Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 16

We go again.

The Gameweeks continue to come thick and fast in Fantasy Premier League with managers given little time to collect their thoughts. Fantasy Football Scout has been a hive of activity in the last 24 hours with writers and contributors working furiously to bring you the latest team news, stats, and opinion.

On Wednesday evening Tammy Abraham overcame a hip injury to deliver a fifth double-figure haul of the season against Aston Villa. The Chelsea forward is once again a small doubt heading into Gameweek 16 although it’s unlikely anyone is selling this time around. Neale’s team news report included the following quote from Frank Lampard:

Tammy Abraham is good, he hasn’t done much in between games. We’ll make sure of that in the morning but at the moment he’s good.

– Frank Lampard

Jurgen Klopp surprised fantasy managers by dropping two of his talismanic front three as both Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah sat out the Merseyside derby. Post match quotes from the Liverpool manager did little to assuage fears of further rotation:

I have to show the respect for the boys and I’ve said a lot of times how much I like the squad and now we have to use it. We think the game will be really intense and for this you need kind of fresh legs and we try to bring them in.

– Jurgen Klopp

When quizzed by Andy on the likely Liverpool starting XI Neale nimbly evaded the question. However after his 15-point haul against Everton, Sadio Mané is included in this week’s Scout Picks. Sam, in her video review of Gameweek 15, agreed with David Wardale’s conclusion that:

Where Salah was once the undroppable driver of the Reds’ attacking juggernaut, Mane is now the man behind that particular wheel, and ignoring him is to play a very perilous game indeed.

– David Wardale

Dare Klopp rest him?

Another player to miss the midweek round of fixtures was Anthony Martial. Rotation’s Alter Ego revealed in his team news summary that the Frenchman is now fit again although unlikely to start in the Manchester derby.

With understandable concerns over rotation and injuries during this busy period, Greyhead investigated which of the Great and the Good had made the best use of their benches. The answer is Neale, who has gained an average of 5.4 points per auto-sub. A hot topic on benches followed.

Cheap defenders may come to our rescue. The talking point on this week’s Scoutcast centered around the proliferation of budget options. Joe, Andy and Az debated whether we should even be opting for four at the back. 

Although there wasn’t such good news for the poster boy of defensive value this season – John Lundstram – when Sheffield United lost at home to Newcastle on Thursday evening. Reflecting on that defeat Neale suggested that conceding an early goal changed the dynamic of the match:

Sheffield United averaged 41.1% possession and 137.9 passes in the opposition half per Premier League match before Thursday night. Against Bruce’s backs-to-the-wall Geordies, those figures shot up to 72.7% and 362 respectively. All of a sudden the boot was on the other foot and a Blades side so adept at soaking up pressure and hitting teams with dynamic, direct attacks had to find a way of patiently breaking down a five-man defence.

– Neale Rigg

Lundstram owners will be hoping for a more open game when the Blades travel to Norwich City this weekend. And Joe is fairly confident they will be in luck. On the Scoutcast he revealed that no team has conceded more chances at home than Norwich in their last four home matches (17):

Norwich at home are far worse than they are away.

– Joe

Looking for opportunities is a key component of David’s Captain Sensible article. With Vardy and Mané neck and neck in the captaincy poll – in addition to his normal stats tables – David uses the members comparison tool to assess the pair. Opponents Aston Villa and Bournemouth are also scrutinised. 

Manchester City are narrowly top of the latest DS stats, fixtures and clean sheet odds brought to us by G-Whizz. And Raheem Sterling is top of this week’s RMT predictions. However Pro Pundit Zophar has already sold the 24-year-old and is busy plotting on how to spend the cash.  

In terms of captaincy, Zophar voiced concerns Mane’s playing time as his reason for sticking with Vardy:

Captaincy is likely to remain on Jamie Vardy. Sadio Mané playing 90 minutes on Wednesday has me worried he might be benched against Bournemouth keeping in mind their Champions League game on Tuesday.

– Zophar

Indeed in his Gameweek 16 forecast Pep Pig thinks that Salah will bounce back after his midweek benching. He also picks Marcus Rashford to shine in the Manchester derby. It was pointed out on the Scoutcast that Rashford has scored against top six teams he’s faced this season – Chelsea, Leicester, and Liverpool. 

Although United-fan Andy was more cautious, suggesting that it was his side’s domination of the Spurs midfield that afforded Rashford the opportunities to score twice. He doesn’t expect a similar domination against Manchester City.

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 Competitions

For a full update on all FFS Mini-Leagues and Community Competitions, please click here to read the latest round-up. 

For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 16 can be found below:


Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.

Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.

Best of luck for Gameweek 16!

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

1,426 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Ole.
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    What was the Chelsea leaking Twitter, someone posted yesterday.

    1. Teror
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      twitter.com/chelsileaks

      1. Ole.
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Hmm

  2. mojoindojo
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Jimi to Rash for free. This week or next?

    1. theodosios
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Next

    2. Railwayman
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Next

    3. HonestBlatter
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      This

    4. mojoindojo
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Thanks for the replies

    5. Big Al Stankovic
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Wait til gw 19. Jimi will come good the next couple of gws. Especially gw18.

  3. davies
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    GTG here, lads?

    Gazza
    TAA Soyuncu Lundstram
    Mane KDB Son Pulisic
    Vardy (c) Rashford Abraham

    Martin Cantwell Kelly Rico

    Cheers.

  4. Donblaster
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Which 2 to play?

    A) Djenepo (new)
    B) Connolly (WOL)
    C) Fernandez (SOU)
    D) Tomori (eve)

    1. zdrojo187
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      BC

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

    Does this team look alright?

    Pope
    TAA - Söyüncü - Lundstram
    Mané - KDB - Son - Zaha
    Abraham - Jiménez - Vardy
    (McGovern - Kelly - Saka - Rico)

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

    Bench Soyuncu or Traore?

    1. Luton_Fan
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Traore

    2. Big Al Stankovic
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Soy. Traore will bang in an assist and a goal.

  7. Big boy Bowen
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Xmas party last night resulted in me missing some vital price rises to do my proposed plan to bring in Aurier and Kelly.

    So I've tried to improvise and have brought in Aurier and Martin, GTG?

    Martin
    Aurier | Soyuncu | Lundstram
    Salah (VC) | Mane | KdB | Mount | Cantwell
    Kane (C) | Vardy

    Button | Rico | Greenwood | Janmaat*

    0.4ITB

    Plan next week is Janmaat to Kelly. Then week after Button to a playing 4.5 keeper (Heaton / Krul).

    Thanks

  8. Rains of Castamere
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Just done KDB to Salah and made Salah (c) over Mane or Son.

    Eeek.

    1. Colonel Shoe 肝池
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Gl

    2. StayoutheSpiceZone
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I’ve got kdb captain! Be interesting this weekend for sure

    3. Sloopy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Brave!

  9. @persecuted_by_mods
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Who was the dude that leaks the Chelsea team

      1. StayoutheSpiceZone
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        I would like to know

      2. Rains of Castamere
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Carefree Youth on twitter

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

        I do but they're wrong most of the time :/

    • BNMC
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I feel like Son has the higher ceiling this week, can probably get a couple, but if Burnley defend well he'll probably not get much.
      Villa have played well at home but I think Vardy can nick a goal and he's on penalties, but that's probably all he'll get.

      So do I want to captain a player that could easily get 2 points or a double-digit haul, or a player that is just about guaranteed 6 points but getting more is unlikely?

      1. DandyDon
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        I just posted about Kane (don’t own son or Alli) unfortunately and think spurs have highest ceiling today. Will probably be 2pts though!

    • Garfield1001
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Bench one:

      Soyuncu (avl)
      Lundstrum (nor)
      Dunk (WOL)

      Thanks.

      1. Athletic Nasherbo
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Dunk

      2. Big Al Stankovic
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Soy or Dunk. I prefer benching Soy out of those.

    • DeadStarComing
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Thoughts on taking a hit to ensure you have a bench player available if rotation is rife? I only have 2 subs currently.

    • El Presidente
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Should I purpose to my fiance during lunch or dinner?

      1. Luton_Fan
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Definitely dinner

      2. POLSKA GOLA
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Hold

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

        Twist

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

        During half time.

      5. Zimo
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Breakfast in bed

      6. DeadStarComing
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Early captain fail can ruin your whole day

        1. DeadStarComing
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          *proposal

      7. FPL_Crisis
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Can you roll til next week?

    • andre_c
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      GTG?

      Hendo
      TAA, Aurier, Lund
      Mane, KDB, Alli, Mount
      Vardy (C), Jimmy, Tammy

      Button, Soy, Cantwell, Rico

      Bench correct?

      1. Big Al Stankovic
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Gtg! Maybe Cantwell before Soy...

    • mitro
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Play Mount or Mousset?

      1. dynamike
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        I've gone mousett, more nailed this week imo

      2. Big Al Stankovic
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Mount.

    • OptimusBlack
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Auba C anyone ??
      I think he play better when Arsenal Play A

      1. theodosios
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        It is a suicide to give armband to any Arsenal player

    • Gaffa914
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Thoughts on freakish as a Fourth playing mid?

      1. Gaffa914
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Grealish

        1. Queens of the South Age
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          Freakish Grealish is on my radar so if it gives you a strong front 3 then go for it.

      2. Hazz
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        He's on my radar.

      3. HonestBlatter
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        JWP

    • PapaWengzz
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      No chance Son is rested?

      1. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        could happen yes

        1. PapaWengzz
          • 4 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          Yeah think so too

    • Queens of the South Age
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Last week for one of these pair. Imagine this is a 2017/18 season question for captain...

      A. Kane
      B. Salah

      Likely Kane > Rashford next week to be honest.

    • 1912 F.A Cup Winners
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Last thoughts..... bench first one and captain last one??? Hope everyone had a good week!!!
      A- Clark
      B- Söyüncü
      C- Lundstram

      1- Vardy
      2- Alli
      3- Son

      1. dynamike
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        A & 1

      2. Krafty Werks
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        A1

      3. zdrojo187
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        A3

      4. Big Al Stankovic
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        I’ve gone B1. But I don’t have Spurs. So would probably go B3.

    • Krafty Werks
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Which squad scores the most?

      FPL Squad :

      Hendo
      TAA / Soyuncu / Lundstram
      Mane / KDB / Pulisic / Zaha
      Lacazette(vc) / Vardy(c) / Jimenez

      Gazza, Kelly, Dendo, Rico

      Fanteam Squad :

      Hendo
      TAA / Aurier / Lundstram
      Mane / Son / Salah(c) / Alli
      Vardy(vc) / Jesus / Abraham

      McCarthy, Soyuncu, Dendo, B.Williams

    • luk46
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      VVD + Mount > Aurier/Kelly + Alli for a hit? Just for the next 2, gotta wc after!

      1. Rains of Castamere
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Abraham, Mount, Pulisic, Willian start, Tomori benched.

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

      Better move this week...
      A. Robbo to Aurier (have TAA)
      B. Pope to Ryan
      C. Neither really

      A allows Jimi to Rashford soon. B long term.

    • RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Benching order and captain right?

      Henderson
      TAA, Aurier, Lundstram
      Mane, Kdb, Alli, Son
      Vardy (C), Abraham, Jimenez

      Subs: Button, Cantwell, Soyuncu, Rico

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

        All good. Good stuff

        1. RamaJama
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          Cheers, good luck!

    • Cookie Kid
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Start one:
      A) Mousset away at Norwich
      B) Maddison away at Villa

      1. YuvalFPL
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        B

      2. Pino
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        a

      3. Big Al Stankovic
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        B

    • Bobby Digital
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Did Jorginho to Dendonk to free up some cash... fascinating.

    • Pino
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      PLAY

      A Soyuncu
      B Kelly

      1. RamaJama
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        A

    • YuvalFPL
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Morning all. Which 2 should start?

      A) Chilwell
      B) Lundstram
      C) Kelly

    • Football Heaven
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Mount, Robertson > alli, aurier -4 worth it? Thanks

      1. caldracula
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        No

    • Differentiator
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Play Ayew or Cantwell?

      1. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        tough one, toss a coin