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

    Got home from Freshers night 5 and did a drunken Zinchenko to Otamendi so I wouldn’t miss the deadline 😆

    Hopefully an alright decision?... “Covers” City CS, and means another week of observing Söyüncü and/or Diop, this time w easier fixtures...!

    1. 1912 F.A Cup Winners
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Great move!! 3 home game in the next 4 after today!!

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

        Today is a bit of a litmus test for me. I don't trust him for CS at all but prepared to have my mind changed

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

          I was thinking that too. But I guess we’ll see!

          Plus however unlikely, a City CS today would hurt if I didn’t need own

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

            He'll have high ownership. In that respect it won't hurt you and is a sound move

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

      Decent move that pal!

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

      Great move buddy

    4. Brosstan
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Thats a better move than what the majority advised you to do yesterday 😉

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

    RMTWC:

    Pope (Stek)
    Ota, Soy, Aurier (Tomori, Rico)
    Mane, KDB, Son, Mount, (Hayden)
    Augero, Abraham, Pukki

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

      I’d want Trent in there somehow, not sure on Tomori. Otherwise solid.

    2. Kuzser
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Gtg, thinking about the same below...

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

    Evening all, hope you're all looking forward to this gwk.

    Any chance you could help me pick 2 to start from this bunch.

    1) Zincheno (eve)
    2) Maddison (NEW) (50%)
    3) Richarlison (MCI)
    4) Cantwell (cry)

    Cheers!

    1. thepuntmaster
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      *Morning I mean, late night over here haha

    2. GAMBIT
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      I'd go 1 and 2 with 4 first sub

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

      If you stay true to your chosen handle, it’s gotta be 1 & 2.

      I’d probably go 2 & 4 with 3 first off the bench. Maddison either starts or doesn’t feature at all, I reckon.

      1. thepuntmaster
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        That’s my fear with Maddison, a 10 minute cameo would not be ideal... and even if he was to start surely he’s a dead ringer for an early sub once they pop a goal in

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

    Haller to Abraham for a hit, yes or no

    1. thepuntmaster
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Close call that, maybe hold off to get Abraham in for free next week?

      Haller doesn’t have a bad fixture this week if I remember correctly?

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

        Yeah was my thinking need Haller to get going because about 3/4 gws ago I chose him over Abraham..

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

      No

    3. Jolly Good
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Haller to outscore today ...

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

        I’ll be pleasantly surprised if he did one can hope

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

      I did Dilva and King to Mount and Abraham last week for -4. Cost me 15 points and only saved 0.3m in the end.

  5. Gaffa914
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Captain one:
    A) De Bruyne
    B) Abraham

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

      A

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

      B

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

      B

  6. GAMBIT
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Anybody feeling a sneaky Kane C?

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

      If I owned I would!

    2. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Yes I’m capping him ahead of Son, KDB, Sterling etc

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

        I'm going with Son but don't have Kane

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

    Final call...What option is better on a WC guys?

    1) TAA - Son- Sterling - Firmino (currently on that)
    2) TAA - Mcginn - Salah - Kun
    3) Aurier - Mane - Son - Kun

    Pope Button
    Soy lundstram Rico Ota XXX
    KDB Mount Hayden XXX XXX
    Pukki Abraham XXX

    1. Bob.
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      2

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

    Who is your C ?

    1. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Kane

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

      Son

  9. Louis Van Gaalstones
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Play Digne or Mings?

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

      Mings

    2. Warby84
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Villa pretty solid at hm so Mings

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

    Every week I do my coin flip captaincy when it's not obvious. So here goes, first to 5...
    Salah vs Sterling

    1. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Mo

    2. GAMBIT
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Mo

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

      It’s impossible

      Been on salah but just moved to Sterling

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

      Mo wins 5 to 4. Captain Mo it is.
      For the record I have failed when I ignored it and succeeded when I followed in 3 whole weeks of trying this ridiculous thing.

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

        I actually do use a 10p piece every pre-deadline now. It said Kdb last week.

  11. iL PiStOlErO
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Standard question today. Captain?

    A) Mo
    B) Son
    C) KdB
    D) Tammy

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

      A for me

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

      A

    3. Mike82
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Same dilemma except I've Kun not KDB, very tempted on Son as everyone will be on Salah in my league

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

      I’m on D but am also tempted by Auba over the others

      1. iL PiStOlErO
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Have him also but with all othwr options just can't consider him this gw, but against Utd anyone is good choice

    5. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Cheers guys. Thats what I am at the moment. Mo the egyptian king for the C

    6. Rock n Grohl
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      B

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

    Captain?

    A) Tammy
    or
    B) Sterling

    Cheers.

    1. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      A

    2. There is always next GW
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      B

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

      B

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

      A

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

      Thanks guys...you've just spelled ABBA for me!

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

    Captaining Sterling over Salah/KDB.

    Cmon Raheem. Please, please haul today.

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

      He does like a goal v Toffeses

    2. Clinton19
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      He will I'm doing the same... If he doesn't his out

      1. Clinton19
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        I also have Salah and his had a good midweek rest so I'm thinking he can haul aswell

  14. SALVA
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Digne to Aurier worth a hit?

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

      just done it for free, not sure -4 is worth it

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

    Is it to SON to climb of the MOUNTain

  16. There is always next GW
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    A) Sterling / Pukki
    B) KDB / Vardy

    Thanks

    1. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      B

      1. There is always next GW
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Thanks

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

      B

      1. There is always next GW
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 6 months ago

        Thanks

  17. toluthadon
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Bench one?
    A. Lundstram (LIV),
    B. Dunk (che),
    C. Digne (MCI)

    1. Alonso The Great Midfielder
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      dunk from there

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

      Lundstram

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

      I’m currently benching Lund(1) and Digne (2), playing my 4.5 (Tomori)

      Can’t see a Digne clean sheet+goal this week.

  18. Alonso The Great Midfielder
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Would you rather lost salah or aguero??? briefly salah out to bring taa in while aguero out to bring abraham in(both occasion just to transfer son in)

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

      I would rather lose Salah than Aguero.

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

        Don't own either.

        1. Alonso The Great Midfielder
          • 12 Years
          4 years, 6 months ago

          seriously?how ur team going on then?

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

            It's linked, 320k.

    2. Warby84
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Aguero

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

    Son cappers not worried he might be subbed off at some point with Bayern midweek?

    1. Alonso The Great Midfielder
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      now u make me think not to bring son in

    2. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Only after Spurs scored a few and I am hopeful of him being involved in them

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

      He'd be unlucky to be subbed of AND blank

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

      Only if they are in a comfortable lead. Spurs really can’t afford too many further cock-ups.

  20. Brosstan
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    I had a dream I massively overslept and when I woke up Abraham had already scored 2 goals. Captain locked in.

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

      But you’ve not overslept....

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

        :O

  21. Delph & Safety
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Play Pope or Heaton?

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

      H2H I would say Pope but could go either way

  22. Longiss
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Your thoughts on Digne -> Robertson (-4)

  23. Kane Train
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Soy or Tomori

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

      Soy this GW

  24. TheOneAndOnly
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    A) Aguero + Mane
    B) Kane + Salah

    1. Alonso The Great Midfielder
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      tough one maybe aguero mane

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

    Ceballos or Greenwood? Other 1 on the bench with Cantwell and Lundstram

    1. thepuntmaster
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Greenwood 100%

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

    GTG? Wavering on captain from Salah to Son....

    Pope (Button)
    TTA, Ota, Aurier (Lund, Rico)
    Salah (C), KDB, Son, Mount (Cantwell)
    Vardy, Pukki, Abraham

  27. Garfield1001
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Is Wilson or Pukki to Abraham worth a -4?

    1. 1912 F.A Cup Winners
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      I think Wilson scores and Pukki doesn’t, but Pukki at home next week so I personally would lose him if that helps mate haha

  28. CHARLIE HULL
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    Seeing Pope in so many teams, I’m sat here with Ryan (che, TOT) next 2, could fix for a -4? Can’t see myself ever prioritising it with a FT

    1. BERGKOP
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Wouldn't do it especially for a hit. If you're thinking about it now you need to prioritise it in the next week or two.

  29. andre_c
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 6 months ago

    On my wildcard. Sterling or Aguero?

    1. BERGKOP
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 6 months ago

      Kun. Easily becomes Auba if he loses minutes.

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

        ok thanks

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

    Have to give Sterling another chance... Let’s go Raz (C)