We’ve decided to triple-up on Liverpool assets for their crunch Friday night meeting with Southampton in Blank Gameweek 33.
This week the Scout Picks were selected by the Fantasy Football Scout editorial team with little time for a Scout Squad following Double Gameweek 32.
We line-up in the traditional 3-4-3 formation and have come in £0.5m under our budget of £83.5m.
Goalkeeper
Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5.4m) gets the nod in goal this week ahead of West Ham’s visit to Stamford Bridge. The Hammers have been in a poor run of form recently and have scored just once in their last six away games. Furthermore, in the last four matches, they are in the bottom three for both shots in the box and big chances. Meanwhile, Chelsea have kept three clean sheets in their last four league outings in front of their own fans.
Defenders
All of the above is why David Luiz (£6.0m) completes our double-up on Chelsea’s defence. The Blues have been solid at the back at Stamford Bridge of late, while West Ham have seriously struggled away from home. We’d have liked to put Marcos Alonso into the side given his attacking potential of recent matches but competition with Emerson Palmieri and his recent problems with a hamstring injury meant that we had to play it safe with Luiz.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.5m) is our Liverpool defender of choice for Blank Gameweek 33. Not only is he £1.3m cheaper than colleague Andrew Robertson, but he has also created more chances and registered more shots on goal than his Scottish colleague in the last four matches. Alexander-Arnold’s role in corners and direct free-kicks is also in his favour. As for his defensive potential, no team with a fixture this weekend has allowed fewer shots in the box or big chances in their last four matches.
A trip to already-relegated Huddersfield should help Ben Chilwell (£5.1m) to an impressive Blank Gameweek 33 score. Of teams with a fixture this weekend, the Terriers are second worst for most number of big chances in the last four matches while Leicester are the third best for allowing the fewest. Chilwell gets the nod over his other defensive colleague Wes Morgan for his security of starts, and Ricardo Pereira for his superior minutes per chance created and minutes for goal attempt in the last four matches.
Midfielders
He may have struggled to find the net since Gameweek 26, but Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) gets into the Scout Picks once again. That’s because it’s hard to ignore the high volume of shots the Egyptian has had in the last four matches, with Gonzalo Higuaín the only Blank Gameweek 33 to have registered more goal attempts than him in that time. Furthermore, no player with a fixture this weekend has more shots on target than Salah in their last four either. Southampton’s defence isn’t awful right now but still only has one clean sheet at home since Gameweek 11.
Eden Hazard (£11.1m) gets into the Scout Picks this week on the back of an incredible fixture for himself and his Chelsea colleagues. We’ve already seen how bad West Ham are going forward, well they’re even worse at the back. In their last four away matches, the Hammers are bottom of the league both for shots in the box and big chances conceded. After a tough run at Stamford Bridge, Hazard now has two goals in his last two Premier League outings there so we’re expecting that form to continue against an opponent with nothing left to play for this season.
Sadio Mané (£10.1m) completes our Liverpool triple-up for Blank Gameweek 33. There has been much debate this week over which of he or Salah is the better one to own or captain with strong cases for either. Mané’s advantage is his obvious goal-scoring form, five in his last five, and a greater number of big chances in the last four matches than his Egyptian colleague. Neither of the two players looks bad choices for this truncated weekend of fixtures which is why we have chosen to select both of them.
We have gone for Ryan Fraser (£6.2m) as our Bournemouth attacker. The decision was partially influenced by cost, as he’s cheaper than Josh King and Callum Wilson, but he still offers plenty of points potential. No FPL midfielder has created as many big chances in home matches as Fraser this season, while five of his six goals in 2018/19 have been scored at the Vitality Stadium too.
Forwards
Jamie Vardy (£9.1m) looks a great option for Blank Gameweek 33 with Leicester visiting an already relegated Huddersfield Town. Salah is the only player with a fixture this weekend that has more shots on target in the last four matches, while nobody has been afforded more big chances than the Foxes forward in that time either. As for the Terriers, they sit in the bottom four for shots inside the box and big chances conceded in their last four matches and it’s hard to see that being improved upon now that their fate has been sealed. Either they stick to what they have been doing defensively, which clearly hasn’t worked, or they come out of their shell and try to play more open expansive football – which would suit Vardy perfectly, given that he is an experienced and ruthless exploiter of space.
Salomón Rondón (£5.9m) gets into the Scout Picks ahead of Crystal Palace’s visit to St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon. The Newcastle forward remains in decent form with two goals and an assist in his last four matches, backed up by some decent underlying statistics too. Of players with a fixture this weekend, only Salah and Vardy have more shots on target than Rondón in their last four matches, while the Venezuelan is in the top two for chances created among Blank Gameweek 33 forwards in that time.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.4m) is a great differential this week but his price and potential for points earned him a place in the Scout Picks too. Only one Blank Gameweek 33 player has recorded more shots inside the box than the Everton man in their last four matches, while only Salah and Vardy have registered more on target in that time. This weekend pits Everton against an Arsenal side that is still yet to keep a Premier League clean sheet away from home this season.
Substitutes
Fabian Schär (£4.6m) earns a place on the Scout Picks bench in his first match back from suspension. Among Blank Gameweek 33 defenders, none of them has more have as many goal attempts in their last four matches as the Swiss international.
We wanted to include Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.3m) in the Scout Picks this week but were a little tight for cash. He’s had the same number of shots on target in the last four matches as Calvert-Lewin but has also created nine chances given his role in set pieces. Furthermore, the Iceland international is the penalty taker for the Toffees, who face that poor away Arsenal defence.
Josh King (£6.5m) is another penalty taker we wanted to include. He gets into the squad ahead of Callum Wilson for his greater number of big chances compared to his colleague.
Community Champion
Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Blank Gameweek 33 is circusmonkey. They have opted for a bold 5-2-3 formation of Schmeichel; Robertson, van Dijk, Azpilicueta, Maguire, Pereira; Hazard, Sigurdsson; King, Giroud, Firmino.
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.
Hotdogs for Tea was beaten 95-71 in Double Gameweek 32. fclackless‘s winning margin of 33 points (77-44) in Gameweek 10 is still the current target to beat.
