Last week brought the announcement of a new Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game called Fantasy Challenge.
Separate from the main format, Fantasy Challenge is essentially a series of independent weekly Free Hits but each one comes with a twist.
For example, Gameweek 31 gives doubles points to all forwards.
ENTER YOUR GAMEWEEK 31 TEAM HERE
Point-scoring is the same, it’s still a 15-man squad and the budget remains £100m. A captain and vice-captain need picking too, with prizes on offer.
But two big differences are that you’re allowed up to five players per Premier League team and the line-up can be edited at any point up until there are less than four teams left to play in the Gameweek.
So, who makes Scout’s ‘gut instinct XI’?
FANTASY CHALLENGE GAMEWEEK 31: SCOUT PICKS
Unlike the debut week, we have a budget to stick to. It means our FPL Scout Picks can be a good starting point, although they opt for a 3-5-2 formation when this – of course – depends on a three-man front line. Luckily, the use of cheap bench players means this Erling Haaland (£14.3m) squad costs exactly £100.0m.
The Norwegian is on two successive blanks and had only a couple of penalty area touches in the reverse meeting with Aston Villa but it’s dangerous to go against him at this stage of the season.
Alongside him in the quest for double points are most-bought Gameweek 31 forwards Alexander Isak (£7.7m) and Darwin Nunez (£7.6m). The former has four goals from his last three matches, takes penalties and is about to host Everton. Furthermore, he’s the only player with a better goals per 90 rate than Haaland (0.84), whilst Darwin is the league leader for shots on target per 90 (2.12).
He’s one of three Liverpool attackers versus last-placed Sheffield United. Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) marked his first league start since New Year’s Day with a frightening 12 shots but Luis Diaz (£7.5m) is just as irresistible, bagging four goals and three assists in his last eight.
Their right-back Conor Bradley (£4.2m) set up four chances and had two for himself inside the box on Sunday, so he forms part of an attack-minded defence. It includes Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.6m), who followed his Gameweek 28 goal with a close-range miss at Aston Villa and Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.3m), a four-time scorer.
The Brazilian is joined by fellow Arsenal star Bukayo Saka (£9.0m) after he was passed fit by manager Mikel Arteta. He’s another spot-kick taker, as is Cole Palmer (£5.9m). Chelsea’s key midfielder faces a solid Manchester United but has seven goals and five assists from his latest nine outings.
Finally, Martin Dubravka (£4.2m) is in goal, despite being part of a notoriously leaky and patched-up Newcastle United backline. Yet he could find himself against Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m), a forward who is goalless in 18 league games. We doubt the Toffees’ target man will appear in many points doubling line-ups.
ENTER YOUR GAMEWEEK 31 TEAM HERE
JOIN THE FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT MINI-LEAGUE
By the way, you can join the mini-league that we’ve created.
Simply follow this link and you’ll be added automatically once you’ve entered the game.
League Code: 59d69w
FANTASY CHALLENGE PRIZES
END-OF-SEASON DRAW
- Trip to New York City
- Exclusive tour of the NBC Studio
- Includes flights and accommodation for five nights
To be eligible to win this random draw, you must have joined the game and entered a team before the end of 2023/24. Each Gameweek team entry is an entry to the prize draw.
WEEKLY PRIZES
The top three each receive an official Premier League Nike match ball, the EA SPORTS FC game and a bundle of FPL merchandise that includes a rucksack, t-shirt, mug and more.
On top of this, the weekly winner will get a signed Premier League shirt.
