Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 18

Our first Blank Gameweek of the season is upon us. Liverpool’s participation in the FIFA Club World Cup means their fixture against West Ham is postponed. And with Manchester City taking on Leicester City this weekend, we are faced with trickier captaincy and transfer decisions than normal. 

This is reflected in the Scout Picks with the starting XI featuring players from eleven different teams. And one of the better captaincy options doesn’t even make the cut. 

What to do with our Liverpool players?

Stick or twist. Andy made his moves early with Trent Alexander-Arnold shown the door. While the Liverpool fullback has continued his attacking potential supplying seven assists this season, the lack of clean sheets is a cause for concern.

Having looked at the Season Ticker, Andy decided there may not be too many shutouts for Liverpool on the horizon. Liverpool are second worst for defence over the next seven Gameweeks. With Alexander-Arnold costing £7.3m, the Pro Pundit feels there is better value elsewhere. 

However Andy has decided to keep Sadio Mané. A decision shared by fellow Pro Pundit Holly, but not by Scoutcast host Joe or Pro Pundit Sam

Holly’s faith in her subs allows her to bench both Mane and Alexander-Arnold this Gameweek. Undaunted by Liverpool’s upcoming fixtures, she observes:

We can see from Jurgen Klopp’s teamsheets in the FIFA Club World Cup exactly where his priorities lie. This season is Liverpool’s best chance of winning the title in the Premier League era, nipping at Manchester United’s heels for the most titles in history.

– Holly Shand

She turns to this site’s Rate My Team tool to justify her decision to hold onto Alexander-Arnold, noting that out of all defenders he’s still top for points projections despite the blank. 

Holly feels so bullish on Liverpool she’s even considering adding Mohamed Salah to her contingent. 

Indeed it’s a desire to own the Egypt international that has prompted Joe to swap Mane for Son. He then plans to bring in Salah after Liverpool’s fixture against Leicester in Gameweek 19.

Joe feels there’s an opportunity because of the Blank Gameweek to forgo a Liverpool player and take advantage of a resurgent Tottenham Hotspur. Sam agrees.

On the cusp of the top 10,000 and with her Wildcard in hand, she feels that benching a player of Mané’s value is a poor use of budget. She too is targeting a Spurs replacement. And, like Joe and Holly, is looking to draft in Salah down the line.

Pro Pundit Tom Freeman has been similarly impressed by the Liverpool attacker. In his latest article the five-time top 1,000 manager noted how a positional change improved Salah’s attacking potential:

Mohamed Salah’s (£12.2m) best goalscoring form has come when leading the line in a 4-2-3-1, with Roberto Firmino (£9.3m) positioned in the pocket just behind, and this trend continued against Watford, with the Egyptian not only scoring twice but also causing the Hornets defence problems all afternoon.

– Tom Freeman

As the Scout Notes on Liverpool v Watford confirmed, Salah’s seven goal attempts all took place inside the box and far exceeded the two for both Mané and Firmino.

Further good news for those favouring Liverpool players was provided by Pro Pundit Zophar who looked at the rest period afforded each team over the busy festive period:

Liverpool (290.5 hours) and Sheffield Utd (293 hours) have the most relaxed schedule. West Ham’s total is inflated by their blank week in Gameweek 18.

– Zophar

Although not many own West Ham players, their Blank Gameweek affords them an actual rest. And an improved performance in Gameweek 17 caught the eye of Tom Freeman, who felt Antonio and Haller thrived in their new striker partnership. 

David Wardale observed in his Scout Notes on the match:

Haller, in particular, was reborn. He’d struggled to replicate the form that had prompted his transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt, partly because he thrived in Germany alongside Luka Jovic, now of Real Madrid. Antonio is unlikely to be moving to the Bernabeu anytime soon, so his presence could continue to galvanise both Haller and the team as an attacking force.

– David Wardale

Finally, before we leave the topic of Liverpool and West Ham, Joe mentioned on the Scoutcast that Ben Crellin is predicting Gameweek 24 as a possible slot for rearranging the fixture. This would make Gameweek 24 the first Double Gameweek of the season:

Liverpool have lost their EFL Cup QF at Villa, so I reckon there’s about an 85% chance that WHU vs LIV will be moved to GW24 (Jan 28-30). It’s the next midweek that both teams will definitely have free.

– Ben Crellin

Captaincy Conundrum

I declared at the top of the article that one of the better captaincy options hadn’t made the Scout Picks. I was referring to Raul Jimenez, whose Wolves’ team travel to Norwich City. David noted in his Captain Sensible article:

While Norwich have made some improvements on the road recently, their home defence, much as it was even as they won the Championship, tends to suffer from their increased propensity to attack their opponents.

– David

Joe backed that up on the Captaincy Video, observing that Norwich have conceded 12 big chances in their last four home matches

However David did point to the recent return of Christoph Zimmermann has having boosted their defence. Although, as Neale reported in his team news round-up, fellow centre-half Tim Godfrey has been ruled out until February with an ACL injury.

Marcus Rashford was highlighted as a strong candidate in both the Captaincy Video and Captain Sensible articles. Form and fixture align: five goals and two assists in six matches, including two double-digit hauls, is coupled with a match against a Watford defence who have conceded a high number of big chances. 

Vardy and De Bruyne present form options with a tricky fixture. A trip to the Etihad means recent captain-favourite Vardy is not so heavily backed on this occasion.

The bottom line is that the attacking players are arriving at the Etihad in strong form and so are the defences. Not every Fantasy manager will be comfortable placing the armband here.

– David

Nonetheless Manchester City are tipped by G-Whizz in the latest DS stats, fixtures and clean sheet odds. And should De Bruyne continue in his advanced role, he would present an enticing option. 

Spurs duo Son and Alli have attracted a lot of attention this week. Good form meets poor form as Chelsea travel to North London for the last match of the Gameweek. Joe quipped: 

If Chelsea conceded eleven goal attempts against Bournemouth, how many will they concede against Spurs?

– Joe

Son is handed the captain’s armband in this week’s Scout Picks. 

Finally a mention must also go to Danny Ings, who was immensely unlucky not to score against West Ham. In her video review of Gameweek 17, Sam pointed out his talisman status in the Southampton side. And over the last four Gameweeks and the season as a whole, no team has conceded more shots in the box than the Saints next opponents Aston Villa. 

Seeing Double

Despite the Scout Picks featuring players from eleven different teams, attacking double-ups was a popular hot topic this week. 

It’s been a successful tactic for World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, as Greyhead reported in The Great and The Good. Currently third overall, the Norwegian has benefitted from doubling up on Manchester City and Liverpool players at different times this season. De Bruyne and Sterling early on followed by Salah and Mane later. 

With two free transfers many will be wondering whether the chess king will sacrifice one or both of his Liverpool players.

One high-value piece that is coming back into play is Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero. As Rotation’s Alter Ego revealed in his team news summary the Argentina international has returned to training. Could he soon prove a canny differential?

Neal Maupay was one of the three players highlighted by Pro Pundit Ash (aka FPLHints) in his differentials article this week. While 9.1%-owned Richarlison is included in the Scout Picks, he faces Arsenal’s shaky defence this week. And the fixtures look particularly rosy for Everton from Gameweek 22. 

One midfielder who has disappointed recently is Christian Pulisic. The Chelsea forward may have registered 13 shots in the box over the last four Gameweeks but, as Karam pointed out on the Scoutcast, only two of those were on target. Pro Pundits Andy and Zophar have both parted company with the American.

To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page, and if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

Rolling monthly subscriptions are now available, with the first month costing only £1.99 for a limited time only. Click here to sign up or upgrade your account.

Community Competitions

For an update on all FFS Mini-Leagues and Community Competitions, please click here to read the latest round-up.

For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 18 can be found below:


Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.

Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.

Best of luck for Gameweek 18!

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

1,237 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Big Hands Barry
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Cantwell or Dendonker 5th mid?

    1. Salah’s Sonnet
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Denny

    2. Lingard’s Shin Guards
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Cantwell bc you’re more likely to get your big hands on a return

  2. YEAH PITCH!
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Good luck all

  3. Nightf0x
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Taa to baines?

    1. JustPark
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2 minutes late now.

  4. Tempestic
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Just switched the captain from KDB to Alli :O

    1. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Why?

    2. Tshelby
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Just switched from Alli to Vardy here!

    3. Joss Ackland’s Spunky…
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      And me. Alli is a good balance between top asset and differential ownership.

  5. ChickenTikkaMoSalah
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Ancelotti confirmed. Will he be in the dugout in an hours time?

  6. RAFA THE GAFFA
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Mane last on my bench, who’d have thought

    1. Drexl Spivey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Might have been the wise choice.

    2. El-Kloppico
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I am playing him. Will wait for autosub to tickle my rivals.

  7. ChickenTikkaMoSalah
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Last second - KDB or Son

    1. Nightf0x
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I went son

    2. Nightf0x
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Was keen on kdb but went son for:
      Last game in the gw + che def. Compared to lei. Def.

  8. Dynamic Duos
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Kane(c) it is.

    1. Big boy Bowen
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      With you bro

    2. dark91
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I brought him in too but not captaining

    3. jimmyabs1987
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Yep I did as well! Let’s hope he has one of his London Derby special days

  9. Big boy Bowen
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    PANTS DOWN!

    1. tiger
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      always

    2. JustPark
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Gross!

  10. Ha.
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Pen1s down

  11. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Dom't think you can come here with all this FPL '* Expertshte and expect to get away with it.

    Respect my fellow posters here
    . Keep I'd real yer!

    Cool em all Rodger

    1. FER FUSCH AKE
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      what the heck are you banging on about?

      1. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        I dob't give a flying
        But I love you all at this moment in time
        And will give you a big wet kiss if you get close to me.
        FFS POSTERS are the bestezt

        1. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          Do One
          Too oat
          ..

          1. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 3 months ago

            Sorry '' ok now!

  12. FER FUSCH AKE
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Pens down.

  13. Dynamic Duos
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Pens down

  14. beetlejuice
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Just bought DCL in . Hope he keeps his place for few weeks

    1. Tempestic
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Could go big this week

    2. Drexl Spivey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Bit of a leftfeld choice, if I say so myself.

      1. Drexl Spivey
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        *leftfield

  15. Sim Simma
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    ⚽ Team News 📰
    EVE: Pickford, Digne, Mina, Holgate, Sidibé, Delph, Iwobi, Davies, Sigurdsson, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin
    Subs: Stekelenburg, Baines, Keane, Coleman, Kean, Tosun, Bernard

    ARS: Leno, David Luiz, Maitland-Niles, Chambers, Saka, Xhaka, Torreira, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Martinelli, Aubameyang
    Subs: Martínez, Mustafi, Mavropanos, Guendouzi, Willock, Lacazette, Pépé

    1. Tempestic
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Oooh Saka left back, Richarlison hattrick of headers inbound

    2. Tshelby
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Just how can you bench Lacazette and Pépé?

    3. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Digne back, Taa to Digne next week

    4. Hazz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Delph 😮

    5. dark91
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      What a joke of a starting lineup Arsenal has!!!

      1. bench boost for every gamew…
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        bunch of talents is ok but my god their defensive options is awful. Only defender i would possibly want to play is the one injured, Holding.

    6. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      If Everton are playing a 4-4-1-1 then that is a good team:

      Pickford
      Sidibe Holgate Mine Digne
      Iwobi Davies Delph Sigurdsson
      Richarlison
      Calvert-Lewin

      1. RamaJama
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        442

      2. Lazaretti
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        4-2-3-1

    7. wulfrunian
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      thanks

    8. Sailboats
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Where is Ozil??

      1. JustPark
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        China doesn't like him.

        1. Hy liverpool
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          F*** china

    9. JustPark
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Bit odd though. Keane on bench?

    10. bench boost for every gamew…
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      usually i can pick where and how teams play but what set up for everton is that? Seems like a 4-4-2 but not sure who plays wide, Sigurdsson and Iwobi does not sound like wingers but hey. hm. Could it be more like 4-3-3, with Iwobi as right winger? Sigurdsson as the advanced of the trio in midfield? Hm.

    11. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      IWOBiiiiiiiiii
      C'mon nm! I feel alive!

  16. Hazz
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Alli (C) this weekend. Let's hope the punt pays off.

    Last big punt was Vardy (C) vs. Southampton...

  17. Tempestic
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    I just kept switching from KDB to Alli over and over for the captaincy up until deadline as I was super unsure. Guess i'll find out who my captain is in 30 minutes or so, got literally no clue!

    1. JustPark
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Well I do. Either one of KDB or Alli.

  18. FirMinaMiMo
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Good luck everyone lads 🙂 !!!! Cheers!

  19. Nomar
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Alli capped.

    1. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Same here, good luck!

    2. DAZZ
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Son here! Good luck

      1. Magic Zico
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        He will assist Alli don't worry 😉

    3. Nomar
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Thanks guys. Same to you too.

      1. Sim Simma
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Good luck to you but it may end up in disappointment

  20. HAMMERTIME107
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    How does this look please got about £4.0 mil on bank to get mane/salah/vardy in next couple of week!

    Henderson
    Aurier | Saiss | Kelly
    Son | Richarlison | De-Bruyne | Grealish
    Rashford | Aubameyang | Jimenez

    Button | Targett | Dendoncker | Rico

  21. evilfish
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Ings (C) locked in :/

    1. Tempestic
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I think it might be good

    2. AC Yew
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Was considering it. But chickenrd out haha. Good luck!

    3. waltzingmatildas
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Same here

    4. Drexl Spivey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I bottled it. Went KDB.

    5. Jimbo74
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I made the same choice, despite having Vardy, KdB, Son, Rashford et al. Villa have conceded most shots from inside the box. Ings has been about as consistent as Vardy and was very unlucky not to score last week.

  22. ChickenTikkaMoSalah
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Scenes if Arsenal lose. Maybe fans will start to realise it’s not because of the manager

    1. dark91
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I think they know this already. But with Arteta you need to give him some time

    2. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      It is the manager. Started with Wenger and the rot has continued.

      The standards are low, particularly defensively. Where is the commitment to being the best you can be?

      If Laca, Auba, Ozil, Pepe don't want to put a defensive shift in then stuff them. Sell them and get some hungry players in. Personally think Arsenal needed to bring in a manager who can coach 3-at-the-back to get the best out of them:

      Leno
      Sokratis Luiz Holding
      Bellerin Guendouzi Ceballos Torreira Tierney
      Lacazette Aubameyang

  23. Sgt Frank Drebin
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Why is KDB on 154% on fplstatistics 😮 ?

    1. Planet Head
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      That'll plummet in a couple of hours. Always does

    2. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Lots doing transfers this morning probably

      1. Sgt Frank Drebin
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Well comparing to Mane being at -380% maybe it ain't that strange...

    3. Hazz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Why is Mané -380.5%

      1. Sgt Frank Drebin
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Good question

    4. ppv
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Mane is that figure because he should have dropped last night

  24. Planet Head
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Smug FT roller anywhere?

  25. Lingard’s Shin Guards
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Arsenal’s back 4 hurts to look at

    1. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Richarlison?

  26. AC Yew
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Last minute hockey hockey captaincy between Alli and vardy. No idea who it stuck on : D

    1. Tempestic
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Same here except with KDB and Alli. Hopefully the fpl gods will smile on us with this one..

      1. Bobby_Baggio
        • 12 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Which did you go.for? In reply to your question I changed from KDB to Alli due to Lei home record and alli loves Che

      2. AC Yew
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Good luck! Last time this happened to me the player ended up with a hat trick! : D

  27. Fred54
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Glad the deadline is finally here. An open captaincy certainly makes the GW more interesting, but still a minefield.

  28. The Polymath
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    PENS DOWN!

    Yes, you at the back!

  29. Kaptenen
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Jota (C) lets go! Good luck everyone!

    1. ChickenTikkaMoSalah
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Nice pick

    2. The Polymath
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I went for Son but I hope I get punished by Jota big time.

  30. Hy liverpool
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Richarlison on the wing

    1. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      His best spot