After a two-and-a-half-week gap between deadlines, our attention finally turns to the Gameweek 22 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Scout Picks.
We roll out a 4-4-2 formation this time around and triple-up on Manchester City and Liverpool.
As ever, we are limited by certain restrictions:
- An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
- An overall squad limit of £100.0m
- No more than three players per team
GOALKEEPER
A home clash with Everton offers Bernd Leno (£4.8m) the chance of further returns. The Fulham number one is the fifth top-scoring ‘keeper in Fantasy and has served up three of his last four clean sheets at Craven Cottage. Furthermore, he faces an attack that has scored just two goals in their last four Premier League outings.
DEFENDERS
If you’re looking for attacking returns from your defenders then Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m) and Pedro Porro (£5.9m) are the first two names that come to the fore.
Alexander-Arnold is back in contention after getting minutes off the bench against Norwich City on Sunday. Liverpool have kept a clean sheet in five of their 10 home games this season and with two goals and three assists in his last eight starts, Alexander-Arnold looks the best bet for points at both ends of the pitch.
Tottenham Hotspur’s home match with Brentford brings Porro into our back-four. The Spaniards’ penchant for picking up assists and bonus points has seen him average 4.3 points per start from Gameweek 12 onwards, despite Spurs keeping just one clean sheet in that time.
Meanwhile, we’re backing Kyle Walker (£5.4m) to torment Burnley at the Etihad as Man City look to continue their fine form. The Cityzens have recorded back-to-back shut-outs and if Pep Guardiola sticks with the same system, Walker should be afforded plenty of license to bomb forward from full-back.
A trip to the City Ground affords Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.0m) the chance to maintain his fine form, provided he passes a late fitness test. The Brazilian has averaged 7.0 points per start over the last five Gameweeks, with two double-figure returns over that period. Nottingham Forest being bottom of the table for set-piece goals conceded this season adds further appeal.
MIDFIELDERS
Arsenal’s visit to Nott’m Forest affords Bukayo Saka (£9.1m) a chance to get back amongst the points. The England international bagged 10 points against the midlands outfit back in Gameweek 1 and will be looking for more of the same, given that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have shipped eight goals across his four Premier League games in charge. The Tricky Trees are susceptible to set-pieces, too.
Saka is admittedly out of favour in FPL right now, but there are underlying numbers to back up his selection: in his last six matches, he’s attempted 23 shots, more than any other player except Dominic Solanke (£7.1m).
We were keen to have Kevin De Bruyne (£10.6m) on board for Man City’s home clash with Burnley, but with his return from injury being carefully managed and Pep Guardiola not facing the media until Tuesday afternoon, we’ve instead opted for the relative safety Phil Foden (£8.0m) in out Scout Picks XI.
Foden’s versatility is a real plus in terms of game-time against the Clarets, we even saw him lead the line at Spurs on Friday after De Bruyne’s introduction. Furthermore, he’s blanked in just two of his eight home starts this season, scoring three goals and assisting five during that run.
Diogo Jota (£7.9m) also makes our four-man midfield after an electric second-half display at Bournemouth. The Portuguese has six attacking returns in the last three Gameweeks and now faces a Chelsea side that haven’t kept a single clean sheet against a top-half team in 2023/24. Despite this matchup being a low-scoring affair in recent times, Jota will fancy his chances on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, we call upon Richarlison (£7.0m) to do the business as Spurs entertain Brentford in north London. There’s no doubt the Brazilian can frustrate as a Fantasy asset but after a slow start to the season, he has found his top form and produced six goals in the last six Gameweeks. Bearing in mind the Bees are on a 10-match run without a clean sheet, he could be set to add to that tally in Gameweek 22.
FORWARDS
Darwin Nunez (£7.4m) is drafted in for Liverpool’s home clash with Chelsea on Wednesday. The Uruguayan has found his best form of late and bagged three goals and one assist in the last three Gameweeks. Like Jota, he’s stepping up in Mohamed Salah’s (£13.1m) absence and will be confident of breaching a backline that’s conceded 12 times in their last five away matches.
Julian Alvarez (£7.0m) comes into contention for Man City’s plum home clash with Burnley. With an Erling Haaland (£13.9m) start in doubt after his no-show in the FA Cup, the Argentine could be set for the central role up front once again. He’s been presented with six big chances in his five recent starts playing as a centre-forward and could be in line to plunder the points against Vincent Kompany’s side.
THE SUBSTITUTES
- Dean Henderson (£4.5m) warms the bench as Crystal Palace welcome Sheffield United to Selhurst Park. The former Manchester United shot-stopper is averaging just under four saves per match since making his first start in Gameweek 17.
- Pervis Estupinan (£5.1m) is perhaps a little unlucky to only make the bench. The attack-minded defender has racked up 20 points over his previous three appearances and visits relegation-threatened Luton Town in Gameweek 22.
- Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze (£6.0m) is our substitute midfielder. The 25-year-old has found the net in each of his last two starts at Selhurst Park.
- Joao Pedro (£5.5m) hit a hat-trick as Brighton and Hove Albion ran out 5-2 winners over Sheffield United in the FA Cup on Saturday.
THE CAPTAIN
We chose the Scout Picks captain using a vote between our Scout Squad panel:
- Sam: Foden, Jota, Richarlison
- Marc: Alvarez, Foden, Richarlison
- Tom: Richarlison, Alvarez, Saka
- Neale: Foden, Saka, Darwin
Phil Foden is handed the armband this week, with Richarlison as the vice-captain.
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.
The-Red-1’s 64-30 victory in Gameweek 16 gave the community the biggest win (34 points difference) of 2023/24 so far.
Our champion this week is Baps Hunter, whose selection is as follows:
Raya; Porro, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Richarlison, Foden, Doku, Rashford, Fernandes; Alvarez (c), Joao Pedro
The Scout Picks are 12-9 up on the community this season after champ beat us in Gameweek 21.
FOLLOW THE SCOUT’S WEEKLY TRANSFER PLANS
We’re running a Scout community team in FPL this season, with regulars like TopMarx, Tom Freeman, Marc Jobling 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.
We’re currently sitting at 40k in the world ahead of Gameweek 22.
