It’s time for our early Scout Picks for Gameweek 12 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
Naturally, much can change ahead of our finalised weekly selection next Friday.
Scout Squad nominations, international break injuries and minutes, and the pre-match press conferences will all have an impact.
But this precursor, at the very least, offers an insight into the players who are likely to be under consideration.
GAMEWEEK 12 FIXTURES
Above: The Gameweek 12 fixtures sorted by difficulty (easiest left, trickiest right) on our Fixture Ticker.
THE LIKELY LADS
We’re spoiled for choice this week, with Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Manchester United all having very decent fixtures in Gameweek 12.
The first name on the teamsheet, however, is someone at the wrong end of the ticker – and it likely won’t make much of a difference.
Manchester City’s trip to Newcastle United may be enough to deter/defer interest in the likes of Phil Foden (£8.0m) and Jeremy Doku (£6.4m) but not so in Erling Haaland (£14.9m). Yes, Newcastle are better on home soil. And yes, they tend to get themselves ‘up’ for the bigger games more than they do against the likes of Brentford and West Ham United. Haaland also has a poor historic record against the Magpies: one goal in six meetings.
But with so many other forwards dipping in and out of form in 2025/26, are we going to overlook FPL’s first centurion of the campaign, someone who has had at least one ‘big chance’ in every single match this season? Maybe for the captaincy, but not for a starting XI.
Above: Haaland is streets ahead of any other player for non-penalty xG (NPxG) this season
Chelsea and Palace, joint-second for clean sheets (five apiece) and among the top four for xG at the other end of the field, are surely going to feature in the Scout Picks.
The Eagles would likely have rather faced Vitor Pereira’s faltering outfit than a Wolverhampton Wanderers side potentially buoyed by the appointment of a new head coach. Then again, Wolves’ Gameweek 11 display under caretaker boss James Collins underlined the fact that their deficiencies are more than manager-deep.
At least one of Ismaila Sarr (£6.6m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£8.1m), second in their respective positions for NPxG, will surely feature against a defence still without a clean sheet. At the rear, you could choose from any number of Palace defenders – although Marc Guehi (£5.1m) is an early injury doubt. We’ve gone with Chris Richards (£4.5m) in the ‘bus team’, partly due to budget but also due to the fact that no Eagles defender has more defensive contribution (DefCon/DC) points (12):
As for Chelsea, there’s a slight nervousness about minutes given that the Burnley clash a) follows an international break, b) is the early kick-off and C) precedes clashes with Barcelona and Arsenal. Could Enzo Maresca manage game-time?
At the back, we’ve gone with the relative security of Robert Sanchez (£4.8m), especially as defenders rarely bank DefCon points against the Clarets:
FEWEST DEFENDER DEFCON POINTS BY OPPONENT
| Opponent | Defenders scoring DefCon points |
| Burnley | 4 |
| Fulham | 5 |
| Sunderland | 5 |
| Man City | 6 |
| Nott’m Forest | 7 |
Further forward, a revived Joao Pedro (£7.5m) and in-form wingers Pedro Neto (£7.1m) and Alejandro Garnacho (£6.4m) are possibilities. However, we’ve stuck with the ‘imminent’ Enzo Fernandez (£6.7m), on the assumption that his precautionary, two-week breather from international duty allows him to rest up for Gameweek 12. There’s still an element of risk (remember his no-show in Gameweek 8?), so this is a Scout Picks selection that could well change closer to the deadline.
IN CONTENTION
Have West Ham United’s successive wins and Bournemouth’s consecutive defeats changed the thinking around Gameweek 12’s meeting between the two clubs? Not much (West Ham weren’t that great against Burnley) but maybe enough to plant a seed of doubt.
Ultimately, the Hammers are clean-sheet-less in six matches under Nuno Espirito Santo. Even Everton, Burnley and Leeds United have scored against them. A chance for Antoine Semenyo (£8.1m) to redeem himself, then, and to boost those flagging numbers:
Above: Antoine Semenyo had more shots in Gameweeks 1-4 (12) than he’s had since (11)
The good thing is that, after successive away trouncings, the Cherries are back on home soil, where they’re unbeaten in 2025/26. They’ve also kept three clean sheets in five matches at the Vitality. That’s enough to keep Marcos Senesi (£5.0m), FPL’s outright leader for DefCon points, at the forefront of our thoughts.
Manchester United’s clash with Everton is probably on the ‘B’ list, with the Toffees less defensively chaotic than the likes of Wolves and West Ham.
Still, Bryan Mbeumo (£8.5m) and Bruno Fernandes (£8.9m) will be in the Scout Picks discussion. With Everton likely to sit in a low block, is this the game for the probing of Bruno rather than the behind-the-line runs of Mbeumo? The Portuguese international has returned in each of his last four meetings with the Toffees.
Above: Teams with the lowest defensive distance (“average distance from a team’s own goal from which it makes defensive actions“) and fewest counter-attacking shots conceded in away games
Matthijs de Ligt (£5.0m) is in the Scout Picks defender mix. He has played every minute for United, is a bit of a set-piece threat and has banked DefCon points on four occasions. Just one clean sheet in 11 Gameweeks is off-putting, however.
What about Liverpool? It’s a question that our very own Tom Freeman has been asking in a Members’ article this week. The visit of Nottingham Forest heralds a favourable fixture swing for the Reds but Sunday’s performance wasn’t exactly a great audition.
Mohamed Salah‘s (£14.2m) underlying numbers are improving, at least. If we look at a weekly breakdown of his NPxGI figures (below), there’s a clear upswing in the last six Gameweeks:
He’s pricey, of course, so cheaper alternatives like Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.6m) may be considered instead. The Hungarian is back in the ’10’ role – not that it’s led to many closer-range chances.
At the back, Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m) offers clean sheet and DefCon potential and set-piece threat. But with the budget tighter in our Scout Picks this week, might we consider Ibrahima Konate (£5.4m) instead?
KONATE V VAN DIJK
| Konate | van Dijk | |
|---|---|---|
| Shots | 5 | 4 |
| Chances created | 5 | 2 |
| DefCon points | 10 | 12 |
Finally, Arsenal’s clean sheet run is over and the local rivals are up next. The Gunners’ last north London derby clean sheet at the Emirates came in 2017…
Still, this Gunners’ defence is a meaner prospect than perhaps ever before. Spurs’ attack has also looked powderpuff at times. So, expect Jurrien Timber (£6.1m) and co to pick up their usual raft of Scout Squad nominations.
Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) loves a derby, meanwhile: it’s two goals, four assists and 38 points in his last four meetings with the Lilywhites.
THE LONGER SHOTS
Brighton and Hove Albion will fancy their chances against a Brentford side that have lost four of their five away games. Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.4m) is gobbling up the DefCon points (or getting close to them) since Gameweek 4, while Danny Welbeck (£6.5m) is on a run of six goals in as many matches.
Two of FPL’s form forwards feature at the Amex, indeed, with eight-goal Igor Thiago (£6.3m) leading the Bees’ line.
There are easier fixtures elsewhere in Gameweek 12 but given their budget-friendly prices, we could be calling on one of the above come final selection time.
The same goes for the Fulham v Sunderland clash. Who are the favourites here, however? If we’d said pre-season that it was going to be 4th against 15th come late November, we’d have assumed the Cottagers were off to an unlikely but just-about-plausible flyer. Instead, it’s Regis Le Bris’ side in the European spots.
Given the fitness issues surrounding both Fulham forwards, should we consider Nordi Mukiele (£4.2m) et al?
Lastly, Aston Villa face a struggling side in Leeds United, albeit one that is incongruously ranked joint-second for fewest big chances conceded (16) this season. Ollie Watkins (£8.5m) continues to misfire, too, and he still has only one goal to his name. Morgan Rogers (£6.8m) has looked better in recent weeks but even he has only mustered 0.91 xGI during this impressive six-week run of form.
Perhaps Matty Cash (£4.6m) and Lucas Digne (£4.5m) are likelier candidates. The former is joint-third among defenders for shots in the last six Gameweeks, with the latter second for chances created.
GAMEWEEK 12 EARLY SCOUT PICKS
