We’ve assembled our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ for Gameweek 36 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
In this early selection, we select a first draft of our regular picks before they are finalised and published much closer to Friday’s deadline.
Plenty can change between now and then, of course, with one more Gameweek 35 fixture, Scout Squad nominations and a whole host of press conferences still to come.
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 36 FIXTURES
Above: The Gameweek 36 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker
THE LIKELY LADS
The spine of Thursday’s Scout Picks appears to be a formality, with Manchester City and Arsenal both facing favourable home fixtures in Gameweek 36.
They provide the core of our ‘bus team’ selections, with Wolverhampton Wanderers and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Bournemouth both there for the taking.
Pep Guardiola’s side struggled to cope with relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest for large periods on Sunday, but they got the job done, as they often do under the Spaniard. Erling Haaland (£14.1m) came off the bench to secure the win and is surely a shoo-in for the Scout Picks.
Plenty of other Man City players are fighting to join him.
Phil Foden (£8.3m) v Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m) is a key battle in the middle of the park, provided the former can recover from illness.
De Bruyne’s influence has been noticeable since his return from injury, but Foden has the superior goal threat, having struck eight times in his last six outings.
The statistics show that having Hwang Hee-chan (£5.4m) and Matheus Cunha (£5.6m) in the starting XI greatly improves Wolves’ attacking output, but they are still ranked 18th for expected goals (xG) over the last six Gameweeks.
Kyle Walker (£5.4m) or Josko Gvardiol (£5.0m) will likely wriggle their way into the Scout Picks, then.
A cut-price Stefan Ortega (£3.7m) could also be an option if Ederson (£5.5m) is ruled out.
Comfortably boasting the most clean sheets (16) and the fewest expected goals conceded (26.83) in the division, Arsenal are up against a Bournemouth side that have lost two of their last three road trips.
A defensive double-up might be swerved – the Cherries have scored in 13 consecutive away league fixtures – but Ben White (£6.0m) and Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.4m) are both in Scout Picks contention.
In attack, there will probably be some dispute among the Scout Squad panel.
Kai Havertz (£7.4m) has found a rich vein of form (no player has scored more FPL points from Gameweek 24 onwards) and his kinder price tag is likely to offer us better value.
However, Bukayo Saka (£9.0m) also picked up a couple of goal contributions in the north London derby and has penalties in his locker, while Martin Odegaard’s (£8.6m) creativity could be key to unlocking Bournemouth’s defence.
A Newcastle United attacker looks likely for Scout Picks inclusion, too.
Anthony Gordon (£6.3m) has blanked in all but two of his away fixtures this season but there were five shots attempted by the budget midfielder at Craven Cottage in Gameweek 32, so it’s no surprise he features prominently in our thoughts.
Alexander Isak (£8.3m), meanwhile, is averaging a goal every 103.1 minutes in 2023/24, a faster rate than any other player.
We’re also endorsing Cole Palmer (£6.2m) at home to West Ham United for obvious reasons.
IN CONTENTION
Nottingham Forest, Everton and Newcastle all face teams in the relegation zone this weekend.
Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.7m) and Chris Wood (£4.8m) offer us budget-friendly attackers at Forest, but defensive representation from Everton is arguably likelier, with Luton Town in the bottom three for xG.
Jordan Pickford (£4.7m), James Tarkowski (£4.6m) and Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.3m) are all in contention, but the Hatters have scored in 13 successive Premier League home matches, which is a bit off-putting.
Matz Sels (£4.5m), Martin Dubravka (£4.3m) and Dan Burn (£4.6m) are other possibilities if we want to target the newly promoted trio.
Elsewhere, it’d be foolish to dismiss the credentials of Ollie Watkins (£9.0m), who has served up three goals and two assists in his last four matches. Brighton and Hove Albion’s current struggles increase the appeal of the England international.
An Aston Villa defender also carries appeal, given that the Seagulls managed just one goal in April. However, we have reservations, with Emiliano Martinez (£5.3m) an early doubt and Unai Emery’s men in UEFA Europa Conference League action on Thursday.
Sergio Reguilon (£4.4m) might be a better defensive pick against Fulham, having supplied six assists in his last 11 starts.
Finally, Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze (£6.1m), Michael Olise (£5.6m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£5.1m) could haul against a Manchester United side that have allowed the third-highest number of shots over the season, denting Andre Onana (£5.0m) and Diogo Dalot’s (£5.2m) appeal in the process.
THE LONG SHOTS
Once-fancied assets at Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have gone off the boil of late.
As they play each other on Sunday, there are probably other FPL options with higher ‘ceilings’ in Gameweek 36, but perhaps Spurs’ midweek clash at Stamford Bridge will provide us with more information.
However, it’ll be a tough ask for any of Chelsea’s untrustworthy backline to force their way past others in our Scout Picks.
Attackers such as Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m), Bryan Mbeumo (£6.8m), Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m), Alejandro Garnacho (£5.0m), Rasmus Hojlund (£7.1m) and Rodrigo Muniz (£4.5m) arguably deserve to be higher up this article and could potentially become shouts as the week goes on.
GAMEWEEK 36 SCOUT PICKS: BUS TEAM
