The Scout Picks has gone for an indulgent triple-up on Manchester United attacking options for Gameweek 33+.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men face Bournemouth this weekend, who have conceded seven goals in their first three matches of the Premier League’s restart.
Our latest squad was chosen by the editorial team, deliberated over by David, Neale, Geoff and Paul, lining up in a 3-5-2 formation and coming in at £84.2m, £0.8m inside our budget.
Goalkeeper
Nick Pope (£5.0m) gets back into the Scout Picks after a reliable return to Premier League action over the last few weeks. The Burnley goalkeeper has more clean sheets against sides currently outside the top six than any other this season (12) and the most of any shot-stopper in home matches too (eight).
Defenders
Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) is our choice from the Liverpool defence this week as he comes into the Aston Villa game as the least droppable option. Dean Smith’s men come to Anfield goalless in two of their last three away matches.
Enda Stevens (£5.1m) is our choice from the Sheffield United defence as they prepare to face an injury-hit Burnley attack. The Clarets go into Gameweek 33+ with flags against Chris Wood, Jay Rodriguez, Ashley Barnes and Johann Berg Gudmundsson.
In our attempt to double-up on Burnley’s defence, we have chosen Ben Mee (£5.0m) who looks the most likely player in his position to add attacking returns. In the last four matches, the centre-back is top among defensive colleagues for shots in the box.
Midfielders
Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) was exceptionally unlucky not to come away from the Etihad Stadium with attacking returns on Thursday night, denied only by Ederson and the post in the early exchanges. We are expecting the Egyptian to find a way through Aston Villa’s improved defence on Sunday afternoon as he has seven goals and one assist across his last six home league matches.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.8m) recovered from his Gameweek 31+ blip with a monster haul against Brighton midweek, taking his goal involvement tally since joining Manchester United to eight in as many matches. Still on penalty duty for the Red Devils, he faces a Bournemouth side that has conceded more goals than any other team in their last four (nine).
Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m) is our pick from the Manchester City attack as they face a Southampton side that remains rock-bottom for home-form this season. A midweek rest looks to be the gateway to a Gameweek 33+ start for the Algerian who, since Project Restart, has attacking returns in every match in which he has featured from the beginning, averaging seven points per appearance.
Anthony Martial (£8.2m) is the second member of our Manchester United triple-up that is expected to run riot against Bournemouth. The Frenchman currently sits top of the charts for shots in the box, big chances and shots on target among Manchester United players over the last four matches.
Christian Pulisic (£7.1m) has returned in every outing since the Premier League returned, averaging 7.3 points per game. Meanwhile, upcoming opponents Watford have just one clean sheet since Gameweek 24.
Forwards
Marcus Rashford (£9.1m) completes our trio of attacking Manchester United talent ahead of their match-up with Bournemouth. 14 attacking returns (10 goals, four assists) in home matches is the joint-most among all forwards this season.
Raúl Jiménez (£8.3m) may have disappointed his owners with a blank against Aston Villa but Gameweek 33+ puts the Wolves man back into his comfort zone. No forward can match his total of eight attacking returns against last season’s top-six clubs in 2019/20 – and it’s Arsenal who have to face him next.
Substitutes
Mat Ryan (£4.7m) has the honour of facing a Norwich attack that still has not found the back of the net since the Premier League returned.
Lewis Dunk (£4.7m) is set to go up against the same toothless Canaries’ forward line but offers more goal threat than his shot-stopping colleague.
Only two defenders have had more touches in opposing penalty boxes than Gary Cahill (£4.4m) over the last four matches. Crystal Palace have four clean sheets in their last six while Leicester’s attack has underwhelmed since the Premier League restarted.
Dwight Gayle (£5.0m) is in fine form ahead of Gameweek 33+, registering the second-highest number of shots in the box and joint-most big chances among all Premier League players across their last four matches.
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:
