The best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards for Double Gameweek 29 are debated by our regular panel.

In the Scout Squad articles, Fantasy Football Scout contributors Az, Sam, Neale and Tom each propose an 18-man squad of Fantasy players with the focus solely on the upcoming Gameweek.

Their selections serve as a long list for the Scout Picks, as the players nominated will then be narrowed down to a squad of 15 (with the starting XI not exceeding a total cost of £83.5m) for our final weekly selection ahead of Saturday’s deadline.

Each writer must meet the following requirements:

• At least one goalkeeper costing £5.0m or less
• At least one sub-£5.0m defender
• At least one midfielder listed at £6.5m or below
• At least one forward priced at £7.0m or lower
• No more than three players from the same club

*If you didn’t see it previously, we’ve started doing a ‘bus team’ Scout Picks earlier in the week in order to share our initial selection thoughts with Fantasy managers who perhaps couldn’t be around closer to the deadline – but we’ll still be publishing our final squad as we were before.

SCOUT SQUAD’S PICK OF THE BEST FPL PLAYERS FOR GAMEWEEK 29

Most popular picks: Aaron Ramsdale, Martin Dubravka, Jordan Pickford, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson, Mohamed Salah, Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Alexandre Lacazette (four), Kyle Walker-Peters, Matt Doherty, Son-Heung min, Raphinha, Armando Broja (three).

AZ SAID…

Another Double Gameweek to attack, although this time, the pool of players to select from feels quite limited.

Liverpool, with the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah, obviously all feature prominently on this list as they chase Manchester City for the Premier League title.

However, and especially for those not Free Hitting in Gameweek 30, transfers are crucial, with only Arsenal and Spurs having a Double Gameweek in 29 and a match in Gameweek 30. With both teams in good form, investment in these teams in all areas of the pitch seems sensible.

For Arsenal, Bukayo Saka, statistically, is the best option with a minutes-per-expected goal involvement figure of under 200 over the last six matches and indeed throughout 2021/22, which is very decent. Gabriel Martinelli does present an intriguing differential, however, with just 2.7% ownership to Saka’s 23.4%. Over the season, Martinelli has an identical minutes-per-points average as Saka (15.7), which isn’t bad considering he costs £1.2m less.

Other decisions to be made within the Spurs camp are whether to go in hard on the attack, with Son Heung-min, Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski all looking great options for this Gameweek against United and Brighton defences in poor form at the moment. Over the last six Gameweeks, Kane’s 14 minutes per point is bettered by both Son (13.6) and Kulusevski (12.5) but with five goals and an assist over this period, only a brave manager would go without him. Instead, the choice between Kulusevski and Son comes down to personal preference – and what you can do with the money saved, as £4.7m goes a long way. With not a huge amount seperating them in the attacking data, for this week’s Scout Squad I’ve gone for the in-form Swede and given the last Spurs spot to the much-maligned Matt Doherty, whose impressive attacking performances have surely warranted a place in the starting XI across both games in the Double Gameweek.

SAM SAID…

Six teams are playing twice in Gameweek 29 and the bulk of my selection comes from these sides. However, compiling these picks has made me wish that I could own more than three players from the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs!

Whilst most of the FPL community is looking lovingly at Matt Doherty, I’m still not sure I completely trust the Spurs defence, even after back-to-back clean sheets. I would prefer to invest, budget allowing, in the three forward players of Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Harry Kane: Spurs have scored nine goals in their last two Premier League games and that trio have all returned. If you needed further convincing, Kane has banked two double-digit hauls in his last three Premier League matches for Spurs at Old Trafford and has returned in four of his last five Premier League meetings with Brighton. Son’s last Premier League visit to Old Trafford saw him deliver an 18-point haul in Spurs’ 1-6 victory, meanwhile. Finally, Kulusevski is top amongst midfielders for big chances created since Gameweek 26 (four), and his total of 24 penalty area touches is more than any other Spurs player has managed in the same period.

Whilst Alexandre Lacazette hasn’t scored since Gameweek 19, he has registered five assists in that period. He has also had more penalty area touches than any other forward since Gameweek 26. Alongside Lacazette, Bukayo Saka is the obvious Arsenal pick for this Gameweek. The midfielder has returned two double-digit hauls in his last three matches and in that period only Mohamed Salah has more penalty area touches than the Arsenal man. Aaron Ramsdale remains the most popular goalkeeper in the game and he is the perfect option for this week, especially for managers looking ahead to Gameweek 30, too.

Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are the most popular picks in the game but Andrew Robertson remains a differential at just 7.3% owned. Since Gameweek 22, Robertson has supplied more crosses than any other defender and is also top for chances created.

Everton’s recent form is enough to put most FPL managers off investing. However, I think Anthony Gordon offers us a decent budget option. Lampard singled Gordon for praise after Everton’s defeat to Spurs and whilst the youngster has only started 14 games this season, his favour with the new manager bodes well. His set-piece threat increases his appeal.

TOM SAID…

Liverpool have won their last seven Premier League games in a row, scoring 19 goals and conceding just two, whilst also keeping five clean sheets in the process. As a result, tripling-up is a no-brainer. To be honest, I don’t think there are many ‘bad’ Reds picks this week, and I was tempted to include Sadio Mane or Luis Diaz, but I’ve opted for defensive duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson, plus Mohamed Salah. During the above run, Alexander-Arnold and Robertson are averaging 7.0 and 9.2 points per start respectively, while they also lead the way amongst all defenders for successful crosses, chances created and big chances created. Salah, meanwhile, is the standout captaincy option once again for obvious reasons.

Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, have now won back-to-back matches convincingly, and while their Gameweek 29 double-header involving Manchester United and Brighton and Hove Albion won’t be as straightforward, another triple-up is called for. Matt Doherty has produced 32 points across his last two starts and has posted some encouraging underlying numbers during that time, registering three shots in the box and six created chances. Further forward, Dejan Kulusevski is an intriguing, cheaper alternative, but I’ve sided with premiums Son Heung-min and Harry Kane, both of whom tend to dominate Spurs’ big chances.

Arsenal also supply three picks: Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette. Against Watford, the Gunners’ did look a little vulnerable at the back, but Ramsdale can at least compensate with save points should he concede. Saka and Lacazette, meanwhile, have contributed a combined eight attacking returns across their last four starts, and should get some joy on Sunday, against a Leicester City side who have kept just one clean sheet on the road all season.

Elsewhere, faith in Everton is on the wane, with the Toffees having lost seven of their last eight Premier League games. However, their Goodison Park form has generally been good under Frank Lampard, having beaten Brentford, Leeds United and… err… Boreham Wood, whilst narrowly losing out to Manchester City in Gameweek 28. A bit like Ramsdale, Jordan Pickford should at least pick up some save points, while Anthony Gordon has been their best performer of late. Dominic Calvert-Lewin does admittedly feel a bit more punty, but with limited options elsewhere in the forward category, he’s probably worth the risk with two home games.

NEALE SAID…

My piece from earlier in the week, in which I looked at the appeal of the Double Gameweek 29 also-rans, summarised my decidedly mixed thoughts on Everton, Newcastle and Brighton players. Form, fixtures and/or fatigue-led rotation were all caveats with this trio of clubs and, in a nutshell, focus was effectively limited to the goalkeepers (chiefly for save points) and Anthony Gordon for his budget-freeing potential, decent underlying stats, set-piece duties and teacher’s pet tag under Frank Lampard. We’ve seen Lampard not be afraid to use youth at Chelsea and Derby County and Gordon seems to be the Mason Mount of Merseyside, so I think he’s not a bad Bench Boost option this week, especially with Everton on home soil in both fixtures.

The in-form Andrew Robertson, who has racked up more points than any other player in any position over the last 16 Gameweeks, gets the nod over Luis Diaz as my third Liverpool asset, while Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka‘s combined 19 attacking returns in Arsenal’s last 10 games, not to mention a relative security of starts amid concerns of rotation for Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe, sees the Gunners duo into my long-list.

Across north London, there are cases to be made for any number of players, including Sergio Reguilion after Ryan Sessegnon was ruled out until after the March international break. Matt Doherty‘s rate of expected goal involvement under Antonio Conte is the best of any FPL defender, so the in-form Irishman takes up one slot, while I’m a tad bewildered at the collective cooling of attitude towards Son Heung-min from the FPL community after he ‘only’ scored seven points against Everton on Monday. A proven Fantasy performer for several years, he’s averaging 6.4 points per match to Harry Kane‘s 5.3 under the current regime – although with Dejan Kulusevski now offering a substantial saving and big points potential, I’m aware that I might face a losing battle to get the South Korean into the Scout Picks XI.

Away from the doublers, and the selections of Raphinha, Kyle Walker-Peters and Che Adams are very much pencilled in, with those three players in Gameweek 28 action on Thursday. Jesse Marsch’s historic love of rotation does make me slightly concerned about Raphinha, although I liked what I saw from his close-goal proximity in the undeserved defeat to Leicester. Adams, meanwhile, has the best expected goals (xG) tally of any forward since his return to the Saints’ XI in Gameweek 23, with no-one in the division having more shots from inside the six-yard box in that time.

Ivan Toney is level with Adams for that six-yard stat (an encouraging sign, perhaps, that he’s adding threat to his game beyond spot-kick duties), and he faces a Burnley side who have conceded six goals in their last two matches and who are again without Ben Mee this weekend. With Christian Eriksen supplying the chances, Toney’s output could continue to improve in the run-in.