Liverpool, Spurs and Leeds are the key teams in the Scout Picks XI for Gameweek 12.
We have included two players from each of these clubs as they face Fulham, Crystal Palace and West Ham respectively this weekend.
We are lined up in a 4-3-3 formation this time around, coming in at £82.9m, £0.1m inside our budget of £83.0m.
Goalkeeper
Three of our pundits chose Alex McCarthy (£4.6m) as the best goalkeeper for Gameweek 12. Southampton have kept clean sheets in all their home matches with teams outside the so-called ‘big six’ so far, while Sheffield United remain the division’s joint-lowest scorers. They have found the net in just five from a possible 11 matches so far.
Defenders
Andrew Robertson (£7.1m) was chosen as the best defender for Gameweek 12 by all four of our pundits. Liverpool appear to have found their defensive feet again recently with clean sheets in two of their last three Premier League outings while Robertson has created more chances than any other Liverpool player over the last four matches.
Sergio Reguilón (£5.7m) attracted the support of three Scout Squad pundits for Gameweek 12 as Spurs prepare to visit Crystal Palace. While the Eagles have seven goals in five home matches this season, four of those came in one outing, their average across the other four standing at 0.8 per game. Meanwhile, only Chelsea have given up fewer big chances than Spurs over the last four matches, Jose Mourinho’s men now joint-leading the Premier League for clean sheets too (five). And, since making his debut in Gameweek 4, Reguilón has produced attacking or defensive returns in six of his seven appearances.
Ezgjan Alioski (£4.4m) can cause West Ham problems on Friday night as he looks to be lining up at left-back with Luke Ayling’s shift to centre-back pulling Stuart Dallas onto the right-hand side of Leeds’ defence. The Hammers are joint-worst for conceding chances on the right flank over the last four matches while Ayling is the only Leeds defender with more touches in opposition penalty boxes during that time than Alioski, who enjoys making overlapping runs.
Jamal Lewis (£4.3m) can offer serious value in Gameweek 12 as Newcastle face an appealing fixture in their return to action following last week’s postponement. West Bromwich Albion have failed to find the net in three of the last five Gameweeks while Lewis is top for key passes among all Newcastle players over their last four matches.
Midfielders
A knock for Diogo Jota has solved the Mohamed Salah (£12.3m) dilemma for Gameweek 12, his chances of starting now greatly improved. As Liverpool’s penalty taker and a goal and assist in his most recent outing, we are backing the Egyptian to get more attacking returns against one of the Premier League’s more obliging defences in Fulham.
Kevin De Bruyne‘s (£11.8m) all-round appeal helps him keep a place in the Scout Picks despite facing a Manchester derby on Saturday. He has registered double-figure hauls in each of his last two matches, striking the woodwork in each match as he continues to up his goal-threat. Still sinking penalties with routine precision, the Belgian leads the way among Manchester City players for shots, shots in the box and big chances created over the last four matches.
Son Heung-min (£9.6m) could be set for another double-digit haul as he travels to face Crystal Palace on Sunday. The secret to his derby day success against Arsenal was that the Gunners had conceded the second-highest number of chances down the right-hand side of any team in the four matches preceding Gameweek 11. Across the course of the whole season, Palace rank third-worst for defending this area of the pitch, where Son will operate at Selhurst Park.
Forwards
No player has more shots on target over their last four matches than Jamie Vardy (£10.3m). He may have failed to live up to expectations in each of his last two outings and struggled at home this season but Brighton look the perfect side to bring out his best in Gameweek 12. Opposition defences have sat deep and compact against Leicester recently, hoping to deny Vardy the space to stretch his legs. Brighton are unlikely to take the same approach, their own counter-attacking style, fronted by their marauding full-backs, always leaving them open in the opposite direction.
No Premier League team has conceded more shots in the box, big chances or recorded a worse xGC score than West Bromwich Albion in the last four Gameweeks, so we have to attack their trip to Newcastle on Saturday. We suspect that Callum Wilson (£6.6m) is one of the players Steve Bruce has available to him this weekend, particularly encouraging considering that none of his colleagues can match him for shots in the box, big chances and shots on target since Gameweek 7.
No team has created more chances this season than Leeds United, who will fancy their chances against a West Ham side that has been fortunate not to concede more goals in recent outings. Patrick Bamford (£6.2m) currently ranks third among all players for expected goals (xG) in 2020/21, has attacking returns in six appearances so far, striking the woodwork in each of his last two blanks.
Substitutes
Bernd Leno (£5.0m) was a relatively popular man in the Scout Squad submissions as he prepares to face the Premier League’s joint-lowest scorers Burnley in Gameweek 12.
Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.6m) is an alternative route into the Southampton defence with more goal threat on offer than McCarthy.
Pedro Neto (£5.7m) has been one of Wolves’ most exciting assets recently, four of his six attacking returns this season coming over the last five Gameweeks.
Like Alioski, Jack Harrison (£5.4m) is set to line up on the left-hand side of Leeds’ attack against West Ham’s vulnerable right flank.
THE CAPTAIN
We choose the Scout Picks captain using a four-way vote between our Scout Squad pundits.
Because the use of Fantasy Football Scout data is used so heavily in this process, the skipper we choose each Gameweek is known only to those with a valid Fantasy Football Scout subscription and revealed to the public only when the deadline has passed.
Here’s how we voted for Gameweek 12:
THE COMMUNITY CHAMPION
Each week, one of the Fantasy Football Scout community takes on the Scout Picks by pitting their chosen XI against ours.
The Community Member who beats our team by the largest margin will win a £100 Amazon Voucher and a place in our Moderators and Contributors League for the following season.
Camzy fell to a narrow defeat in Gameweek 11, the Scout Picks winning by a 58-55 score-line and extending their lead for the campaign to 7-4.
Ccgway takes us on for Gameweek 12, opting for a 3-4-3 formation of A McCarthy; Robertson, Justin, Vestergaard; Salah (vc), Son, Pulisic, Neto; Kane, Ings (c), Wilson.
AA33 is the current leader, defeating the Scout Picks by a 53-point margin in Gameweek 2.
