Liverpool booked their place in the EFL Cup final on Thursday, creating ‘doubles’ for Arne Slot’s side and Aston Villa in Gameweek 25 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

As a result, players from both clubs inevitably feature prominently in our Scout Picks ‘bus team’.

ABOUT THE SCOUT PICKS ‘BUS TEAM’

In this selection, we choose a first draft of our regular picks. We will then finalise and publish them much closer to the deadline (Friday 14 February).

Plenty can change between now and then, of course.

The upcoming Scout Squad nominations will help shape the final Scout Picks.

The FA Cup fourth-round ties and the pre-match press conferences will also be factors before we sign off our selection in Gameweek 25.

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 25 FIXTURES

Above: The Gameweek 25 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker

THE LIKELY LADS

There will inevitably be considerable representation from Liverpool and Aston Villa in Gameweek 25.

Six names from those sides feature in our Scout Picks ‘bus team’, but the make-up of each triple-up is, of course, the main talking point.

Liverpool are in a rich vein of form, winning six of their last eight Premier League matches and scoring 25 goals in the process.

Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) is, of course, a nailed pick.

Cody Gakpo (£7.6m) is the other stand-out option from the Liverpool attack, having scored seven goals and provided three assists in his run of 12 consecutive league starts. Expected minutes and press conference quotes will be big considerations, however, particularly with Luis Diaz (£7.5m), Diogo Jota (£7.2m) and Darwin Nunez (£7.0m) waiting in the wings.

Liverpool’s recent defensive form is excellent, with Bournemouth, Ipswich Town, Brentford and Nottingham Forest only able to muster two goals between them in the Reds’ four most recent matches.

Should we opt for a defensive double-up, Alisson Becker (£5.5m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m) and Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) have their usual strong claims for inclusion.

We’ll obviously have to monitor the fitness of Alexander-Arnold, FPL’s leading defender for expected goal involvement (xGI), but there is a compelling argument for van Dijk in Gameweek 25 anyway, given that Wolverhampton Wanderers have conceded on more occasions from set plays than anyone else.

It’s a potential match made in heaven for van Dijk, who is one of the most aerially dominant central defenders in the world.

Above: Team sorted by set piece goals conceded in 2024/25

As for Aston Villa, they are on home soil in both games, with a favourable encounter with Ipswich up first.

If Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) can shake off the muscle injury he sustained in Gameweek 24, it’s a fair bet to assume he will work his way into the Scout Picks.

Morgan Rogers (£5.6m), who has started every league match he’s been available for this season, is another stand-out candidate. He netted his first goal of the season against Kieran McKenna’s side back in September.

Marcus Rashford’s (£6.6m) inclusion isn’t out of the question either, but FA Cup minutes – plus his performance – will need to be monitored first.

Defensively, Villa don’t tend to keep many clean sheets, with just three in 24 attempts this season. The budget-friendly Ezri Konsa (£4.4m) or Emi Martinez (£5.0m) are still possible inclusions, however, even if he will be relying heavily on the visit of Ipswich for returns. Thankfully, the Tractor Boys are bottom for expected goals (xG) on the road.

As for the single Gameweekers, Arsenal and Bournemouth have plum away fixtures at Leicester City and Southampton respectively.

Arsenal defensive representation, be it through David Raya (£5.5m), Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.3m) or Jurrien Timber (£5.6m), looks on the cards for the Scout Picks, with only the Saints’ scoring at a worse rate than Leicester since the appointment of Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Justin Kluivert (£5.9m), Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m) and Dango Ouattara (£5.0m) all ought to be in the conversation for Bournemouth, too. The penalty-taking Kluivert and out-of-position Dango feature in our ‘bus team’, but we’ll save the wider analysis for Lateriser’s upcoming Pro Pundit article.

IN CONTENTION

Staying with Bournemouth, a defender is also in the mix. Opponents Southampton are the division’s lowest scorers this season, so Milos Kerkez (£4.9m) and Dean Huijsen (£4.4m) could enter the Scout Picks conversation.

That said, Ivan Juric has overseen a slight upturn in attacking output over the last four matches, with goals against Ipswich, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United.

Elsewhere, Cole Palmer (£11.2m) will yet again be pushing hard for inclusion ahead of Gameweek 25.

Fabian Hurzeler will demand a reaction from his Brighton and Hove Albion side, but they have just conceded seven and Palmer scored four against the Seagulls in the reverse fixture back in September.

Alexander Isak’s (£9.5m) inclusion in our ‘bus team’ is bound to raise a few eyebrows but Manchester City have struggled defensively all season, letting in 26 goals in 15 league games since the start of November.

The Sweden international gave William Saliba (£6.2m) a torrid time on Wednesday and is averaging a goal every 82.9 minutes on the road this season, only marginally behind Salah (81.0).

Arsenal’s attack will fancy their chances when they travel to the King Power Stadium, with Kai Havertz (£7.8m) continuing to get opportunities, with 10 big chances in his last six matches, the joint-most of any FPL forward.

Above: Forwards sorted by big chances (BCT) in the last six matches

The talented Ethan Nwaneri (£4.5m) could also come into the thinking if Gabriel Martinelli (£6.7m) is ruled out through injury, with Martin Odegaard (£8.2m) and Leandro Trossard (£6.8m) firmly in the undecided pile.

Brentford (at West Ham United) and Crystal Palace (hosting Everton) are the other two fixtures worth considering, although the arrivals of Graham Potter and David Moyes have surely made both sides’ tasks harder.

Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m), Yoane Wissa (£6.3m), Daniel Munoz (£4.8m), Eberechi Eze (£6.7m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.3m) are the standout names in both camps, but it may be difficult for any of them to force their way into the Scout Picks, given the wealth of appealing options at our disposal this week.

THE LONG SHOTS    

The likes of Erling Haaland (£14.7m), Phil Foden (£9.3m), Jarrod Bowen (£7.3m) and Chris Wood (£7.1m) are all ‘long shots’ this week.

That’s because others have more straightforward fixtures (Bournemouth, Arsenal) or ‘double’ in Gameweek 25 (Liverpool, Villa).

It’ll be a tough ask for any of Fulham, Nottingham Forest or Everton’s backline options to make the cut, too.

Finally, Sunday’s clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United has the potential to be a fun watch, with two ropey backlines on show. Son Heung-min (£9.8m), Dejan Kulusevski (£6.4m), Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m) and Amad Diallo (£5.6m) could therefore become possible shouts, but they remain outsiders for now.

GAMEWEEK 25: EARLY SCOUT PICKS