Scout’s Gameweek 29 picks for FanTeam’s Weekly Monster

Sponsored by FanTeam

We’re having another crack at FanTeam‘s latest Weekly Monster, in which Fantasy managers can turn a £1.68 entry fee into a £840 cash windfall.

The Weekly Monster is a Fantasy tournament that effectively gives entrants the chance to build a ‘Free Hit’ squad for the upcoming Gameweek.

While the FPL deadline for Gameweek 29 might have long since gone, you can enter this FanTeam event right up to 14:00 GMT on Sunday.

There is a kitty of £5,880 to play for, with prizes awarded down to 604th place.

Head to the FanTeam lobby and look for the ‘Gameweek 29 €30K EPL Weekly Monster [€3K to 1st place]’ link (seen above) to choose your level of entry.

ENTER YOUR TEAM FOR GAMEWEEK 29 HERE

A brief how-to-play guide is featured beneath our picks.

WEEKLY MONSTER FIXTURES

SCOUT PICKS FOR GAMEWEEK 29

The seven selected matches for Weekly Monster do not include Liverpool, Spurs or Manchester United, with Burnley assets away to Brentford also not around. Therefore Ben Foster (6.0m) is included as a cheap goalkeeper, as Watford have only conceded once in the four away games under head coach Roy Hodgson. Visiting Southampton won’t be easy but their hosts have recently lost 4-0 to Aston Villa, showing they’re prone to an off-day.

Having said that, faith is being put in Kyle Walker-Peters (8.7m) after the full-back was deemed “absolutely okay” to play after not being able to start at Villa Park. He caught the eye during Southampton’s 2-0 win over Norwich City in Gameweek 27, when many of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) community had him in their Free Hit teams. He is joined in defence by Antonio Rudiger (11.2m) and Aymeric Laporte (11.1m), after Reece James was ruled out due to injury and Joao Cancelo is labelled a doubt with illness.

Although Crystal Palace won away to Manchester City in Gameweek 10, Pep Guardiola’s side are feeling relentless right now in their quest to retain their league title. In particular, Kevin De Bruyne (14.1m), whose 18-point haul in the Manchester derby was his third double-digit haul in six matches.

Captaincy will go on Raphinha (11.8m). That may seem an odd choice, considering their downwards spiral towards the relegation zone but the lack of Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane or Son Heung-min means looking at alternative options. Leeds United’s talisman underachieved the most during the first matches of Double Gameweek 28, grabbing an expected goals (xG) tally of 0.96 after missing a huge chance versus Leicester City. That would’ve been his tenth goal of the season, including one against Norwich in the reverse fixture.

Bukayo Saka (12.0m) and Harvey Barnes (6.5m) face off in north London, with both in good form. The former has six goals and three assists from the last ten games, including one of each at Watford, whereas the latter has delivered an attacking return in seven of his last eight outings. The only time he didn’t was an 11-minute cameo at Liverpool.

The 108m budget is why Allan Saint-Maximin (6.3m) made the team but, truth be told, the Magpies have been in such good form that they’ll fancy pulling off an upset at Stamford Bridge. If they do, Saint-Maximin may be pivotal to it, as his pace and trickery frightens defenders throughout the league. The Safety Net also ensures that another Newcastle midfielder steps in if the Frenchman misses out.

Up front, Che Adams (11.1m) has the form and fixture this week, with the additional appeal of bagging the only goal of Southampton’s 1-0 win against Watford in October. On the other hand, Raul Jimenez (8.5m) does not have the form – purely the fixture. He visits struggling Everton, a side he has scored against in each of the five previous occasions he’s faced them. Although his starting place isn’t guaranteed anymore, any game time will bring hopes of a sixth strike.

HOW TO PLAY: A BRIEF GUIDE

Slightly different from the usual squad-based games, FanTeam managers are given a budget of €108m to build a team of 11 players that includes at least one goalkeeper, three defenders, two midfielders and one forward.

A maximum of three players are allowed from one club and captains score double points, as usual.

Here are some other minor differences to the otherwise easy-to-play game:

• There is no bench or manual substitutes; instead, there is a ‘Safety Net’ feature. If a player in your Fantasy team isn’t in the starting XI for their side, they will automatically be substituted for the next priced player from the same position and club.
• A ‘Stacking Penalty’ is given if you have two or more defensive players from the same club and they keep a clean sheet. One point is deducted for each additional asset that you select from the same side.

HOW DOES THE SCORING WORK?

FPL managers looking for a way to make their knowledge pay will have no trouble picking up FanTeam‘s Gameweek 29 Weekly Monster, with its familiar scoring system.

Think of it as FPL without the bonus points, with a few other exceptions such as shots on target and winning/losing impact points – detailed in the graphic above.

ENTER YOUR TEAM AHEAD OF THE SUNDAY DEADLINE

18+. Please gamble responsibly. http://begambleaware.org. #ad