Gameweek 36 Scout Picks – All eyes on Liverpool attack

The money is in midfield for the Gameweek 36 Scout Picks, with a big focus on Liverpool.

The Reds host Huddersfield at Anfield in what many expect to be a one-sided affair.

With the quick turnaround between Gameweeks in the last few days this week the Scout Picks were chosen by the Fantasy Football Scout editorial team without input from the Scout Squad.

We’ve gone for a 3-5-2 formation that comes in bang on our £83.5m budget.

Goalkeeper

Redemption for Mat Ryan (£4.4m) and his colleagues at the back came swiftly in Double Gameweek 35. They came close to earning two clean sheets at Wolves and Spurs with impressive defensive performances and were only breached by a late Christian Eriksen driver from range on Tuesday night. With Newcastle coming to the Amex Stadium there’s the potential for more defensive returns as the Magpies rank inside the bottom four for shots in the box and big chances in the last four away matches.

Defenders

It was a tough call picking a Liverpool defender, because the options all look so good, but we’ve gone Andrew Robertson (£6.8m) in the end. While Virgil van Dijk is probably the most nailed-on to start against Huddersfield, the Scottish international is not far behind. We think Trent Alexander-Arnold presents great attacking threat too, but Robertson has been the more reliable across the course of the season. Huddersfield remain the division’s lowest scorers and the Reds have more clean sheets at home than any other side this season.

As Manchester City bare down on successfully defending their Premier League title, their defence has once again become a key component. Pep Guardiola’s men have kept clean sheets in eight of their last 10 league matches, more than any other side in that time. As ever, Aymeric Laporte (£6.2m) is the most likely to start at centre-back for Manchester City as they travel to Burnley. In the last five matches, he has registered 35 points, more than any of his team-mates.

With Ben Davies (£5.6m) rested midweek, and Danny Rose likely to start at left-back against Ajax, it looks like the Welshman will get the nod to start in Gamweek 36. West Ham come to north London in the bottom five for both shots on target and big chances in the last four away matches. Furthermore, Spurs are yet to concede a goal in their new stadium.

Midfielders

Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) is the first of two Liverpool attackers to be included in the Scout Picks this week as Huddersfield Town come to Anfield. The Terriers have conceded 11 goals in their last four away matches and have allowed more shots than any other side in that selection too. Meanwhile, Salah is top of the league for shots on target over the last four matches and has attacking returns in three of them.

Sadio Mané (£10.1m) completes our Liverpool triple-up ahead of Huddersfield’s visit to Anfield. Obviously, we know that the Terriers will allow plenty of opportunities for the Senegalese international, as we’ve just read, but there are certain areas in which he looks even more likely to score than Salah. In the last four home matches, no player has a higher xG score than Mané who has is enjoying most often being on the end of Liverpool’s big chances.

Given that he is suspended for the first leg of Spurs’ Champions League semi-final with Ajax, Son Heung-min (£8.8m) is the most likely of his attacking colleagues to start against West Ham on Saturday. The Hammers have conceded more big chances than any other side in the last four away matches, which should play into the South Korean’s hands. He may have just two goal involvements in the last nine Gameweeks, but out of himself, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli, he has the most shots in the box over the last four matches despite playing the fewest minutes.

Since Kevin de Bruyne went off early with an injury in the first match of Double Gameweek 35, Bernardo Silva (£7.6m) has stepped up as the key midfielder for Manchester City. In the last two matches, he has created more chances than any of his colleagues and has double the number of shots and shots in the box of popular team-mate Raheem Sterling.

Nathan Redmond (£5.4m) may have disappointed his owners in Double Gameweek 35, but he should do much better back at home in Gameweek 36. The Southampton man is typically much more effective in front of his own fans, with only six players registering a better xG score than him in the last four home matches. Meanwhile, Bournemouth make the short trip to St Mary’s Stadium having conceded at least two goals in 10 of their last 12 away matches.

Forwards

Jamie Vardy (£9.0m) is still in great form going into Gameweek 36 with eight goals in as many league matches. This weekend sees him face an Arsenal side he has six goals in seven Premier League starts against so far in his career. The Gunners are hardly in decent form of late too, conceding three times both to Crystal Palace and Wolves in the last few days. Meanwhile, only one player has been afforded more big chances than Vardy in the entire of 2018/19.

Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.3m) may be a surprise inclusion for some, but there’s a good chance he could deliver against Cardiff City this weekend. Since they lost Sol Bamba to a season-ending injury in Gameweek 29, the Bluebirds have conceded more headers than any other side, which plays right into Mitrovic’s strengths. Furthermore, the Fulham striker is joint-level with Salah for the most number of shots on target in the last four matches.

Substitutes

Shane Duffy (£4.8m) continues to stay in the plans of Fantasy managers for Gameweek 36. We’ve already covered the defensive potential for Brighton this week against a potentially shot-shy Newcastle side but we still believe there’s some goal threat for the centre-back. Duffy has been a threat from set pieces this season, to which the Magpies have allowed 155 chances in 2018/19 – the second most in the league.

Ryan Babel (£5.5m) looks to have decent points potential in Gameweek 36, just like his colleague Mitrovic. He has three goals and two assists in his last seven matches, which could continue when Cardiff come to Craven Cottage desperately searching for the goals to keep themselves up.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.4m) completes our subs bench as he continues his run of decent form. The Everton striker has two goals in his last four away matches while Crystal Palace have conceded five times in their last two without James Tomkins.

Community Champion

Representing the community against the Scout Picks in Gameweek 36 is our Eliteserien writer Johannes. He has opted for a 3-4-3 of Ederson; Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, van Dijk, Laporte, Walker; Son, Hazard, Moura, Babel; Mitrovic.

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.

It was a win for the Scout Picks over TopMarx in Double Gameweek 35 by a 80-65. fclackless‘s winning margin of 33 points (77-44) in Gameweek 10 is still the current target to beat.