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. Sun Jihai
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Top 10k EO:

    Salah 143%
    Bruno 97%
    Son 95%
    Bamford 85%
    Kane 71%

    1. OverTinker
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Salah(C) here. Captaincy will decide then

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

      Can cheer on everybody but Kane.
      You know the score...

    3. Bubz
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Starting to feel like theres no point owning any of them 😆

      1. Forza
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Only 23.7% own them all though.

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

      Kane 😮

    5. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      So template!!

  2. Sun Jihai
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    'Professional' watch:

    Fabio Borges: WC played, Salah (c)
    Johnstone Robbo Dallas Maguire Raphinha Bruno Salah Son Bamford Adams Kane Bench: Areola Coufal Balbuena Anguissa
    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/440328/event/16

    Magnus Carlsen: Bowen + Mitchell to Martinelli + Reguilon, Salah (c)
    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/76862/event/16

    Ville Ronka: save FT, Salah (c)
    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/617620/event/16

    Jay Egersdorff: Brewster + KDB to Kane + Soucek, Salah (c)
    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/259780/event/16

    Mark Sutherns: WC played, Salah (c)
    Pope TAA Cancelo Dias Bruno Mane Salah Raphinha Wood Bamford Rodrigo Bench: Johnstone Soucek Coufal James
    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/194/event/16

    Lateriser: -4 hit, Martial + KDB to Kane + Son, Salah (c)
    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/55085/event/16

    Jan Sienkiewicz: DCL + KDB to Rodrigo + Mane, Mane (c)
    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/3904/event/16

    Darren Wiles: WC played, Salah (c)
    Johnstone Robbo Dallas KWP Bruno Salah Rashford Raphinha Adams Bamford Kane Bench: Areola Soucek Coufal Balbuena
    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/1331101/event/16

    GL all

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

      mark lost the plot with that WC

      1. Sun Jihai
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Not very optimistic on Spurs I take it

      2. Rash
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Shocked hes gone for Wood and no kane

        1. have you seen cyan
          • 4 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          Barnes looks a better pick then Wood doesnt he?

          1. Rash
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 3 months ago

            Think I'd rather have a SGW player than a Burnley forward tbh

            1. have you seen cyan
              • 4 Years
              3 years, 3 months ago

              No one in that price bracket will be why, Wood wont be out of choice, its all he could afford.
              Marks clearly wildcraded for 18 bb, fh in 18 and wc in 20.

              TBH I dont think Marks bb team is that bad

              1. have you seen cyan
                • 4 Years
                3 years, 3 months ago

                bb in 19 i mean and fh in 18

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

        I don't love Rodrigo & Wood, and James is a so-so pick with the injury concerns. Otherwise, not bad.

        Getting Mané could have been the differentiator.

      4. R.C
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        yep and some of the others too

    2. FPL Daniel
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Love this kind of posts. Keep them up

      1. FPL Daniel
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Pope the only bright spot in Mark's WC team imo

      2. kennethrhcp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        1st time seeing one. good to see/read

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

      Jesus, not a single Spurs Captain amongst them

      Jose has a lot to answer for the little rascal

    4. MGD
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Nice, thanks! Interesting transfers for MC.

    5. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Mark has really gone differential with his wildcard. Suprised he went 0 Spurs.

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

        what about 3 leeds!

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

        Concentrating completely on GW19 BB

      3. Camzy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        It's exactly what was discussed on the stream with Az. I quite like it. Although the Pope and Wood picks are basically lasering in on the next two fixtures and I don't think it's gonna work out.

    6. ClassiX
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Interesting Darren and Fabio got in Johnstone (obviously thinking Big Sam going to sort out WBA defense) Raphina and Adams (replacing DCL)

    7. Futile Tinkering
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Jay is a machine, wow.

    8. OverTinker
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      thanks for this post

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

    Top 10k EO

    SALAH - 142.79%
    FERNANDES - 96.69%
    SON - 95.01%
    BAMFORD - 84.66%
    KANE - 71.39%
    CALVERT-LEWIN - 54.65%
    GREALISH - 50.10%
    MCCARTHY - 46.17%
    JUSTIN - 43.67%
    VARDY - 29.51%

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

      cheers

  4. ⚔★Vibudh★⚔
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Do we have to compulsorily use a transfer this week if we're doing FH18 to avoid losing it?

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

      yes

  5. Pukkipartyy
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Sorry my head doesnt work atm...

    How many FTs i will get untill GW19 if i freehit GW18. 2?
    Sorry.....

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

      17=1
      18=fh
      19=1

      1. Pukkipartyy
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Yep thanks 😀
        U think -8 to build up BB team is worth it?

    2. KEN YA DIG IT
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Always resets to 1 after FH

    3. Sun Jihai
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      2 if you have 1 FT this week, 3 if you have 2 FT

    4. GreennRed
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      2

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

    Building a team for DGW 19 strategy is going well but seems that in the short run I've dropped points and rank from 30k to 90k current. Hope that DGW 19 squares off the situation for me

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

      That's the problem with dgw's; shifts the focus from the current week(s). Guilty myself to an extent. Can do better! 😉

  7. ⚔★Vibudh★⚔
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    I thought I was stupid for getting Rodrigo last week but Mark getting him on his WC makes me feel better

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

    No Vardy Pen, Justin to take ?

  9. gooberman
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Wow. How can the second highest scorer in the game not be in the scout picks with a home fixture against Fulham?

  10. jshelmo
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Looking for some guidance for GW 17,18,19:
    Current team:
    Martinez (4.0)
    Zouma, Cresswell, KWP, Justin, Taylor
    Salah, Son, Bruno, Soucek, Bissouma
    Kane, DCL, Bamford

    2FTs, 0.9 ITB

    I literally have no idea what to do. Any suggestions?

  11. TheBiffas
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Really need suggestions guys.
    2ft 1.3itb

    McCarthy
    Robbo Coufal Stones
    Grealish KDB Bruno Salah
    Watkins DCL Bamford

    1. FantasyTony
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Check my post below

  12. FantasyTony
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    KDB + DCL > Son + Vardy is a no brainer, right?