Newcastle United and Crystal Palace dominate our Scout Picks as both prepare for a Double Gameweek 32.
We deliberated over the Scout Squad submissions made by Marc, Sam, Tom and Neale before coming up with our final team.
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 32 SCOUT PICKS
GOALKEEPER
Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) is our chosen goalkeeper as Aston Villa travel to relegated Southampton.
With question marks over the make-up of Unai Emery’s back four ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, we’re hoping Martinez is immune to the rotation we will surely see outfield.
The World Cup winner offers a route into a defence that’s kept back-to-back away clean sheets against Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford.
Furthermore, he faces a Southampton attack that has scored just four goals in their last six matches.
DEFENDERS
Pervis Estupinan (£5.2m) offers a decent chance for points at both ends of the pitch in Gameweek 32.
The left-back, who scored against Manchester City prior to the international break, hosts a Leicester City outfit who are goalless in their last eight matches and haven’t kept a clean sheet in 24 games.
Opponents have regularly targeted James Justin (£4.1m) as a potential weak link this season, and more often than not, they have been proved right, so Estupinan could be the latest to profit.
Daniel Munoz (£5.2m) comes in for Palace’s pair of away matches against Manchester City and Newcastle.
Admittedly, there are better clean sheet opportunities elsewhere this week, but Munoz is one of Oliver Glasner’s main attacking threats, having chipped in with two goals and three assists in his last eight matches.
He is also the top Fantasy Premier League (FPL) defender for StatsBomb expected goals (xG) this season and scored against both Man City and Newcastle in the reverse fixtures, amassing 18 points.
Above: Defenders sorted by StatsBomb xG in 2024/25
Another ‘doubler’, Tino Livramento (£4.6m), is selected for Newcastle’s upcoming home encounters against Manchester United and Palace.
The England international has impressed since taking over at left-back, creating six chances for his team-mates in his last three matches, the joint-most of any Magpies player.
Newcastle have kept two clean sheets in that timeframe, too, adding a further degree of confidence.
Above: Tino Livramento’s key passes and assists since taking over at left-back in Gameweek 28
MIDFIELDERS
After signing a new contract to extend his stay at Anfield, we’re backing Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) to end his mini-goal drought against West Ham United this weekend.
The Egyptian racked up 16 points in the reverse fixture, and could return to his swashbuckling best against a Hammers team that has struggled to produce consistent performances under Graham Potter.
Eberechi Eze (£6.8m) also earns a place in our Scout Picks XI, having provided three assists in his last four matches.
The upcoming trips to Man City and Newcastle arguably suit team-mate Ismaila Sarr (£5.7m) more, given his ability to get in behind opposition defences, but Eze has additional routes to points, including set plays.
Eze has also attempted more shots (88) and created more chances (51) than any other Palace player this season, even if most of those attempts have been low-xG efforts.
Jacob Murphy (£5.2m) has amassed over 400,000 new owners ahead of Saturday’s deadline, subsequently making him the most-bought player of Gameweek 32.
The winger has found the best form of his career this season, with Monday’s brace against Leicester taking his tally to seven goals and eight assists in his last 16 appearances.
At a time when there is a bit of uncertainty on the left flank, Murphy offers excellent value at just £5.2m.
With Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) an injury concern for Brighton and Hove Albion ahead of the visit of Leicester, we’ve instead turned to team-mate Yankuba Minteh (£5.0m).
As previously stated, the Foxes haven’t kept a clean sheet in 24 matches.
Meanwhile, Minteh has produced four attacking returns in his last six appearances, a period which has seen him record 10 shots and create eight chances. Combined together (18), it’s the most of any Brighton player.
FORWARDS
Leader of this week’s Captain Poll, Alexander Isak (£9.5m) is predictably called up for back-to-back home clashes against Man Utd and Palace.
The Swede has been directly involved in 14 goals in 13 appearances at St James’ Park this season, thanks to 10 goals and four assists.
Granted, there’s a chance his minutes could be managed over the two matches, given that he’s been fighting a niggly groin issue in recent months, but given his output over the season, his inclusion here was never in doubt.
Ollie Watkins (£8.9m), who headed home the winner in Aston Villa’s last trip to St Mary’s Stadium, also gets the nod, having been limited to a substitute appearance against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
He might have his minutes managed, too, given that Unai Emery will presumably need him for Tuesday’s second leg. However, he’ll have a point to prove against Southampton, one of the worst teams in Premier League history.
Furthermore, Watkins has produced three goals and one assist across his last five away starts.
Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.7m) earns the final place in our XI, thus completing our Palace triple-up.
The Frenchman, who scored against Brighton last week, has racked up nine goals and one assist in his last 10 league outings, blanking only twice, so it’s easy to see why he currently sits third in our Captain Poll.
SUBSTITUTES
- Matz Sels (£5.1m): Nottingham Forest, the division’s joint-best defence for clean sheets this season, have a good home fixture against Everton this weekend.
- Marc Cucurella (£5.4m): Chelsea have kept clean sheets in four of their last five matches, a period which has seen the Spaniard plunder two goals.
- Conor Bradley (£4.7m): The defender made an instant impact after coming on against Fulham last week, providing the assist for Luis Diaz’s (£7.5m) second-half strike.
- Donyell Malen (£5.3m): Villa have arguably the best fixture of all this weekend, and with Malen ineligible for Champions League duty, will surely start at Southampton. He’s scored in back-to-back matches.
THE CAPTAIN
We chose the Scout Picks captain using a vote between our Scout Squad panel.
- Marc: Isak, Mateta, Murphy
- Sam: Isak, Mateta, Murphy
- Tom: Isak, Mateta, Murphy
- Neale: Isak, Mateta, Murphy
We’re handing Alexander Isak the armband this week, with Jean-Philippe Mateta named as the 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-point difference) of 2024/25 so far.
Our champion this week is Hairy Potter, who has gone for: Henderson; Livramento, Dunk, Estupinan; Sarr, Eze, Asensio, Malen, Barnes; Isak (c), J Pedro
The Scout Picks are 19-9 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.
