Gameweek 17 Scout Picks draws on Spurs, Liverpool, Arsenal and Palace

We have placed our trust in defence and midfield for the Gameweek 17 Scout Picks.

For the first time this season, we have lined-up in a 4-5-1 formation, coming in exactly in line with our £83.0m budget.

How many of these do you own?

Goalkeeper

Vicente Guaita (£4.8m) earns a place in the Scout Picks on account of Crystal Palace’s meeting with the Premier League’s lowest scorers Sheffield United. The Blades have found the net just eight times this season and only two teams have registered fewer big chances over the last four than them.

Defenders

Andrew Robertson (£7.4m) has great potential for a haul in Gameweek 17. Southampton have now gone three games without a goal and rank second-bottom for shots in the box over the last four matches. Meanwhile, no defender has created more chances than Robertson in their last four matches.

Romain Saïss (£5.0m) is back in the Wolves team again and doing what he does best: offering threat from set pieces. Over the last four matches, no defender can match the versatile Moroccan international for shots in the box.

Rob Holding (£4.4m) is a great budget enabler in an improving Arsenal defence with appealing fixtures. In Gameweek 17, the Gunners face a West Bromwich Albion outfit with two goals in their last five at home. Arsenal themselves have conceded the third-fewest number of big chances in their last two – Holding registering 90 minutes in eight of the last nine.

Erik Pieters (£4.3m) is our representative from the Burnley defence as they prepare to host Fulham. We fancy the Austrian to start either at left-back in place of Taylor, or even in midfield with ongoing injuries in wide areas. The Clarets have kept four clean sheets from a possible five against sides in the bottom eight this season while Fulham are unlikely to be at full-strength in light of recent positive coronavirus (COVID-19) tests.

Midfielders

Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) has been unfortunate to blank in each of his last two outings, failing to convert a number of clear-cut chances at Newcastle. Even though Southampton have kept clean sheets in each of their last two, Salah does have attacking returns in six of his Premier League away matches this season.

Bruno Fernandes (£11.2m) has been a reliable source of points in 2020/21, blanking just twice since Gameweek 8 and registering five double-digit hauls in that time. He has seven of those in the whole campaign, more than any other Fantasy asset.

Son Heung-min (£9.7m) gets into the Scout Picks on account of his fixture rather than form. After racing to 100 points in the first 11 Gameweeks, the Spurs midfielder has just a goal and assist in the last four matches. However, during that time, games involving Leeds have yielded an average of 5.3 goals. The Whites’ expansive style is sure to open up space for Son to thrive in once again.

Unsurprisingly, Wilfried Zaha (£7.4m) is our chosen representative from the Crystal Palace attack which hosts basement boys Sheffield United on Saturday. Selhurst Park has been a reliable venue for Zaha this season, where he has scored or assisted in all but one home game he started against sides outside the top eight.

Bukayo Saka (£5.2m) has been pivotal to Arsenal’s recent mini-revival, registering a goal and two assists over the last two matches. He faces the Premier League’s worst defence in Gameweek 17, West Bromwich Albion conceding on average 2.2 goals per game this season.

Forwards

Harry Kane (£11.0m) completes our double-up on the Spurs attack for an appealing home match against Leeds. The Whites’ high-intensity setup has led them to concede 12 big chances across their last four, the third-most in the division. That should be enough to bring out the best in Kane once again.

Substitutes

• Alex McCarthy (£4.7m)
• Matthew Lowton (£4.4m)
• Chris Wood (£6.2m)
• Christian Benteke (£5.5m)

THE CAPTAIN

We choose the Scout Picks captain using a four-way vote between our Scout Squad pundits.

Because we use Fantasy Football Scout data so heavily in this process, the skipper we choose each Gameweek is known only to those with a valid Fantasy Football Scout subscription and revealed to the public only when the deadline has passed.

Here’s how we voted for Gameweek 17:

THE 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.

Forever In Our Shadow beat the Scout Picks in Gameweek 16, their 66-58 victory pulling the Community Champions into an 8-8 scoreline for the season.

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