Manchester City assets once again form the spine of our Gameweek 21 Scout Picks team.
We have chosen three of their players as they prepare for the visit of bottom of the league Sheffield United.
This XI of our favourite players for Gameweek 21 has been chosen by Scout Squad pundits David, Tom, Andy and Geoff.
We line up in a 3-5-2 formation this week and come in at £81.9m, £1.1m inside the budget of £83.0m.
GOALKEEPER
Fulham’s Alphonse Areola (£4.5m) gets the nod between the sticks fresh off a 10 point haul in his last game. Fulham’s Areola face off against West Brom, who have the worst expected goals (xG) rating of any team in the Premier League.
DEFENDERS
With his newly added out-of-position potential, Ben Chilwell (£6.1m) returns to the Scout Picks. Featuring as a wing-back in new Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel’s system, Chilwell had two attempts in the box against Wolves and should really have scored. Even after scoring three goals against Aston Villa, only Sheffield United have scored less goals than Burnley this season so Chilwell comes with the potential of attacking and defensive returns.
Another Scout Pick carrying out-of-position potential is Everton’s Lucas Digne (£6.0m). Digne lined up in a left-wing position against Leicester, and pushed high up the field. With six assists in 10 starts, expected Digne to add to this against a Newcastle side in freefall.
João Cancelo (£5.9m) is an obvious pick in this Gameweek after his 17-point haul against West Brom. With the highest expected goal involvement (xGI) of any defender in the game and facing off against Sheffield United, the league’s lowest scorers, the Portuguese full-back looks more than capable of reproducing his West Brom haul.
MIDFIELDERS
Son Heung-min (£9.8m) makes his return to the Scout Picks for Spurs’ visit to Brighton. The South Korean has the highest shots-to-goals conversion rate of regularly starting midfielders in the league (35.3%). With 11 shots in the box in his last six matches, you’d expect Son to add to his impressive goal tally.
With Liverpool’s front three returning to form, we’ve gone for Sadio Mané (£11.8m) to build on the 15 point haul he earned against Spurs. Despite Liverpool’s poor form before the Spurs game, Mane has still had the most shots in the box in the league among midfielders and is second for attempts on goal. His current numbers dwarf Mohamed Salah’s (£12.5m) and with a lower ownership, we think he’s a better pick.
With Kevin De Bruyne (£11.9m) out due to injury and Sergio Aguero (£10.3m) struggling for fitness, Raheem Sterling (£11.5m) should retain his spot in City’s front three. Despite largely flying under the radar with only an 11% ownership, Sterling has delivered attacking returns in six of his last seven starts. He also had the highest xGI of anyone on the pitch in City’s win over West Brom.
Leicester’s Harvey Barnes (£6.8m) retains his place in the Scout Picks ahead of a very appetising fixture against Leeds. Goal-shy Newcastle had 22 shots against Leeds in their last game, with Elland Road outfit lucky to concede only one goal. Against a much better team, Barnes and co. could put them to the sword.
In-form Ilkay Gündogan (£5.7m) keeps his place in the Scout Picks after bagging a brace against West Brom. No midfielder has had more shots in the box or scored more goals than the German, who appears to be thriving in the absence of KDB.
FORWARDS
Dominic Calvert Lewin (£7.6m) makes a welcome return to the Scout Picks. With the return of Everton’s key creative players in Digne and James Rodriguez (£7.7m), Calvert-Lewin should see more chances coming his way than in recent weeks. He also lines up against a Newcastle team who have the worst expected goals conceded (xGC) rating of any team in the league in the last six Gameweeks, even worse than West Brom. The Magpies have also conceded 12 goals in seven games, the second highest in the league.
With two goals in two games, Ollie Watkins (£6.2m) lines up alongside Calvert-Lewin up front. Ross Barkley’s (£5.9m) return has seen Watkins rediscover his scoring touch, seeing his xG shoot up to second out of all forwards in the last two Gameweeks. He also comes up against a Southampton which is starting to leak goals, conceding five in their last two games.
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 20:
