We have put together an early draft of our Scout Picks for Gameweek 17 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

We will finalise our weekly selection closer to Saturday’s deadline.

The upcoming Scout Squad nominations, as well as the midweek matches and the pre-match press conferences, will help shape our final Scout Picks.

But this ‘bus team’, at the very least, offers an insight into the players and teams who will be under consideration.

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 17 FIXTURES

Above: The Gameweek 17 fixtures sorted by difficulty (easiest left, trickiest right) on our Fixture Ticker.

THE LIKELY LADS

Gameweek 17 is mostly about Bournemouth and Manchester City, both of whom have attractive fixtures to target.

Andoni Iraola’s men are at home against a Burnley side in complete freefall, having lost seven matches in a row.

Man City, meanwhile, entertain a West Ham United outfit who aren’t anywhere near as bad, but have failed to keep a clean sheet in 11 attempts since Nuno Espirito Santo took over as manager.

You can bet the in-form Phil Foden (£8.8m) and Erling Haaland (£15.0m) will be in the Scout Picks.

Since Gameweek 13, Foden has produced 55 points – that’s at least 13 more than any other player has managed in that time. As for Haaland, he has plundered a league-high nine goals on home turf.

Antoine Semenyo (£7.5m) will likely make the cut in our weekly selection, too.

Semenyo’s performances had slowly been looking more promising before Monday’s trip to Old Trafford, and he was duly rewarded with a Gameweek 16 goal.

Defensive representation from Bournemouth and City also feels likely – but who?

Marcos Senesi (£5.3m) or Adrien Truffert (£4.5m)? Matheus Nunes (£5.3m) or Nico O’Reilly (£5.3m)?

Man City’s opponents, West Ham, will be without full-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.2m) and El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.1m) due to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). They’ll likely shift to a back five as a result, in which case O’Reilly’s goal threat in/around the box could be key.

IN CONTENTION

Rayan Cherki (£6.5m) is another option at Man City. He’s provided seven assists in as many Gameweeks, and his playing time is likely to be more secure if Jeremy Doku (£6.6m) remains out. The only real obstacle to Cherki finding his way into our weekly selection is the form of Foden and Haaland.

With Sunderland the most affected team in terms of AFCON departures, with six members of their squad, including five starters from the match against Newcastle United on Sunday, receiving call-ups, it raises questions about how it will affect them in the weeks to come.

Even with Noah Sadiki (£5.0m) and co available, Sunderland rank 17th for StatsBomb expected goals conceded (xGC) on the road (see image below), lifting the appeal of Yankuba Minteh (£6.2m), Georginio Rutter (£5.6m) and Danny Welbeck (£6.5m).

A Brighton and Hove Albion backline option will surely come into the reckoning, too. We’ve opted for Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m) in our ‘bus team’ – the Dutch centre-back already has four attacking returns this season.

Other defences in the mix this week include Arsenal (eve), Brentford (wol), Crystal Palace (lee) and Fulham (NFO).

Everton will be without Iliman Ndiaye (£6.4m) and Idrissa Gana Gueye (£5.4m) for the visit of Arsenal. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.1m) and Jack Grealish (£6.5m) are also currently flagged, so representation from Mikel Arteta’s backline feels important, despite the recent lack of clean sheets. Those key absences could also boost the appeal of Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) and Declan Rice (£7.1m).

Meanwhile, the only concern for Palace players is the schedule, with Oliver Glasner’s troops set to face a run of three matches in six days from Thursday-Tuesday, which will further strain an already thin squad.

Further forward, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ dearth of clean sheets will interest Kevin Schade (£7.0m) and Igor Thiago (£7.2m), while Tottenham Hotspur’s recent struggles could play into the hands of Hugo Ekitike (£8.6m). The Liverpool forward is averaging a goal every 127.1 minutes in 2025/26, one of the fastest rates in the top-flight.

Above: Players sorted by minutes per goal in 2025/26 (minimum 500 mins played)

Elsewhere, Harry Wilson (£5.5m) is in fine form, having produced seven attacking returns in his last four appearances. And while there is most certainly an element of overperformance in his recent displays (+4.0 xGI delta over the last four Gameweeks), with his minutes assured and a home match against Nottingham Forest to come, there’d be no surprise if delivers again.

THE LONGER SHOTS

Aston Villa have won 10 of their last 11 matches in all competitions and are particularly strong on home turf, so Bruno Fernandes (£9.3m) is probably a long shot this week despite his purple patch, particularly with Foden, Haaland and Semenyo enjoying such appealing home fixtures.

Newcastle United’s clash against Chelsea means their assets will likely find it tough to get a look-in.

You’d be hard-pressed to make a case for the in-form Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) or Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.6m), too, given the opposition.

As for Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m), Liverpool have shown improvement in the diamond formation, but even with Tottenham Hotspur’s home form, there would appear to be better options available.

GAMEWEEK 17 EARLY SCOUT PICKS