Captain Sensible

The best FPL players to own, sign or captain for Gameweek 16

Liverpool, Leeds and Burnley are the key teams for the Gameweek 16 Scout Picks.

We have included a double-up from each of these clubs as they prepare to face Newcastle, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United between now and Thursday.

This team was chosen by Scout Squad pundits David, Neale, Tom and Andy – and includes a longer-than-usual captaincy segment considering the lack of turnaround time for one of Jan’s excellent Captain Sensible articles.

We line-up in the 4-3-3 formation, coming in £82.0m, £1.0m inside our budget of £83.0m.

Goalkeeper

Alex McCarthy (£4.7m) remains one of the best value assets in FPL this season, offering 13.2 points per million spent, third among goalkeepers. Fresh from a 0-0 draw with Fulham, Southampton host a West Ham side who, aside from Tomas Soucek, spent large parts of Sunday afternoon offering little going forward.

Defenders

Ahead of travelling to Newcastle, Andrew Robertson (£7.3m) is joint-top for chances created among defenders over the last four matches. Meanwhile, the Magpies have failed to score in each of their last two meetings with top-six opposition this season.

João Cancelo (£5.6m) looks likely to get another start for Manchester City as they face Everton at Goodison Park. Kyle Walker remains sidelined following a positive coronavirus (COVID-19) test while Guardiola hailed Cancelo’s “regeneration and physicality” as “incredible” in his pre-match press conference. Manchester City’s defensive capabilities continue to inspire confidence. Ahead of meeting an Everton side still without Richarlison and James Rodríguez, the Citizens have conceded just one goal since Gameweek 10.

Stuart Dallas (£4.7m) is another rather locked-in defender due to absences elsewhere in his team. Leeds are still without Liam Cooper (abdomen), Robin Koch (knee) and Diego Llorente (muscle), leaving Marcelo Bielsa no choice but to keep the Northern Ireland international at right-back. While West Bromwich Albion stifled Liverpool at Anfield, we expect them to come out of the traps a little more against Leeds, leaving more spaces for exploitation than we saw on Sunday. That should benefit Dallas, who sits behind only three defenders for attempts on goal in the last four matches.

The inclusion of Charlie Taylor (£4.5m) in the Gameweek 16 Scout Picks is a relatively routine one. Burnley have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three meetings with a bottom-eight Premier League side. Meanwhile, winless basement boys Sheffield United have the worst goals per game ratio in the division after 15 Gameweeks (0.5).

Midfielders

Salah building up massive power in top 10k after Gameweek 14 haul

Despite a reputation for only delivering at Anfield, Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) has registered either a goal, assist or both in each of his last six away matches. The Gameweek 2 win at Chelsea was the last time the Egyptian blanked on the road for Liverpool, averaging 9.8 points in that time. In fact, 62 of Salah’s 120 points this season (51.7%) have come away from Anfield. So facing a Newcastle outfit with one clean sheet since Gameweek 2 looks very favourable indeed.

Fresh from another away-day double-digit haul, Bruno Fernandes (£11.1m) retains his Scout Picks place despite the short turnaround. The Portuguese international is too pivotal to Manchester United’s fortunes for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to rest him for a big clash with Wolves and his posted a double-figure score in two of his last three home matches.

Jack Grealish (£7.8m) was desperately unfortunate not to get some assists against Crystal Palace as Aston Villa managed to roll the Eagles over despite the man-disadvantage. Seeing Chelsea crumble under an out-of-form Arsenal attack suggests Grealish can continue his decent form even at Stamford Bridge, where Frank Lampard will almost certainly have to break up the back-four that has provided so much defensive stability this season.

Forwards

We expect an improved Fulham defence to park the bus at Spurs on Thursday night, but we also fancy Harry Kane (£11.0m) to make a breakthrough. He has scored or assisted in all six of Spurs’ meetings with bottom-eight sides this season. Crucially, Kane found the net in each of his last two at home against such opposition (Brighton and Arsenal).

As already mentioned, West Bromwich Albion are a lot more likely to venture forth at home against Leeds than they did at Anfield, opening up space for Patrick Bamford (£6.5m) to exploit. The Leeds forward has been excellent away from home this season, netting seven times on the road since promotion.

Chris Wood (£6.2m) is top of the league for expected goals (non-penalty) over the last four matches. That bodes well ahead of facing Sheffield United side that is yet to keep a clean sheet in 2020/21.

Substitutes

  • Sam Johnstone (£4.5m)
  • Serge Aurier (£5.2m)
  • Anwar El Ghazi (£5.7m)
  • Raphinha (£5.4m)

THE CAPTAIN

Who are the best captain options for FPL Gameweek 36+?

As there was no time for a Captain Sensible article between Gameweeks 15 and 16 today, we have condensed it into the armband section of this piece.

As this section uses data from the Fantasy Football Scout Premium Members Area, only those with a valid subscription can see it in full.

COMMUNITY CHAMPION

Each week, one of the Fantasy Football Scout community takes on the Scout Picks by pitting their chosen XI against ours.

The Community Member who beats our team by the largest margin will win a £100 Amazon Voucher and a place in our Moderators and Contributors League for the following season.

Rupert the Horse helped the Community Champions to their seventh victory of the campaign in Gameweek 15, winning by a 47-36 score-line. The Scout Picks lead 8-7 for the season.

Forever In Our Shadow takes us on for Gameweek 16 going with a 4-3-3 formation of Pope; Robertson, Alexander-Arnold, Tarkowski, Dallas; Salah (vc), Fernandes, Raphinha; Kane (c), Bamford, Wood.

AA33 is the current leader, defeating the Scout Picks by a 53-point margin in Gameweek 2.

4,776 Comments Post a Comment
  1. FDMS All Starz
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Why is the game not updating?

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

      Just did

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

    Deadline asleep.

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

      Woken up. Pants finally down.

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

    Get away from that Keyboard, time is up!

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

    Kept Vardy rather than spend a hit.

    Coufal will come on if he does't feature.

    Only wanted Kane for 2 weeks anyway.

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

      Good decision IMO.

      1. nolard
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Thanks.
        Was a close call, but Spurs have not played great lately, and Fulham are not conceding too much.

  5. NED KELLY
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Cap Bruno or Salah?

    1. TRIPOS TOPPER
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      too late John

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

      Too late

    3. Jensen Luiz Coleman
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      I swapped from Bruno to Mo at the last minute...

      1. NED KELLY
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        I was to late thought it was 2pm.. Oh well Bruno it is.. Good luck guys

  6. ScoutHelp
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Play Rhys Williams or Balbuena?

    1. Christina.
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      give me a minute...

      1. ScoutHelp
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Chose Rhys, already regretting it

  7. TRIPOS TOPPER
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Chelsea fan

    Played Konsa and Martinez
    benched Meslier

    🙂

    1. Rolls-Royce
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Ok.

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

      Wise choice mate 😐

  8. Thomas Shelby from Birmingh…
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Left Son C and missed the deadline. Difficult times

    1. School of Poch
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Ditto

    2. Pep bites Kun
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Was on Son C, but bottled it an hour before deadline.

  9. Tsparkes10
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Andddd He’s done it, Aguero gets his hat trick 10 mins into his first start this season!!!

    1. Rolls-Royce
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Two GWs early.

  10. Rolls-Royce
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Who to bring in and who to captain?

    1. TRIPOS TOPPER
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      well you have 4 days to decide now

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

      Ha.

  11. lordkippe
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    My team feels like a mess. Very undecided, so choose to save a FT. Really scared of the spurs boys

    Martinez

    Dias - Dier - Taylor

    Salah(C) - Fernandes - KDB - Grealish - Torres

    DCL - Bamford

  12. Ze_Austin
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Aaaaaand calm

  13. 272MK
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    After so much time thinking. I opted to go for TC in DGW19

    So no BB for me

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

    Captains?

    Salah for me, hoping that I don't get an 8th consecutive blank

    And who do you wish you owned this GW?

    for me Perez/Iheanacho

    1. Maddi Son
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Started off on Son, then Bruno and last minute changed to Salah

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

      Salah all the way.

      Wish I had Son. Funny feeling De Bruyne might punish all the sellers (including me!) too....

  15. Maddi Son
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Lost my pen

  16. Party time
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Bruno(C)

      All balls out. You can’t stop me now

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

        Kane (C)

        All or nothing

        1. pundit of punts
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          Same here

      2. Yankee Toffee
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Same here. Fingers crossed!

        1. TOPCAT1960
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          Salah(C) gone burn the waverers

      3. Christina.
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        ditto

    • wantsharptv
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Signed Wood for DCL with GW19 in mind. Stupid or bold?

    • diesel001
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Looking forward to seeing the GW16 WCs from the 'pros'

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

      2 FTs for next week, the relief.

    • Gudjohnsen
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Captain Salah or Bruno?

      Bruno has a home game edges it or what?

      1. Botman and Robben
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        For GW 17, wait and see.

      2. Party time
          3 years, 3 months ago

          Bruno(C) is just fun tbh. Form, home fixture, penalty merchant... the list goes on

      3. School of Poch
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Missed the deadline and kept the armband on Son not Salah!

        *fingers crossed that pays off somehow

      4. DycheDycheBaby
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        I think plenty of people missed the deadline. Hopefully some are my ML rivals! Good luck fellas

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

        Sat hoping this is the week KDB can finally deliver big against all odds

        1. Sim Simma
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          May be rested. Next GW will be huge for him

        2. Tsparkes10
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          Hopefully 3 assists to AGUERROOO

        3. Steve Chance
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          'Against all odds'. You make it sound like he's got one leg or something.

      6. Botman and Robben
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Best of luck everyone.

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

          You too x

        2. Mika-eel
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          Same to you.

      7. pundit of punts
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Did Salah + Davis > Kane(c) + Podence for free in preparation for bgw

        Have 9 BGW players now. Will get another 2 with 2 FTs . FH in DGW 19

        Have a good feeling about Kane for the next two 🙂

        1. Yankee Toffee
          • 9 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          Same strategy here.

      8. drughi
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        hopefully salahs blank against west brom made people take the armband off him

        1. JelliedSpark968
          • 4 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          my thoughts as well. Salah is always a good captain pick

        2. Champions League Varane
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          Yesh

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

        A reminder. If you don't use the extra Free Transfer in GW17 and then do the FH in GW18, you will not get it back in GW19.

      10. Arctic monkeys
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Went for Kane captain, really need big things from him

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

          Same, make or break really x

      11. JelliedSpark968
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Just brought in Firmino on WC at 13:29

      12. BeWater
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Thank God that's over with.

        McCarthy
        Cancelo Taylor TAA
        Bruno (vc) Son Salah (c) Raphinha
        Vardy Bamford Adams

        Martinez Dallas Soucek Balbuena

        Good luck everyone 🙂