With no let-up in the fixture list over the next few days, we move swiftly onto our Gameweek 31 Scout Picks.
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
With a favourable home fixture, Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher (£3.8m) is our chosen goalkeeper for Gameweek 31.
Sheffield United are scoring at a rate of just 0.86 goals per game on the road and sit bottom for expected goals (xG) in away fixtures.
The Reds, by contrast, rank third for fewest expected goals conceded (xGC) over the season.
DEFENDERS
Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.3m) comes in for Arsenal’s home encounter with Luton Town. The Gunners’ 12 clean sheets across the season are at least two more than everyone else, while no team has conceded fewer goals, Opta-defined ‘big chances’ or xG.
The pick is also made with one eye on the Hatters being in the bottom four for headed chances allowed and efforts from set plays conceded, a weakness Gabriel could potentially exploit.
Josko Gvardiol (£4.8m) is drafted in for the visit of Aston Villa, who could be without talisman Ollie Watkins (£8.9m).
Going forward, the Manchester City defender has impressed of late – in his last four starts, he’s created three chances for his team-mates and fired eight efforts on goal.
A home clash with Sheffield United offers Conor Bradley (£4.2m) the chance of points at both ends of the pitch.
When defenders are sorted by their last six matches, the 20-year-old is joint-second for key passes (13) and joint-fourth for shots (seven). Crucially, the Blades have conceded 94 crosses from their left flank in the last six Gameweeks, more than any other top-flight side.
MIDFIELDERS
Sheffield United’s visit to Anfield seems tailor-made for Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) to haul in Gameweek 31.
The Egyptian has been particularly reliable in front of his own fans this season, delivering points in 10 of his 11 home starts. In fact, no player has produced more shots on home turf than Salah, who squares up to a defence without a clean sheet in their previous 13 matches.
Son Heung-min (£10.1m) is nailed-on for Spurs’ clash with a West Ham United defence that has failed to muster a single clean sheet in 10 matches. In that time, they’ve shipped 24 goals, more than any other top-flight side expect Sheffield United and Luton.
The South Korean has produced eight goals and four assists in 12 away appearances under Ange Postecoglou this season. That’s helped him to a points-per-start average of 7.5 away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while he is also joint-second among FPL midfielders for big chances on the road.
Despite concerns over rotation, having suffered from “fatigue” in Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Manchester City on Sunday, Bukayo Saka (£9.0m) has to be in our starting line-up.
The England international has 23 attacking returns across the season and faces a Luton rearguard who are without a clean sheet on the road in 2023/24.
He’s joined by team-mate Kai Havertz (£7.2m), who has improved of late (four goals and three assists in five) and become a key player for the Gunners. His height could be important here, given Luton’s aerial threat.
It’s 13 goals and nine assists in 21 starts for Cole Palmer (£5.9m) in light of Saturday’s brace against Burnley. The playmaker has eight double-figure hauls in that time and has already scored against Thursday’s visitors Manchester United back in Gameweek 15.
He’ll fancy his chances against a Red Devils backline that is bottom for shots in the box conceded over the last six away matches.
FORWARDS
A home encounter with Aston Villa earns Erling Haaland (£14.3m) a recall in our Scout Picks.
Unai Emery’s side may be riding an extreme high this season but, even so, only three teams (Luton, Burnley and West Ham) have conceded more ‘big chances’ in the last six matches.
Ranked first for shots and xG over the season, Haaland more than merits his place in our XI despite back-to-back blanks.
Finally, Chris Wood’s (£4.8m) flourishing form has coincided with Nuno Espirito Santo’s arrival at Nottingham Forest.
The New Zealand international has served up seven goals and provided one assist in eight starts under the Portuguese tactician, having been labelled “an amazing player” by his manager after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
THE SUBSTITUTES
- Martin Dubravka (£4.2m): Our backup goalkeeper is kindly priced and hosts an Everton side that have failed to score in four of their past six away games.
- Nelson Semedo (£4.5m): Opponents Burnley have conceded 72 crosses from their left flank in the last six Gameweeks – only three sides have allowed more.
- Chris Richards (£3.9m): The defender offers budget potential in FPL, having started every match under Oliver Glasner.
- Rodrigo Muniz (£4.7m): Fulham’s in-form striker has scored eight goals in his last eight games.
THE CAPTAIN
We chose the Scout Picks captain using a vote between our Scout Squad panel.
Mohamed Salah is handed the armband this week, with Erling Haaland 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. They’ll also get 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 will be announced soon.
The community are 15.5-14.5 up on the Scout Picks this season, after Soumyeah secured a 71-67 victory in Gameweek 30.
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 69 points in Gameweek 30, we’re up to 9k in the world.
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