Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice to FPL Gameweek 21

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 21 ahead of today’s 11:00 GMT deadline.

The headlines in this edition: Everton are discussed as key players return and the fixtures improve, Chelsea’s new manager Thomas Tuchel is put under the spotlight, Manchester City continue to excel, and Raphinha (£5.4m) stars for Leeds United with Patrick Bamford (£6.7m) in a slump.

Elsewhere, Pro Pundit Tom is excited about Wilfried Zaha (£7.2m) as he looks to target an easy run for Crystal Palace and a match against Newcastle United in particular. While Az suggests taking more risks with our armband choices – but does Captain Sensible writer Jan agree?

Couldn’t score for Toffees

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.6m) started the season in sensational form bagging 10 goals in the opening nine Gameweeks, but the Everton No 9 has since endured a barren spell, last scoring in Gameweek 11. 

However, with an appealing set of fixtures and key players returning, Joe asked the Scoutcast panel – can good fixtures breed good form?

For Ted the answer is an emphatic yes. The visual stats creator revealed that he has taken a minus eight to triple up on Carlo Ancelotti’s men:

What I really like about Everton is that you‘ve also got Lucas Digne as a ‘world class’ left-back, he’s just a sensational crosser of the ball, and you’ve got James Rodriguez on that other side, a perfect marriage of creativity on either flank. Dominic Calvert-Lewin just needs to get some form going, because he’s without a goal in seven matches, he’s underperforming his stats, and once he starts scoring in the league – he got one in the cup – if he starts scoring in the league I think he could really start firing with the fixtures.

In fact, Lucas Digne (£6.0m) played out-of-position on the left of midfield against Leicester City, further enhancing his prospects of attacking returns. 

Everton average positions vs Leicester City (FFS Match Data)

And with Abdoulaye Doucouré (£5.2m) returning from suspension to add thrust in midfield, could Everton be on the brink of a purple patch?

Ted is not the only one adding a Toffee to his selection with Az eyeing-up Digne and Calvert-Lewin.

Owners of Harry Kane (£11.2m) have an easy route to the Everton target man after the Tottenham Hotspur striker was ruled out by Jose Mourinho.

Bamford’s Pukki Moment

Another way to free up a slot in our forward lines is to sell Patrick Bamford, whose recent downturn in performance makes him a prime candidate for the chop. 

Joe described it as a ‘Pukki Moment’, which is defined as “a highly-owned-once-high-performing player, who you can hop-off for a player that you are assuming will be the next big thing.

Against Newcastle United, the Leeds striker managed just one attempt, an off-target header, and three penalty area touches. Instead it was left to Raphinha to write the headlines, the Brazilian now has three goals and as many assists from a season in which he only started his first match in Gameweek 10.

But questions are being asked about Bielsa’s side, who suffered recent defeats to Spurs and Brighton before the narrow win over the Magpies. 

The convenient narrative is that they are knackered, Bielsa is like this harsh taskmaster and these poor Leeds guys are all sitting in the Victorian orphanage, all like “oh I can’t move any more” – and I just don’t buy that myself because these are fit blokes.

– Joe

But how do we explain the recent performances – have they been found out?

I think these players are at the maximum level of their ability and they are, on average, Championship players.

– Seb

Speaking on the Scoutcast, Leeds fan Seb gave an insightful explanation about the problems his beloved team encountered against Newcastle, before outlining what needs to change:

The solution for us is a new left-back and a new centre-mid but until that happens if teams continue to put pressure on us in the right places, which is the midfield and not centre-back … and force us into pressing high up the field and then out-numbering us with quality one-on-one players … teams can beat us.

Not a particularly optimistic outlook.

Chelsea’s New Tuch 

However, things are decidedly more upbeat in affluent West London with the arrival of head coach Thomas Tuchel. His appointment has got Fantasy managers wondering which Chelsea players will thrive under his stewardship.

Jamie highlighted a possession style of football and a preference for a narrow 4-2-2-2 formation, as well as an impressive number of goals per game achieved at previous clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund.

It’s worth noting that Tuchel tends to use high possession as a means of defending rather than attacking. And Tom included cut-price centre-back Antonio Rüdiger (£4.5m) in his trio of differentials for Gameweek 21, the 27-year-old could prove to be a budget route into the Blues backline.

Tuchel’s teams also favour shot quality over shot quantity. Consequently they can be a little boring to watch, as the goalless draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers illustrated.

And there will be question marks over several players including Reece James (£5.1m), who may find himself marginalised under a manager whose previous teams have produced a very low number of crosses.

Instead, Kai Havertz (£8.2m) could become a key figure for Chelsea, thanks to his ability to get the ball into the penalty box from central areas. Pro Pundit Lateriser noted the German playing closer to goal in Tuchel’s first match.

Target Teams Playing Newcastle

Tom signed midfielder Wilfried Zaha ahead of Gameweek 20 and is another looking to incorporate Calvert-Lewin. 

Part of his thinking behind those moves is a good run of immediate fixtures for both sides, especially upcoming matches against Newcastle. The Aston Villa fan noted:

Towards the end of Steve Bruce’s reign at Aston Villa, they were lacking any kind of structure with the same approach in every game, and there are a lot of similarities at Newcastle now.

– Tom

Az is even considering handing Calvert-Lewin the armband for Everton’s home encounter with Newcastle. Reflecting on a failed captaincy pick, the co-host of FPL Black Box wondered if we should start taking risks:

The logic of Fernandes was completely sound of course, but there is huge potential to get ahead if you can get the captaincy call right. The captaincy allows us to roll the dice for one week and if we want to elevate our seasons to the next level, getting on the right end of some of these calls could be a great way to rise up the ranks.

However Jan is not ready to trust Calvert-Lewin with the armband just yet:

Over the last six matches, only three teams have registered fewer goal attempts than Carlo Ancelotti’s men. While Everton are expected to win this match, it is probably a step too far to trust any of their attacking assets with an armband, especially as Newcastle and Steve Bruce will be “fighting for their lives”.

Instead, the double-points maestro turns to Pep Guardiola’s troops for his preferred armband picks.

Manchester City’s impressive form continued with lkay Gündogan (£5.8m) and João Cancelo (£6.0m) thriving against West Brom as Raheem Sterling (£11.6m) posted impressive stats and Aymeric Laporte (£6.0m) put pressure on John Stones (£5.2m).

And, courtesy of G-Whizz, the clean sheet odds favour returns at both ends of the pitch, with City most likely to record a shutout (61 per cent) and Sheffield United least likely (nine per cent).

Sterling, Gündogan, and Cancelo all have their merits. But if you are struggling to decide between them, or suffering from ‘decision fatigue’, Seb has some advice:

There are too many variables to consider them all, you’ve got to make a decision that you can explain and then be happy with, and move on.

Community Competitions and Head-to-Head Fixtures

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

The FFScout Community Members mini-league remains the Best League in FPL just ahead of Andy‘s youtube channel with the open-to-all league in fifth.

In the Head-to-Head Leagues, the fixtures have been generated for the second half of the season. The main page includes links for each Gameweek, while the fixtures for Gameweek 21 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!

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

3,029 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Arteta
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Ilkay (c)?

    1. Gabbiadini
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Cancelo 🙂

      1. Ruinenlust
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Might not stert

        1. KUN+10
          • 9 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Why wouldn't he start? Had 4 days rest and was brilliant last game.

    2. Saïss Doesn't Mat…
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      i am

    3. Steve The Spud
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Yes for me , dcl vice

  2. Ruinenlust
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Play Anguissa or Dallas?

  3. Peter Ouch
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    DCL Captain lets go lad

    1. Amey
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I'm thinking about taking a hit to get Digne. Lovely fixtures till WC #2

      1. southernpacific
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Same here

  4. Tango74
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Morning all

    CAPT

    DCL of Gundogan?

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

      Gundogan

    2. Peter Ouch
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      gundo will stop perfoming as a prime messi
      DCL

  5. bigmacs
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Play Bamford or Antonio?

    1. mcsteely
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Ant

  6. TAT
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Dallas+ Coufal > Digne and Dias (-4) worth it?

    Martínez
    Chilwell - Cancelo - Robertson
    Gündogan - Raphinha - Fernandes - Salah
    Watkins - DCL - Bamford
    (Button - Dallas - Coufal - Anguissa)

  7. The Red Devil
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Start coufal Or Mitchell

    1. matiakez
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Rare outing for Mitchell I'd say

    2. _Gunner
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Mitchell

  8. The Red Devil
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Kane/Bamford to Watkins/Antonio for a hit?

    1. Van der Faart
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Better options than those 2 for that money, unless you're going to upgrade a midfielder with the funds

      1. The Red Devil
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Better options like? Already bought DCL in

  9. matiakez
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Seems a lot of clamour to captain Barnes or Maddison, is this just a lack of other options?

    I'm not sure i trust Leeds one way or the other.

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Punt week, nothing to lose

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

        This - captaincy will be split

    2. The Wanton Trader
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Perfect game for Barnes.
      I just hope he’s got his shooting boots on. 🙂

  10. Cojiro
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Play Bamford or Justin? (Already starting raphina)

    Cancelo worth getting for -4? (Will play ahead of the above)

  11. Kane Train
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Would you do Rashford > Salah ( C ) for -4?

    Or captain Sterling & keep Rashford

    1. mcsteely
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Keep rash and captain Sterling for sure

  12. Rinseboy
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    gtg?

    Martinez
    Digne Dias Stones
    Sterling (c) Salah Bruno Grealish
    DCL Bamford Antonio
    Johnstone Soucek Coufal Mitchell

  13. Legohair
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Play
    A. Mitchell
    B. Bamford

    1. The Wanton Trader
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      B

  14. Steve The Spud
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Coufal to digne -4 or hold? Already own flappy

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

      I would

      1. Steve The Spud
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        You mean I have! 🙂

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

          Yeah but kept Coufal and sold Holding.

  15. Jdpz
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Play
    a) Pope (Chelsea)
    b) Johnstone (Fulham)

    1. BobbyDoesNotLook
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      B but close

    2. FootballDog
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      B

  16. BobbyDoesNotLook
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Johnstone
    Cancelo Stones Robbo Justin
    Salah Son Bruno Raphinha
    Antonio Bamford

    B: Soucek Adams Coufal

    Would you play anyone from bench over Justin?

    1. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Soucek is not a bench player

    2. DRINKWINE
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I would be scared to bench Soucek...I did last week and doesnt feel good. I would say Leeds can score although you never know with them!

    3. Natho79
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Soucek

  17. Jdpz
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Play 2 of them:
    a) Justin (LEE)
    b) Dier (bha)
    c) Coufal (LIV)
    d) Alioski (lei)

    1. duststorm
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      A, B

    2. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Ab

  18. Bounce
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Seems that everyone is playing Antonio and benching Soucek. What's the logic behind that?

    1. mcsteely
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Number 9 more chance of goals? I wouldn’t bench Soucek ever again if I had him

    2. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      No logic, play both

  19. FootballDog
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    play one.

    A. Shaw
    B. Dallas

    1. Antonio
    2. Bamford

    1. fc_skrald
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Dallas and Antonio

  20. The_FF_King
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Wilson to DCL for -4?

    Hoping that would pay off for the next few gameweeks

    1. duststorm
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Bamford or soucek?

    2. FootballDog
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Yes, DCL has two games in hand

  21. fc_skrald
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    I think I'm finally there for this gw. This will be my team. Good luck to all of you!

    Martínez
    Cancelo, Digne, Coufal
    Son(C), Salah, Fernandes(VC), Grealish
    Antonio, Bamford, Ings

    Button, Lowton, Burke, Douglas

  22. southernpacific
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Rash > salah worth a hit?

    1. Kiwivillan
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      How many games has Salah blanked now? Glad I sold few weeks ago

  23. FPLMACKEM
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    McCarthy,
    Robertson, Cancelo, Stones,
    Salah, Gundogan (C), Bruno, Son, Soucek
    DCL, Bamford

    Forster, Mitchell, Coufal, Brewster

    GTG? would you change anything?

    All transfers used btw.

    1. thom830g
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      gtg!!

      1. FPLMACKEM
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Cheers

  24. thom830g
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Kane + Podence -> DCL and Gündo for -4 good idea?

    Ederson
    Robertson - Dias - Justin
    Salah (C) - Grealish - Bruno - **
    Antonio - ** - Bamford

    (4m - Shaw - Bissouma - Coufal)

    1. The Frenchie
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Yes it is 🙂

      1. FPLMACKEM
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        With the fixtures definitely.

  25. ⚔★Vibudh★⚔
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Holding or Cancelo 2nd sub just in case Pep roulette strikes?

    1. ⚔★Vibudh★⚔
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      *Holding or Coufal

  26. The Frenchie
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    I own Gundo and DCL but I'm tempted to captain Maddison.. Someone else?

    1. Leeds-Utd
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      It's a tough call this week..
      I'm torn between
      Dcl / Gud/Son..
      Madison is a good call.. Depending on which leeds show up!!..

      1. The Frenchie
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I was on DCL but only 2 games for him its a bit weak, then Gundo and now Maddison..

  27. FootballDog
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Yea, DCL has 2 games in hand

  28. DRINKWINE
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Choose one to play this week

    1. Bednarek (AVL)
    2. Dallas (lei)
    3. Kilman (cry)

    Also, leave Kane on starting team and bench Bamford just in case Kane plays?

    Thanks all

  29. Wicked Weapon
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Is Cancelo some how safe from Pep Roulette ? My respect to those taking captaincy risk.

    I'm currently on :
    A) Gundo
    B) DCL
    C) Salah/Bruno (lack of form but still can't be written off)

  30. Shack
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Morning all! Who to take out for Cancelo;
    A: Maguire
    B: Chilwell
    C: Robertson
    Cheers!!

    1. Wicked Weapon
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Easy A