Bournemouth and Luton Town dominate this week’s Scout Picks as they both prepare for Double Gameweek 28.
As usual, we deliberated over the Scout Squad submissions made by Neale, Tom F, Sam and Tom J earlier this week, before coming up with the final team.
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
No goalkeeper received unanimous support among our Scout Squad panel but Murara Neto (£4.6m) did get three votes ahead of Bournemouth’s Double Gameweek 28.
The Cherries haven’t been too convincing at the back this year but will be buoyed by last week’s clean sheet at Turf Moor.
Meanwhile, no Premier League side has scored fewer goals on the road than Sheffield United, who have failed to find the net in five of their last eight fixtures.
Neto should have save points to fall back on even if his side concede, having earned at least one in eight of his last nine appearances.
DEFENDERS
Two of our defenders this week received universal backing from our Scout Squad panel: Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.3m) and Alfie Doughty (£4.7m).
Gabriel comes in for Arsenal’s home clash with a struggling Brentford outfit, who have just two wins in their last 13 matches. The Brazilian’s threat in the final-third is also key to his appeal, with three goals and one assist helping him to fifth in the defender rankings.
As for Doughty, his raids down the flank have produced a goal and eight assists so far, suggesting he could still bring in the points even in the likely event Luton’s defence is breached by Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
His role at set-piece situations is also relevant, given that the Cherries have committed more fouls than any other top-flight club this season.
Elsewhere, West Ham United’s rearguard is backed for the visit of a Burnley side who have scored just once in the last four Gameweeks.
Vladimir Coufal (£4.6m) is our preferred route in, with the right-backs six assists and 25 chances created making him the standout candidate, particularly with Emerson Palmieri (£4.4m) an injury doubt.
MIDFIELDERS
With Brentford the only side to have conceded more big chances than Aston Villa from Gameweek 22, Son Heung-min (£9.8m) is selected in midfield.
The South Korean should lead the line on Sunday and has been especially prolific on the road this season, netting seven times in just 10 appearances, supplementing those strikes with two assists. Aston Villa have shipped nine goals in their last four home matches, meanwhile.
Arsenal’s home game against injury-hit Brentford is arguably the standout fixture of Gameweek 28, so Bukayo Saka (£9.2m) retains his place in the Scout Picks.
Hauls of 7, 10, 15 and 15 in the last four Gameweeks highlight the England international’s explosive potential ahead of a showdown with a defence that’s been breached more times than any other in the top-flight except Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United.
Jarrod Bowen (£7.9m) has scored 25 points in the last two Gameweeks and looks reborn with Lucas Paqueta (£6.0m) back in the fold.
The 27-year-old has recorded more big chances than any FPL midfielder except Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) and Richarlison (£7.0m) in home matches this campaign, while Burnley have shipped 18 goals in their last six. It’s no surprise Bowen is the second-most bought midfielder in the Gameweek, then.
We’re prepared to take a punt on Marcus Tavernier for Bournemouth’s double. Six attacking returns in 23 appearances plus some iffy recent form underlines the risk you take when snapping up the £5.4m wide man, but he’s up against Sheffield United and Luton, both of whom are without an away clean sheet all season.
FORWARDS
Tottenham Hotspur are without a shut-out in 10 Gameweeks, so Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) has a chance to continue his fine form on Sunday.
The Aston Villa striker has delivered 13 attacking returns in his last eight starts, averaging 8.9 points per match in those fixtures, so his recent output is hard to ignore.
Dominic Solanke (£7.2m), the leader in our captaincy poll, returns to Scout Picks contention to face Sheffield United and Luton, sides who are ranked 20th and 18th respectively for goals conceded this term.
The Bournemouth striker has 14 goals in 26 appearances going into Double Gameweek 28, 15 in 27 if you include the abandoned match against the Hatters, who he faces again on Wednesday. Solanke hasn’t trained fully this week but Andoni Iraola is confident of the striker facing Sheffield United.
Finally, with five goals and four assists in his last nine appearances, Carlton Morris (£5.2m) looks like a great addition for Luton’s double-header. Rate My Team has him as the top projected scorer for the Hatters in Double Gameweek 28.
THE SUBSTITUTES
- Thomas Kaminski (£4.5m) is our backup goalkeeper and is included for his save point potential against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
- Diogo Dalot (£5.2m) features on the bench for Manchester United’s home clash with Everton. The Toffees have scored only five goals in their last eight matches.
- Daniel Munoz (£4.5m) has really caught the eye in a very advanced wing-back role for Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace.
- Cole Palmer (£5.7m) narrowly missed out on the Scout Picks XI. The playmaker has four goals and four assists in his last seven appearances and faces Newcastle United next.
THE CAPTAIN
We chose the Scout Picks captain using a vote between our Scout Squad panel.
- Sam: Solanke, Watkins, Saka
- Tom J: Solanke, Morris, Saka
- Tom F: Solanke, Morris, Son
- Neale: Solanke, Morris, Neto
Dominic Solanke is handed the armband this week, with Carlton Morris 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 Could get Messi, whose selection is as follows:
Ramsdale; Doughty, Coufal, Zabarnyi; Saka, Son, Odegaard, Salah, Bowen; Solanke (c), Watkins
The Scout Picks are 14-13 up on the community this season but lost 62-87 to Calculated Risks in Gameweek 27.
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.
After registering 78 points in Gameweek 27, we’re ranked 14k in the world.
