Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 10

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 10 ahead of today’s 18:30 GMT deadline

Is now the time to be getting Manchester City players? Is Diogo Jota (£6.7m) trustworthy? Should we all be backing Jamie Vardy (£10.2m) with the captain’s armband?

To help you answer those and other crucial questions, the Gameweek Guide draws on the best expert opinion, pertinent stats, and latest team news for the upcoming round of matches.

Form v Potential

The Manchester City conundrum. Two contrasting takes stood out in Neale’s Big Numbers piece encapsulating the dilemma facing Fantasy managers:

23-1 is the cumulative score of Manchester City‘s last six meetings with Burnley in all competitions. But 15.7 attempts on goal and 5.3 shots on target per game registered by Manchester City in the Premier League so far this season is the fewest they’ve managed in a single campaign under Pep Guardiola.

– Neale

The fixture is there, and the potential for them to do well is huge, but the form is lacking.

Pro Pundit Darren Wiles has decided to go with his gut:

I am hoping this is one of those situations where my instincts as a football fan outweigh what the stats are telling me. Memories of big hauls are rooted in my memory and I’m backing City to make a return to form in the run-in to Christmas.

– Darren

Darren is considering taking a leaf out of Lateriser’s book and committing to an uncharacteristic eight-point hit to triple up on City players. He’s looking to bring in both Raheem Sterling (£11.5m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£11.6m), with the former his choice for the armband.

Sterling has already scored twice against Burnley this season, both of his goals coming in the League Cup when Ferran Torres (£6.9m) assumed an unfamiliar centre-forward role. But with Sergio Aguero (£10.3m) and Gariel Jesus (£9.3m) back in contention, Sterling could once again take up his favoured position on the wing. 

Both strikers are now fit and available, which solves the other issue: Sterling’s role in the team. With the forwards out, he was shoehorned into a false-nine role and robbed of the penetration he offers in wide areas. For that reason, I believe Sterling to be an outstanding pick for the Gameweek 10 captaincy.

– Jan

Brave words from Jan Sienkiewicz in this week’s Captain Sensible article, and at just 4.6 per cent ownership Sterling is an unfamiliar differential. Something Pro Pundit Sam Bonfield, in her look at the best assets to help you climb the ranks between Gameweeks 10 and 14, and Tom Freeman both picked up on:

The likes of Sterling and Aguero seldom class as differentials and as such, there has never been a better time to invest in terms of the potential upside that they may yield.

– Sam

Writing in his Differentials piece, Tom added:

England forward Raheem Sterling has gone from strength-to-strength during his time at Manchester City, netting 31, 25 and 23 goals in his last three seasons. He is yet to hit those heights this term, but has enjoyed a reasonably productive start, scoring five times in all competitions despite the Citizens’ well documented troubles in front of goal.

– Tom

But as the Scoutcast highlighted, Kevin De Bruyne is performing best in terms of expected goal involvement among City players – and was rested in midweek for their Champions League trip to Greece. Joe is contemplating adding the Belgian alongside Sterling in his line-up.

To add to their appeal, Burnley ‘keeper Nick Pope (£5.4m) could miss out:

Target Fulham?

Leicester City host Fulham on Monday, handing Jamie Vardy (£10.2m) an opportunity to fill his boots. No team has conceded more goals than Scott Parker’s team this season. But David struck a cautious tone on the Captaincy Video:

The results haven’t been as good as away from home. If you compare [Vardy] home versus away this season, he’s had 1.7 shots per game at home versus 2.6 shots per game away from home… until the Wolves game, he hadn’t had a single shot on target at home yet. So the dynamic of Leicester being the home team, and being asked to break down a team that’s going to sit behind the ball, is more challenging for them.

– David

Jan, however, was more confident, citing Vardy’s appeal as an alternative to a Manchester City player:

Since James Maddison (£7.0m) returned in Gameweek 6, only Harry Kane (£11.0m) and Patrick Bamford (£6.1m) recorded more attempts on goal than Vardy. When it comes to the xG, only the Leeds man’s score of 4.72 tops Vardy’s 3.98 figure in that period of time too.

– Jan

Swap back?

Those who made the move from Mohamed Salah (£12.2m) to Bruno Fernandes (£10.8m) ahead of Gameweek 9 were justified in their decision, with the Portuguese producing his first double-figure haul at home this season. 

On the face of it, Manchester United’s quick counter-attack should do well against Southampton’s high defensive line this Gameweek. But the Saints have improved since their capitulation to Tottenham Hotspur, although the recent visitors to St Mary’s included West Bromwich Albion, an Everton short of key players and Newcastle.

Do we think that it’s the opposition that is the reason why they’ve done so well at home or is it because they are in fact much better at home now than we thought they were when they played Spurs?

– Joe

Joe and David debated the chances for Fernandes and co:

McCarthy’s performance against Wolves, it was epic, it was one of the great goalkeeping performances we’ve seen this season. To get eight saves in that game and come away with seven points. Even if Southampton concede a heck of a lot of shots, McCarthy is going to be right there, making things difficult for Man United.

– David

However, Pro Pundit Fábio Borges is set to hand his fellow countryman the armband for the second successive Gameweek, reasoning:

I expect Southampton to play an attacking style of football (as they always do), which hopefully will benefit Fernandes’ potential for points.

– Fábio

This means he will forgo Manchester City attacking players for now.

Meanwhile Pro Pundit Andy, who already owns both De Bruyne and Marcus Rashford (£9.5m), is considering an immediate return for Salah:

It’s important not to overthink sometimes, and a fit Salah really should be in my squad.

– Andy

Although how will he feel after watching Liverpool’s below-par performance in their midweek Champions League defeat to Atalanta?

Get him while he’s hot

Diogo Jota (£6.7m) is the form Liverpool attacker: 10 attempts on goal, eight shots in the box, four big chances and six efforts on target over the last four Gameweeks – all totals that neither Sadio Mane (£12.1m) nor Mohamed Salah can better in that time.

Get him while he’s hot” was Lateriser’s advice. On the FPL Wire this week, Zophar, Neale and Lateriser sensed an opportunity for the former Wolves player, with midfielder Fabinho (£5.4m) set to deputise at centre-back for the foreseeable future:

To circumvent the lack of central midfielders, there’s going to be a lot more of the 4-2-3-1 formation, and I can see Jota getting a lot of game time over Christmas.

– Neale

Neale gave a wide-ranging interview discussing his role at Fantasy Football Scout and his FPL career. The Newcastle fan’s excellent work covering the press conferences and putting together the predicted line-ups has not gone unnoticed:

Fantasy Football Scout’s site they go into some depth on the latest news and manager news conferences which is a clear indication of the time and attention to detail that they put into their predictions and this is paying off with their results.

– Footstock

Finally, Patrick Bamford (£6.1m) appears to have seduced Lateriser, with the upside chasing manager considering selling Timo Werner (£9.5m) for the Leeds forward. 

Neale mentioned that goal conversion is an often overlooked statistic and it’s one that suggests Bamford’s form is sustainable: 

[Bamford’s] goal conversion rate is at approximately 20% right now which doesn’t seem very unsustainable to m.e

– Lateriser

Encouragingly Bamford is top for expected goals over the last four Gameweeks, and their attack continues to create chances:

97 attempts on goal and 70 shots in the box recorded by Leeds United over the last six Gameweeks, more than any other side has registered over the same period.

– Neale

And an injury to Lucas Digne (£6.1m) only heightens his appeal ahead of the trip to Goodison Park.

Community latest

For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 10 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.

And may your arrows be green!

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

987 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Crunchie
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    A. Son

    B. Ziyech

    to KDB

    1. Crunchie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Have Kane 🙂

    2. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B. Son much more proven than Ziyech although you would be doubling up on Spurs id keep Son

      1. Crunchie
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Cheers

    3. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

  2. KAALI_DAAL
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Is Dias a reliable pick on WC?

    1. Crunchie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Yes

    2. NULL-X-VOID
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Yep, relatively nailed

    3. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Yes

  3. WE GO FOR IT
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Captain:
    1. Bruno
    2. DCL
    3. Kane

    1. Crunchie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

    2. NULL-X-VOID
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Bruno

    3. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

    4. Sarri-ball
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      2

    5. WE GO FOR IT
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Cheers all! 🙂
      Majority wins. Bruno gets the armband!

  4. Sarri-ball
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Auba to stetling/salah -4

    Or keep auba wolves do for free next week

    1. Crunchie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Do Salah

    2. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Salah

  5. nico05
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Sorry to repost was just looking for a few opinions, on a my predicament:
    With just enough funds to do Son back to Salah this week, should I?
    Whilst Son is great value I would rather sacrifice him than De Bruyne to get Salah back. No other Liverpool or City assets.
    Thank you

  6. Teahupo'o
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Start R.James or Dallas?

    1. NULL-X-VOID
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Dallas

      1. Teahupo'o
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Thanks

  7. Hulk Smash
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Is going without City attackers trying to be too clever? I feel like I'd rather put my trust in a consistently good Liverpool attack:

    Saiss > Cancelo
    Son > Salah
    Ziyech > Jota (-8)

    1. Salah’s Sonnet
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      This was my thinking, a lacklustre City or a tried and tested firing Pool. I like the latter

  8. NULL-X-VOID
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Bottomed,

    Start?

    a) Kilman (Ars A)
    b) Coufal (Avl H)

    (Have Grealish and Watkins)

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

    2. Salarrivederci
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

  9. Ghost86
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    On WC

    A) Salah Watkins

    B) vardy Jota

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

    2. JBG
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I went for B

  10. IN SANE IN DE BRUYNE
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Repost

    A) Kane -> Vardy(C) for free
    B) Save FT, Salah or Jota (C)

    1. Salarrivederci
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

  11. Salarrivederci
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Gtg? 0 FTs and 0.7 ITB

    Martínez
    Robertson - Chilwell - Cresswell
    KDB - Fernandes - Son - Grealish - Bowen
    Vardy(C) - Bamford

    (Steer, Brewster, Mitchell, Lamptey)

  12. WE GO FOR IT
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Have Grealish and Watkins

    Go all out and play Konsa our play Coufal?

  13. Salah’s Sonnet
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Vardy is going to be so generous this GW, he says you are all invited to the party, even the ones who didn’t captain him.

    1. Party time
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Unfortunately I will be busy watching the Pinky & De Bruyne(C)

        1. Salah’s Sonnet
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          Best of luck man

      • JBG
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Let's hope so. Don't think I've ever got a haul from him as a C.

        1. Salah’s Sonnet
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          I have a few times, Leicester should trounce them

    2. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Play Mitchell or Coufal?

      1. nico05
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Mitchell wont play imo

      2. Salah’s Sonnet
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Coufal for sure

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

      A) Son to KDB now for a -4
      B) Save for next week and do it for free

      1. Coys96
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        A

    4. Coys96
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Who scores more this GW:

      1) Rashford
      2) J.Rodriguez

      PLEASE REPLY!

      1. nico05
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        A

      2. Pariße
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        J Rod. Southampton's defence is much better than Leeds'.

        1. Salah’s Sonnet
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          And this^

        2. Coys96
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          Phillips back though

      3. Salah’s Sonnet
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        2

        Rashford can’t seem to score atm

    5. Pariße
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      captain Lewin or Salah?

      1. nico05
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Salah

      2. Coys96
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Salah

    6. Origal73
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Bottomed...
      Who to play?
      Ayling (eve)
      Targett (whu)

      Thanks!!!

      1. Coys96
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        b

        1. Origal73
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          Thanks!

    7. pol
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      On a WC, I have Salah, Vardy but no Grealish who would you go as 4th Mid:
      A- Jota
      B- McGinn
      C- Barnes

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

      Oh no... I'm going to do it. Kane to Vardy for free. Can someone reassure me?

      1. Salarrivederci
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Can't
        Expecting double attacking returns from Vardy this GW 😉

      2. King Kun Ta
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Do it!

    9. QUEN
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Who is the second keeper for Burnley

      1. bobbyg
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Peacock Farrell

    10. JollyGoodYellows
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Werner to Vardy done.... Everyone get Werner in your teams!

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

      Podence or Brewster for bench?

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

        bench Podence

      2. SHOWSTOPPERRR
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Benchster

    12. The_FF_King
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Nobody captaining DCL?

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

        Tempted ngl, currently have him as vice though. Leeds maybe won't be pushovers, and could no Digne hurt Everton?

        1. Salarrivederci
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          No Digne hurt Everton, yes.
          DCL still a good option though.
          But I think both Vardy, KDB/Sterling and Bruno are better options

        2. WE GO FOR IT
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          This!

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

      Guaita
      Chilwell / R James / Kilman
      KDB / Fernandes / Son / Grealish / Jota
      Kane / DCL

      Forster // Coufal / Brewster / Lamptey

      I'm probably getting Vardy & likely to captain. Regarding the defence however:

      A) Keep as-is
      B) Play Coufal over Kilman
      C) Play Coufal over James

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

      Maddison, Tielemans or Barnes?????

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

      Good to go? Any hits or just keep my 2.6m ITB? Thanks all, and good luck 🙂

      Martinez (Steer)
      Robbo Cancelo Coufal (Mitchell Lamptey)
      Bruno(c) Son Ziyech JRodriguez Podence
      Kane DCL (Davis)

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

      And the armband goes tooooo.....

      A Vardy
      B Son
      C Bruno
      D CL

      Ta lads!

    17. manu4life99
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A) Son, Bruno(C)
      B) KDB(C), Bruno (-4)

      1. King Kun Ta
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        A

    18. Tango74
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Vardy or KDB capt ?

      1. Salah’s Sonnet
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Van Wilder Party