Gameweek 12 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) has barely got going but we’re already looking ahead to the following round with our Scout Picks ‘bus team’.
In this early Gameweek 13 selection, we select a first draft of our regular picks before they are finalised and published much closer to the Saturday deadline.
We are limited to a £83.0m budget for our starting XI, while our bench is also price-capped after a reader vote.
In the meantime, this ‘bus team’ article – a term coined by the Always Cheating crew – will discuss the players who are likely to be in the running.
All of the numbers featured in this piece were correct before Wednesday’s top-flight fixtures.
THE LIKELY LADS
Welcome back, Arsenal and Manchester City.
After their midweek blank, the Premier League’s top two (at the time of writing) come back onto the FPL radar with a vengeance, not just for Gameweek 13 but right the way up to the World Cup. Our Watchlist will soon be updated to reflect this.
Six of the top eight players for non-penalty expected goal involvement (NPxGI) this season are on the books of these two clubs, all of whom are in the mix for a place in the final Scout Picks come Friday.
After a brief medical mix-up on Wednesday, Gabriel Martinelli (£6.7m) should be fine for the weekend.
Representation from both clubs’ defences looks likely, too, with Arsenal up against a Southampton side with the second-worst expected goals (xG) tally in 2022/23.
Brighton and Hove Albion should pose City a bigger test than Saints will Arsenal: the Seagulls are in the top five for both xG and expected goals conceded (xGC) this season. But Albion have made a mockery of all things expected over the last few years, with profligacy in attack an ongoing problem. True to form, Roberto De Zerbi’s troops are goalless in their last three matches despite racking up 54 shots and six big chances.
Liverpool arguably have the standout fixture of the weekend but the quick turnaround time between Gameweeks 12 and 13 is a concern, so the teamsheet and minutes logged in Wednesday’s match against West Ham United will partly dictate who we plump for in the Scout Picks.
Benchings for Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m), Andrew Robertson (£6.7m) or Kostas Tsimikas (£4.5m) in midweek would seriously elevate their chances of a start in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off but for now, we’ll opt for an in-form, cut-price Joe Gomez (£4.5m), with two of his positional rivals still out injured. Further forward, Darwin Nunez (£8.8m), Roberto Firmino (£8.1m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) will all be in the mix for Scout Picks duty; Darwin is third among all FPL assets for minutes per xGI in 2022/23 and his short-term game-time prospects are elevated with injuries striking elsewhere.
IN CONTENTION
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