Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice to FPL Gameweek 23

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 23 ahead of today’s 11:00 GMT deadline.

The big news is the announcement of more Double Gameweeks in 24 and 25. Legomané updated his ticker, which includes non-Premier League matches.

Manchester City, Everton, Burnley, Fulham, Southampton and Leeds are the six teams to benefit from an extra fixture. 

There will also be a double in Gameweek 26, but which teams play twice depends on the FA Cup results in midweek. The winners will have their Gameweek 29 matches shifted to 26.

The other outstanding fixtures yet to be rescheduled are: 

  • Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur
  • Aston Villa vs Everton
  • Manchester City vs Southampton
  • Fulham vs Tottenham

Six and the City

The Man City backline continues to dish out regular six-point returns thanks to their incredible run of clean sheets. Provided, that is, your selected defenders make the starting XI.

John Stones (£5.2m) returned to the starting XI against Burnley but with Aymeric Laporte (£6.0m) fit and available there’s now the risk of a benching, as happened against Sheffield United.

Some on site, such as Camzy, are considering switching to one City defender and two attackers. And, whisper it softly, on the Scoutcast Karam even suggested selling Ilkay Gündogan (£5.9m) for those who want to stick with two at the back.

The reason is Raheem Sterling (£11.6m):

I started to like someone else, he’s not performing at £11.6m just yet, but if I want to move away from defence and I want to stay in attack, then I think I would take a risk on Sterling … his expected goals is 2.31, the most of any City asset over the last four Gameweeks … for me – as someone who is struggling now with the rank – the fixtures are there for scoring goals, I think Sterling is worth a shout. Now I know Gündogan is crazy value, which I agree, but if you need that element of taking a risk – and we know that Sterling is capable of braces, and he looked good against Burnley.

– Karam

Seb added:

The only thing on Gündogan is … he’s created nine chances in the last three but only had three shots – two of those were goals. In the last match he had an xG of 0.03 … I’d just keep an eye on if things are shifting or how City are playing against a deep defence, whether Gündogan is the goalscorer. For me that would just be the difference whether I captain him or not – not whether I have him or not.

– Seb

David noted the impact of Gabriel Jesus (£9.2m) over the last two matches, his presence in the City team does stop Gündogan from shooting as often.

But the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder remained a creative force, fashioning two big chances for Sterling and creating five goal scoring opportunities in total – the most of any player at Turf Moor.

Another factor in the German’s favour is that his ‘expected minutes’, something Career Hall of Fame No 1, Fábio Borges, places great importance on, is high:

Gündogan has less competition to worry about and seems to be in the form of his life so I’m hoping he will play both matches [over the Double Gameweek]. The fact that he could be on penalties and is ridiculously priced at £5.9 million makes him a much better pick than Sterling in my opinion … if I didn’t already have Dias and Gündogan in my squad, they would definitely be my main transfer targets from Guardiola’s team.

– Fábio

Fábio talked through his transfer targets for the upcoming small Double Gameweeks in his latest FFScout contribution. Nick Pope (£5.5m) or a Burnley defender were high on his list of priorities given their favourable fixtures.

While fellow Pro Pundit Lateriser touted Luke Shaw (£4.9m) in his recent article:

With Shaw, you are not just dependent on clean sheet points. He’s become incredibly vital to the Red Devils and is a ball progressor and an attacking outlet on that left-hand side. In the last six Gameweeks, Shaw has created 19 chances, which is top amongst all defenders. Shaw is also top for big chances created (five) in the same period and is on some set pieces and corners.

– Lateriser

And the highest ranked of our elite contributors, Andy, who climbed another 200 places to 479th overall after Gameweek 22, reviewed his season so far, reflecting on what has worked well for him

This year I’ve made a conscious decision to always have who I believe is the best captain each week, even if that means transferring out a big hitter. This sounds simple, but often FPL managers will forgo the best captain because they don’t want to sell a big hitter … I’ve sold Salah, Son, and Kane twice already this season and I’ve found not having value wrapped up in them makes my decisions much easier knowing I can just buy them back as there’s no money “lost”.

– Andy

Captaincy Debate

The armband for Andy this week is firmly on Son Heung-min (£9.7m) ahead of an encounter against West Brom’s obliging defence. 

However, Captain Sensible writer, Jan, does not necessarily agree:

Despite receiving plenty of attention in the captaincy debate for Gameweek 22, I do not think Son is necessarily as strong a candidate as some might think.

– Jan

Jan notes the slump in form for Tottenham Hotspur along with the poor underlying statistics for Son in particular – his total of 15 touches in the box over his last four matches is bettered by 33 Premier League players.

So while West Brom have conceded two goals in each of their last seven matches, could a defensive approach from Sam Allardyce frustrate an off-colour Spurs?

Bruno Fernandes (£11.5m) and Marcus Rashford (£9.6m) are alternatives from a buoyant Manchester United side, and West Ham’s Michail Antonio (£6.7m) could prosper against Fulham. 

Fernandes is my top captaincy pick for Gameweek 23. Given that his underlying statistics are continuously impressive and his Manchester United colleagues are back in their groove, he could easily repeat the haul he achieved the last time Manchester United faced Everton.

– Jan

However for David – who enjoyed a successful 17-Gameweek captain run back in 2018/19 – Antonio is his favoured armband selection from this week’s Scout Picks.

The in-form West Ham striker has hit attacking returns in four of his five last games. With the highest expected goals rating of any forward in the last six Gameweeks, we are backing Antonio to continue his impressive form against a Fulham side whose recent defensive improvements have stuttered.

– Scout Picks

Team News

In the Team News, Jamie Vardy (£10.0m) is set to return following his hernia operation, while Ricardo Pereira (£5.9m) could be a useful asset in the absence of Timothy Castagne (£5.7m) over the coming weeks.

And Wilfried Zaha (£7.2m) has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.

While from Pep Guardiola’s Friday press conference, we received confirmation that Sergio Aguero (£10.3m), Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m) and Nathan Aké (£5.4m) are still on the sidelines with their respective issues.

Community Competitions and Head-to-Head Fixtures

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

Pro Pundit Andy’s youtube.com/letstalkfpl mini-league is currently the Best League in FPL based on the average score of the top five teams, taking over from our Community Members League, which slips to third.

For those participating in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 23 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

2,746 Comments Post a Comment
  1. KayArch
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    HELP !!!
    Choose 3 Defenders

    MEE
    COUFAL
    STONES
    DIAS
    TAA

    !!

    1. trinzoo
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Superb easy, bench Mee and Stones.

      1. KayArch
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Done. thanks

    2. Hansel
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Mee, Coufal, Dias

    3. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Mee, Coufal, TAA

  2. iL PiStOlErO
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Start one (Pope on goal) :
    A) Lowton
    B) Coufal

    Cpt:
    1) Bruno
    2) Antonio
    3) Bamford

    Cheers.

    1. Ohh1454
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      B1

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

        +1

    2. SharkyT
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      A1

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

    Any chance of more games being added to week 24

  4. KGFC
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Start one:

    1. DCL
    2. Gundo

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

      Gundo

    2. ItsJonesy
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      2.

    3. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      1

  5. SharkyT
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Start Coufal or Dallas?

    1. Mufc202020
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Dalla

  6. Tsparkes10
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Bruno, Raph, Son. First to 3

    1. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Brunandes

  7. FantasyTony
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Do we really expect Soucek to produce or are we all in a standoff where we don't want to be the ones with him left on the bench?

    1. Pukki Party
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      He's proved he scores points

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

      Fulham are really not capable of defending headers.
      I even consider bringing him in for Salah atm.

      1. bring_on _the_fantasy
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Mental

  8. money face bandwagon
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Boring transfer for the week. Mcathay to pope

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

      Easy money

    2. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I did Forster to Pope

      1. St Pauli Walnuts
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I did this too, Martinez other keeper and planning for BB in 26.

    3. Letsgo!
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I see saints cleansheet vs newcastle. Where brighton gonna score against burnley

  9. Mufc202020
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Repost!

    A) Bring in Alonso with Dias/Digne 1st Sub
    B) play safe and bring in Azpillicueta or Rudiger

  10. jonnybhoy
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Bench one- currently on A but unsure

    A) Gundo
    B) DCL

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

      DCL.

    2. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      A

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

      DCL for me

  11. ChippyT
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Pope
    Coufal | Justin | Cancelo
    Son | Bruno(C) | Salah | Gundo | Soucek
    Bamford | Antonio

    McCarthy | Watkins | Stones | Bednarek

    Am I right playing Pope over McCarthy, Bench order correct ?

    1. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Yes and yes

  12. pug_chops
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Start 3 from:
    A) Dallas (CRY H)
    B) Coufal (FUL A)
    C) Cancelo (LIV A)
    D) Robertson (MCI H)
    E) Mee (BHA H)

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

    Gtg??
    Martinez
    Stones cancelo coufal
    Salah son(VC) Fernandes(C) soucek
    Wilson Bamford DCL

    Nyland Mahrez Alioski Mitchell

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

      Yeah nice

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

      GTG

  14. Public user
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Martinez

    Dallas stone Coufal

    Barnes salah sterling gundo bruno

    Antonio dcl

    Help ,
    A. Ft bamford (bench barnes)
    B. Ft pope
    C. Save ft

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

      Save

      1. Public user
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Don’t feel good about not having bamford ha

    2. jonnybhoy
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      C

  15. JamieC180
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Will dance for advice

    Bench One:
    A) Dias
    B) Mee

    Bench One:
    A) DCL
    B) Soucek
    C) Grealish
    D) Wilson
    E) Maddisson

    1. Ohh1454
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      B and A

  16. Ohh1454
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Is son the standout captain pick this week ?

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

      Only if Kane were back

      1. sunzip14
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Then Kane would be the standout 🙂

    2. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Probably not but I'm going Son(c)

    3. LE CHARO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      He is to me. Terribly weak opposition and Spurs need to bounce back quickly.

  17. Stranger Mings
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Slightly different question from me now which to bench a) DCL b) gundo. C) Bowen or d) salah

    1. JamieC180
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      C imo

      1. Stranger Mings
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Cheers everyone for advice But I am really stuck on the DCL v gundo benching !!!

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

    Should I sell Son for Grealish? I really dont like how Spurs are playing last 2 months or keep Son and wait for Kane to come back.

    1. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Last time everyone sold Son including me, he scored 4 against Southampton.

  19. Tomsk
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Should I start
    A)Werner (and hope he scores for first time in 15 GW's or
    B)Raphinha (and have bottle of whiskey ready in case I miss out when Werner finally hauls).

  20. Xanthorpe
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Will Hames start?

  21. chaser123
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Play:
    A) Robertson
    B) Cancelo

    1. JamieC180
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      B

  22. Letsgo!
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Do you think capt mount is too crazy?

  23. Monkeyslut96
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    I’m tempted to do Wilson —> Antonio this week for a -4

    Have a feeling Antonio will smash this week and would captain him

    Is this crazy when Newcastle are playing an out of form southampton at home? I feel like southampton are surely going to show up today to make amends for last week

  24. Charlie&TheLads
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Anyone benching Salah?

    1. Saxe-Gotha
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I'm tempted, for Soucek.

    2. bring_on _the_fantasy
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Never bench Salah......ever!

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

        I lost about 60 bench points because of not benching him over the last 5 GWs.
        All in all I missed 104 bench points in the last 5 GWs.

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

      as it stands now, yes

      1. bring_on _the_fantasy
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        as it stands? whats happened?

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

          because he plays sh&% at the moment and our whole team does.
          there are so many better and cheaper options like playing the best header of the ball against a team like Fulham that can't defend headers at all

  25. DAZZ
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Why am i seeing Antonio rest rumours? Any truth? He’s my (C)

  26. Ibralicious
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    So Antonio’s had 180 minutes of top flight football within 6 days. Surely a rest today isn’t out of the question with his fragile hammy?

  27. bring_on _the_fantasy
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Soucek or Lingard this week?

    Keeper made Lingard look good last week?

  28. Paqueta Rice
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Surprised to see Grealish is player j own on the captaincy poll. I don’t know who to go for.

  29. The Train Driver
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Salah blanks 5 in a row and people keep playing, Soucek blanks one and everyone benches. Price dictates too much.

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

      Salah is still the 2nd top scorer in the whole game.

      1. The Train Driver
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Relevance to my post?

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

          That if you own Salah you play him every week otherwise sell him.

  30. TheOrangeMan
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Pick 3 to bench
    Gundogan
    Cancelo
    Stones
    Coufal
    Maddison
    DCL