Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 7

An exciting weekend ahead in Fantasy Premier League with a number of tasty-looking fixtures on the menu. As ever, Fantasy Football Scout is here to help you with those all important transfer and captaincy decisions. And, as Gameweek 6 served to remind us, vice-captain and bench order too. 

Transfers and Team News

Top of most people’s shopping list are Chelsea players. The Blues begin an enviable run of six matches in a row rated at just two on the FDR and, as discussed on the Scoutcast, they currently sit top of this site’s Fixture Ticker. 

Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount are the first and third most transferred-in players ahead of the 11:30 BST deadline. At the time of writing over 1million managers have signed the Chelsea duo. The pair are also included in the Scout Picks for Gameweek 7

And with good reason too. Using the data available to FFS Members, TheFantasyFreÆK highlighted their potential in his Gameweek 6 review:

Chelsea’s attack continues to impress, with Lampard’s men now standing second only to Man City for the highest xG (expected goals scored) over the past four Gameweeks. The main beneficiaries in terms of output in the coming weeks are likely to be Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount. The former is averaging at least 2 big chances per game over the past two Gameweeks, while the latter is not only averaging 1 big chance per game over the same period, but also stands as Chelsea’s top chance creator this season.

So while the attack looks in good shape, is it worth investing in their defence? 

This was a question posed to our FPL panel, particularly with budget £4.5m defender Fikayo Tomori in mind. The response was mixed. The Blues are without a clean sheet this season, so for FPL Heisenberg it’s a no-go:

I’m avoiding the Chelsea defence personally, as they are shipping too many goals for my liking.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, Joe pointed out that Chelsea’s underlying statistics show promise:

It is also worth noting that their 31 shots conceded over the last four matches is the third-best in the league. If they can translate those promising figures into actual clean sheets then Tomori is a strong value option indeed.

It was a sentiment shared by Az on the Scoutcast:

Tomori at £4.5m is gamble that doesn’t really have much of a downside.

Elsewhere, Neale revealed in his round-up of the latest Team News that another budget player could be handed an opportunity to impress this Gameweek.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed that both Martial and Rashford are unlikely to feature on Monday night, potentially paving the way for £4.4m forward Mason Greenwood to make his first Premier League start:

[Greenwood] might be [starting], because he’s proven when he’s been on the pitch in the last two games he’s started against Astana and Rochdale, when you get him in the box, he’s dangerous.

Rotation’s Alter Ego provided us with the latest team news in his usual team-by-team breakdown.

Captain Conundrum

Abraham joins a number of contenders all vying for the armband. Salah currently leads the way with just over 26% of the votes cast by FFS users. In addition, Sterling, Son, and Aguero are all attracting significant attention. 

The problem this season is selecting the right one. As Joe whimsically observed, referencing a famous line of Eric Morecambe’s:

I am playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. I am captaining all the right captains, but not necessarily in the right Gameweek.

The FPL General has been suffering too. He opened his opinion piece this week with the line:

Can we remove the captaincy aspect of Fantasy Premier League now, please?

This is all in marked contrast to last season when David went 17 Gameweeks in a row without a captain fail. In fact, he did so well at picking his captain that he ended up with more captain points than the overall winner, Adam Levy.

In both Captain Sensible and the Captaincy Video, David brought us his usual in-depth research assessing not only the form of the popular captain picks but also the quality of their respective opposition. 

Aguero was considered unlucky to have only scored once against Watford, David felt he could have scored two hat-tricks. But his recent form isn’t just about one match, as David highlighted: 

Of the 19 shots in the box Aguero has registered in his last four matches, only six of them were recorded against the Hornets (31.6%).

For those considering Sterling, an unused substitute in that 8-0 win over Watford, the Englishman played just 73 minutes in the League Cup in midweek, scoring and assisting.

Although if there is a downside to captaining a Manchester City player, it’s that despite conceding nine ‘big chances’, Everton’s defence has not been as porous as we might like: 

Only upcoming opponents Manchester City (28) have conceded fewer goal attempts than the Toffees (30)

Meanwhile Salah’s opponents Sheffield United could be considered slightly lucky to have only conceded six goals. According to the expected goals stats they should have conceded seven.  

Abraham, who has had more shots on target than Aguero and ranks second best for big chances, faces a Brighton side that is difficult to assess. “I don’t know which Brighton is going to turn up” admitted Seagulls-fan Joe. 

They’ve kept clean sheets at goal-shy Watford and Newcastle. However, their only road trip at a top-six side so far resulted in a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester City.

In Case You Missed It

Unai Emery confirmed that despite letting Pepe take a penalty in Gameweek 6, Aubameyang remains the first-choice penalty taker

Norwich City have performed much better at home this season than they have on the road. 

And is the template settled already? Valar(Keith) began an interesting discussion in a popular hot topic. 

Before we leave the Premier League and head to Scandinavia, managers this week have been asking themselves, what if

What if you hadn’t changed your team since Gameweek 1, how many points would you have? Curiously, Greyhead discovered in his latest look at The Great and The Good, that only four of this elite bunch have actually made a positive impact with their transfer dealings.

The award for best retort of the week goes to Az. With Joe lamenting his woeful captaincy picks this season, as he discovered – using Fusen’s FPL Statisticothat he would have been nearly 50 points better off if he’d captained his vice-captain instead, Az remarked:

If my aunt had nuts, Joe, she’d be my Uncle.

To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page, and if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

COMMUNITY TOURNAMENTS

For a full update on all FFS Mini-Leagues and Community Tournaments, please click here

Since publishing the article, there has been a midweek round of fixtures in Sweden. The latest from Meltens and Goktug is as follows:

A large number of managers deployed a chip in Gameweek 25. In the top 1,000 there were 130 “Park the bus” (all defenders get double points), 98 “Attack! Attack!” (all strikers get double points), 42 “Two Captains” and 8 wildcards. 

Daniel Sebestyen was one of the managers deploying the powerful “Park the bus” and he got an excellent score of 116. Clean sheets from all his defenders helped, and Lars Krogh Gersson even slotted home a penalty contributing an incredible 28-point return! 

Daniel overtakes Henrik Mäkitalo again and is now ranked second overall, just 11 points behind the top-ranked manager.

Henrik played a well-timed mini-Wildcard, as all three players he took out didn’t play a minute, while the ones he got in got him a total of 19 points. Third place still belongs to Simon Eriksson, who is seventh overall just 5 points behind Henrik now.

We were also given an update by Clouseau on the latest goings on in the Scout Fantasy League. I’ll probably have more to say about this entertaining and hard-fought competition once I’m doing a bit better in it! 

For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. A link has also been added to the ‘Scout Leagues’ section on the home page.

Registration remains open for the Pundit’s Play-Off Community Tournament. The deadline for entry is Monday 30 September.

Best of luck with Gameweek 7!

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

2,627 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Murder On Zidanesfloor
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    I'm slowly getting convinced to start Greenwood over Cantwell

    1. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Do it! It's more fun. Higher ceiling. And you also get someone to sweat on Monday

      1. Ginkapo FPL
        • 12 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        1pt is hardly a high ceiling

    2. thepeen555
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Do it

    3. Fpl Richie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Do it. Norwich have scored 1 in 3 away games anyway and Greenwood looks tidy/required

    4. andres
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      do it

  2. Sj3451
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Last minute captain freakout. Who do you pick?

    A) Son
    B) Aguero
    C) Mane
    D) KDB

    1. Murder On Zidanesfloor
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      This is quite easily B

      1. Camzy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Wouldn't call it easy. Agueros record against Everton is abysmal. Son for me.

        1. Sj3451
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Agreed, this is not easy!

          Currently on Son. Last minute switch to Aguero certainly on the cards.

        2. Murder On Zidanesfloor
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Form and ruthlessness of City convince me.

          I own Son, as you know 🙂 but am Captaining Sterling

  3. Top Lad Dakes.
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Greenwood Rico Lundstram the right bench order?

    Unlikely any get used I don’t think.

    1. Murder On Zidanesfloor
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Who are you starting instead of Greenwood?

  4. big dawg
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Help me out peeps ...greenwood or ceballos? Thanks

    1. Murder On Zidanesfloor
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      I think Gwood starts, so him

    2. Champions League Varane
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      As a United fan I would hope Greenwood starts with no Tony/Rash - Still deciding on Greenwood or Cantwell myself!

  5. valurth
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Play
    A. Rico
    B. Dendoncker
    C. Cantwell

    First to 3

    1. Murder On Zidanesfloor
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      C

    2. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Cantwell

    3. Johnny 8
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      C

  6. threeputt
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Struggling to settle on my (c), currently on Son but have a nagging doubt about Spuds struggling at home to Saints, so my options are:

    Son - SOU
    Salah - shu
    KdB - eve
    Mount - BHA
    Abraham - BHA

    Whaddya reckon ?

    1. valurth
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Salah

    2. K.Jabba 88
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Salah for me, spurs are too unreliable

    3. Tshelby
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Keep it on Son

    4. Murder On Zidanesfloor
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Salah

    5. Orion
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      It’s time to punt on Son if you have him imo

    6. Party time
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Drink 5 bottles of beer & then keep switching it until deadline. Trust me, it works!

      • Marmalade Forest
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Roll the dice. Live a little. Mount.

      • threeputt
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        thanks for your opinions guys

    7. Oggle22
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Pope
      TAA Zinchenko Pieters
      Salah Sterling Cantwell Mount
      Pukki Kun Abraham

      Button Kelly Lundstarm Guendouzi

      Who to captain and Zinchenko to Otemendi or save FT?

      Cheers

    8. Klein
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Who is worse: Pep or Emery?

      1. mookie
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Emery

      2. Stef rocks
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Hahah this is a joke question

      3. Amey
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Howe

      4. Party time
          4 years, 6 months ago

          You mean their english? Ebening for me

        • Brosstan
          • 9 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Emery

      5. corderz
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Too early to gamble on Vardy captain?

        Have Salah and sterling

        1. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
          • 13 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          it's a gamble but not a massive gamble.

        2. FPL Virgin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Not at all.

        3. TheDragon
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Captaincy will be super split this week so if there was ever a week to go rogue this is it

        4. 1912 F.A Cup Winners
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          I think it’s a good shout!!

      6. George Agdgdgwngo
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Help with Captain.....

        A. Son in an off form spurs team against a decent saints side after beating their rivals Pompey.

        B. Sterling Aguero in great form against a poor Everton side

        C. Tammy in the form of his life but against a decent defensively minded Brighton team

        1. Jack Burton
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Answered that yourself Aguero same as me good luck

      7. corderz
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Bench order?

        A) Greenwood
        B) Cantwell
        C) Soyuncu
        D) Tomori
        E) Lundstram

        1. Murder On Zidanesfloor
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Soyuncu and Tomori dont belong on this list

          1. corderz
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 9 Years
            4 years, 6 months ago

            Meaning you'd play them and bench the others?

            Greenwood Cantwell Lundstram

            Or

            Cantwell Greenwood Lundstram?

      8. Salah_Fingers
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Captain
        A mane
        B abraham
        C kdb

        1. Balls of Steel
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          B

      9. SAKA AND EMILE SMITH ROWE
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Son or Salah (C) ? Got a feeling Spurs could have a performance similar to the one vs Palace

        1. Stockport Hatter
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          You've answered your own question then.....

        2. FISSH
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Go son then!

      10. TheDragon
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results....

        .... but I bet he never played FPL and owned Sterling

        Sterling captain it is

        1. Amey
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          😀

        2. Balls of Steel
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          🙂

      11. Top Lad Dakes.
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        FRESHERS IS FERKIN MENTAL

        (thats all)

        1. TheDragon
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          just lol - such youthful exuberance

        2. Riders of Yohan
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Hahaa enjoy it mate.

        3. My heart goes Salalalalah
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          I can see you pop a vain again today LOL. Have a tranquilizer:wink:

        4. Amey
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Great 😀

      12. Riders of Yohan
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Is alonso worth a two week punt?

        1. Queens of the South Age
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          He is for me. Who's to say he gets dropped anyway if Chelsea keep two clean sheets and he grabs a goal or assist?

      13. jamiet
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Wildcard Team GTG?

        Pope (Button)

        Robertson, Tomori, Söyüncü, (Rico, Lundstrum)

        Salah(c), KDB, Cantwell, Yarmelenko, Mount

        Aguero, Aubameyang (Greenwood)

        I do want Tammy but i am not sure who to drop

      14. DMP
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Play Greenwood or Tomori?

        1. Fresh_From_Desh
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Tomori

      15. Fresh_From_Desh
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        GTG?
        Pope
        TAA Lund Soy
        Cantwell Mount Mane Sterling KDB
        Aguero Tammy (C)

        Button Greenwood Guilbert Kelly

        1. conorbon
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          That is one hell of a midfield

          I salute you sir

          1. Fresh_From_Desh
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 6 months ago

            Thanks

            Captain headache each week tho!

      16. King Kun Ta
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Sometimes, like this GW, it’s a burden to have so many potential captains in your team. Who should it be?

        A Kun
        B Tammy
        C Sterling
        D Mo

        Ta lads and GL this week!

        1. Murder On Zidanesfloor
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          C

        2. Giovanni Giorgio
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          I'm going Aguero, so probably not him

        3. conorbon
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          C

      17. The Royal Robin
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Will Sterling actually play? Given him the armband and been scorned too many times already.

        1. conorbon
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Hope so

        2. MattysFantasyFooty
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Mass exodus if he doesn’t

        3. K.Jabba 88
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Yes he's had his rest. One of there best players. He's outscored aguero last 2 seasons, think he will again

      18. Giovanni Giorgio
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Is Rico nailed now?

        1. Critical Observer
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          No.

        2. FPL Virgin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          He'll play today. Long term - no.

      19. Tmel
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Captain Sterling, KDB or Mo?

        1. FISSH
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Kdb

        2. conorbon
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          I have gone Sterling

        3. TheSteel
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Tough one

      20. OptimusBlack
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Most Chance for CS ?
        A- Burnley
        B- Bournemouth

        1. conorbon
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          A

      21. YEAH PITCH!
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Play.

        A) Lundstram
        B) Greenwood

        1. conorbon
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          B as Rash and Martial out

        2. FISSH
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          B

        3. My heart goes Salalalalah
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          B

          1. YEAH PITCH!
            • 5 Years
            4 years, 6 months ago

            Thanks all.

        4. Slacker
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          B

      22. conorbon
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        1FT

        Wesley to Abraham?

        Already have Mount

        1. OptimusBlack
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Yes

        2. AriseSirGiggsy
          • 13 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Gosh yes
          And I have Wesley

        3. Ambrosiana Inter
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Of course

          1. conorbon
            • 10 Years
            4 years, 6 months ago

            Thanks All, totally forgot I had a a FT and 2.4ITB

        4. Hint
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 4 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Certainly

        5. Stockport Hatter
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Hell yeah!

      23. Slacker
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Best West Ham defender?

        1. FPL Virgin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Diop.

      24. FPL Virgin
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Finally just sold Ayoze Perez. We all know what happens next at home to his former club. Seriously, why do we play this game? 😆

        1. Slacker
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          F

        2. Bruce Lee
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          F

        3. Hairy Potter
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Still far too early in the season for Ayoze to score a goal.

          1. FPL Virgin
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 7 Years
            4 years, 6 months ago

            Ha!

      25. Hint
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Start Greenwood or McNeil?

        1. Tshelby
          • 9 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          Mcneil imo

        2. FPL Virgin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          McNeil.

      26. The Red Devil
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        On WC
        Team A-
        Pope button
        Toby Otamendi TAA Rico lundstram
        Son kdb mount cantwell 4.4
        Aguero pukki Aubameyang

        Team B
        Heaton button
        Diop TAA Otamendi Hanley Lundstram
        Mane son kdb cantwell 4.4
        Tammy Aguero pukki

        Team C
        Heaton button
        Soyuncu tomori TAA Rico lundstram
        Sterling kdb cantwell son 4.4
        Aguero pukki Tammy

        1. Shultan
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          B

        2. Hint
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 4 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          B