Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice to Double Gameweek 25

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Double Gameweek 25 ahead of today’s 18:30 GMT deadline.

Leeds United and Southampton are the two teams with the extra fixture – the Saints travel to Elland Road on Tuesday evening.

The other main talking point as we plot our moves for the current round of fixtures and beyond, is the potential of more Double Gameweeks in the near future. Pep Guardiola hinted that Gameweeks 26 and 27 will be Doubles for his side but at the time of writing, we await confirmation from the Premier League.

Captain Candidates

Patrick Bamford (£6.9), Raphinha (£5.4m) and Danny Ings (£8.5m) are the leading trio in the captain poll, with the highly-owned Bamford the popular choice.

The best-value forward in FPL, returning over 19.1 points per million spent, Bamford has garnered over 50 per cent of the vote. This in itself poses Fantasy managers an intriguing shield/sword dilemma:

[Bamford]’s currently in just over 53 per cent of teams, the bulk of those will captain him so if you don’t captain Bamford you will probably get pretty much no ranking gain from him, [and] you could possibly get a red arrow if there’s a surge of support in people drafting him in. Whereas Raphinha was in under three per cent of teams [so] if you captain him the gains could be absolutely huge.

– Joe, Captaincy Video

The potential for either Leeds player to do well is there, especially in that Tuesday fixture. As Jan pointed out in his Captain Sensible article, Southampton have given up 11 big chances in the last four matches, the joint-most in the Premier League, while only Liverpool have a worse expected goals conceded (xGC) figure.

Encouraging stuff. But two bits of team news could influence our decisions.

Marcelo Bielsa confirmed that Kalvin Phillips (£4.9m) will miss the first match against Wolves and could possibly sit out the Southampton game too. While Ralph Hasenhüttl revealed that Southampton will be without Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.7m) for a few weeks. 

Without Kalvin Phillips they are really not the same team, he is the guy that holds the whole thing together both defensively and going forward … he’s missed five games this year and … Bamford’s blanked in three of those five games so it makes me a bit worried about him.

– David, Captaincy Video

Speaking on the Scoutcast, “professor of LeedsSeb, as he was dubbed by Joe, conceded that Phillips offers more than Pascal Struijk (£3.9m) in an attacking sense. But, nonetheless, his optimal Leeds trio for the Double would be Bamford, Raphinha and Jack Harrison (£5.5m).

The absence of Walker-Peters is good news for Harrison in particular. The Saints have conceded 17 chances down their right flank over their last four matches and with Walker-Peters missing out, it means we could see one of the centre-backs filling in.

Although, Brazilian Raphinha could also benefit:

Harrison and Raphinha have swapped sides a couple of times in the last few matches … Harrison was obviously subbed off last match … but Raphinha actually moved to the left with Hélder Costa coming on the right, so there is a chance you’ll see Raphinha on the left.

And on Harrison himself, his last two goals I believe, certainly his last goal, came straight down the middle. So if he’s up against the weak full-back that might be more for the assist [but] for the actual goals we might see him making those runs through the middle.

So I think realistically, what’s the crux of this conversation, it’s all quite close. Get the three attackers if you can, if you can’t get Bamford and Raphinha.

– Seb

Raphinha and Harrison touch heatmap last four matches

When it comes to deciding who to captain, it’s worth noting that Raphinha takes corners while Bamford is expected to stay on penalty duties.

No Premier League team has conceded more spot-kicks this season than Wolves (seven). And Southampton are not doing particularly well in that department, either, having given up four penalties  in 2020/21.

But Danny Ings should not be discounted, the Saints talisman has recorded six attempts on goal in his last two Premier League fixtures, including three big chances. And Southampton’s high-press could prove effective against Leeds, as Arsenal discovered in Gameweek 24 scoring four goals. 

Speaking on FPL Black Box, Pro Pundit Mark revealed that he is contemplating buying Ings with one of his two free transfers, factoring in that Southampton may have three Double Gameweeks in the next four. Although, as Greyhead noted in the 100th edition of The Great and The Good, how many of us will trust Danny Ings’ fragile hamstring to manage two games in quick succession?

And, as Jamie pointed out in his Members-only analysis of Southampton, if Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side are to get the best out of Ings, then they will need to create more chances, with the Saints creation ranking near the bottom in their last six matches.

Nonetheless, Ings is the only Southampton player included in the Scout Picks starting XI alongside a triple up of Bamford, Raphinha and Stuart Dallas (£5.0m) from Marcelo Bielsa’s troops.

Pro Pundit Plans

Along with Jack Harrison, the other players who could exploit the weakness down Southampton’s right side are Timo Werner (£9.2m) and Marcos Alonso (£5.7m).

I get the feeling that [Alonso] could drop a 15-pointer in any game if he continues in the same attacking vein. It looks like Tuchel is going to persist with the 3-4-3 formation and his comments with regards to Alonso seems particularly encouraging.

– Lateriser

As high-flying Pro Pundit Andy mentioned, the Spaniard offers massive potential at both ends of the pitch if you can cope with him missing the odd game.

Chelsea were picked out by both Andy and Lateriser due to their appealing fixtures, despite a difficult-looking Gameweek 26.

West Brom, Leeds and Palace are all in the bottom three for expected goals conceded this season, with Everton the seventh-worst team in the league. The fixtures from Gameweek 27 look prime for goals.

– Andy

Werner, who has started Chelsea’s last four matches under new boss Thomas Tuchel, has accumulated the joint-highest number of big chances (five) over the last four Gameweeks. 

Lateriser also noted that for those who are not Wildcarding in Gameweeks 25/26, there is a decent fixture swing in Gameweek 31, and it could be a good time to Wildcard. Something fellow Pro Pundit Az is planning to do, his thinking no doubt supported by some colourful spreadsheets!

Meanwhile, Werner was not one of the forward options being considered by Hall of Fame No 1 Fábio Borges.

The consistent top 10,000 manager is looking to replace the injured Michail Antonio (£6.6m) in his side and, after running the rule over several candidates, it boiled down to getting Danny Ings now or benching Antonio before buying Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.7m) for Double Gameweek 26.

Community Competitions and Head-to-Head Fixtures

This is your last chance to enter the open-to-all Fantasy Football Scout Cup with qualifying for the first round taking place in Gameweek 25. Qualifying for the Members Cup – entry for Premium Members only – gets underway in Gameweek 26.

A total of £300 in prizes is available across the two tournaments.

RedLightning rounded-up the latest Community mini-leagues and competitions.

Impressively, the two main FFScout mini-leagues are the top two Leagues in FPL, followed by Andy’s own mini-league. Well done to the top five managers in each of those mini-leagues.

There’s been another small tweak this week by Mat (aka matzi11a) to the fixtures and results displayed on the Head-to-Head Leagues main page.

From now on the scores and tables will update each night, so managers can see how they are getting on as the Gameweek unfolds.

The fixtures for Gameweek 25 can be found below:

Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.

Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.

May your arrows be green!

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

2,870 Comments Post a Comment
  1. boc610
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 28 days ago

    just cant bring myself to take a hit for ings... that first fixture just doesnt look promising, sorry danny....

    1. Gooner Kebab
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Cmon

    2. @persecuted_by_mods
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Decent record Vs Chelsea, and while Chelsea have looked relatively solid of late I still see them as flimsy. Didn't Mendy keep like 5 cs in a row for lampard and then it crumbled

      • Jimmers
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        He loves scoring against Chelsea. Just sayin'

      • Muchentuchel
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Ings if fixture proof as hell!

      • EmreCan Hustle
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        I brought in Ings last GW. But if I didn't have, I would hesitate too without knowing the fixtures. But I am glad he scored for me.

      • DycheDycheBaby
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Ings can score against anyone

    3. joeymanuel
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Play one:

      A) Stones (ARS a)
      B) Struijk (WOL a, SOU h)

      1. 21VK12
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        B

    4. FPL Alaska
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Bench one

      A) Cancelo
      B) Stones
      C Mee

      1. Catastrophe
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        b

    5. mcsteely
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Is Maddison worth the extra over Barnes do you think?

      1. Hooky
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        No

      2. Rupert The Horse
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Can’t believe I’m saying this, but no I don’t.

    6. DARK SIDE OF THE LOON
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      G2G? Benching ok?

      Martinez
      Stones Vestergaard Struijk
      Salah KDB Bruno Raphinha
      Kane DCL Bamford (C)

      Steere Gundo Rudiger Taylor

    7. popcoin
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Bench one

      A) Watkins (LEI)

      B) Son (whu)

      C) DCL (liv)

      1. Spg76
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Not DCL. Liverpool are all over the place at the back.

        1. popcoin
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Thanks

      2. markus808
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Leicester keeping pretty tight on the road, west ham spurs will be 1-2 goals. Everton's derby is likely to have more goals in it. I would do a)

        1. popcoin
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Thanks mate

    8. Jdpz
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Captain
      a) Bamford
      b) Ings
      c) Raphinha

      1. JBG
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        A

        1. Spg76
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          C

    9. Agamenmon
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Bench
      Son
      Or
      Gundo

      1. JBG
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        G

    10. FPL ElasticO
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Who should you bench??

      A. DCL
      B. Mee

      1. Rupert The Horse
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Me? Mee.

    11. Dybala10
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Grealish to Raphinha for free?

      1. markus808
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        absolutely

      2. Rupert The Horse
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Yes

    12. Garfield1001
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Play Pope or McCarthy?

      1. JBG
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Pope

      2. Muchentuchel
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        McCarthy!
        Penalty save(s) incoming!

      3. DARE TO BISCAN
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        I have the same quandary.

        I'm going yolo: McCarthy. Would regret it more if I went Pope & he blanked.

        While point of keeping McCarthy was for the double. If it doesn't work out, c'est la vie

    13. xuwei
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Tweet from Andrew Ferguson (@Fergi222)
      Andrew Ferguson (@Fergi222) Tweeted:
      I'm hearing Grealish is going to announce the #FPL fixtures live at 6pm from Gundogan's hospital bedside.
      #itk

      1. Weasel Boy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Thanks

    14. Baby Bowen
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      WC active, plan to BB next week.

      Probably a double disaster but thoughts anyway?

      McCarthy
      Dallas | Cancelo | Lowton
      Raphinha | KdB | Bruno | Son
      Bamford | Ings | Kane

      Martinez | Gundogan* | El Mohamady | Kilman

      0ITB

      Thanks

      1. Camzy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Elmo and Kilman?!

        How are you gonna BB those guys?

        1. Baby Bowen
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Cash out 3-4 weeks, Smith basically said Elmo will starr

          1. Baby Bowen
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 28 days ago

            *start

      2. Baby Bowen
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Was considering Cancelo to Stones to upgrade Kilman but like the idea of Cancelo attacking capabilities

        1. Camzy
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Downgrade Dallas > Struijk maybe to get funds. You have to upgrade that bench to boost it.

          1. Baby Bowen
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 28 days ago

            No keeping Dallas, bought cheap too

            1. Camzy
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 28 days ago

              Okay yeah I dunno then. It's a pretty exciting BB side. Good luck! The Kilman and Elmo picks have a high probability of blowing up.

              1. Baby Bowen
                • 7 Years
                3 years, 28 days ago

                Could always play TC I guess, got options for next week.
                Unless I go Armstrong over Raph and do Kilman to Struijk

      3. GOTHAM City F.C.
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Why not Salah this week and maybe KDB next?

        1. Baby Bowen
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Need 0.8 for that

      4. Christina.
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        I have 8 of those + money for Kane/Vardy

        1. Baby Bowen
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          My TV is only around 105

          1. Christina.
            • 14 Years
            3 years, 28 days ago

            105.7 here

      5. Catastrophe
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Looks a little horrible but good luck

        1. Baby Bowen
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Thank you

    15. Ibralicious
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Burnley defence more likely to outscore Saints DGW defence this week?

    16. Atwood
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Stupid to start Lowton over Stones?

      1. Disco Stu
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        The Rate My Team feature is telling me to start Ben White over Stones

      2. Andy_Social
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Yeh but should play both

    17. Arteta
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Antonio out, Kane in for - 4: yes or no?

      Will probably do it for free next week but right now I have others issues and have to adjust - he's flagged and so is Gundo, Saka and Digne have tough games and will most likely end them with 2 pointers.

      I honestly think that Harry can go crazy anytime and this transfer might pay off straightaway.

    18. pundit of punts
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Grealish injured?

      True or not?

      1. RamaJama
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Noone knows, some guesses because not pictured in training

      2. Rupert The Horse
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Not pictured in training.

      3. Elan73
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        True

      4. Arteta
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Who knows, I bought Raphinha and moved on. Can't be anxious with 3 (or more) doubtful players every single gameweek.

    19. 420king
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      What's the best 4.5m defender for NEXT gw?

    20. Dallas for Life
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 28 days ago

      Start Bednarek or Stones??

      1. @persecuted_by_mods
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Bed if you've also got Dias

          1. Dallas for Life
            • 14 Years
            3 years, 28 days ago

            Just Stones...

        • G Banger
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Stones, likely to play and dont trust Southampton defence

      2. G Banger
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        With the Grealish rumours (I have him, Antonio and Gundo), would you do the following FT:

        a) Antonio => Ings (DCL first on bench)
        b) Save

        1. RamaJama
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          A

        2. Arteta
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Get Ingsy.

      3. jdp219
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Has anyone actually seen any confirmation about Grealish? Or is it still stemming from one tweet from a guy who knows a guy? (that's all I've seen)

      4. Hazz
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Alonso or Cancelo until 28?

      5. Miguel Sanchez
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Play Coufal (TOT) or Digne (liv)

        1. Camzy
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Digne is my first defensive sub with Coufal last. So... Digne!

        2. J ⚒ Gimme ur Mané
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Coufal - Better defence.

      6. Real Socially Distant
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Just finished WC and confirmed now...was a bit stressed but all done...phew

        1. Pep's Money Laundry
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          I feel the same

        2. Arteta
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          How's it looking?

          1. Real Socially Distant
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 28 days ago

            Good I think. 2 leeds 3 sou and swapping JWP and Bamford to Watkins and Barnes next week and have 13 dgw and BB

      7. DonBenzema
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Bench Gundo (ars) or Watkins (LEI)?

      8. No Kane No Gain
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Is benching cancelo over Pereira this week?!

        Leicester’s Pereira that is!

        1. No Kane No Gain
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          I mean is it crazy to do that lol

      9. manu4life99
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Bench order correct?

        Gundo Dias DCL

      10. Studs Up
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Play DCL or Watkins?

        1. upforgrabs
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 28 days ago

          Watkins

          1. Studs Up
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 4 Years
            3 years, 28 days ago

            Tks

      11. upforgrabs
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Play Areola or Martinez?

      12. Flynny
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 28 days ago

        Cancelo to be rested this weekend?

        Starting pope and dias. Which other do I start?

        A...Cancelo
        D...lowton

        Thanks