The Scout Squad for FPL Gameweek 22

With the festive schedule behind me, I’m turning attention to the battle against my own team’s slide. With so many heavy hitters performing well and there existing a strong template of defenders and cheaper midfielders, I am struggling to find many gems to help make my way back up the rankings.

This week looks a potentially intriguing one with many of the top sides enjoying favourable fixtures, though there are also good-looking home games for teams such as Everton and Cardiff. I really like the look of Victor Camarasa this week, who is in fine company in my midfield selections!

Getting the right heavy hitters in your own FPL teams looks key to surviving the next few months. My top picks this week are Mohamed Salah and Sergio Aguero, the latter of whom I think is being overlooked in everyone’s clamour to get Salah. Aguero looked razor-sharp against Liverpool and should lead the line against Wolves, who do always put up a fight against the top sides but may find the challenge too great at the Etihad.

It’s hard to separate Harry Kane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. I feel as though Kane may be over-performing on his FPL points based on the matches I’ve seen him play, whereas Aubameyang has been very unlucky. I’m reluctant to take Kane out but I do think Aubameyang can do some real damage to me this week and beyond.

My defence selection looks strong and I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of these players make the final squad. Lucas Digne, Andrew Robertson and Sead Kolasinac all offer so much going forward for their respective sides, while David Luiz and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are slightly less exciting picks but both have good-looking home games nevertheless.

Peter said…

Two premium midfielders (Eden Hazard and Mohamed Salah) and two premium attackers (Sergio Aguero and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang) account for nearly half the budget this week, resulting in drastic cost-cutting measures elsewhere. My selections are therefore somewhat sullied as I scratch around at the unromantic venues of the Cardiff City Stadium and Turf Moor.

It’s an odd quirk of the fixture computer that the bottom two sides (Huddersfield and Fulham) visit two sides just outside the drop zone (Cardiff and Burnley respectively) and, despite going all-in on the pair of hosts, I must acknowledge the fragility of both the Bluebirds and the Clarets.

Nonetheless, I’ve gambled on penalty-stopper Neil Etheridge and Sol Bamba to shut out a Terriers attack with eight away goals all season. That said, Huddersfield’s far-from-irresistible force meets an infinitely movable object, with Cardiff’s the leakiest home defence in the division. I may, therefore, be relying on attacking returns from Bamba (level with Marcos Alonso with 16 attempts in the box this season) and from team-mate Callum Paterson, should he continue in his “out of position” role up front.

It’s a fairly similar story at Turf Moor, where I cross everything in hope that Burnley’s defence – almost as porous as Cardiff’s – can repel a Fulham attack which boasts just seven goals in 11 away games. Again, I may be relying on attacking returns from my defender, with James Tarkowski’s three goals leaving him behind only Shane Duffy as the top-scoring defender. I’m also hopeful that Ashley Barnes can continue his slightly improved form against Fulham’s much-maligned defence.

That at least frees up some cash for the aforementioned fab four who, at the time of writing, top the captaincy poll, suggesting I don’t need to wax lyrical about their potential this week.

Instead, I will seek to justify my selections of Lucas Digne and Richarlison, with Everton failing to record a clean sheet in the last eight Gameweeks and Richarlison managing just six shots on target during that time. What better game to bounce back from (from an attacking perspective at least) than against the Cherries, who also appear to have forgotten what a clean sheet looks like (Brighton in Gameweek 18 aside) and are haemorrhaging an average of three goals a game over the last six Gameweeks. This fixture has the smell of goals about it, and I’ve also added Callum Wilson to the squad in anticipation of a Sunday afternoon thriller.

The Community Champion

This week’s challenger is FPL_SUNNY, who is currently ranked just outside the top 20k having reached a season-high rank of 1,829 in Gameweek 10.

The Community Champion who has the best lead over the Scouts during 2018/19 will win a £100 Amazon voucher (currently we can only offer Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com vouchers).

fclackless’s Gameweek 10 victory over the Scout Squad crew by a score of 77-44 remains the deficit to beat.

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