Gameweek 11 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) may be a while off yet but, like most of you do when a deadline passes, we’ve put together our Scout Picks ‘bus team’.
This early draft offers an insight into the players and teams we expect to be under consideration, come a week on Friday.
Of course, the upcoming Scout Squad nominations, as well as any injuries picked up during this international break, will help shape our finalised picks.
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 11 FIXTURES
Using our free-to-all ticker, here is the Gameweek 11 difficulty ranking:
THE LIKELY LADS
Despite successive blanks, it’s too early to be losing patience with Erling Haaland (£15.8m), who netted in each of the previous seven. The concern is more collective around Manchester City, who’ve been overtaken by second-placed Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Seagulls get to visit Hull City this time. In truth, there’s very little rank to be gained from the joys of template pick Pascal Gross (£6.3m), but it’s better than missing out. The veteran just achieved his best expected goal involvement (xGI, 1.52) tally of this season. By the way, teammate Diego Gomez (£5.0m) is worth a mention. The Paraguayan’s latest stunner opened the scoring against Brentford, making him the fifth-highest-scoring midfielder.
Luka Vuskovic (£5.3m) grabbed a Fantasy assist for Gross’ penalty, leading to 12 points. He’s better than colleague Maxim De Cuyper (£5.5m) for defensive contribution (DefCon) rewards and pips him for shots, but the Belgian is superior for big chances and creativity. The latter should’ve scored a close-range header against the Bees, part of his largest xGI (0.73) since Gameweek 1. Expect one, maybe even both, to make the Scout Picks.
Of course, the other standout backline is Arsenal’s. They travel to Newcastle United, a date pencilled in for fierce hostility towards Bruno Guimaraes (£6.7m) but, instead, the atmosphere could be apathetic because of the team’s struggles. The Gunners ought to easily win, and David Raya (£6.2m), Gabriel Magalhaes (£8.1m), Riccardo Calafiori (£5.9m) and maybe Ezri Konsa (£4.8m) should deliver yet another shutout.
Above: Gameweek 11’s top clean sheet odds
Sticking with former Magpies, Alexander Isak (£9.3m) netted late past Crystal Palace to reach seven goals in eight. He now gets the honour of meeting a Manchester United defence that’s still without a clean sheet. Sunday’s entertaining 4-4 versus Aston Villa means they’ve conceded nine in three.
Whereas Tottenham Hotspur look solid. Antonin Kinsky (£4.4m) and Jan Paul van Hecke (£5.1m) nearly kept out a third consecutive opponent, before Leeds United’s 79th-minute winner. The Dutchman is FPL’s joint-best defender for shots on target (five) and sits second for expected goals (xG, 1.70).
IN CONTENTION
Meanwhile, Nicolas Jackson (£7.1m) averages 11 points across his last three outings, justifying the hype. From Gameweek 5 onwards, he leads the way for goals (six).
But Johan Manzambi (£6.2m) mightn’t be the go-to Aston Villa midfielder now we know that John McGinn (£5.4m) remains on penalties. The Scottish international has two goals and four assists throughout his latest six starts, while also missing from the spot versus Fulham. Speaking of which, we won’t pick a Villa defender because opponents Sunderland must – by law – be awarded a weekly Enzo Le Fee (£5.7m) penalty.
Bournemouth are hosting a Nottingham Forest defence that’s allowed the fewest attempts (100) and is second-best at preventing shots on target (30) and expected goals conceded (xGC, 11.01). However, Evanilson (£6.5m) has scored five times in a row – albeit usually from individual errors.
Straight after the Brazilian’s Sunday strike, highly-picked Marcus Tavernier (£6.7m) scuffed a tap-in. A frustrating moment, but one showcasing the great positions this 27-year-old often takes.
He and Antonio Silva (£5.1m) are close to a suspension, but are fine for Gameweek 11. The centre-back’s streak of eight points ended at Ipswich Town, as the Cherries finally conceded, though he achieved DefCon for a seventh time.
For those wanting an Arsenal attacker against Newcastle, Declan Rice (£7.5m) is unspectacular but boasts five assists in eight matches. Martin Odegaard (£6.7m) tends to be a homer.
Elsewhere, bargain penalty taker Jack Rudoni (£4.9m) has three recent goals and is at home to leaky Crystal Palace. A team that’s conceding 2.4 times per game.
Time was when at least one Chelsea attacker would be a given. But up against the league’s third-best defence for goals conceded, do we want one this week? Cole Palmer (£9.8m) hasn’t exceeded 0.23 non-penalty xG since Gameweek 2, so it might be Morgan Rogers (£8.2m), if any.
THE LONGER SHOTS
Casting the net further adrift, Ipswich are the other side yet to secure a clean sheet, making Mohammed Kudus (£6.6m) a possible punt. He’s started five successive matches, assisted three home games in a row, and spurned a big opportunity in Gameweek 9. Still, Spurs have looked a lot more convincing defensively than going forward, and even against the porous Tractor Boys, it’s not a certainty that we opt for an attacker.
Reports say that the last-placed Crystal Palace are about to sack Pierre Sage, so they may get a ‘new manager bounce’ when visiting Coventry City. Chris Richards (£4.9m) loves DefCon, for example. But while Palace top the Ticker, the Sky Blues will arguably be more confident of a win. Full-backs Jay Dasilva (£4.0m) and Milan van Ewijk (£3.9m), or Bobby Thomas (£4.0m) if he’s fit, are possible options, but we’re not short of attractive defenders elsewhere this week.
The same goes for Liverpool duo Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) and Jeremy Jacquet (£5.1m). Man Utd may be a calamitous bunch, but they’ve just scored seven goals in their last two matches.
As for Joao Pedro (£7.6m), Chelsea continue to look awful without him. If he’s back from injury, Xabi Alonso surely needs to throw him straight back into the XI; it’s more a question of whether we can be confident of a start for the Brazilian that makes him a long shot.
Finally, it’s hard to bet against Thierno Barry (£5.7m) in this form. He bagged two goals, an assist and 16 points past Coventry, yet still missed three big chances. He’s actually accumulated 17 gilt-edged opportunities over the previous six Gameweeks (above), which is more than double the next best! The one thing riding against him this week, however, is the fixture, with plenty of other forwards having easier tests.
GAMEWEEK 11: EARLY SCOUT PICKS
