Not as early as usual thanks to deadline-day distractions, we’ve put together our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ for Gameweek 25 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

The upcoming Scout Squad nominations, pre-match press conferences and midweek EFL Cup action will help shape our final Scout Picks on Friday.

But this initial draft, 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 25 FIXTURES

Gameweek 25 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker.

THE LIKELY LADS

After impressive clean sheets in league and cup over the last few days, you can bet your bottom dollar that we’ll have at least one representative of the Arsenal backline in our Scout Picks. Maybe even two.

Sunderland have been tricky customers this season but away from home, they’ve scored a miserable six goals in 12 matches. Only Wolverhampton Wanderers have a worse record.

Gabriel Magalhaes (£7.0m), averaging more points per start (7.5) than any other FPL asset, is a shoo-in to feature. Jurrien Timber (£6.3m), the top defender for expected goal involvement (xGI), could also join him, although there’s always boring old David Raya (£5.9m) as an alternative.

There’ll likely be a Chelsea pick or three, as well. The Blues get to take on bottom-of-the-table Wolves, who admittedly have picked up their performances of late. They certainly ran Bournemouth close on Saturday. But in a week where Liverpool and Manchester City square off, and stand-out fixtures are few and far between, no caveat will likely stop the Scouts from targeting this fixture.

It’s more a question of ‘who’, after the midweek exertions at the Emirates. Could Cole Palmer (£10.4m) maybe get a Scout Picks look-in after Liam Rosenior preserved him in north London? And with Trevoh Chalobah (£5.7m) starting the last two games (and Rosenior showing more willingness to rotate him, albeit in the Champions League), is Robert Sanchez (£4.9m) the safer route into the Blues’ backline?

The hope will be that Joao Pedro (£7.4m) had his breather last weekend. Liam Delap (£6.2m) has also just started twice in quick succession. Pedro has plundered five returns in the last three Gameweeks, so he’s a frontrunner for the forward line this week.

Enzo Fernandez‘s (£6.8m) unbroken stint in the starting XI goes on, meanwhile. It’s now seven starts on the spin in all competitions, with Rosenior praising his “rare athleticism” on Monday. That said, will the Chelsea boss finally take the opportunity to rest his star midfielder, with another game coming just over 72 hours after that? One to ponder later in the week.

No such worries over near-namesake Bruno Fernandes (£9.5m). Averaging 8.0 points per match since his return from injury, he’s captaincy material again this week. It’s also not beyond the realms of possibility that we plump for a second United attacker.

IN CONTENTION

Arsenal attackers aren’t quite so appealing as their defenders, given Sunderland’s defensive strengths.

Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) is likely out of the equation, while can we really trust Noni Madueke (£6.8m) just yet? Mikel Arteta could very easily go with Gabriel Martinelli (£6.8m) on the right, as he has done in the closing stages of the last two matches. It may come down to safety first with Declan Rice (£7.5m), then, and at least the midfielder’s creativity numbers suggest he is ‘due’ an assist. The DefCons have dried up of late, however.

Who knows what Burnley v West Ham United will turn up? The Hammers have looked better since the arrival of their new forwards, who seem to be bringing the best out of Crysencio Summerville (£5.5m) in particular. Either he or Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) probably makes the cut this week – and there’s not much in it, stats-wise:

BOWEN V SUMMERVILLE: LAST FOUR GAMEWEEKS

Perhaps penalty-taking duties swings this one.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) could get a look-in at home to Nottingham Forest, although the Tricky Trees’ defensive numbers have been good since Sean Dyche took over. The same applies for Everton, who will be tasked with nullifying Harry Wilson (£6.1m) – someone who is never far from Scout Picks consideration.

In fact, the Toffees have kept clean sheets in five of their last seven away matches, so could one of the centre-back four – we’ve gone with DefCon monster James Tarkowski (£5.8m) here – get the nod over Wilson instead?

Above: Everton are ranked second for fewest goals conceded (GC) and clean sheets (CS) in away matches

There’s a similar ‘who do you fancy more’ dilemma at the Vitality Stadium.

Do we back Morgan Rogers (£7.7m) or pay heed to Bournemouth’s quietly impressive defensive numbers on home soil? In Marcos Senesi (£4.8m) and James Hill (£3.9m), they’ve also got the likelihood of DefCon points arriving.

Above: Bournemouth are ranked second for lowest expected goals conceded (xGC) in home matches

THE LONGER SHOTS       

Newcastle United v Brentford is a tricky one to call. The Magpies tend to be better at home, while Brentford are erratic away.

But how much will Wednesday’s EFL Cup semi take it out of Newcastle? On top of that, Eddie Howe is rotating frequently as his side navigate the busiest schedule of any Premier League side over the coming month. Igor Thiago (£7.1m) could even sneak in, should we envisage a second-half wilt like we saw at Anfield.

Finally, Liverpool v Manchester City. Traditionally, this is a fixture in which some FPL managers avoid picks from either side, anticipating a ‘cancelling out’ of sorts. But neither team is totally convincing defensively (one clean sheet in five each), so in-form assets like Antoine Semenyo (£7.8m), Hugo Ekitike (£8.8m) and Florian Wirtz (£8.3m) might get more joy than the ticker would have us believe. Given the outlay and the form, Erling Haaland (£15.0m) may have to sit this one out, however.

GAMEWEEK 25 EARLY SCOUT PICKS