We’ve put together our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ ahead of Double Gameweek 36 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

For those who haven’t seen this article series before, it’s essentially a rough, first draft of our regular XI, which gets finalised and published much closer to the deadline.

Those final picks will stay as they are and cement our weekly selection based on the Scout Squad long-list entries, midweek minutes and fresh injury updates but this ‘bus team’ – a term coined by the Always Cheating boys – will discuss the players who are likely to be in the running.

Here it is, then: our early thoughts on the runners and riders up for selection in Gameweek 36, followed by the preliminary picks themselves.

THE LIKELY LADS

The final Scout Picks will unquestionably feature significant representation from both Liverpool and Manchester City, the two title challengers who have scored the most goals this season and kept the most clean sheets. Sometimes FPL seems a simple game when you boil it down to the basics, doesn’t it? The one thing out of our control, of course, is game-time, something that was all too evident on Saturday when Mohamed Salah (£13.3m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£11.9m) were benched for their respective sides.

Substitute duty in Gameweek 35 does however make back-to-back starts in Gameweek 36 seem that bit likelier (if not certain), so it’s no surprise that the above trio all feature prominently in our thoughts. Salah and Alexander-Arnold are top in their respective positions for expected goal involvement (xGI) over the season, while xG-defier De Bruyne has played a direct part in nearly 50% of the goals than City have scored in his presence this calendar year. Early substitutions remain a tad offputting with the Belgian, admittedly.

Jurgen Klopp’s post-match comments about rotation and Andrew Robertson (£7.3m) might steer us away from the Scot but there’s always Joel Matip (£5.2m), a starter in the last 19 Premier League matches that he has been available for and a regular benchee in Europe, as a cost-cutting route into the Liverpool defence for a double-up. Two City defenders meanwhile could prove to be a risk-free gamble too, if the league leaders are down three options at the back through injury – news is still awaited on that. Joao Cancelo (£7.1m) and Aymeric Laporte (£6.0m) have both started over 93% of the league matches that they have been available for this season but we’re probably going to have to stop mentioning the fact that Cancelo loves a shot, given that he has only scored from one of his 69 efforts in 2021/22…

So far, so far boring with the City and Liverpool options, and in truth, the Scout Picks has always erred on the side of caution and away from the maverick punts. Those riskier picks will be better assessed after the midweek minutes in the UEFA Champions League are logged but there are some juicy-looking differentials if our appetite for jeopardy is whetted: Gabriel Jesus (£8.6m) can’t be beaten by any FPL asset for non-penalty xGI in his last six matches, for example, while Riyad Mahrez (£8.6m) averages more points per start than any other FPL player bar Salah and Ben Chilwell (£5.6m) in 2021/22.

Arsenal, too, look like certainties for Scout Picks inclusion, with the affordable cost of their players a persuasive argument as much as anything else. A penalty-taking, corner-delivering Bukayo Saka (£6.7m), who has 14 returns in his last 19 appearances, is tough to overlook, while Eddie Nketiah (£5.5m) is making a late charge for Bench Boosters and beyond. There were six shots attempted by the budget forward in an all-action Gameweek 35 showing, and while ‘xLiveliness’ won’t get you FPL returns, a cut-price striker leading the line for one of the division’s leading scorers is not to be sniffed at – particularly when forwards are flopping en masse elsewhere.

IN CONTENTION

The ultimate knife-edge pick this week is Son Heung-min (£11.0m). Had Tottenham Hotspur replicated their limp showings of Gameweeks 33/34 on Sunday, then the Spurs-to-City exodus would have intensified in FPL. Ninety minutes and 19 points later and suddenly Son is being bought by more managers than sold. Sunday’s brace of strikes reminded us just how accurate a finisher he is and has been for several years and not only is he adept at converting half-chances, he’s actually got the joint-best non-penalty xGI tally in the Premier League over his last six matches. The tough Gameweek 36 fixtures are the only dampener but Son has already scored against both Liverpool and Arsenal this season; he’s not currently in our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ for budgetary reasons but do not be surprised in the slightest if we somehow find a way to rejig funds around to squeeze him in.

If Son doesn’t make the cut, then Dejan Kulusevski (£6.3m) might not be a bad compromise. The rocket up the backside provided by Gameweek 35’s benching saw the Swede emerge revitalised as a second-half substitute to provide two assists and, in doing so, he surely boosted his Gameweek 36 game-time prospects. Watered-down coverage of the Spurs attack might not sit well with many FPL managers but, since his Gameweek 26 full debut, Kululsevski has actually got more attacking returns (12) than every other Fantasy asset bar the two Spurs premium picks. Even then, the loanee is only two behind Son.

Two teams with more appealing fixtures in Double Gameweek 36 are Leicester City (Everton and Norwich City, both at home) and Chelsea (Wolves at home, Leeds away). The problem with both sides is that we might not get two starts out of our coveted assets: the Foxes are in Europa Conference League action less than 72 hours before they face Everton, while Chelsea contest the FA Cup final three days after their trip to Leeds. Rotation could be rife then (we have already seen Brendan Rodgers ring the changes in the last few Gameweeks), with Kasper Schmeichel (£4.9m) about the only player from either side who looks assured of back-to-back starts.

But it’d be wrong to dismiss other players out of hand. Marcos Alonso (£5.6m), who has had an improbable 14 shots and created as many chances in his last five appearances, could easily haul against a wilting Wolves side who were abysmal at both ends of the pitch on Saturday. And even if James Maddison (£6.9m) was only handed a home match against Norwich City, we’d fancy his chances of continuing a purple patch that has seen him deliver 15 attacking returns in his last 19 run-outs.

Rotation is not something we’re likely to see at Everton, by contrast, with a survival fight on their hands. But the Toffees are on the road twice in Gameweek 36 and have the division’s worst away record, losing all six of their matches outside of Goodison Park under Frank Lampard. Nevertheless, a distracted Leicester and a Championship-bound Watford are very decent opponents. Sitting top among all FPL options for xGI over his last six matches, and having scored four goals in that time, Richarlison (£7.5m) is swiftly moving up the forwards’ watchlist – providing he avoids a ban for flare-flinging, of course. Jordan Pickford (£4.8m) is another name on the radar, although all four of Everton’s clean sheets under Lampard have come on Merseyside.

THE LONG SHOTS

There are plenty more ‘doublers’ besides the players and teams mentioned above but they feature in this section for a reason.

Norwich and Watford are two of the clubs not mentioned so far, with the former mathematically relegated and the latter almost certain to follow suit. Teemu Pukki (£6.0m), joint-top among FPL assets for non-penalty xGI in his last six matches, and the game’s cheapest starting goalkeeper, Ben Foster (£4.1m), are passable Bench Boost options this week but they’re almost certainly not going to trouble a cherry-picked best XI.

Wolves assets are similar non-starters based on form and fixtures, although Leeds’ double-header against Arsenal and Chelsea might not be quite as bad as it first looks: Raphinha (£6.4m) could be facing a suspect Nuno Tavares (£4.3m) before encountering what may be a much-changed Blues side ahead of the aforementioned FA Cup final appearance.

The visit of Liverpool makes up one of Aston Villa’s two Double Gameweek 36 fixtures, meanwhile, and given that the Villans haven’t won a single game against a top-eight club under Steven Gerrard, it’d be a pragmatic mindset to maybe consider Ollie Watkins (£7.5m) and Philippe Coutinho (£7.1m) more as ‘single’ Gameweek options. These two will likely come back into the Scout Picks equation in Gameweek 37 but there does appear to be an abundance of more preferable mid-price alternatives this week.

Finally, a word on one massive premium name that we haven’t discussed yet: Harry Kane (£12.5m). There’s little wrong with his underlying stats (he’s the best Premier League forward for xGI since Antonio Conte took charge) but the fixtures, the form of the cheaper Son, a tally of one goal in six matches and with premium midfield picks elsewhere all vying for our investment, he looks like an outside bet for the Scout Picks at this early stage.

GAMEWEEK 36 BUS TEAM