Podcast

Scoutcast Episode 331 – Best FPL players so far and for the rest of the season

A degree of training has resumed among Premier League teams and top-flight leagues are planning to start, or are already underway, across Europe. This gives optimism among Fantasy Premier League managers that the 2019/20 season can resume soon.

Ahead of the return of England’s top footballing tier, the Scoutcast turns its attention to the current campaign as Joe, Neale and Let’s Talk FPL’s Andy consider the best players of 2019/20 so far and for the rest of the season.

While many of their selections are those that have racked up the points for them throughout the season, they have also focused their choices on players to target once the Premier League has been given the nod to resume.

There are restrictions, too: they have two picks per position and one for each has to be a budget option. A one player per team rule is also applied, so that they don’t flood their choices with Liverpool assets.

Meanwhile, Ragabolly’s Virtual FPL is discussed, as the Scoutcast crew consider how remarkably well this lockdown distraction is mirroring real-life FPL. Their future moves also come under scrutiny, especially how to deal with Wolves and Manchester City’s upcoming great virtual fixture run.

Who have been your favourite Fantasy Premier League players this season? Who will be the key players to own when Premier League matches are able to resume?

Let us know in the comments section below.

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified of future live episodes.

In addition, the Scoutcast and all our other podcasts are now also available via our Soundcloud channel.

If you’re a traditional type, you can acquire the mp3 audio version via this link or the first player below. Or you can take in the full visual experience via the second player below.

J0E Podcaster and writer. Tweets stats and stuff via @FFScout_Joe Follow them on Twitter

65 Comments Post a Comment
  1. rokonto
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 10 months ago

    De bruyne

    1. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      Is that German for first?

      1. rokonto
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        Haha nice one

  2. dunas_dog
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 10 months ago

    Looking at VPL team tomorrow and what to do with Salah. Either

    A Salah DCL to Mané Jiménez
    B Salah DCL to KDB Firmino
    C Any other suggestions

    Trossard to Cantwell and/ or Bardsley to Baldock could be good also but not possible given Salah needs to be dealt with

    McCarthy
    TAA Robertson Van Aanholt
    Salah * Sané Bruno Grealish Trossard
    DCL * Pukki

    Pope Greenwood Bardsley Burn

  3. FPL Virgin
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 10 months ago

    Really enjoyed this episode today. Well done to all three.

    Some laugh out loud moments as well ....

    Dendonker is on the beach 😆

    Joe keeps benching vast swathes of points whether its real FPL or virtual 😆

    1. FPL Virgin
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      Neale's comments on Klopp treating the last 7 games as a preseason was a very good point. Something we should all consider.

      1. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        Don't watch it so just going by what you said what was his reasoning or what his he basing it on? The idea sounds rediculous seeing as though if you stop for over a week you lose most of your match fitness and they will be having a break between starting again.

        1. FPL Virgin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 10 months ago

          You'll have to watch it. I'm paraphrasing but there won't be much of a preseason before next season by the looks of it and with nothing to play for Klopp may use the dead rubber games to play fringe players .... ESPECIALLY if they need to hit X number of games to get a winners medal.

          1. Skonto Rigga
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • Has Moderation Rights
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 10 months ago

            That medal thing is no longer a concern, I think, as I've since discovered that the bar is lowered to five games now (used to be ten, back in the day), so the likes of Shaqiri, Matip etc are already eligible.

            Can't even remember what I was waffling on about but probably more about the general uncertainty over what Klopp would do after winning a title so early. In one of the title-winning years at Dortmund he threw a lot of the reserves in the very next game after the league was sealed; the other year, however, he didn't.

            He complained a lot last August, after Liverpool lost against Napoli especially, that he hadn't had a lot of his players at his disposal in pre-season - the likes of Salah, Mane, Alisson and Firmino, who were at the AFCON/Copa America. Just wondering whether he would use this opportunity to try different systems and personnel given that he'll have the rare luxury of an entire squad to choose from, what with there being (I assume) not much of a pre-season before 2020/21 and then the Euros at the back-end of it. You'd still expect Salah, Mane, TAA etc to start the bulk of the remaining fixtures, plus there's a record points total as a carrot and the integrity of the league to honour, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him mix it up a bit more often and it's a great chance to acclimatise Minamino without there being much at stake.

            1. FPL Virgin
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 7 Years
              3 years, 10 months ago

              I agree. It was a great point that I hadn't thought of. Klopp may not say it in public, but I think everyone is going to get a few games like in preseason once the league is secure. Especially since the risk of injury is significantly greater due to the increased frequency of games coupled with the players lacking match fitness. I also think Klopp won't care about going for the record as this season will always be remembered as the "covid season" no matter how many points Liverpool get.

              This subject of motivation and how teams will approach the run-in would make a great "burning question" article, if there is any appetite to resurrect this excellent article series?

    2. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      When will they invite you on? This is getting beyond ridiculous now.

      1. FPL Virgin
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        Give the people what they want. Bring back Mark and get the Virg on.

        1. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 10 months ago

          Granny is the one most would want back i reckon . He had character. A new cast would be good they should mix it up a little

          1. FPL Virgin
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 10 months ago

            You need Mark to get the best out of Granny. They had bona fide chemistry.

            1. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
              • 14 Years
              3 years, 10 months ago

              Nah , rather see you and Epic battle it out to be honest

              1. Epic Fail
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 13 Years
                3 years, 10 months ago

                Have they ever had multiple elite managers on in the same show before?

                1. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
                  • 14 Years
                  3 years, 10 months ago

                  I dunno but they haven't got any now 😆

      2. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        Did you ever hear owt regarding meet the manager ?

        1. Epic Fail
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 10 months ago

          Ooops, Modded for the 2nd time today. 😀 I'll try again.

          No, haven't heard anything.

          1. goriuanx
            • 13 Years
            3 years, 10 months ago

            P...y

            😆

            1. Epic Fail
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 10 months ago

              FFS 😀

          2. Skonto Rigga
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • Has Moderation Rights
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 10 months ago

            Like Ross Kemp promising Andy Millman a movie part that he knows he can't deliver, I'll have a word

            1. Epic Fail
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 10 months ago

              Cheers fella. Let them know that it's not live so they have ample opportunity to edit out all of my swearing and inappropriate jokes.

              1. Skonto Rigga
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • Has Moderation Rights
                • 6 Years
                3 years, 10 months ago

                Ha! I do know that Meet the Manager is one of the things on hold while the season is. Andy's obviously in charge of video stuff now but MtM is Joe's baby, so hopefully there'll be more of them once we're back up and running.

              2. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
                • 14 Years
                3 years, 10 months ago

                Good job i asked 😉 . Sorted

  4. FPL Virgin
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 10 months ago

    Kane, Son, Sane, Pogba, Rashford, McGinn, Laporte .... you could Wildcard in a whole team of formerly-injured, forgotten-about explosive players and absolutely fly up the ranks.

    These are proven FPL assets that no one owns. Huge opportunity.

    1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      Son & Rashford in particular - 18.5 for those two looks very reasonable

      Utd generally look to have everything lining up for them

      Their defence had tightened up tremendously, Bruno was pulling the strings beautifully, McTominay & Fred were stepping up tenaciously, Martial had conquered his fitness demons diligently, managing to start 19 of the last 20 league games (!)... fixtures were lining up spiffingly, probably the best set of fixtures in the league - if you throw a fully fit Rashford into that mix it gets even better... if you throw a fully focused Pogba (if such a thing exists) it gets better again...

      There’ll be lots of Utd triple ups believe it or not as many will go once more into the breach & hope the Red Devil’s read the script this time unlike so many false starts over the last few seasons

      Greenwood also chomping at the bit to take his chance over the coming 12-18 months if they could just get a big name super experienced striker in on a 1-2 season deal to mentor him (someone of the Auba, Vardy, Cavani, Lewa, Benzema, Suarez etc ilk who could give them 1-2 seasons & allow Greenwood to come through after them)

      Liking the look of Ederson with Laporte back & the extra fixture also

      1. The Polymath
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        I hope not, we want that fourth place. 😀

      2. FPL Virgin
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        I'm not convinced about Rashford with no penalties, as they mentioned on the scoutcast.

        1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 10 months ago

          I’m not suprised you’re not convinced Virg, but I must say I’m a little disappointed at the depth of the analysis supporting the conclusion 🙂

          And although I haven’t heard that particular scoutcast concern around his viability with Bruno on board, I really hope it was tempered with the facts that - of the 5 penalties Rashford has scored in he league his season he was actually fouled for 4 of them

          Brandon Williams was fouled for the most recent vs Norwich - all of the others (Chelsea, Leicester, Spurs, Man City) he won himself - so were Bruno to have stepped up instead (had he been there), Marcus was still getting assist points for them

          Throw in the fact that he wouldn’t have been deducted the 4 points for the two pens he missed (the other Norwich game Dan James was fouled & Palace after McTominay was fouled) and he’s back effectively level on points vs his penalty-taking self

          Not to mention the fact that he’d be playing in a dramatically improved attacking unit with Bruno on board... the kid should be up to his knees in attacking returns for the next few seasons all being well...

          Bruno & Rashford look a dream FPL combo pretty much “covering” DFK’s & spot kicks for the reds i reckon

          1. FPL Virgin
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 10 months ago

            That's interesting .... "of the 5 penalties Rashford has scored in he league his season he was actually fouled for 4 of them." They never mentioned that today.

            With Rashford's penalty taking skills, the certainty of the assist is arguably more valuable.

            1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
              • 14 Years
              3 years, 10 months ago

              Yeah as I said I really think that overall Bruno will, rather than diminish Rashford’s prospects, will actually improve them

              And those prospects weren’t exactly bad to start with either - he’s already steadily been growing into one of the best assets in the game

              Time will tell though, who knows

              1. Skonto Rigga
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • Has Moderation Rights
                • 6 Years
                3 years, 10 months ago

                Yep - very, very good point on the Fantasy assists for the pens. I guess that there'll be a big difference in terms of the BPS, though, with forwards getting 24 for a goal and just nine for an assist. Rashford scoring a penalty versus winning a penalty could be the difference between a nine-pointer and five-pointer. But heck, a relatively minor concern.

                Mentioned the new Fernandes' supply line offsetting any potential loss of DFK/pens in the Scoutcast, agree with you there. Rashford (like his team) has been more than fine counter-attacking against the bigger sides (12 of his 19 returns have come v the top ten) and as much as anything else, someone like Fernandes was needed for the types of games against the also-rans that threaten to get frustrating. Looking forward to seeing it all come together.

                1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
                  • 14 Years
                  3 years, 10 months ago

                  Yeah less BPS for goal vs assist... but in those 5 games where he scored penalties this season, he actually double returned in 3 of them (Chelsea, Norwich, Spuds) so shouldn’t be any bap worries there

                  The city & Leicester games he only got the single return (the two individual goal from the pens) but still got maximum bonus points - so maybe he lost 1-2 baps there....

                  But I think we’re down in the weeds at that stage - more like trying to confirm a pre-ordained position that Rashford will be a worse FPL asset in a team with Bruno

                  But no guarantees of course, he could easily hit a barren patch of form as all strikers/forwards seem to do at times - but losing pens doesn’t really look like it would have had a material impact on him - this season anyways

                  1. Skonto Rigga
                    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                    • Has Moderation Rights
                    • 6 Years
                    3 years, 10 months ago

                    Yeah he would have lost all three bonus points in both the City and Leicester games had he assisted rather than scored the penalties, but as you say, not much of a downside when he has already been among the attacking returns.

                    Guess the issue is the assumption that he would continue to win penalties at the same rate, which is a less predictable route to points than someone who we know is on spot-kick duties. I think in 2018/19 he won only two of United's 12 penalties. But then, as we've seen, some players have become more pre-disposed to winning them (Zaha being the prime example) because of the evolving nature of their games. Rashford's fleet-footed driving runs into the box from the left are probably more likely to attract a greater number of desperate challenges than if he was playing as a static forward up top, as he has done previously (the one in the Manchester derby is a great example).

                    So it's definitely something to note as it hugely impacts on, for example, his xG this season, for those that pay attention to such things. That in itself doesn't make him a bad pick, though, and he's still had more 'big chances' than Martial even when penalties are taken away. As I said in the Scoutcast, he's someone I've definitely got my eye on for the run-in.

                    1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
                      • 14 Years
                      3 years, 10 months ago

                      Exactamundo 🙂

    2. Amey
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      Got Son Rashford in the team.

      Now looking at a midfielder around 5m mark as a good first sub

  5. goriuanx
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 10 months ago

    Troy Deeney to return to Watford training after talks with Government chief |@MirrorDarren https://t.co/aJ3doatkRy

    1. FPL Virgin
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      Massive U-turn.

      1. goriuanx
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        ££

  6. DA Minnion (Former great)
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 10 months ago

    I seem to better at German fantasy football than English fantasy football. One of my players has 27 points.

  7. RedLightning
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 10 months ago

    "Pick an #FPL team using no more than one player per club" (FPL Twitter)
    Based on total points so far, the highest scoring one appears to be:

    Pope(BUR,128)
    TAA(LIV,166), Lundstram(SHU,128), Pereira(LEI,123)
    KDB(MCI,178), Richarlison(EVE,133), Martial(MUN,122), Son(TOT,122)
    Aubameyang(ARS,152), Jimenez(WOL,147), Ings(SOU,140).

    Quite unaffordable, of course, but what a team!
    I had to leave out Salah and Vardy in order to upgrade Dunk and Azpilicueta to TAA and Pereira because of the one player per club rule.

    1. FPL Virgin
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      What OR would this team have?

      1. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        With no captains, no chips and no auto-subs, it would only have scored 1539 points.
        But with KDB as perma-captain this would increase to 1717, which would be OR 12,488.

    2. The Polymath
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      Can you buy all 11 with 4 subs for 100k?

      1. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        It would cost 86.8m plus subs (minimum 3.9+3.9+3.9+4.2 =15.9m), total 102.7m, at current prices, so surprisingly it is reasonably affordable after all.

        At GW1 prices, it would have cost only 80.5m plus subs (minimum 4.0+4.0+4.0+4.5=16.5), total 97.0m, so you could have bought all 11 plus 4 subs for 100k in GW1.

    3. FPL Pillars
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      Yeah when you say affordable, did you count the subs? 🙂

      1. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        I actually said "quite unaffordable", but after calculating the cost I find that it is actually affordable after all (see above).

  8. FPL Virgin
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 10 months ago

    "The Premier League managers have been told that the season will be completed in as little as six weeks if the plans for the resumption of the season remain on track." (Times - subscription required)

    Along with surprise isolations, this is going to be rotation carnage. I would recommend a full bench of four active players who all have points potential .... and not Dale Stephens types who will only get appearance points.

    1. Skonto Rigga
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      Yep, agreed. Although, on the flip-side, if there are to be five substitutions per game allowed (they're still yet to vote on this), I expect we'll see a whole lot of one-pointers and fewer complete no-shows as a result.

      1. Epic Fail
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        I can just see it now. Owning 6 players in one big game all getting subbed on 59 minutes.

        1. FPL Virgin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 10 months ago

          FPL General's 59th minute podcast is going to go on forever.

          1. bitterandstout
              3 years, 10 months ago

              hahaha! too right. he'll be hoarse by the end..

        2. FPL Virgin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 10 months ago

          This is why I've been telling everyone to get talismen and central defenders who expunge less energy during matches into their teams.

          1. HTL
            • 5 Years
            3 years, 10 months ago

            29 games to get into the top 2.5k, one gameweek to come crashing out. Brilliant

        3. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 10 months ago

          It will be down to the sports scientists. Can't imagine players like Martial , Ings etc seeing the season out without injury. They surely will get managed so probably should be avoided

      2. FPL Pillars
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        Good observation. For sure we need strong benches, that’s just one of several reasons for it 🙂

    2. Trovsmash
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 10 months ago

      I'm super late to the party as I have not logged on here or been on twitter in 10 days or so.
      When did the Wild Card land and is there an announcement anywhere? can someone fill me in on the goings-on?

      1. TorresMagic™
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        Nothing is announced.

      2. STHH
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        Yes I've just noticed we now have seemingly unlimited transfers. Has anyone actually tried to make transfers recently?

        1. TwiggsJameson
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 10 months ago

          You can't make any transfers in FPL......

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

      My vFPL team is actually looking pretty good for tonight...

      Pope
      TAA Egan Mariappa Bednarek
      Grealish Sané(C) Sterling Mané
      Vardy Pukki
      (Button Greenwood Taylor Snodgrass)

      Captaincy and benching good?

      1. tets mcgee (Bachmann an Rob…
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 10 months ago

        looks good. sane captain? im struggling to chooses which city. did u use your friendlies on city?