FPL Gameweek 27 Scout Picks: De Bruyne + Haaland in

We roll out a 3-5-2 formation in the Gameweek 27 Scout Picks and double up on Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal in our starting XI.

As usual, the selection draws on the Scout Squad submissions made by Neale, Tom F, Marc and Tom J.

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

Jordan Pickford (£4.6m) is drafted in for Everton’s clash with West Ham United at Goodison Park.

The Toffees are an excellent fourth for fewest expected goals conceded (xGC) this season and were just minutes away from a ninth clean sheet of the campaign at the Amex last week.

Meanwhile, Pickford is the top-scoring goalkeeper in FPL with 97 points, courtesy of eight shutouts, 78 saves and 12 bonus.

DEFENDERS

Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.3m) is our Arsenal defender of choice for the trip to basement dwellers Sheffield United.

The Gunners’ ten clean sheets across the season are at least two more than everyone else, while no team has conceded fewer goals, big chances or expected goals (xG). In their last four games, they’ve faced just four shots on target, illustrating just how good they’ve been defensively.

As for Gabriel, he’s racked up nine shots over the last six Gameweeks and went mightily close to a fifth goal of the campaign last time out.

We also call upon Marcos Senesi (£4.5m) as Bournemouth make their way to Turf Moor on Sunday.

Burnley have found the net on just ten occasions in the last 12 Gameweeks, whilst Senesi has already demonstrated his attacking sensibilities by scoring three goals and assisting two this season. He’s also one of the leading centre-backs for chances created, so has the potential to shine in Gameweek 27.

Elsewhere, Conor Bradley’s (£4.1m) raids down the Liverpool right flank brings him into our three-man backline.

When defenders are sorted by their last four matches, the 20-year-old is joint-top for shots and joint-second for chances created, so could pose plenty of problems to a Nottingham Forest defence that’s kept just one clean sheet in nine under Nuno Espirito Santo.

Meanwhile, team-mate Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) was overlooked simply for budgetary reasons but could get some joy from set pieces at the City Ground, given the hosts’ weakness from such situations.

MIDFIELDERS

In the end, we plumped for Kevin De Bruyne (£10.7m) over Phil Foden (£8.1m).

Only Sheffield United, West Ham and Luton Town have faced more shots than Manchester United in the Premier League this season, suggesting their openness at the back isn’t going away any time soon.

Crucially, De Bruyne welcomes a United side who are bottom for set-piece chances conceded not just in the last six Gameweeks but also the whole season, so he could be in the points in Gameweek 27.

Back-to-back league benchings are far from ideal, but we’re viewing the Belgian’s 90 minutes on Tuesday as a sign that Pep Guardiola has no lingering concerns about his hamstring niggle.

Arsenal’s man of the moment Bukayo Saka (£9.2m) also gets the nod for the trip to Bramall Lane. Having blanked in just one of his last seven matches, the England winger is up against a defence that’s already shipped 36 goals in 13 run-outs in front of their own supporters this season.

Elsewhere, James Maddison (£7.9m) acts as our Tottenham Hotspur representative despite support for Son Heung-min (£9.6m) in Scout Squad, who didn’t make it here due to budgetary constraints.

It feels like a reasonable compromise, too, with the playmaker offering a nice balance of both creativity and goal threat for a cheaper price.

While Crystal Palace are a bit of an unknown under Oliver Glasner, the Eagles have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last seven away games, conceding 17 goals in total.

With Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) and Diogo Jota (£8.1m) sidelined, Luis Diaz’s (£7.5m) contribution will once again be vital as Liverpool travel to Nottingham Forest.

The Colombian, who has served up three goals and three assists in his last five matches, has attempted 23 shots over the same period, with seven of those efforts deemed ‘big chances’, highlighting his importance to the Reds’ cause.

Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (£5.7m) takes the final midfield spot.

Only Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton have shipped more goals than Brentford this season and they’ll be without three of their best defenders on Saturday: Ben Mee (£4.8m), Ethan Pinnock (£4.6m) and Rico Henry (£4.3m).

Handed a welcome midweek breather, it boosts Palmer’s chances of a seventh double-figure haul of the campaign.

FORWARDS

Up front, we’ve gone for Erling Haaland (£14.5m) and Ollie Watkins (£8.9m).

Five goals in midweek suggests Haaland is fast approaching top form again and he simply cannot be ignored in Gameweek 27, having plundered 23 points in the corresponding fixture last season.

Watkins also earns the nod as Aston Villa make their way to Kenilworth Road.

The England striker will fancy his chances of extending his fine run of form (five goals/four assists in five matches), bearing in mind that Luton have been hit for 19 goals in their last five league and cup games.

THE SUBSTITUTES

• Caoimhin Kelleher costs just £3.7m in FPL and claims a sub role for Liverpool’s trip to Nottingham Forest.
• Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.2m) has bagged two goals in his last four appearances and is averaging 5.2 points per start from Gameweek 21 onwards.
• Micky van de Ven (£4.4m) features on the bench, with Tottenham the bookies’ third favourites to keep a clean sheet in Gameweek 27.
• Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz (£4.5m) has racked up 18 shots in his last four matches, scoring four of them.

THE CAPTAIN

We chose the Scout Picks captain using a vote between our Scout Squad panel.

• Tom J: Haaland, Saka, De Bruyne
• Marc: Haaland, Saka, Watkins
• Tom F: Haaland, Saka, Watkins
• Neale: Haaland, Saka, Watkins

Erling Haaland is handed the armband this week, with Bukayo Saka 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 Calculated Risks, whose selection is as follows:

Areola; Gabriel, Trippier, Senesi; Saka (c), Son, Odegaard, Diaz, Foden; Haaland, Muniz

The Scout Picks are 14-12 up on the community this season, having beaten Mince n Tatties 62-37 in Gameweek 26.

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.

Having registered 60 points in Gameweek 26, we’re ranked 13k in the world.

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