Players from both sides of Manchester from the spine of our Double Gameweek 24 Scout Picks XI.

In a side chosen by David, Neale, Tom and Andy, we have included three players from Manchester City and Manchester United.

We line up in a 3-4-3 formation this time, which comes in at £76.4m, a staggering £7.4m inside our budget of £83.0m.

GOALKEEPER

Having overcome a midweek injury saga, Nick Pope (£5.5m) gets the number one jersey in our Double Gameweek 24 Scout Picks XI. Burnley’s fixtures are better than their form but that is no bad thing when Crystal Palace and Fulham are concerned. The Eagles are yet to score a goal in a Premier League goal Wilfried Zaha has missed this season while Fulham have found the net on just six occasions over the last 12 matches (the worst in the division).

DEFENDERS

João Cancelo (£6.0m) returns to the Scout Picks ahead of two fixtures for Manchester City. The Portuguese full-back has the highest expected assist (xA) rating and the second highest expected goal involvement (xGI) of all defenders this season, showing he brings both a goal and assist threat. With Pep Guardiola resting him in the FA Cup game midweek, we expect Cancelo to feature heavily in Double Gameweek 24.

Another Double Gameweek defender to feature in our Scout Picks is James Tarkowski (£5.3m). Burnley face Crystal Palace who have the worst expected goals (xG) of all Premier League teams in the last six Gameweeks and Fulham, who have scored four goals in their last six games. We’ve gone for Tarkowski over Ben Mee (£5.0m) owing to him having four big chances this season, suggesting he’s due a goal.

Luke Shaw (£4.9m) rounds out our defenders. The full-back is enjoying some of the best form of his career, and is way out in front for chances created by defenders in the last six Gameweeks, fashioning 16 opportunities for team-mates.

MIDFIELDERS

We’re backing Raheem Sterling (£11.6m) to continue his super form into Double Gameweek 24. The England international is continuing to fly under the FPL radar even with the potential of two games coming up. Despite delivering attacking returns in eight of his last nine starts, he still only has an ownership of 12.9%.

Arguably the most reliable FPL asset of the season, Bruno Fernandes (£11.5m) retains his place in midfield. Fernandes has shown fantastic consistency this season, maintaining the highest xGI and xA of all midfielders. The Red Devils also have a cracking fixture against West Brom, who have conceded 15 more goals than any other Premier League team.

Ilkay Gündogan (£6.0m) forms a City double-up in the Scout Picks midfield. The German international has shown a new side to his game this season, regularly getting into the box and scoring goals. Gündogan has scored two more goals than any other midfielder in the last six Gameweeks, having the most shots in the box and getting on the end of the most big chances.

The Double Gameweek looks like the perfect opportunity for Ademola Lookman (£5.0m) to deliver after a series of impressive performances. Lookman is top among Fulham players for goal attempts, efforts on target, chances created and big chances created.

FORWARDS

After nailing down a place in the starting XI, Edinson Cavani (£7.9m) leads the line for the Scout Picks. After starting two of Man United’s last three Premier League games, and being withdrawn at half-time in the other, the Uruguayan appears to have made the centre-forward spot his own. And his aerial ability looks perfectly suited to exploit a West Brom defence, which has conceded 69 headed chances this season.

After David Moyes wrapped him in cotton wool, we are backing Michail Antonio (£6.7m) to start West Ham’s Monday-night meeting with Sheffield United. The Blades have conceded at least twice in three of their last five Premier League matches while Antonio has five attacking returns since Double Gameweek 19.

Making his first Scout Picks appearance of the season is Ashley Barnes (£6.0m). Barnes is the most threatening Burnley asset, as they had into Gameweek 24 with two good fixtures. He has eight shots on target, two big chances and six shots on target over the last six matches.

Substitutes

• Alphonse Areola (£4.5m)
• Vladimir Coufal (£4.7m)
• Antonio Rüdiger (£4.6m)
• Bukayo Saka (£5.4m)

THE CAPTAIN

We choose the Scout Picks captain using a four-way vote between our Scout Squad pundits.

Because we use Fantasy Football Scout data 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 Double Gameweek 24:

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.

Jambot takes on the Scout Picks this week with a 3-5-2 team of Pope; Tarkowski, Mee, Shaw; Sterling (c), B Fernandes, Rashford, Foden, Gündogan (vc); Werner, Richarlison.

AA33 is the current leader, defeating the Scout Picks by a 53-point margin in Gameweek 2.