There are three Arsenal players in the Scout Picks team selected for Double Gameweek 29.
The Gunners host West Ham at first before travelling to Manchester City in midweek.
After deliberating over the Scout Squad submissions made by David, Neale, Paul and Geoff, we picked what we believed to be the best XI for the next round of action.
This time we line up in 3-4-3 formation, the cost of our team coming to £84.8m, £0.2m inside our budget of £85.0m.
Goalkeeper
Dean Henderson (£5.2m) was the most popular goalkeeper in the Scout Squad submissions this week as Sheffield United host Norwich. Only three clubs have recorded more clean sheets at home than the Blades this season while the visiting Canaries remain comfortably the worst attack on the road. In 14 road trips, Norwich have scored just six times, five fewer than Bournemouth and Watford, who are tied as the second-worst sides on 11 goals each.
Defenders
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.8m) was unanimously chosen as the best defender by our Scout Squad pundits this week. Blank Gameweek 28 may have produced his first blank in a match he started since Gameweek 13 but the visit of Bournemouth should help him get back on track. The Cherries have scored one away goal since Gameweek 18 and Alexander-Arnold himself has more assists at home than any other Liverpool player this season.
Matt Doherty (£6.2m) looks like he could repeat the heroics of his Blank Gameweek 28 haul at Spurs when Brighton come to Molineux on Saturday afternoon. Over the last four matches, Wolves are second only to Manchester City for fewest big chances conceded, while Doherty is in the top two for touches and shots in the box among defenders during that time.
Jack Stephens (£4.5m) gets into the Scout Picks this weekend ahead of a favourable home meeting with Newcastle. The Magpies currently sit bottom of the league for big chances in away matches this season while the Saints’ centre-back has assisted twice since Gameweek 21.
Midfielders
Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) retains his place in the Scout Picks despite Liverpool’s capitulation at Watford last time out. The Egyptian has recorded attacking returns in each of his last four at Anfield, where Bournemouth have lost their last two Premier League visits 3-0. Furthermore, over their last four road trips, the Cherries have conceded 10 times, an average of 2.5 per game.
In his Friday press conference, Pep Guardiola sounded relatively positive when he gave his injury update on Kevin De Bruyne (£10.7m). The Belgian holds onto his place in the predicted line-ups and retains a starting berth in the Scout Picks too. We expect this season’s top-scoring player to be involved in at least one of the Double Gameweek fixtures on offer (maybe more), which is about the same as what we can expect from any of his attacking team-mates anyway given Guardiola’s rotation policy.
Two matches in Double Gameweek 29 for Arsenal sees Nicolas Pépé (£9.2m) make his Scout Picks debut. West Ham have conceded the most shots in the box of any team over their last four outings, while it’s hard to fully trust a Manchester City defence without Aymeric Laporte. That bodes well for Pépé who, over the last 10 matches, is second among his colleagues for goals scored while no Arsenal player has registered more assists than him.
Bukayo Saka (£4.6m) is our midfield enabler who we are confident will play twice in Double Gameweek 29. While he has been playing at left-back recently, Aubameyang’s runs into the box from left midfield have allowed Saka into very advanced positions – which have helped him to attacking returns in each of his last three at home.
Forwards
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.1m) is an easy inclusion in the Scout Picks this week, selected as the best forward by all of our pundits. The Arsenal man is just five points off Jamie Vardy to be the top-scoring forward this season and has found the net three times in his last two at home.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.4m) is the form player in the Premier League right now, having scored more goals than any other player since Carlo Ancelotti took over at Everton. Chelsea have kept just one clean sheet at home since Gameweek 13, and over the last four matches, Calvert-Lewin is in the top three for shots in the box, big chances and shots on target.
Diogo Jota (£6.3m) proved to be the most popular Wolves forward among the Scout Squad pundits this week as Brighton come to Molineux. The Portuguese international has put together two double-digit hauls in a row and, over the last four matches, has superior figures for minutes per shot in the box and minutes per big chance than Raúl Jiménez.
Substitutes
Alex McCarthy (£4.5m) is another route into the Southampton defence as they host Newcastle on Saturday.
Enda Stevens (£5.1m) is a cheaper alternative for investing in the Sheffield United defence with more chances of attacking returns than Henderson.
Romain Saïss (£4.5m) is the cheaper route into the Wolves defence with some threat from set pieces too.
Phil Foden (£5.1m) is our budget route into the Manchester City attack after Guardiola hinted that he would play some part in Double Gameweek 29.
The Captain
The Scout Picks 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 is usually known only to those who have signed up to Membership for the 2019/20 season and revealed to the public only when the deadline has passed.
Here’s how we voted:
Community Champion
Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Double Gameweek 29 is Bilal7.
They have gone for a 3-4-3 of McCarthy; Doherty, Mendy, Saïss; Salah, De Bruyne, Pépé (c), Mahrez; Aubameyang, Calvert-Lewin, Nketiah.
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.
ZoumasBloomers was beaten in Double Gameweek 28, the Scout Picks winning by a 47-30 score-line.
Community Champion gwitbrock beat our Scout Picks 86-63 in Gameweek 25 and as a result, their winning margin of 23 points is now the target to beat.
