goals and five assists.
With rotation once again haunting Fantasy managers’ decisions, we’ve decided to play it both safe and cheap with including David Silva (£7.6m) in the Scout Picks. The Spaniard has started three of the last four Premier League matches and was rested for the Champions League meeting with Atalanta on Tuesday. That should see Silva feature from the beginning against that vulnerable Villa defence and we are expecting a continued run of form too. He has more double-figure hauls than any other player this season (four) and has averaged 8.2 points per start in 2019/20.
Pascal Groß (£6.4m) has quietly been creeping under the Fantasy radar in recent weeks and has earned himself a place in the Gameweek 10 Scout Picks. Over the last four matches, he ranks second among all assets for chances created (13) and this weekend faces an Everton defence without a clean sheet since opening weekend. Groß finally capitalised on his potential with an assist in Gameweek 9 and his role in set pieces could pay dividends against the Toffees. No Premier League side has conceded more goals from dead-ball situations than Marco Silva’s side this season (five).
Chelsea’s attack has been in strong form in recent weeks, warranting continued investment. Largely for costing purposes, we have handed Callum Hudson-Odoi (£6.0m) a Scout Picks debut for Gameweek 10. While he is cheaper than Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount, that’s not to suggest he is any kind of downgrade. The exciting winger has assisted in each of his three Premier League appearances this season.
Forwards
We are backing Sergio Aguero (£12.2m) to successfully round off our Manchester City attacking triple-up this weekend. With some fears about rotation for Raheem Sterling, his centre-forward colleague looks much more assured of a start. While he played 90 minutes midweek, Aguero did miss out on Gameweek 9 entirely, as Gabriel Jesus was trusted with leading the line at Crystal Palace. With a start looking very likely, we expect the Argentinian to finally deliver on his recent promising underlying statistics after a strong showing against Atalanta.
Callum Wilson (£8.0m) may have disappointed his owners with two unexpected blanks in a row but the Bournemouth forward still shows promise compared to other similarly-priced options in his position. This week the Cherries go away to Watford, who have conceded the joint-most goals in the Premier League this season. Meanwhile, Wilson himself is joint-third for big chances over the last four Gameweeks and is still maintaining a 60% accuracy rate.
Substitutes
We wanted to include Sheffield United goalkeeper Dean Henderson (£4.6m) in the Scout Picks this weekend but just about ran out of cash. The Blades have been displaying an excellent propensity for clean sheets (four), and retain the joint-best defensive record in the division going into Gameweek 10 (seven goals conceded).
For that reason, John Lundstram (£4.6m), already cemented into Fantasy folklore, was also considered – another player just missing out on his rapidly increasing price.
You might notice that we are expecting something of a dull affair at the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon as Ryan Fredericks (£4.5m) becomes the fourth defensive player from either West Ham or Sheffield United to make the squad. He is relatively nailed-on in his right-back berth at West Ham compared to the left-hand side and offers superior attacking threat than any of the centre-backs right now.
Neal Maupay (£6.0m) has goals in each of his last two matches at the Amex Stadium which bodes well for the visit of Everton in Gameweek 10. As already mentioned, the Toffees defence has not impressed us on the road, which should see Brighton get their fair share of chances.
The Captain
The Scout Picks now has a captain for the 2019/20 campaign.
This skipper is chosen using the conclusions of the latest Captain Sensible article and a four-way vote between David, Neale, Paul and Geoff.
Because the use of Fantasy Football Scout data is used so heavily in this process, the captain we choose each Gameweek will be known only to those who have signed up to Membership for the 2019/20 season.
It will be revealed to the public only when the deadline for the Gameweek has passed.
Community Champion
Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Gameweek 10 is AK.
They have gone for a 3-4-3 of PatrÃcio; Mendy, Lundstram, Rico; de Bruyne, Martial, Mané, Saka; Vardy, Abraham, Aguero (c).
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 draw in Gameweek 9 as Hasselbaink Forever was held by a 40-40 scoreline.
