We’ve put together our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ for Gameweek 35 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
In this early selection, we select a first draft of our regular picks. We will then finalise and publish them much closer to Saturday’s deadline.
Plenty can change between now and then, of course, with six more Gameweek 34 fixtures and a whole host of press conferences still to come this week.
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
GAMEWEEK 35 FIXTURES
Above: The Gameweek 35 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker
THE LIKELY LADS
Chelsea’s Double Gameweek 35 fixtures might not seem the easiest on paper. However, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur aren’t bad teams to be facing from an attacking perspective.
The Villans have just one clean sheet in nine on home turf and may well have one eye on their upcoming UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final. Spurs shipped four at St James’ Park last time out, too.
Over the season, they rank 17th and 12th respectively for big chances conceded.
Cole Palmer (£6.2m) is the stand-out option from the Chelsea attack and is nailed on for Scout Picks duty providing he recovers from illness.
A second attacker may also make the cut, like Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m). The Senegalese striker is hardly clinical but he boasts the sixth-best minutes per expected goal (xG) figure of any forward this season (minimum 500 minutes). He is also already on 10 Premier League goals.
Should Jackson pick up a booking on Tuesday, however, he’s out of Gameweek 35. Mykhailo Mudryk (£6.3m), Conor Gallagher (£5.4m) and Noni Madueke (£5.3m) are on standby.
Spurs attackers also feature in our plans, with a double-up not out of the question.
Given his FPL pedigree, Son Heung-min (£9.8m) is a must-have. But Brennan Johnson (£5.8m) is also a man in form, with three goals and four assists in nine appearances.
If Arsenal and Chelsea over-commit bodies forward, both players could prosper on the counter-attack.
Richarlison (£6.8m) – if fit of course – James Maddison (£7.8m) and Timo Werner (£6.3m) are other options under consideration at Spurs.
As for the single Gameweekers, Newcastle United have a plum home fixture against Sheffield United. We can expect two or three of their players to feature in our Scout Picks selection on Friday.
Anthony Gordon (£6.1m) and Alexander Isak (£8.0m) each have their usual strong claims for inclusion against the side with the worst away record in the division.
Gordon has registered at least one goal or assist in each of his last six home outings.
Isak is averaging 7.9 points per start at St James’ Park, marginally ahead of Gordon (7.6).
Defensive coverage from Eddie Howe’s side is highly likely.
IN CONTENTION
But what about the defensive assets from Chelsea and Spurs?
This is where it gets trickier, with neither side impressing at the back over the season. In fact, both sides have combined for just three clean sheets in 2024 so far.
Djordje Petrovic (£4.5m) is probably the first name that comes to mind for the Blues, given that both Malo Gusto (£4.3m) and Ben Chilwell (£5.4m) are potential injury doubts.
In the likely scenario Chelsea concede, Petrovic should at least earn a save point or two to compensate.
As for Spurs, key creator Pedro Porro (£5.8m) is nailed on if he can prove his fitness. He has already racked up eight assists this season, which only two other FPL defenders can better.
Guglielmo Vicario (£5.3m), Cristian Romero (£5.1m) and Micky van de Ven (£4.4m) are alternative options should we need to look elsewhere but it might be best to swerve the Spurs defence if Porro is out, given their limited upside.
Elsewhere, representation from Liverpool also seems likely. West Ham United have just one win in seven, so Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4m), who was pulling the strings in a deeper central role on Sunday, and Mohamed Salah (£13.6m) could enter the Scout Picks conversation.
However, the Merseyside derby line-up/minutes will almost certainly influence our selections.
For example, if Andrew Robertson (£6.5m) and/or Luis Diaz (£7.8m) are rested on Wednesday, they too could feature. The Hammers have an iffy right flank, which has conceded 62 key passes at home over the season, more than any other club except Brentford and Sheffield United.
Burnley’s dearth of clean sheets (none in 16) will interest Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m), Alejandro Garnacho (£5.0m) and Rasmus Hojlund (£7.0m). The former is in the better form and posting some strong underlying numbers over the last six matches (18 shots/16 key passes).
However, Manchester United’s own recent struggles are off-putting. It’ll be interesting to see if the Scout Squad panel back their assets in light of Sunday’s collapse at Wembley.
Meanwhile, Eberechi Eze (£6.1m), Michael Olise (£5.6m), Jean-Philippe Mateta (£5.1m), Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m), Hwang Hee-chan (£5.4m) and Pablo Sarabia (£4.8m) also come into the conversation. Luton Town’s terrible form perhaps gives the Wolverhampton Wanderers assets the edge, however.
Finally, we’ll get to gauge Manchester City’s squad – including the fitness of Erling Haaland (£14.2m) – in the Brighton and Hove Albion game on Thursday night. Until then, initial thoughts turn to Phil Foden (£8.2m) and perhaps Kevin De Bruyne (£10.4m). The former is top among City players for goal attempts (26) over the last six matches.
THE LONG SHOTS
Arsenal players are low down the priority list this week, given that they only have one fixture away to Spurs.
They’ll almost certainly come back into the Scout Picks equation in Gameweek 36 but there does appear to be several more preferable alternatives in defence and attack this week.
Everton and Brentford assets like Jordan Pickford (£4.7m), Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.3m), Sergio Reguilon (£4.5m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£6.8m) shouldn’t be discarded out of hand, but it’s unlikely they’ll force their way past others this week.
As for Ollie Watkins (£8.9m), Dominic Solanke (£7.3m) and Rodrigo Muniz (£4.6m), there’s little wrong with their returns or underlying stats. With the likes of Isak and Jackson vying for our attention, however, they are outside bets at this early stage.
GAMEWEEK 35 SCOUT PICKS: BUS TEAM
