We’ve put together our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ for Gameweek 6 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

The upcoming Scout Squad nominations, as well as the pre-match press conferences, will help shape our finalised picks.

However, this early draft, at the very least, offers an insight into the players and teams who are under consideration.

There are, as ever, certain restrictions for our squad:

• An £83.0m overall budget for our starting XI
• An overall squad limit of £100.0m
• No more than three players per team

A reminder, too, that the Scout Picks are for the upcoming Gameweek in isolation.

GAMEWEEK 6 FIXTURES

Using our free-to-all ticker, here is the Gameweek 6 difficulty ranking:

THE LIKELY LADS

On an off-day, Arsenal’s notoriously tight defence collapsed at Brighton and Hove Albion. But, remembering they recovered from April’s devastating loss to Manchester City by winning the next four without conceding, the champions could react similarly versus Leeds United.

We’ll probably pick two of David Raya (£6.1m), Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m) and Ezri Konsa (£4.6m), as the Gunners remain best for expected goals conceded (xGC, 4.04) and restricting shots on target (13).

Yet FPL’s leading individual defender belongs to Everton, who’ll visit Hull City. James Tarkowski (£6.1m) has at least one return from every match – if you count defensive contributions (DefCon) as a return – and achieved several last time: a clean sheet, DefCon joy, and an assist when his long shot hit Thierno Barry (£5.6m) and went in.

The striker’s goal was enough to beat Ipswich Town. Up in third for expected goals (xG, 3.50), Barry is also second for box shots (16) and big chances (eight), although colleague Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£6.6m) narrowly edges him for overall attempts (18).

Added to those he’s set up, the midfielder ranks joint-second for top-flight chance involvement (29). No surprise to see him on both the latest ‘Goals Imminent‘ and ‘Assists Imminent’ tables, then.

Hull finally experienced defeat last Saturday. It was to Newcastle United, a team about to face Coventry City. Only Aston Villa have fewer shots than both sides’ 51, yet the Magpies scored nine of them.

It would’ve been 10 had Yoane Wissa (£6.2m) not missed his penalty. He remains a good option but, as none of their latest five strikes involved the centre-forward, maybe Harvey Barnes (£6.1m) is a better Scout Pick. Firmly first choice now that Anthony Gordon is gone, he netted one and set up three of those five goals

One such assist was loved by Lewis Hall‘s (£5.3m) owners. They were dreaming of an additional clean sheet, too, until Hull made things competitive.

On top of these, we’re likely to include Erling Haaland (£15.6m). A trip to Liverpool doesn’t read easy – especially when the Reds are on a surprising streak of shutouts – but the Norwegian scored five past them throughout 2025/26.

IN CONTENTION

Four blanks from five are naturally causing some to give up on the expensive Bruno Fernandes (£11.9m). But a hosting of last-placed Tottenham Hotspur is difficult to run away from.

Manchester United’s penalty taker is second for shots (19) and is the guy who beats both Dewsbury-Hall and Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m) for chance involvement (32). Still, teammate Mbeumo is available at a much lower price and beats Bruno for close-range attempts (14) and xG (3.06).

Both blanked in Sunday’s draw at Fulham. The Cottagers now get to face all three promoted sides in a row, starting with Ipswich. That’s promising for Gonzalo Garcia (£6.0m).

Alternatively, teenage talent Josh King (£5.5m) boasts 11 box shots and just three players exceed his seven on target. A cheap midfield gem?

At the back, Bernd Leno (£4.5m) nearly kept consecutive clean sheets, though it’s worth noting that Ipswich have netted at least twice in 60% of outings. So alternative coverage comes via David Affengruber (£4.5m). The 0.03% owned centre-back is in Joachim Andersen’s (£5.0m) previous spot, delivering DefCon in both appearances.

Elsewhere, everyone is talking about Brighton right now. The league’s highest scorers just beat Arsenal 3-0 thanks to yet another Pascal Gross (£5.8m) haul. Three of his last four occasions have brought 13+ points, explaining why the veteran has FPL’s biggest total (47).

He’s combining brilliantly with Greek striker Charalampos Kostoulas (£5.6m), who produced a goal, an assist and 10 points in both Gameweeks 4 and 5.

Sunderland is a tricky trip, mind. Backing a Seagulls defender for it wouldn’t be normal, but the ‘out of position’ Maxim De Cuyper‘s (£5.0m) form is abnormal, with four attacking returns and three clean sheets.

THE LONGER SHOTS

Managers also need to think carefully about their Chelsea assets. The hype swiftly died down when a Hull home draw preceded the Blues’ thrashing by Brentford.

Joao Pedro (£7.7m) mightn’t be ready to meet Bournemouth, and there’s even a flag for penalty taker Cole Palmer (£9.7m), after ‘load management’ caused him to withdraw from England duty.

If the latter is a genuine Gameweek 6 doubt, Morgan Rogers (£7.7m) will surely be added to the above section. Last Friday, the £117 million arrival blanked for the first time, but he fired out a season-high of four shots.

Finally, 920,000 bought Morgan Gibbs-White (£8.0m) for his anticipated haul against Coventry. But they were let down. The 26-year-old didn’t even shoot, although he did set up six for others.

It’s worth keeping faith in the joint-leader for big chance creation (five), as opponents Crystal Palace tend to be leaky. Before drawing 0-0 at Leeds United, the Eagles had conceded two or more in 10 successive Premier League games, stretching back to springtime.

GAMEWEEK 6: EARLY SCOUT PICKS