Gameweek 26 Scout Picks – Liverpool and Man United backed for big wins

We are backing Liverpool to return to winning ways in Gameweek 26 as Bournemouth come to Anfield.

That’s why defensive and attacking assets from Jurgen Klopp’s men make it into the Scout Picks this weekend.

We are set up in the traditional 3-4-3 formation for Gameweek 26, and at £81.3m we are £2.2m inside our budget.

Goalkeeper

With votes from three of our pundits, Crystal Palace man Vicente Guaita (£4.2m) gets the nod in goal this weekend. The Eagles’ home defensive record this season is still only bettered by Liverpool and Chelsea, while West Ham are yet to score an away league goal in 2019, their last one coming at Southampton back in Gameweek 19.

Defenders

Andrew Robertson (£6.8m) remains our go-to Liverpool defensive option ahead of Bournemouth’s visit to Anfield. The Cherries have been woeful away from home in recent months, losing their last seven road trips by a combined score of 20 goals to three. Just one of those goals scored has come in the last five of those, which bodes well for Liverpool in their hunt for a first clean sheet since Gameweek 22. With Bournemouth’s recent defensive struggles away from home, there could be attacking returns on offer for Robertson too. No defender has more touches in opposition penalty boxes than the Scottish international in the last four matches.

The Scout Squad are hoping that Matt Doherty‘s (£5.3m) FA Cup heroics against Shrewsbury Town were the warm-up for a star performance against Newcastle on Monday night. His prolonged presence in the final third continues to promise attacking returns, while the Magpies have been particularly shot-shy away from home. In the last four matches on the road, Rafa Benitez’s men are bottom of the league for goal attempts inside the box, efforts on target and total big chances. A second consecutive clean sheet at Molineux looks likely for Doherty and his defensive colleagues.

Sead Kolasinac (£5.0m) completes our trio of full-backs likely to earn points at both ends of the pitch in Gameweek 26. Arsenal travel to a Huddersfield side currently bottom of the league for big chances over the last four Gameweeks, with only West Ham registering fewer shots in the penalty box than them in that time. Meanwhile, left wing-back Kolasinac has the joint-second highest number of touches in the opposition penalty area among defenders since Gameweek 22.

Midfielders

Mohamed Salah (£13.6m) gets back into the Scout Picks once again, chosen as the best midfield option by three of our pundits. Peter was the only one to put him in second place. The Liverpool man should benefit from Bournemouth’s recent poor away form, as they have conceded an average of 2.85 goals per game in their last seven on the road. No team has allowed more big chances in the last four away matches as Eddie Howe’s men.

Son Heung-min (£8.8m) has been boasting remarkable consistency in FPL over a long period of time now. Since Gameweek 13, the South Korean has averaged 9.2 points per appearance. It has become impossible to ignore the Tottenham man now, especially as he continues to have his place in the side guaranteed by ongoing injuries to Harry Kane and Dele Alli. Leicester come to Wembley Stadium having shipped plenty of chances away from home recently, just three sides have allowed more in the box over their last four road matches.

Paul Pogba (£8.7m) looks set for a strong showing in Gameweek 26 as Manchester United travel to face Fulham. The Cottagers have not made many defensive improvements under Claudio Ranieri and are second worst for shots conceded in the box during their last four home matches. Meanwhile, Pogba is still joint-top of the league for shots on target over the last four Gameweeks, having registered more efforts on goal than any other player in that time. With some creativity to his name over that period too, goals and assists are both likely at Craven Cottage.

James Ward-Prowse (£5.1m) is our chosen representative from Southampton this week as they host a Cardiff side typically poor away from home. The Bluebirds are susceptible to set pieces too, in which Ward-Prowse remains involved for the Saints. He has three goals in his last four matches and has created more chances than any Saints player in that time.

Forwards

Alexandre Lacazette (£9.3m) comes into the Scout Picks for Gameweek 26, deputising at the eleventh hour for his colleague Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The latter was originally going to be included in spite of his recent illness but his absence from the training pictures on Friday have left enough doubt in our minds to select Frenchman Lacazette instead. As already mentioned, the Terriers have allowed a large number of big chances in their last four home matches, which should provide the right amount of opportunities for Lacazette to secure a points haul.

Marcus Rashford (£7.8m) completes a Manchester United double-up to fully capitalise on Fulham’s defensive frailties. We’ve already covered how vulnerable they look ahead of Gameweek 26, still the most scored-on team this season having shipped 55 goals. Rashford is joint-top of the league with Pogba for shots on target over the last four Gameweeks and has blanked just once since Gameweek 20.

Raúl Jiménez (£6.7m) looks set to continue his rich vein of form when Newcastle come to Molineux on Monday night. The Wolves man has four attacking returns in his last three outings, offering a healthy balance of creativity and goal threat. Meanwhile, the Magpies have not travelled well in their last four away matches. They are joint-bottom of the league for big chances conceded in that period, level with Bournemouth.

Substitutes

Jan Bednarek (£4.0m) still offers decent value for his owners and is worth considering for a place in the starting XI in Gameweek 26. Cardiff come to Southampton with the fewest away goals of any side in the league this season.

Pascal Groß (£6.7m) has jumped back onto the Fantasy radar in a big way after creating a whopping 10 chances against Watford last time out. With Burnley the next visitors to the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon, two of our Scout Squad pundits included him in their submissions.

Fernando Llorente (£5.7m) has had more penalty box shots than any other player in the Premier League in the last four Gameweeks, despite playing just 219 minutes in that time. We think he’ll be back in the starting line-up against Leicester on Sunday after improving Spurs from the bench in their win over Newcastle.

Community Champion

Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Gameweek 26 is Pep pig. They have opted for a 3-4-3 formation of: Ryan; Duffy, Kolasinac, Koscielny; Martial, De Bruyne, Son, Salah; Aubameyang, Firmino, Murray.

The community member who beats our picks by the biggest margin over the campaign will win a £100 Amazon Voucher and a place in our Contributors and Moderators League for the following season.

The Scouts were defeated in Double Gameweek 25, Joax2 winning by a 86-56 scoreline.

fclackless‘s winning margin of 33 points (77-44) in Gameweek 10 is the current target to beat.