For the final time this season, we look ahead to the upcoming Gameweek with our early Scout Picks.
In this selection, we choose a first draft of our regular picks. We will then finalise and publish them much closer to Sunday’s deadline.
ABOUT THE SCOUT PICKS ‘BUS TEAM’
The upcoming Scout Squad nominations, midweek fixtures and 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 38 FIXTURES
Above: The Gameweek 38 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker
THE LIKELY LADS
There are some juicy final-day fixtures to target in Gameweek 38, for what is traditionally a bit of a goalfest.
Leicester City’s form has picked up since relegation was confirmed, having taken seven points from their last three matches. That said, they haven’t shut out a single team on the road this season.
Bournemouth attackers are going to feature prominently in our thoughts, then, with Justin Kluivert (£5.9m), Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m) and Evanilson (£5.8m) in the mix. They have 10, nine and six attacking returns respectively since the turn of the year.
We should probably include Milos Kerkez (£5.2m) in that conversation, too. The attack-minded left-back is joint-top among Bournemouth players for chances created over the last six Gameweeks. Furthermore, Leif Davis (£4.2m) was afforded plenty of space down that flank on Sunday, hitting the post early on and having a goal disallowed for a tight offside call.
Jarrod Bowen (£7.8m) is another strong candidate for inclusion, having plundered 44 points in his last five matches, thanks to four goals and two assists.
As for Arsenal, there is an urge to triple-up given the fixture, but there are certain reservations about their teamsheet against Southampton on Sunday, with nothing left to play for.
David Raya (£5.5m) at least needs a clean sheet on the final day to win the Golden Glove and is likely to make the Scout Picks cut as a result.
Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) gets the nod for now, too. He’s one of the leading names in his position for minutes per expected goal involvement (xGI) this season, so is very capable of doing damage, even in limited pitch-time. If the winger’s game time isn’t assured, however, then he is an easy switch to Martin Odegaard (£8.2m), Leandro Trossard (£6.7m), Gabriel Martinelli (£6.5m), Declan Rice (£6.2m) or Mikel Merino (£6.0m).
Mohamed Salah (£13.6m) is an inevitable inclusion for a final-day outing against Crystal Palace, when Liverpool will be presented with the Premier League trophy. Could there be an argument to double-up with the in-form Luis Diaz (£7.5m), too?
IN CONTENTION
Fulham have kept just one clean sheet in 15 outings, so the match could realistically open up for Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne (£9.6m), Omar Marmoush (£7.4m) and Erling Haaland (£14.9m) on Sunday.
The Cottagers do seem to raise their game facing the big guns, however, having taken points off Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle United and Chelsea this season:
A Scout Picks appearance for Josko Gvardiol (£6.5m) also looks likely, having banked five clean sheets in seven matches.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.4m), who has four assists in 16 appearances under Graham Potter, Fabian Schar (£5.0m), Dan Burn (£4.5m), Tino Livramento (£4.6m) and Virgil van Dijk (£6.7m) are other considerations at the back. You’d certainly expect to see West Ham United, Newcastle United and Liverpool featuring highly in G-Whizz’s upcoming clean sheet odds list.
Further forward, we’ll keep a spot free for Alexander Isak (£9.5m) should the forward look like he may feature against Everton, who could be without both first-choice centre-halves at St James’ Park. Anthony Gordon (£7.4m), Harvey Barnes (£5.9m) and Jacob Murphy (£5.2m) could also stake a claim.
Factoring out Isak, Barnes leads the way for shots (12), shots in the box (nine) and big chances (four) across Newcastle’s last four home matches.
Given Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United’s recent struggles at both ends of the pitch, plus potential European hangovers, Brighton and Hove Albion and Aston Villa attackers could easily haul. Indeed, over the last six Gameweeks, Spurs and United are both among the worst four teams for big chances conceded:
Morgan Rogers (£5.8m), Ollie Watkins (£9.1m), Kaoru Mitoma (£6.3m) and Danny Welbeck (£5.5m) are leading the charge from their respective teams. The latter has found the net in each of his last three away appearances for Brighton.
Bryan Mbeumo (£8.3m), Yoane Wissa (£6.9m), Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.1m) and Matheus Cunha (£7.1m) are obvious shouts, but we’ll see how Wolverhampton Wanderers fare on Tuesday before committing.
THE LONGER SHOTS
Nottingham Forest and Chelsea attackers may find clear-cut chances at a premium on Sunday, especially with so much riding on it.
There are probably better options than the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.5m), Chris Wood (£7.2m) and Cole Palmer (£10.5m) in Gameweek 38, then.
Fixture difficulty is arguably against Crystal Palace assets like Daniel Munoz (£5.2m) and Eberechi Eze (£7.0m), too.
GAMEWEEK 38 EARLY SCOUT PICKS
