With dust settling on Gameweek 6 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL), thoughts turn to Gameweek 7 with the early Scout Picks – or ‘bus team’.
The final picks will come on Friday and will be shaped by Scout Squad nominations, team news from the pre-match press conferences, and nine midweek European ties involving English clubs. There could be a few twists to come yet with the weekly selection.
In the meantime, this early draft 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 7 FIXTURES
Using our free-to-all ticker, here is the Gameweek 7 difficulty ranking:
THE LIKELY LADS
We’ve had several ‘bankers’ go belly-up this season. Manchester United lost to Hull City in Gameweek 1. Manchester City could only squeak a 1-0 win at home to Coventry City in Gameweek 3, when many managers used their Triple Captain. Gameweek 4 was a double whammy, with Chelsea and Liverpool held to draws by Hull and Fulham. Coventry then played pantomime villains away to much-fancied Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 5.
These are all reminders that there are no givens in the Premier League. Nevertheless, if you’re on a Free Hit (which is what the Scout Picks is) in Gameweek 7, then surely you’re tempted by a Man City triple-up.
Ipswich Town have battled gamely this season, with three wins out of six a testament to that. But they’re also still without a clean sheet, second-bottom for expected goals conceded (xGC, 10.79), and in the bottom six for actual goals conceded (12).
City, consequently, are streets ahead of any other team for projected goals in Gameweek 7:
So, then, two, maybe even three City attackers could come into the reckoning for Scout Picks duty. Midweek minutes and niggles (the Cityzens host PSG less than 72 hours before Gameweek 7) will no doubt come into reckoning but for now, Erling Haaland (£15.6m) is a shoo-in.
Who joins him? Jeremy Doku‘s (£7.4m) superb cameo on Sunday puts him in the conversation. Antoine Semenyo (£8.3m) is Mr 90 Minutes, with five returns under his belt – all against lower-table fodder. Then there’s Rayan Cherki (£7.8m), who has been involved in more chances (28 – 14 shots, 14 created) than any of his teammates.
The Gameweek 6 benching of Josko Gvardiol (£5.8m) might be enough for us to play safe with Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.5m), should we opt for a City defensive representative. He’s no low-ceiling Ederson; no Premier League goalkeeper has more save points (six)!
Away from the league leaders, you can bet that joint-top-scoring FPL picks Pascal Gross (£6.0m) and Maxim De Cuyper (£5.1m) are going to be widely backed by the Scout Squad contingent, barring any unpleasant surprises against Kauno Žalgiris on Thursday. It’s the A23 derby this weekend, and opponents Crystal Palace have the worst xGC total in the league (12.80). How they weren’t two or three goals down on Sunday, before somehow beating Forest 3-1, is a mystery.
Speaking of the Tricky Trees, they’re the only Premier League team yet to score a home goal in 2026/27. Expect the marauding Riccardo Calafiori (£5.9m) or the cut-price Ezri Konsa (£4.6m) to get a look-in.
IN CONTENTION
The attackers of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool face potentially trickier tests this weekend.
Opponents Everton, Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Brentford – who are all at home – are top-half material for both fewest goals conceded and xGC:
There’s plenty of discussion to be had about the merits of Cole Palmer (£9.7m), Joao Pedro (£7.8m), Morgan Rogers (£7.9m), Bukayo Saka (£9.6m), Bruno Fernandes (£11.9m), Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m) and, if fit, Alexander Isak (£9.0m) this week, then. None seem ‘essential’, although it’s particularly hard to resist the lure of a Europe-free Chelsea side who hit five in Gameweek 6.
There are arguably as many appealing mid-price options this week.
It’s 18th v 16th in the xGC table on Saturday as an erratic Newcastle United entertain Aston Villa. Both sides’ last three matches have featured a combined 25 goals! Harvey Barnes (£6.1m) has hauled in his last two home fixtures and could get a look-in, while Johan Manzambi (£5.9m) and Nicolas Jackson (£6.6m) have delivered the goods in each of the last two Gameweeks. It’s a small sample, but Manzambi has racked up an impressive 11 shots since his Gameweek 5 full debut:
At the opposite end of the country, Bournemouth and Sunderland have just one clean sheet between them. Marcus Tavernier (£6.1m) and Enzo Le Fee (£5.7m) are both potentially on penalties, as well as boasting set-piece duties.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£6.6m), among the top four midfielders for shots (19) and chances created (15) this season, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) meanwhile get to face Chelsea and Man Utd sides without a single shut-out between them in 2026/27. Based on the sorry show we saw on Saturday, might we even consider Tarik Muharemovic (£5.0m)?
At the back, we’ve already got the defences of City, Arsenal and Brighton covered in our ‘bus team’ – so where next?
The clean sheet odds suggest Tottenham Hotspur should be in our thoughts:
Spurs, surprisingly, have allowed fewer big chances (seven) than any other team over the last five Gameweeks.
THE LONGER SHOTS
Spurs have been less convincing going forward this season, but they do rank second on the Gameweek 7 projected goals front. Savio (£6.5m) was lively against United, and he’s joint-third among all FPL midfielders for chances created (11) since his Gameweek 3 debut.
Fulham are up there in the projected goals/clean sheets stakes too but, sitting in 20th, do we trust them? Especially against a Hull City side defeated just once – and unluckily so – in the opening six Gameweeks. David Affengruber (£4.5m) has his DefCons, and Josh King (£5.6m) continues to see chances, but there are more convincing picks out there at present.
GAMEWEEK 7 EARLY SCOUT PICKS
