We’ve put together an early draft of our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Scout Picks for Gameweek 16.
As ever, we will finalise our selection much closer to Saturday’s deadline.
Plenty can change between now and then.
The upcoming Scout Squad nominations will help shape the final Scout Picks. The midweek European ties and the pre-match press conferences will also influence our thinking.
There are certain restrictions for our picks, however:
- An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
- An overall squad limit of £100.0m
- No more than three players per team
GAMEWEEK 16 FIXTURES
Above: The Gameweek 16 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker
THE LIKELY LADS
The Scout Picks will undoubtedly feature representation from Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool in Gameweek 16, all of whom have decent home fixtures to attack.
- Chelsea v Brentford
- Arsenal v Everton
- Liverpool v Fulham
Chelsea’s opponents Brentford rank 17th for actual and expected goals conceded (xGC) this season. Their away form is rotten, too, with six defeats from seven on the road.
It further increases the appeal of Cole Palmer (£11.1m), whose place in the Scout Picks is surely locked in.
An attacking double-up isn’t completely out of the question, either, with team-mates Nicolas Jackson (£8.2m) and Enzo Fernandez (£4.9m) leading the charge.
In Chelsea’s last four matches, Enzo has the superior expected goal involvement (xGI) figure. It’s coincided with Enzo Maresca pushing him forward into a left-sided No 8 role, where he is seeing much more of the ball in dangerous areas of the pitch.
Above: Enzo’s passes received in the final-third per Gameweek, sorted by highest first
It’s highly likely Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) and Bukayo Saka (£10.5m) will join Palmer in midfield this week.
Salah surely has the tougher task, with opponents Fulham already making life difficult for Manchester City and Arsenal this season.
According to Opta, they also have the fifth-best defensive record in terms of expected goals (xG), but only a midweek injury will keep Salah out, given that he’s averaging 10.8 points per start under Arne Slot.
We’ll probably want some Arsenal defensive coverage, too, with Everton’s attack one of the worst in the division. David Raya (£5.5m), Jurrien Timber (£5.6m) and Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.2m) – if fit – are all in the mix.
IN CONTENTION
Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers also have tasty home fixtures to target in Gameweek 16.
- Newcastle United v Leicester City
- Wolverhampton Wanderers v Ipswich Town
The reason why they aren’t included in the above section of our coverage is simply due to form, or lack of.
Newcastle are at least scoring plenty of goals, with five in their last two, boosting the appeal of Alexander Isak (£8.6m) and Anthony Gordon (£7.2m).
It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Jamie Vardy (£5.5m) spoil the Magpies’ clean sheet, however, which is why we’ve opted to leave Lewis Hall (£4.4m) on the Scout Picks bench, at least for now.
As for Wolves, Matheus Cunha’s (£7.1m) price is the only real obstacle to him finding his way into our weekly selection, which has a budget of £83.0m.
Cheaper team-mate Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.6m) is therefore included here, although it is worth noting the Norwegian leads Cunha for big chance involvement in Wolves’ last four matches (see below), so it might not be too much of a compromise anyway.
Meanwhile, Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.9m) is in the pool of defenders under consideration, although backline options at Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea are currently preferred.
Tottenham Hotspur’s clean sheet odds are admittedly much lower than those sides, but Pedro Porro (£5.6m) is FPL’s leading defender for shots and ranks third for chances created, so he clearly has lots of attacking upside for the Lilywhites’ trip to error-prone Southampton.
Further forward, Son Heung-min (£9.8m), Brennan Johnson (£6.7m), Dejan Kulusevski (£6.3m) and Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) all carry appeal, with Russell Martin’s side bottom of the Premier League, having conceded 16 goals across seven home matches.
Elsewhere, aside from February’s 4-1, recent M23 derbies have been tight, low-scoring affairs. Fabian Hurzeler and Oliver Glasner are at the wheel now, however, potentially changing the dynamic.
If we fancy goals, Kaoru Mitoma (£6.6m), Joao Pedro (£5.9m), Danny Welbeck (£5.8m), Eberechi Eze (£6.6m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.2m) are the main contenders. Perhaps we should include Daniel Munoz (£4.7m) in that list, too? The Crystal Palace wing-back is first or second among defenders for big chances, penalty box touches, shots in the box and xG this season.
A Bournemouth attacker might be useful, be it Justin Kluivert (£5.5m), Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) or Evanilson (£6.1m). That’s because West Ham United have allowed eight goals in their two previous encounters against Leicester City and Arsenal.
THE LONG SHOTS
We’ll probably swerve the Manchester derby this week, leaving Kevin De Bruyne (£9.5m), Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) and Erling Haaland (£15.0m) as outside bets for inclusion.
They certainly aren’t bad options, but this clash feels quite hard to call so they perhaps don’t carry the same appeal as those included in our ‘bus team’.
Elsewhere, Morgan Rogers (£5.3m) and Chris Wood (£6.5m) are cheap options we won’t completely rule out, while a strong performance from Jarrod Bowen (£7.4m) on Monday could bump him up into the above section of our coverage.
That said, Bournemouth have generally been good at home this season.
There probably won’t be too many takers for Bryan Mbeumo (£7.6m), despite Saturday’s 13-point haul against Newcastle.
GAMEWEEK 16 BUS TEAM
