There’s another speedy turnaround between Gameweeks as we get set for Sunday’s Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline.
Our Scout Picks selection this week features double-ups on Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Arsenal.
As ever, we are limited by certain restrictions in our selection:
- An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
- An overall squad limit of £100.0m
- No more than three players per team
GAMEWEEK 19 SCOUT PICKS
GOALKEEPER
Matz Sels (£4.8m) is our chosen goalkeeper ahead of a favourable away fixture at Goodison Park.
The Belgian is Fantasy Premier League’s (FPL) second-highest-scoring ‘keeper and this week he’s up against an Everton side struggling for goals, with just five scored in their last eight matches.
Key attacker Iliman Ndiaye (£5.4m) is currently flagged, too.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s rearguard have been in excellent form this season, with back-to-back clean sheets and seven in total, the joint-most of any side.
DEFENDERS
Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.3m) ranks second in his position for overall FPL points, having produced either a goal, assist or clean sheet in nine of his 16 appearances.
Furthermore, no defender has had more headed attempts than Gabriel’s 14 over the season, with three of those efforts finding the back of the net.
He now takes on a Brentford side that have failed to score in their last two matches.
Daniel Munoz (£4.7m) continues to offer decent value in defence, having returned in four of his last five appearances.
In that time, he has produced two goals, two clean sheets and three bonus, averaging 6.2 points per start.
Crystal Palace host Southampton in Gameweek 19, who have the worst attacking record in the division this term, scoring just 11 times.
Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.3m) takes up the final spot in our backline ahead of Everton’s home clash with Nottingham Forest.
Given the strength of both backlines on show, a goalless draw is potentially on the cards here.
As for Mykolenko, he has served up 48 points in his last 10 matches, courtesy of six clean sheets, one assist and five bonus.
MIDFIELDERS
Mohamed Salah (£13.5m) takes his place in the Scout Picks once again, having returned in 10 straight league matches.
On top of his 16 goals this campaign, the Egyptian is also joint-top for assists, with 11 in total.
Salah will therefore relish the prospect of going up against a West Ham United side that will likely be without Lukasz Fabianski (£4.1m) and Max Kilman (£4.4m).
In addition, we’ve got few qualms about selecting another attacker from Liverpool, namely Luis Diaz (£7.5m).
Rested on Boxing Day, the Colombian has scored seven goals and provided three assists over the season, with his new central striker role further allowing him to flourish.
Cole Palmer (£11.3m) is our next option who makes the cut.
The midfielder has banked 19 attacking returns in 18 appearances for Chelsea so far this season, but it’s Ipswich Town’s defensive numbers that supplement his own credentials.
It’s one clean sheet in 18 league matches for Kieran McKenna’s troops, who sit second-bottom for expected goals conceded (xGC) in 2024/25.
Martin Odegaard (£8.4m) comes in for Arsenal’s visit to Brentford on New Year’s Day.
The Norwegian looked lively against Ipswich on Friday, almost scoring after waltzing his way through the Tractor Boys’ defence.
Add in the fact opponents Brentford have allowed the joint-most chances to be created from the centre zone, and Odegaard could easily flourish on Wednesday.
Ismaila Sarr (£5.8m) continues to impress at Crystal Palace, having scored four goals and provided two assists in his last seven matches.
Thriving in his role playing off Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.2m), he ranks top among teammates for shots in the box this season and second for big chances.
You’d think he’ll get chances to add to those totals at home to Southampton on Sunday.
FORWARDS
Alexander Isak (£9.1m) can’t be bettered by any other forward for goals, big chances or key passes since Gameweek 9, while he is also second among players in his Fantasy position for shots in the box over that same timeframe.
Only five clubs have conceded more goals than Manchester United since Ruben Amorim’s appointment, meanwhile.
Finally, Matheus Cunha (£7.1m) makes a return to the Scout Picks, with no immediate sign of a ban forthcoming.
It’s still too early to be making sweeping judgements on Wolverhampton Wanderers under the stewardship of Vitor Pereira, but already there seems to be more fluidity and cohesion in the squad.
They’ll face Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, who are bottom for xGC from Gameweek 10 onwards and have an injury crisis at centre-back.
SUBSTITUTES
As ever, the tight £100m budget means that we’ve been forced to scrabble around for a few bench options who will, hopefully at least, give us a minimum of appearance points.
- Hakon Valdimarsson (£3.9m): A muscle injury sustained by Mark Flekken (£4.5m) could give the Brentford back-up the chance to start his first Premier League game.
- Neco Williams (£4.3m): Part of a solid Forest backline, the Welshman has made the left-back slot his own in recent weeks.
- Timothy Castagne (£4.2m): An attack-minded full-back who looks assured of starts in the next two months thanks to Kenny Tete’s (£4.5m) injury.
- Patson Daka (£4.8m): The cheapest starting forward of Gameweek 18, he’ll get minutes of some variety against Manchester City even if Jamie Vardy (£5.6m) recovers.
THE CAPTAIN
We chose the Scout Picks captain using a vote between our Scout Squad panel.
We’re handing Mohamed Salah the armband, with Cole Palmer our vice-captain.
COMMUNITY CHAMPION
A Fantasy Football Scout community member takes on the Scout Picks each week.
The community member who beats our team by the largest margin will win a £100 Amazon voucher. They’ll also get a place in our Moderators and Contributors League for the following season.
Boleyn Boy’s 80-44 victory in Gameweek 6 gave them the biggest win (36 points difference) of 2024/25 so far.
Our champion this week will be announced in due course.
The Scout Picks are 10-5 up on the community this season.
FOLLOW THE SCOUT’S WEEKLY TRANSFER PLANS
We’re running a Scout FPL community team this season, with regulars like TopMarx, Tom Freeman, Marc Jobling and more contributing to the weekly decisions.
And we’re not just looking one week ahead like we are with the Scout Picks but instead planning in advance for the weeks and months to come.
You can follow our team via the Premier Fantasy Tools Pro Planner, which you can read more about here.
