The Scout Squad: Our top picks for FPL Gameweek 36

In the latest Scout Squad, our in-house panel of Marc, Sam, Neale and Tom F champion the players they want to see included in the Gameweek 36 Scout Picks.

There is consensus about nine players this week, with a further six getting three votes apiece.

ABOUT THE SCOUT SQUAD

In this article series, our team discuss who they think the best players are for the upcoming Gameweek in isolation. In other words, there’s no medium-term planning involved.

The players who get the most votes are likelier to make our Scout Picks.

Each of our writers must meet the following requirements for this feature:

• At least one sub-£5.0m goalkeeper
• At least one sub-£5.0m defender
• At least one sub-£6.0m midfielder
• At least one sub-£7.0m forward
• No more than three players from the same club

SCOUT SQUAD: GAMEWEEK 36 PICKS

Most popular picks: Matz Sels, Josko Gvardiol, Ryan Sessegnon, Bryan Mbeumo, Kevin De Bruyne, Yoane Wissa, Chris Wood, Omar Marmoush, Alexander Isak (four), Michael Kayode, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Daniel Munoz, Neco Williams, Jarrod Bowen, Matheus Cunha (three)

MARC SAID…

In this Gameweek, where lots of teams face their league table neighbours, it’s hard to pick out a bunch of victories and clean sheets. So I’ve repeated the winning tactic of ganging up on already-relegated teams.

For example, Nottingham Forest’s Champions League dreams hugely rely on three points against East Midlands rivals Leicester. Admittedly, their underlying defensive numbers have declined in recent times, but I’m still doubling up on their backline, with the Foxes being notoriously low scorers. Neco Williams assisted on Monday night and these four shots ensure he has the joint-second most amongst all defenders (37). While Matz Sels couldn’t actually keep the Foxes out in Gameweek 9 – a long time ago – Chris Wood netted twice past them.

The next day, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa bagged braces in Brentford’s 4-3 win over Ipswich. The Bees beat Man United by the same score last week. While Mbeumo captainers will have been disappointed to only receive an assist, he remains an essential pick. Good friend Wissa is aiming to score for the fifth match in a row, while Brentford’s three consecutive wins have coincided with loanee Michael Kayode’s first league starts. The full-back’s long throws caused chaos versus the Red Devils, and he pre-assisted two goals before directly setting up Wissa’s later strike.

Elsewhere, despite lately letting down all managers who’ve trusted him with captaincy, it’s difficult to ditch Omar Marmoush when the highly-owned forward is about to visit Southampton. None of his attacking returns have been away from the Etihad Stadium, however, so Kevin De Bruyne is a better armband candidate. This Man City teammate is having a more fruitful run in their lineup, kicking off Gameweek 35 by scoring the winner past Wolves.

It was also a good night for Josko Gvardiol, now chasing his fifth clean sheet in seven matches. The sole defender with more shots on target and expected goals (xG) than him this season is Daniel Munoz – an attack-minded wing-back whose back-post volley versus Forest reminded owners that he’s capable of scoring past anyone, especially Tottenham Hotspur. In fact, Europa League priorities have me foolishly putting faith in Ismaila Sarr once more – the eternal FPL troll.

Not that West Ham could beat Spurs, despite Jarrod Bowen’s goal. It continues his streak of grabbing nine or more points, also being consistent enough to avoid successive blanks throughout his last 17 outings. He now gets to face the other club distracted by Europa League glory: Man United. Such was their squad rotation at Brentford, I could even see Alphonse Areola keeping them at bay.

My third stopper is Jordan Pickford and I’m picking opponent Ryan Sessegnon as well, because I see Fulham v Everton being fairly dull. The latter provides out-of-position potential from the right side of attack and thought he’d scored his fifth goal in nine matches until it was ruled out for handball. Meanwhile, by holding on for victory, Aston Villa will feel that a Champions League spot remains attainable, needing goals from Ollie Watkins against Bournemouth.

It’s a race that’s been spiced up by Chelsea’s win over an uninterested Liverpool. Such half-heartedness wasn’t good for Mohamed Salah’s owners but the Egyptian is still racking up the shots, as he hunts individual achievements. Next up, the Blues go to Newcastle in a crunch clash that both will view as must-win. The fitness of Alexander Isak hasn’t quite looked right for the Magpies recently, yet the centre-forward has still scraped his way to three goals in four.

SAM SAID…

After the nightmare that was Gameweek 35, hopefully Gameweek 36 will be awash with points. It feels like a week where a lot of big points could be won and lost across the Premier League, especially in the matches between Newcastle and Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal and Bournemouth and Aston Villa. This is also another of the weeks where I really wish I could pick more than three players per club. Alas, those are the rules!

A triple-up from Brentford feels a must, with Bryan Mbeumo my first-choice midfielder for the weekend. His partner in attack, Yoane Wissa, also leads my frontline. Mbeumo has 26 attacking returns this season, with Wissa on 22, and both have a great opportunity to extend that against an Ipswich side who have only kept two clean sheets all season. They have conceded 76 goals in the process, a number that only Southampton can surpass.

Michael Kayode, who has started the last three matches at right-back and been very attacking, complete the triple-up. Since making his full debut in Gameweek 33, Brentford have won all three matches and he has kept a clean sheet and registered an assist in the process. Last weekend, he also created two chances in an impressive all-round display.

I have also tripled up on Manchester City this week. Josko Gvardiol is the defender who has scored the most goals in the league this season, while Trent Alexander-Arnold is the only player in the same FPL position who can better the Croatian’s total for attempts on goal. Even if he’s not getting chances from open play, Gvardiol is still a threat from corners. I really wanted to pick Erling Haaland this week but the uncertainty over his start means that I have opted for Omar Marmoush, despite no attacking returns away from home, and Kevin De Bruyne. If Pep suggests that Haaland is in line to start in his press conference this weekend, I would be very tempted to jump back in on the Norwegian!
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Despite Nottingham Forest having a dip in form recently, especially defensively, I really like their fixture this weekend. Unsurprisingly, I have also tripled up here. Matz Sels is my first-choice goalkeeper, alongside Anthony Elanga and Chris Wood in the attacking slots. Sels’ total of 111 saves is the third most in the league, so there is plenty of potential upside this week if the clean sheet holds. Meanwhile, Elanga and Wood have 15 and 22 attacking returns to their names respectively; Haaland and Alexander Isak are the only forwards who can better Wood’s tally.

I have also peppered my picks with players from teams who are playing against those who were in midweek action. Alexander Isak, Mohamed Salah, Jarrod Bowen and Daniel Munoz all have the potential to exploit the Arsenal, Spurs, Man United and Chelsea defences.

I have also chosen to double up on Wolves with Rayan Ait-Nouri and Matheus Cunha. Ait-Nouri has 11 attacking returns this season, more than any other defender in the game. He has created 36 chances for his Wolves teammates, too, and has had 34 attempts on goal himself. Meanwhile, Cunha has 22 attacking returns this season, which of the forwards, is only bettered by Isak and Haaland. He has also registered more bonus points than any other forward in the game.

Despite not totally trusting the Fulham defence, I have opted for two representatives of the Cottagers’ backline. Ryan Sessegnon is there for his attacking threat. Since Gameweek 27, no defender has scored more goals than Sessegnon’s four and he also leads the way for attacking returns, with six.

I was torn for the other goalkeeper slot. Mark Flekken and Ederson were the obvious picks but with all three of their clubs’ slots taken, that left me looking at other fixtures – and Bernd Leno. Everton have struggled in front of goal, finding the net on just 36 occasions in 2024/25. Only the promoted sides have scored fewer. Indeed, away from home, the Toffees have only registered 12 goals this campaign – the fewest in the league. So, I opted for the Fulham shot-stopper as my final pick for the weekend.

TOM F SAID…

Brentford, Man City and Nott’m Forest all face relegated opposition this week, so predictably dominate my selection in Gameweek 36.

The Bees have been mightily impressive of late, beating Forest to nil and putting eight goals past Man Utd and Brighton. Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, who are averaging 12.8 and 9.0 points per start respectively against promoted opposition this season, are unsurprisingly included.

I’ve also opted for right-back Michael Kayode, whose Rory-Delap-esque throw-ins add a unique threat to Thomas Frank’s setup. Furthermore, opponents Ipswich have allowed more chances to be created from their left flank than any other side in their last six matches.

As for the Man City triple-up, I’ve gone with the rather obvious trio of Josko Gvardiol, Kevin De Bruyne and Omar Marmoush. Granted, Marmoush hasn’t been great recently, but a total of eight shots, the most of any City player, and three chances created in his last three matches hints at his potential. I’d have no problem including De Bruyne in the Scout Picks, either, given the opposition.

Forest have conceded just 13 goals in 17 matches at the City Ground in 2024/25, and are up against a feeble Leicester attack this weekend, solidifying Matz Sels’ place at the top of my goalkeeper list. Further forward, Anthony Elanga is my token sub-£6.0m midfielder, while Chris Wood scored a brace of goals and ran the Foxes ragged in their last encounter.

Elsewhere, the defences of Spurs and Brighton look there for the taking after long runs without a clean sheet. Eberechi Eze really caught my eye in the draw with Forest. Matheus Cunha, meanwhile, looked lively against Man City last time out, despite blanking. His 13 chances created in his last six matches is a high among FPL forwards, while he’s also had 20 shots of his own in that time.

With attractive defenders few and far between in Gameweek 36, I’ve also included Daniel Munoz and Rayan Ait-Nouri, largely for their attacking threat.

Finally, I think they’ll be goals at St James’ Park on Sunday, so I’ve plumped for Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak in my selection. Palmer looked electric against Liverpool last time out, while Isak has delivered at least one attacking return in nine of his last 11 home matches, with 10 goals and four assists.

NEALE SAID…

The lack of Assistant Manager table bonus games this weekend (only the bottom three are eligible) is a bit of a barometer of how many tough-to-call matches there are in Gameweek 36. Outside of the fixtures involving Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, could you confidently call any of the other results?

Fulham have frequently struggled to break down the deeper blocks of lower-league defences this season, hence the Jordan Pickford selection. West Ham United couldn’t defeat Tottenham Hotspur’s B team last weekend, so do we think they’ll do any different against Manchester United this Sunday? Aside from Jarrod Bowen, who is averaging 6.2 points per match in an otherwise ponderous Potter era, few Hammers appeal.

Probably the best bet for a win outside of the bottom-three bankers is Crystal Palace, against a Spurs side on a 10-match clean sheet drought. Even then, I’d like to hear Ange Postecoglou say he’s going to rotate his regulars again on Sunday. I’ve kept faith with Ismaila Sarr, partly as a sub-£6.0m midfielder was required and partly because he was again in the thick of things on Monday night. Sarr would have grabbed an assist had Tyrick Mitchell been allowed to score and not been felled for Palace’s penalty, while a lesser goalkeeper than Matz Sels may not have smothered the Senegalese winger’s 49th-minute big chance. And yes, blinkered owner bias.

Other than those facing the bottom three, there aren’t many clubs with obvious clean sheet opportunities this week.

When in doubt, back the defenders posing a goal threat. Rayan Ait-Nouri, the out-of-position Ryan Sessegnon and Neco Williams are joint-top among defenders for shots (with 10 each) over the last six matches, with all three in the top 10 for chances created over the same timeframe. Sessegnon’s early withdrawal in Gameweek 35 was a bit off-putting but he was Fulham’s brightest spark and the Cottagers posed little goal threat without him. Maybe his first-half booking was a factor in the substitution.

You’d usually find the gung-ho Daniel Munoz in the upper reaches of the goal attempts table: he’s top among his positional peers for xG this season. Second behind the Colombian is Josko Gvardiol, whose own open-play goal threat has evaporated since his redeployment at centre-half. The Croatian was tantalisingly back at left-back for the final half an hour in Gameweek 35, however, so there is always the hope (apologies to Nico O’Reilly) that Manuel Akanji comes back in at centre-half and Gvardiol is unleashed down the left flank from kick-off.

Further forward, Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and Chris Wood all delivered double-digit hauls against their Gameweek 36 opponents in the reverse fixtures. Wood and Forest have stuttered in their top-five bid, ranking 18th for xG and xGC over the last six matches, but there are few more favourable fixtures than Leicester City at home (especially this unpredictable week), despite the Foxes’ win last weekend.

Which fixture is more favourable than Leicester at home? Southampton away, that’s what. Saints have taken only five points at St Mary’s all season, while the away support turned on Simon Rusk in Gameweek 35 when he took Matheus Fernandes off in a dismal 2-0 defeat at the King Power. Erling Haaland’s recovery casts a bit of game-time doubt over Kevin De Bruyne and Omar Marmoush (will Pep Guardiola consider accommodating all three in the same side for the first time?) but I’m hoping the fact that he didn’t kick a ball last Friday means Haaland is to be gradually eased back into action this weekend.

Matheus Cunha and Alexander Isak (who has looked like he’s in second gear in recent weeks) are lower down my forward pecking order but do appeal. Isak has more home returns (17) than any other forward this season, while Cunha’s opponents Brighton haven’t kept a clean sheet in nine matches.

Finally, I’ve just got a gut feeling for Bukayo Saka this week. Arne Slot’s post-title rotation didn’t get off to a great start last Sunday, while Saka has been presented with some glorious openings (missing most of them) against Bournemouth, Ipswich Town and Paris Saint-Germain lately. With renewed focus on the league, I fancy Saka for a goal or two in the run-in – mostly because I sold him last Friday.

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