Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for Gameweek 20

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 20 ahead of today’s 16:30 GMT deadline.

Injuries to Kevin De Bruyne (£11.9m) and Jamie Vardy (£10.1m) have been the main talking points over the last few days. 

The Belgian is ruled out with a hamstring injury for the next four to six weeks, so who should Fantasy managers bring in and what’s the best way to redistribute our funds?

The Scoutcast trio of Joe, Seb and Man City fan Karam discussed the alternatives to De Bruyne.

Many are looking at the cheaper options among Pep Guardiola’s attack, especially Ilkay Gündogan (£5.6m) and Phil Foden (£6.3m), but with West Brom, Sheffield United and Burnley up next, Karam entertained the thought of going big at the back:

However, because [Gündogan] is £5.5m, I would rather spend this exact money at the back, I would get a double defence, a triple defence … to me the next three scream three clean sheets. We will be lacking a lot of the creativity that De Bruyne was offering, and surely if we are winning 1-0 games then the defence will grab all the BPS – and we know Cancelo is just extremely good at creativity as well.

– Karam

But for Career and Live Hall of Fame No 1, Fábio Borges, there are plenty of reasons to get Gündogan:

Gundogan offers insane value right now with great attacking numbers, decent expected minutes and penalty-duties for just £5.5m.

– Fábio

Looking beyond the pool of Man City Players, if you don’t own one of Bruno Fernandes (£11.3m) or Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) they are “clearly the best choices if you are a non-owner” according to Fábio.

The Egyptian ended his goal drought in convincing fashion, netting twice against Manchester United in the FA Cup. And Pro Pundit Lateriser pointed to some encouraging underlying statistics compared to last season. 

Meanwhile, Seb examined which players have performed best over the long, medium and short term:

Over this whole season, for expected goal involvement, Sadio Mané, Jack Grealish, Son Heung-min and Marcus Rashford come out as my top four. In the last six matches, that is Son, Gündogan comes into there, Mané and Grealish. And in the last four it is Son, Harvey Barnes, Gündogan and Foden comes into there. So that maybe gives you an idea of how people have done over the season and how form comes into it.

– Seb

One name stands out, and if you don’t already own him, Son appears a must-have. The South Korean has been on the end of six big chances in his last four matches, as well creating eight chances for his team-mates. 

Pro Pundit Zophar described Son as “the no brainer replacement” and the co-host of The FPL Wire isn’t put off by a mixed set of fixtures for Tottenham Hotspur:

As Manchester United showed last night in the FA Cup, Liverpool’s defence can be breached on the counter which should suit Jose Mourinho’s troops. Brighton and West Brom are fixtures where Son is a great captaincy shout and, given Chelsea’s recent malaise, Mourinho will surely fancy getting one over his old club as well.

– Zophar

No Vardy, No Problem

Moving onto Vardy, who will be out for a few weeks following an operation on his hernia, as far as Joe is concerned it was a straightforward decision on who to get: 

I am going to do the completely obvious thing and, in a way, the decision has been taken out of my hands – I took Kane out for Vardy for Double Gameweek, I want Kane back, I have the money to get Kane back for Vady. I do want a premium forward structure at the moment. And I think Harry Kane is the best to get in, and I’m going to get him in.

– Joe

While David pointed to an appealing downgrade in the shape of Michail Antonio (£6.4m), who bagged an 18-point return over Double Gameweek 19

And for those considering moving funds into midfield, Man United are top of the fixture ticker for attack over the next six Gameweeks. The likes of Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford (£9.6m) and the emerging Paul Pogba (£7.7m) loom large on our Fantasy radars.

Some caution is advised with Rashford due to a knee injury, but it is not as bad as first feared with scans revealing only bruising.

Captain Sensible

As Jamie highlighted when he delved into the Big Numbers, Bruno Fernandes has mustered 161 touches in the final third over his last four matches, meaning the Portuguese talisman is still getting in the right positions despite scoring and assisting only once.

With opponents Sheffield United keeping just a solitary clean sheet in their last 15 away games, it’s no surprise that a certain B Fernandes has garnered more than 53 per cent of the vote in this week’s captain poll.

And Jan scrutinised The Blades in his latest armband article, pointing out how vulnerable they are to counter-attacks when pushing for goals and much needed victories:

Fernandes is this week’s runaway captaincy candidate … The Portuguese international has now delivered 33 Fantasy points in his previous three home games (a massive improvement on what we saw at the start of the campaign) and was given a bit of a breather in the FA Cup at the weekend.

– Jan

A Pundit Of Plans

A trio of Pro Pundits in the shape of Simon March, Sam Bonfield, and Andy Mears shared their thoughts on how to make the most of the second half of the season. 

Simon reflected on what had gone well and not-so-well as he plots his way up the ranks. 

My best seasons have always been built on four to five fairly consistent players who, once I’ve identified them, I try not to touch. The benefit of this approach, I find, is that, once you’ve established this core, you can use your transfers far more productively elsewhere, allowing you to build proactively and take advantage of form and fixture swings.

– Simon

The former FPL Champion identified Fernandes, Grealish and Son as his perhaps unsurprising core to build around. Along with a Manchester City defender and potentially Antonio. But ultimately he feels that there is still a long way to go and it’s important not to panic. 

High-flying Andy, meanwhile, gave us his take on the best fixture runs for the next four Gameweeks, with Leicester City, Manchester City and Aston Villa top of his list. Note that his article was written before the news of the injuries to De Bruyne and Vardy.

One player he feels we may be overlooking is João Cancelo (£5.8m):

Cancelo feels a bit like the forgotten man right now, but in that same time period he’s had eight shots, four of them in the box and created 10 chances as well. When you watch Manchester City in attack he’s often found in midfield and it feels like a big haul isn’t too far away, but you have to expect him to miss more minutes than the other two defenders mentioned.

– Andy

Last but not least, Sam discussed chip strategy. Inevitably, she’s thinking about using her Triple Captain chip on Harry Kane. But she also outlined how careful planning can benefit the more serious FPL manager:

We are coming to the most important part of the FPL season. This is the time where casual players often fail to prepare for the Blank and Double Gameweeks, or have already used their chips.

– Sam

Community Competitions and Head-to-Head Fixtures

RedLightning rounded-up the latest Community mini-leagues and competitions

The headline news is that for the first time this season The FFScout Community Members mini-league is the Best League in FPL based on the average score of the top five teams. 

For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 20 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.

May your arrows be green!

GET IN-GAME DATA AT LIVE FPL

Check your own rank and in-play FPL stats on LiveFPL.net every Gameweek

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

1,590 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Warby84
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Cancelo (c) ????

    1. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      too late

      1. Annie
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        wasn't actually

    2. HD7
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Daring. Still would go Bruno though

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

      Yeaaah

  2. Big boy Bowen
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    LOCKED IN!

    Good luck everyone and.....PANTS DOWN!

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

    PENS DOWN in 2 minutes.

    QUICK!!!!

    1. Jordan.
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      panties down

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

    Good luck all!

    1. Big boy Bowen
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      You too!

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

    Straight points battle

    A. Gundogan or
    B. Cancelo

    1.Antonio or
    2.Grealish

  6. Hybrid.power
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    You just know West Brom will score...

    1. fc_skrald
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      As long as Cancelo will finally score it is okay...

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

    updating

    1. Orion
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Sacuvao si sve chipove, RESPECT !

    2. tuturututu
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Koji si Daniele ukupno?

  8. Orion
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Went with Sterling C here, GL !

    1. OverTinker
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      good shout

      1. Orion
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Hope I’ll get something from him finally

  9. Threat Level Midnight
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    RASHFORDDDDDDDDDDD

    1. tuturututu
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yeah I've had him as captain before this injury. Went with Bruno but I believe Rash can score big this gw

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

    please fantasy gods Soucek to punish me once again !!!

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

      to not punnish me

      1. The Sociologist
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Too late!

        1. fc_skrald
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          🙂

  11. Stormbringer22
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Aaaaand breathe!

  12. tinear
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Last minute transfer Soucek to Gundogan. Mixed feelings.

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

      Good

      1. tinear
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Hoping for a good return

    2. tuturututu
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I went with Soucek to Sterling

      1. tinear
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Good luck mate

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

      should be a good one

      1. tinear
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        hoping so. cheers.

  13. FER FUSCH AKE
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Bruno non-cappers have nowhere to hide.

    1. Threat Level Midnight
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Hi

  14. BeWater
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Betting on a good day for Leeds with Dallas, Raphinha and Bamford.

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

    Come ooooon Son and Dallas !!!!

    1. FER FUSCH AKE
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Son was cursed by Zambian witch doctor.

      1. tinear
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        nahhh

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

    Come oooooon Rashford !!!

    1. linkafu
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Cameo coming

  17. wulfrunian
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Salah(c)

    1. Orion
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Like it... Was challenge between him and Sterling

      1. wulfrunian
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Nah i am joking.No guts.Bruno it is.Sterling for you?

        1. Orion
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          Yeah... went with Sterling

          1. wulfrunian
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 2 months ago

            I hope for 2 goals.Good luck.

  18. Don Kloppeone
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Time gentlemen please!!

    I am destined to have a ton of points on the bench but what can you do!

    Martinez
    Robbo, Dias, Stones, Dallas
    Salah, Bruno (C), Son, Raphinha
    Bamford, Antonio
    (Johnstone) (Coufal, Soucek, Vardy*)

    GL all!

    1. The Sociologist
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Would maybe have started Coufal over Robbo, but otherwise looks good!

      1. Don Kloppeone
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Can't be benching Robbo - don't expect CS obv but he'll be whipping those crosses in - hoping for some assists!

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

    Come on Soucek!

    1. Don Kloppeone
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Please no!

      2nd on my bench in the end 😆

  20. Miguel Sanchez
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Best of luck all - don't expect too much variance this week if you have Bruno (c)

    1. TheDragon
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      A quite week is fine by me

      1. Miguel Sanchez
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Same - there are weeks too attack, this isn't one of them

      2. ilikewud
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        This

  21. FER FUSCH AKE
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Semi Ajayi will ruin my double city cleanie and I know it.

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

    Be honest. Say good luck to all with the same teams as you! 😀

    1. OverTinker
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      captaincy is more important actually

  23. TheDragon
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Bamford & Dallas monster hauls incoming!

    1. Don Kloppeone
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Please let it be!!

  24. Cilly Bonnolly
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Did the schoolboy error of only just remembering the deadline two minutes ago. Managed to at least change my captain to Bruno I think.

    1. ivantys
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Set an alarm next time.

      1. Cilly Bonnolly
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        I normally do. First time in ten years or so that I’ve almost f**ked it.

        Think I transferred Cavani in for Firmino in a panic. Not sure if it went through. Not sure if I want it to have or not. 😆

        1. ivantys
          • 3 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          I use the app it reminds me when deadline is near 😀 Probably should have taken Martial instead but gl to you. Massive WC week for me

          1. Cilly Bonnolly
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 2 months ago

            Probably. Ah well, whatever’s done is done now.

  25. linkafu
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Let's go! Good luck every one! Cancelo Captain for me! Tonight is the night!!!

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

    Too many good midfielders. Played Madders instead of Gündo.

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

    Bet there's a few KDB and Salah caps due to the odd deadline!

    1. BeWater
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      KDB (c) Vardy (vc). Let's go!!!!

    2. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Salah to get a haul no doubt

  28. Miguel Sanchez
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Bruno (c), Martial and Rashford this GW - all in on a BIG United win

    1. FER FUSCH AKE
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Rasher benching imminent. Martial got fat and lazy.

    2. ivantys
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I was close to doing this but with Cavani instead of Rashford before the news. Couldn't do it as it would ruin my incoming GWs lol.

  29. GOTHAM City F.C.
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Dallas brace, CS and 3 bonus will do.

  30. McSauce
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Is this another week of heartbreak or will my players finally return please please step up....

    Sterling
    Salah
    Soucek
    Bamford
    chilwell