The Scout Squad for Gameweek 23

The Scout Squad panel return to offer their long-list of players to be considered for our regular Scout Picks feature on Friday.

The 72 nominations listed will be narrowed down to a squad of 14 (with the starting XI not exceeding a total cost of £83.5m) ahead of the Gameweek 23 deadline at 11:30 GMT on Saturday.

Joe, Peter, Paul and Az – who have five top 1,000 finishes between them – expand on their notable selections and omissions in the article below.

Most popular picks: Ben Foster, Andrew Robertson, Lucas Digne, Matt Doherty, Mohamed Salah, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Raul Jimenez (four), Ederson, Jose Holebas, Leroy Sane, Dele Alli, Troy Deeney, Roberto Firmino (three)

Paul said…

The value offered in defence and up front could allow us to invest heavily in the Scout Picks midfield for Gameweek 23.

Away to Fulham, Dele Alli has the chance to establish himself as the go-to Spurs attacker in the absence of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

Owned by 3.1%, Alli has the makings of a major differential and has a trio of successive home matches to follow after his Craven Cottage encounter.

Along with the list of usual candidates, Ademola Lookman’s busy display in Everton’s clash with Bournemouth bodes well for another start at Southampton.

Owned by 0.1% and costing £5.1m, the winger grabbed an assist in Sunday’s win over the Cherries.

Lookman has averaged 40 minutes per key pass this season – the same as team-mate Gylfi Sigurdsson.

DeAndre Yedlin is my differential in defence.

The Newcastle right-back has created six chances over the last four Gameweeks, placing him third among defenders.

Granted, the Magpies have their injury concerns in defence but a visit from a Bluebirds side with six away goals to their name – fewer than any other side – could serve up a clean sheet for the hosts at St James’ Park.

Joe said…

Harry Kane’s injury deprives us of a great option as Spurs visit a Fulham side with a solitary clean sheet at home this season.

However, it also hands us the opportunity to divert a large chunk of our budget elsewhere and as a result, I’ll be advocating a power midfield five this time around.

As discussed on this week’s Scoutcast, Dele Alli has historically been the man to step up when Kane is absent and I’m wagering the same will happen this time around.

Mohamed Salah is a shoo-in as he prepares to host a Crystal Palace side that may be forced to field their third-choice goalkeeper due to injuries. He looks primed to add another double-digit points haul to the five he has already accrued since early December.

Leroy Sane, who has racked up 18 points across his last two run-outs, is my Manchester City midfielder of choice for their trip to manager-less and Championship-bound Huddersfield. His early substitution last time out bodes well for a start. I’d like to select Gabriel Jesus for this clash, with two braces in his last three starts, but he, sadly, comes with too much rotation threat.

Eden Hazard and Paul Pogba take my other two midfield places.

The Chelsea man may well have more space to attack against Arsenal than he has found against sides in the lower half of the table recently.

Meanwhile, Manchester United’s talisman looks like being a regular Scout Picks fixture for the foreseeable future thanks to a remarkable turnaround in form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s guidance. Since the Norwegian took charge in Gameweek 18, the Frenchman has fired off more shots than any other midfielder, notching four goals and as many assists along the way.

A final mention goes to Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino, who earns my endorsement as a Harry Kane replacement given his strong Anfield form. The Brazilian is second for goal attempts among all players over their last four home matches.

Az said…

Harry Kane and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injuries combined with Son Heung-min’s exit have really shaken things up across the FPL world. But as the dust settles, Fantasy managers who are moving on these players will be looking to take advantage of new options who emerge from the shadows.

There seem to be a great number of defenders with attacking potential for this week and beyond: I’ve gone for five full-backs who like to get forward but picking an order for them was surprisingly difficult. I am glad I hung on to Andrew Robertson, who continues to deliver for me and remains the only player I’ve had in since Gameweek 1. But he’s quite pricey now, and the fact that Lucas Digne, Matt Doherty and Luke Shaw are all available for around £5.0m (which, coincidentally, is in the region of Alexander-Arnold’s price) means an easy switch can be made.

In midfield, I was buoyed by Luke’s words on the Scoutcast about Huddersfield’s impressive work rate and defensive stats under Wagner. However, they are still bottom and with their beloved manager departing, I would be shocked if they were feeling any kind of “new manager bounce” and have the worst possible team to come up against.

Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Kevin De Bruyne could all be in my team, but I’ve decided to back Sterling. If he starts, he will deliver – I have no doubts about that. Elsewhere, Mohamed Salah and Paul Pogba are both in great form, while Dele Alli has a chance to carry on his excellent run when Kane is out. He looks a superb differential at under 5% ownership.

Bournemouth will also be looking to bounce back after failing to score against Everton and Ryan Fraser is crucial to their chances of success against an unpredictable West Ham.

Up front, Marcus Rashford was perhaps the easiest selection I’ve ever made. The England forward has the form and the fixture and has completely made a mockery of my doubts about his shared game-time with Romelu Lukaku. His goal against Spurs was fantastic, and he looks both undroppable and unplayable at the moment.

My other selections were quite tough up front. I think Sergio Aguero will start over an in-form Gabriel Jesus, however, and will surely be in the goals against Huddersfield.

Roberto Firmino also looks a good shout for a double-up with Salah, despite flattering to deceive from an FPL perspective this season (bar his hat-trick against Arsenal). Raul Jimenez owners will be hoping he gets more minutes against Leicester than he did against City, meanwhile.

My left-field pick this week is Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has been doing a good job from the bench and has been showing Richarlison how to finish. I can see him starting up front with Richarlison going back to the left flank, where the Brazilian is perhaps more comfortable anyway.

Peter said…

With many an FPL team suffering the red and yellow flags of outrageous fortune, I arm myself with some home comforts from Anfield, Vicarage Road and Old Trafford and popular assets from Chelsea and Manchester City.

I’m stat-light at the best of times and my selections this week owe more to both the eye and the gut than significant number-crunching. The result is a power five midfield and budget attack which resembles many of the sides being posted on these message boards since news of Harry Kane’s enforced lay-off broke.

A defensive double-up at Anfield was tempting before Trent Alexander-Arnold also joined the injury list and some may still be tempted to shell out around £13m to ride the Reds’ defensive machine.

Instead, I’ve brought in Roberto Firmino alongside Andrew Robertson and the inevitable Mohamed Salah. The Brazilian often plays second fiddle to his Egyptian team-mate but only three other strikers have amassed more points this season, including Kane and Callum Wilson, who may also miss out this week.

Wolves were unable to continue their good form against the top sides after Willy Boly was sent off early at the Etihad. However, I’m expecting the Wolves to maul the inconsistent Foxes in Saturday’s early kick-off. Matt Doherty passes the eye test in virtually every game and Raul Jimenez joins a cheap and cheerful front line.

Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford are flourishing under new management at Old Trafford and will surely feature across the board in the Scout Squads. I’m not buying into Manchester United’s backline just yet, though, despite Brighton’s meagre attacking returns on the road. It certainly helps when you have one of the world’s best goalkeepers in between the sticks but the fact the Red Devils had to rely upon David de Gea so heavily last time out was a concern.

I finish my musings at the Vitality Stadium with an intriguing match-up between the Cherries and the Hammers. Both sides are fairly unpredictable at the moment: Bournemouth are in something of a slump but better at home than away, while West Ham are buoyed by their victory over Arsenal on Saturday. Last weekend, I wrongly predicted goals at both ends when Bournemouth visited Everton, but the hosts were a tad fortunate to escape with a clean sheet and I foresee both teams scoring again in Gameweek 23. I’ve pulled in Felipe Anderson but Bournemouth have some decent midfield options too, particularly if the budget requires a cheaper choice.

The Community Champion

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).

Last weekend, FPL_SUNNY narrowly beat our Scout Picks 53-52 with a 3-4-3 line-up of Guaita (1); Luiz (8), Pereira (4), Alexander-Arnold (6); Richarlison (2), Salah (11), Sané (8), Son (2); Barnes (2), Aubameyang (2), Rashford (7).

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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