Gameweek 6 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) has barely finished but we’re already looking ahead to the following round with our early Scout Picks.
In this Gameweek 7 selection, we create a first draft of our regular picks. We will then finalise and publish them again much closer to Saturday’s deadline.
Plenty can change between now and then, of course. There are Scout Squad nominations, midweek cup ties and a whole host of press conferences still to come.
We are, as ever, 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 7 FIXTURES
Above: The Gameweek 7 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker
THE LIKELY LADS
Arsenal and Manchester City are inevitably going to dominate the Scout Picks in Gameweek 7.
In north London, David Raya (£5.6m), Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.2m) and Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) are currently leading the charge, although Kai Havertz (£8.2m) is also competing for inclusion.
The German has scored in every home match this season, amassing four attacking returns in three Emirates starts. He’s amassed 26 points in doing so.
Arsenal are up against the division’s lowest scorers Southampton, however.
Man City v Fulham is the other stand-out fixture of the week from a Fantasy perspective.
Erling Haaland (£15.3m) is surely a shoo-in. He’s had 29 shots in the box over the first six Gameweeks, at least 10 more than any other player.
Josko Gvardiol (£5.9m) isn’t quite as attacking as he was last year but he’s still popping up in advanced positions. With seven shots in the box and 20 penalty area touches in 2024/25, there’s perhaps enough upside to go for City’s most expensive defender.
In both Arsenal and City’s cases, the teamsheets and minutes logged in Europe could also partly determine who we plump for in the Scout Picks.
Elsewhere, Fabian Hurzeler’s high defensive line has come in for heavy criticism after Brighton and Hove Albion’s 4-2 defeat at Chelsea.
It’s worth noting none of Cole Palmer’s (£10.7m) four goals on Saturday came directly from this route. However, there were numerous occasions when Chelsea’s pacey frontline caused problems.
Dejan Kulusevski (£6.2m), James Maddison (£7.5m), Brennan Johnson (£6.4m) and Dominic Solanke (£7.6m), perhaps even Pedro Porro (£5.5m), look perfectly placed to exploit those defensive deficiencies on Sunday.
Son Heung-min (£10.0m) is another candidate for inclusion should he recover in time.
We’ll save the wider analysis for Sam’s upcoming Pro Pundits article, but Solanke gets the nod for now.
IN CONTENTION
Going without any Liverpool players in our ‘bus team’ seems odd. The Reds are top of the table and won their opening three away games in 2024/25.
However, Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.1m) are luxuries we might not be able to afford.
The uncertainty over which combination of attackers Arne Slot will go for also makes us swerve Diogo Jota (£7.5m), Luis Diaz (£8.0m) and Cody Gakpo (£7.2m) for now. Any line-up clues or injuries from Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash against Bologna could easily elevate one of them into Scout Picks contention, however.
Nottingham Forest are a more competent defensive unit than Chelsea’s Gameweek 6 opponents Brighton. Many of us will still fancy Cole Palmer regardless. He ran the show on Saturday, with seven shots and four chances created. Palmer has now plundered 10 attacking returns in his last five matches, taking his points-per-start average to 10.2.
Nicolas Jackson (£7.8m), plus defenders Malo Gusto (£4.9m) and Levi Colwill (£4.5m), are also in Scout Picks contention.
The in-form Morgan Rogers (£5.2m) and Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) will be keenly eyeing up this weekend’s meeting with a Manchester United side that imploded against Tottenham Hotspur.
Playing behind Watkins, Rogers’ running power and dribbling skill could be deadly against a deflated United side. The Villa midfielder notched his first goal of the campaign on Sunday.
Erik ten Hag will also be without captain Bruno Fernandes (£8.2m) through suspension.
Reservations remain about Aston Villa defensively, however.
West Ham United’s clash against Ipswich Town is a fixture that looks tougher than originally thought. The Tractor Boys were excellent in their 2-2 draw against Villa on Sunday.
The Hammers look poor both in and out of possession under Julen Lopetegui, so Leif Davis (£4.5m) could slip into our final selection over Jarrod Bowen (£7.4m).
Crucially, West Ham have allowed more key passes to be created from their right flank than any other team except Everton this season.
Brentford v Wolverhampton Wanderers is another intriguing encounter. Mark Flekken (£4.5m), Nathan Collins (£4.5m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£7.4m) are all in contention for the home side.
Mbeumo is Thomas Frank’s main man at Brentford this season, with five goals in six matches. He also leads the way among team-mates for shots and chances created, highlighting his all-round threat.
Midfield Scout Picks will be keenly contested this week, but Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) stands a decent chance of making our weekly selection.
Dwight McNeil (£5.5m), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m), Anthony Gordon (£7.3m) and Harvey Barnes (£6.5m) perhaps deserve to be in the conversation, too, although Everton v Newcastle United feels quite delicately balanced.
THE LONG SHOTS
Facundo Buonanotte (£5.0m), Stephy Mavididi (£5.3m) and Jamie Vardy (£5.7m) could become outside bets for the Scout Picks.
Leicester City have been competitive in every match this season, scoring five goals in their last three games.
Marcus Rashford (£6.9m) and Alejandro Garnacho (£6.3m) would have been encouraged to see Aston Villa struggle in wide areas at Portman Road on Sunday, meanwhile.
Elsewhere, it’s difficult to make a case for the likes of Jordan Pickford (£4.8m), Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.3m), Kaoru Mitoma (£6.6m) and Chris Wood (£6.2m), simply because of the better options available in each of their respective positions.
GAMEWEEK 7 BUS TEAM
8 days, 15 hours agoFirst?
72 without Palmer any good…