We’ve put together our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ ahead of Gameweek 10 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
In this early selection, we cobble together a first draft of our regular picks before they are finalised and published much closer to the deadline.
We are limited to a £83.0m budget for our starting XI, while our bench is also price-capped after a reader vote – although we will continue to offer our ‘alternative’ substitutes in the final Scout Picks based on the old criteria.
In the meantime, this ‘bus team’ article – a term coined by the Always Cheating chaps – will discuss the players who are likely to be in the running.
THE LIKELY LADS
There is only one place to start this week: Manchester City.
Fresh from their emphatic derby win, Pep Guardiola’s side have now served up a whopping 36 goals in their last eight league matches at home, averaging over four per game. Those figures point towards an attacking double-up, given that opponents Southampton have failed to keep an away clean sheet in the league for almost a year.
But who joins Joao Cancelo (£7.2m) and hat-trick hero Erling Haaland (£12.1m) in our Scout Picks XI?
There are options aplenty in midfield, with Kevin De Bruyne (£12.3m) perhaps the leading candidate, having registered his seventh and eighth assists of the season on Sunday, at least three more than any other FPL player.
However, Phil Foden (£8.1m) is an equally explosive, cheaper alternative, and has twice as many shots in the box as the Belgian playmaker so far in 2022/23. Bernardo Silva (£7.0m), meanwhile, has blanked just once since making his first start in Gameweek 3.
Above: De Bruyne v Foden v Bernardo in 2022/23, compared using our three-player comparison tool in the Premium Members Area
European minutes could potentially influence our decision, too, with City in UEFA Champions League action against FC Copenhagen on Wednesday night.
Graham Potter opted for a back four at Selhurst Park in Gameweek 9, which coincided with Chelsea conceding for the sixth straight match. However, they did restrict their opponents to just four shots in the box, which carried a combined expected goals (xG) value of just 0.44. Now, they meet manager-ess Wolverhampton Wanderers, who have found the net only three times all season, fewer than any other Premier League side.
Reece James (£6.0m), meanwhile, was defensively sound against Crystal Palace and kept Wilfried Zaha (£7.3m) quiet, but against easier opponents, both players should get more joy in the final third. Indeed, the latter has become something of a flat-track bully in 2022, with 10 of his 13 goals this calendar year arriving against non-big six sides.
- READ MORE: FPL review: Cucurella-less Chelsea
IN CONTENTION
The rest of this article is completely free to read but requires a Fantasy Football Scout user account for access – you can get yours at no cost here
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