Burnley are one of the teams at the heart of the Gameweek 37+ Scout Picks.
They travel to an already-relegated Norwich side on Saturday afternoon, which warrants a double-up on their assets.
As ever, our best team for the Gameweek has been assembled by the editorial team of David, Neale, Paul and Geoff.
We line up in 3-5-2 once again, this time coming in at £81.9m, £3.1m inside the budget of £85.0m.
Goalkeeper
Nick Pope (£5.1m) is usually an auto-include for the Scout Picks anyway but when Burnley face Norwich, there’s nowhere else to look, in all honesty. The Clarets’ goalkeeper is still joint-top in the race for the Premier League’s Golden Glove with 14 clean sheets while the Canaries have found the net just once since the beginning of Project Restart.
Defenders
Matt Doherty (£6.5m) should come straight back into the Wolves starting line-up for Gameweek 37+ after the benching last time out. Not only has the right wing-back had a rest, but he also helped win a penalty after coming onto the pitch against Burnley. Monday evening brings Crystal Palace and their brittle defence to Molineux, offering potential at both ends of the field. Wolves have kept five clean sheets in their last six at home, Palace have blanked five times since Gameweek 31+ and the Eagles have also conceded a minimum of two goals in each of their last four outings.
John Egan (£4.7m) also has the potential for double-digit returns in Gameweek 37+ as Sheffield United prepare to host Everton. The Toffees have conceded 14 goals from set-plays this season, only Aston Villa (15) and Norwich (16) giving up more. That bodes well for Egan who has netted twice in the last four matches. Meanwhile, the Blades have clean sheets in both of their last two at Bramall Lane and Everton have scored just one away goal since Gameweek 28.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.5m) gets back into the Scout Picks with a chance of returns at both ends of the pitch in Gameweek 37+. Manchester City are the only team with more clean sheets than the Red Devils since the Premier League restart while Wan-Bissaka himself is second among Manchester United players for crosses in that time.
Midfielders
Inside the Premier League’s top three for shots in the box and shots on target over the last four matches, Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) has been rather unfortunate to blank over the previous two Gameweeks. Wednesday’s meeting with Chelsea is sure to see a return to points-scoring ways in light of how busy he’s been in the penalty area. Let’s not forget than Frank Lampard’s defensive unit has been anything but secure recently, conceding 33 goals on the road this season, an average of 1.8 per away game. Only three other clubs have performed worse in that area than Chelsea.
Kevin De Bruyne (£10.7m) is our chosen asset from the Manchester City roster, even though there is plenty of uncertainty about their Gameweek 37+ line-up. Admittedly, we don’t know who will play against Arsenal in the FA Cup, or whether or not they will get injured, but the Belgian looks a better bet than most. He was afforded a whole rest against Bournemouth and played less than 65 minutes in Gameweek 35+. Therefore, he should be in a good enough place fitness-wise to start both in the FA Cup and on Tuesday when Manchester City travel to Watford. The Hornets have conceded a minimum of three goals in three of their last five matches and were hit for eight the last time they faced Pep Guardiola’s men.
Bruno Fernandes (£9.1m) simply cannot stop delivering after his score against Crystal Palace broke the 100-point barrier after just 12 Premier League appearances for Manchester United. The Portuguese international has blanked just once since the Premier League returned and still averages 8.8 points per game as a Red Devil. Meanwhile, West Ham have conceded at least twice in four of their last five away games.
That also bodes well for Anthony Martial (£8.4m) who has been a consistent deliverer of double-figure hauls at Old Trafford since the Premier League returned to our television screens. In that time, he has registered five goals and three assists at home, for points per game average of 16. The Frenchman’s streak of hauls at Old Trafford even goes back beyond lockdown, Martial last blanking there as long ago as Gameweek 25.
Leandro Trossard (£5.8m) looks poised to capitalise on Newcastle’s worsening injury crisis in defence. Steve Bruce’s squad now features flags of varying degrees of severity against six defenders ahead of Gameweek 37+. As a result, each of the Magpies’ last four matches has seen them concede at least twice and, during that period, Trossard has struck the back of the net twice.
Forwards
Danny Ings (£7.5m) has five goals since the Premier League restart, more than any other forward. That makes including him in the Scout Picks an easy prospect considering Southampton travel to Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon. The Cherries have shown some spirit going forward recently, but still have plenty of defensive issues. They have conceded at least twice in four of their last five and must take on Ings without key personnel at the back.
Chris Wood (£6.1m) could be set for big things in Gameweek 37+ when he travels to face Norwich. The Canaries have conceded more goals at home than any other side this season (35), are the second-worst for conceding headers and set-play attempts since the Premier League restart and have given up the second-highest number of penalties across 2019/20 as well. That bodes well for Wood who ranks second in the whole division for big chances this year, has more headed attempts than any colleague and takes the Clarets’ spot-kicks too.
Substitutes
Rui Patrício (£5.3m) is a cheaper alternative to Doherty to help anyone buy into Wolves’ defence for the Crystal Palace game.
Willy Boly (£4.8m) is even kinder for the budget and offers more chance of an attacking return than the goalkeeper with his penalty-box presence for set-plays.
Enda Stevens (£5.2m) is an alternative route into the Sheffield United defence that hosts Everton this week.
Jay Rodriguez (£5.7m) is an alternative option in the Burnley attack who has shown some consistency since the Premier League restart. During that time, he has attacking returns in four of his five starts, more than any other Claret.
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:
