It’s Gameweek 28 Scout Picks time as we nail down our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) player selection for the next round of fixtures.
The chosen XI is partly influenced by the Scout Squad submissions made by Neale, Tom F, Sam and Marc.
As usual, we are limited by certain restrictions:
- An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
- An overall squad limit of £100.0m
- No more than three players per team
GAMEWEEK 28 SCOUT PICKS
GOALKEEPER
Caoimhin Kelleher (£4.7m) received unanimous support from our Scout Squad panel ahead of Brentford’s trip to Burnley. Keith Andrews’ side have chalked up clean sheets in two of their last five away matches and, up against a Burnley outfit ranked 20th for expected goals (xG, 22.72), Kelleher looks to be a safe pair of hands ahead of Saturday afternoon’s showdown.
DEFENDERS
Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m) follows Kelleher into the Scout Picks, with the Dutchman one of Liverpool’s main aerial threats. West Ham United have, of course, made a habit of conceding from set plays this season. The fixture also appeals from a defensive perspective: even during their recent three-match unbeaten streak, Nuno Espirito Santo’s troops have still only found the net three times.
Nico O’Reilly (£5.0m) is our preferred route into the Manchester City backline as they prepare to face Leeds United. Although classified as a defender, Pep Guardiola has elected to play O’Reilly in central midfield recently, so he often finds himself much higher up the pitch. Indeed, he’s netted three times in his last two matches, a period which has seen him rack up seven shots, the most of any City player.
Above: Manchester City players sorted by shots in Gameweeks 26 and 27
Bournemouth’s James Hill (£4.1m) retains his place in the Scout Picks. A home match against Sunderland, who have a number of players out injured, could potentially offer returns at both ends of the pitch on Saturday. The budget defender has three assists across his last five starts. Meanwhile, Sunderland are in the bottom two for away goals scored in 2025/26, having found the net only six times in 13 away matches. Like van Dijk, Hill also carries defensive contribution (DefCon) points potential.
Above: Defenders sorted by total defensive contributions (Tot) over the last six Gameweeks
MIDFIELDERS
The rest of this article below is completely free to read but requires a Fantasy Football Scout user account for access – you can get yours at no cost here
