We have chosen our best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players for Gameweek 16 ahead of Saturday’s deadline.
We line up in a 5-3-2 formation this week and, as ever, are limited to £83.0m for our first XI and, new to 2022/23 after a reader vote, an overall price cap of £100.0m for our 15-man squad, too.
GOALKEEPER
Crystal Palace’s Vicente Guaita (£4.5m) is our chosen goalkeeper in Gameweek 16, ahead of a favourable away fixture at The City Ground. The 35-year-old has racked up 22 points over his last four away matches, courtesy of two clean sheets, four save points and three bonus. This week, he’ll be up against a Nottingham Forest side struggling for goals, with just four in their last seven league outings. As for Palace, their 5.87 expected goals conceded (xGC) figure in their last six matches is the fourth-meanest tally in the league.
DEFENDERS
Having served his red card suspension in the EFL Cup, Joao Cancelo (£7.4m) retains his place in the Scout Picks XI. The Portuguese full-back is averaging 6.1 points per start at the Etihad this season, with poor travellers Brentford up next on Saturday. The Bees are in a slump, losing to Gillingham on penalties in midweek, while away from home they’ve scored just three goals and conceded 11 in their last three league games. Almost 260,000 FPL managers have sold Cancelo this week, a decision they may regret.
Newcastle United’s home meeting with Chelsea might be more favourable than the Season Ticker suggests: the Blues are four games without a win in the Premier League, a period which has seen them score just two goals. In addition, they are also at the wrong end of the table for both expected goals (xG) and xGC under Graham Potter. As a result, it’s no surprise the in-form Kieran Trippier (£5.9m) was backed by the majority of the Scout Squad panel, having averaged a whopping 7.6 points per start at St James’ Park this season.
A home encounter with Leeds United looks like the perfect opportunity for Ivan Perisic (£5.5m) to return to the Scout Picks XI. Jesse March’s troops have looked better against the ‘bigger’ clubs this season, defeating Chelsea and Liverpool and running Arsenal close. However, they have been poor defensively of late, conceding at least two or more goals in four of their last six matches. As for Perisic, he is creating chances faster than any other FPL defender this season, with Son Heung-min’s (£11.6m) absence allowing him more of a say at set-pieces. Another run-out up top may be unlikely, but the Croatian still offers plenty of points potential in a left wing-back role.
Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.1m) has been excellent for Arsenal this season, particularly recently: the Brazilian has returned in three of the last four Gameweeks with his 15-point haul at Stamford Bridge last weekend taking him up to fourth in the defender standings. While back-to-back goals are unlikely, it’s worth noting that no defender has found the net more often than Gabriel (seven) since the start of last season. The Gunners visit the divisions’ lowest scorers – Wolverhampton Wanderers – in Gameweek 16, with the best away record in 2022/23, having claimed five clean sheets in seven road trips.
Ideally, we’d have Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) or Andrew Robertson (£6.7m) in this slot, but due to budget constraints, have opted for Ibrahima Konate (£4.8m) as our chosen Liverpool defender in Gameweek 16. The Frenchman’s return from injury should help shore up the Reds’ backline, as they prepare to face a Southampton side under new management. Liverpool are a dismal 20th for xGC over the last six matches, but come up against a Saints side that have lost four of their last five away league matches, failing to score in each defeat.
MIDFIELDERS
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COMMUNITY CHAMPION
Each week, a member of the Fantasy Football Scout community takes on the Scout Picks.
The community member who beats our team by the largest margin will win a £100 Amazon Voucher and a place in our Moderators and Contributors League for the following season.
Our champion this week is Eh, just one more thing…, who has gone with this selection…
Ramsdale; Alexander-Arnold, Cancelo, Trippier; Zaha, Martinelli, Foden, Kulusevski, Gross; Haaland (c), Darwin
The Scout Picks are tied 7-7 with the community this season, with Boleyn Boy’s 81-54 victory in Gameweek 6 giving them the biggest winning margin (27 points) of 2022/23 so far.
FOLLOW THE SCOUT’S WEEKLY TRANSFER PLANS
We’re running a Scout community team in FPL this season, with regulars like TopMarx, Geoff, Tom Freeman and more contributing to the weekly decisions.
And we’re not just looking one week ahead like we are with the Scout Picks but instead planning in advance for the weeks and months to come.
You can follow our team via the Premier Fantasy Tools Pro Planner, which you can learn more about here.
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