We’ve put together our early Scout Picks for Gameweek 35 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

In this selection, we choose a first draft of our regular picks. We will then finalise and publish them much closer to Friday’s deadline.

ABOUT THE SCOUT PICKS ‘BUS TEAM’

The upcoming Scout Squad nominations and midweek fixtures, as well as the pre-match press conferences, will help shape those finalised Scout Picks.

There are, as ever, certain restrictions for our squad:

• An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
• An overall squad limit of £100.0m
• No more than three players per team

GAMEWEEK 35 FIXTURES

Above: The Gameweek 35 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker

THE LIKELY LADS

With Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in UEFA Europa League semi-final action on either side of Gameweek 35, both teams will likely rotate.

Spurs conceded five goals to Liverpool on Sunday, and their starting XI will presumably be weaker still for the trip to the London Stadium.

West Ham are winless in their last seven Premier League games and capitulated against Brighton and Hove Albion last time out, but Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) continues to tick along, having served up four goals and four assists in 11 appearances since returning from injury. Only four FPL midfielders have had more shots in the box (20) than Bowen during that run.

There’ll be plenty of shouts for at least one Brentford attacker too, with Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m) and Yoane Wissa (£6.6m) the obvious frontrunners. The Bees pair are on 18 and 15 goals respectively this season, and, across the campaign, have the fifth and sixth best rates of expected goal involvement (xGI).

Elsewhere, with relegated Ipswich Town failing to score in the last two matches, there is an argument for a Jordan Pickford (£5.1m) and Jake O’Brien (£4.5m) double-up.  That said, the expectation is that Everton will be weaker defensively without the injured James Tarkowski (£4.9m), so it’s just O’Brien who gets the nod for now, having moved to centre-half at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Omar Marmoush (£7.6m), FPL’s joint-top scoring forward since Gameweek 25, will also surely be a consensus Scout Squad pick. Opponents Wolverhampton Wanderers recorded their sixth straight Premier League win on Saturday, but have significantly outperformed the expected goals (xG) data in that timeframe, conceding four from 7.93 xG.

Mohamed Salah (£13.8m), meanwhile, has a decent shot at breaking Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s Premier League record for the most goal involvements in a season. He’s currently on 46 goals and assists, just one off the top spot, and has the opportunity to surpass them both at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Chelsea will have been in UEFA Conference League semi-final action on Thursday, too.

IN CONTENTION

On the subject of Manchester City, Josko Gvardiol (£6.3m), who scored from a set-piece situation at Wembley on Sunday, Ruben Dias (£5.4m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£9.4m) are other potential inclusions. De Bruyne is fifth among midfielders for shots (11) and sixth for chances created (10) over his last four matches, but was omitted from Pep Guardiola’s FA Cup teamsheet, which has spooked us a little.

Marcus Rashford’s (£6.7m) injury suddenly boosts Ollie Watkins’ (£8.9m) game-time prospects, meanwhile, with Ezri Konsa (£4.4m) and Morgan Rogers (£5.7m) other shouts under consideration at Villa Park. Despite limited minutes, Watkins has plundered three goals and one assist across his last six league appearances.

With Marmoush and Wissa nailed-on up top, Watkins is in direct competition with Alexander Isak (£9.6m) for the third forward spot. Newcastle United’s opponents, Brighton and Hove Albion, have conceded at least two goals in each of their last six matches, so if Watkins does eventually win out, we’ll try and accommodate either Harvey Barnes (£6.0m) or Jacob Murphy (£5.3m).

Above: Teams sorted by goals conceded in Gameweeks 29-34

Cheap enablers like Alphonse Areola (£4.2m), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.4m), Mark Flekken (£4.4m) and Nathan Collins (£4.5m) also merit mentions at the back.

Given his recent injury, Bukayo Saka (£10.5m) is a concern, given that Saturday’s home meeting with Bournemouth is sandwiched in between two UEFA Champions League semi-finals against Paris Saint-Germain. It certainly makes the England international a rotation risk in Gameweek 35, which is why, for now, we’ve landed on Leandro Trossard (£6.7m), who has produced four goals in his last four games. Ethan Nwaneri (£4.4m) shouldn’t be overlooked, either.

From a defensive perspective, Arsenal’s David Raya (£5.6m) and Jakub Kiwior (£4.8m) will surely gain plenty of attention in Scout Squad, too.

Attacking representation from Everton is also an option, so Abdoulaye Doucoure (£5.1m) and Dwight McNeil (£5.1m) – who is surely on the cusp of a start after injury – could enter the Scout Picks conversation. They hardly set the pulse racing, but no team has conceded more goals (41), shots (272) or attempts from set plays (79) than Ipswich since the turn of the year.

THE LONGER SHOTS    

Leicester City’s clash against Southampton is worthy of note, with both sides without a clean sheet in 2025. Despite this fact, it’s still a long shot that Jamie Vardy (£5.3m), Bilal El Khannouss (£4.8m) or Mateus Fernandes (£5.0m) get into the Scout Picks running, given the appealing candidates elsewhere.

Cole Palmer’s (£10.6m) struggles mean that he’ll likely find it tough to get a look-in, even though Liverpool have wrapped up the title. Trips to the Etihad and Emirates Stadiums mean that Matheus Cunha (£7.0m), Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) and Justin Kluivert (£6.0m) are probably in ‘long shot’ territory.

Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest assets will be low down the priority list, too, with Monday’s clash at Selhurst Park a tricky-to-call affair.

GAMEWEEK 35: EARLY SCOUT PICKS

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