Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice to Double Gameweek 25

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Double Gameweek 25 ahead of today’s 18:30 GMT deadline.

Leeds United and Southampton are the two teams with the extra fixture – the Saints travel to Elland Road on Tuesday evening.

The other main talking point as we plot our moves for the current round of fixtures and beyond, is the potential of more Double Gameweeks in the near future. Pep Guardiola hinted that Gameweeks 26 and 27 will be Doubles for his side but at the time of writing, we await confirmation from the Premier League.

Captain Candidates

Patrick Bamford (£6.9), Raphinha (£5.4m) and Danny Ings (£8.5m) are the leading trio in the captain poll, with the highly-owned Bamford the popular choice.

The best-value forward in FPL, returning over 19.1 points per million spent, Bamford has garnered over 50 per cent of the vote. This in itself poses Fantasy managers an intriguing shield/sword dilemma:

[Bamford]’s currently in just over 53 per cent of teams, the bulk of those will captain him so if you don’t captain Bamford you will probably get pretty much no ranking gain from him, [and] you could possibly get a red arrow if there’s a surge of support in people drafting him in. Whereas Raphinha was in under three per cent of teams [so] if you captain him the gains could be absolutely huge.

– Joe, Captaincy Video

The potential for either Leeds player to do well is there, especially in that Tuesday fixture. As Jan pointed out in his Captain Sensible article, Southampton have given up 11 big chances in the last four matches, the joint-most in the Premier League, while only Liverpool have a worse expected goals conceded (xGC) figure.

Encouraging stuff. But two bits of team news could influence our decisions.

Marcelo Bielsa confirmed that Kalvin Phillips (£4.9m) will miss the first match against Wolves and could possibly sit out the Southampton game too. While Ralph Hasenhüttl revealed that Southampton will be without Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.7m) for a few weeks. 

Without Kalvin Phillips they are really not the same team, he is the guy that holds the whole thing together both defensively and going forward … he’s missed five games this year and … Bamford’s blanked in three of those five games so it makes me a bit worried about him.

– David, Captaincy Video

Speaking on the Scoutcast, “professor of LeedsSeb, as he was dubbed by Joe, conceded that Phillips offers more than Pascal Struijk (£3.9m) in an attacking sense. But, nonetheless, his optimal Leeds trio for the Double would be Bamford, Raphinha and Jack Harrison (£5.5m).

The absence of Walker-Peters is good news for Harrison in particular. The Saints have conceded 17 chances down their right flank over their last four matches and with Walker-Peters missing out, it means we could see one of the centre-backs filling in.

Although, Brazilian Raphinha could also benefit:

Harrison and Raphinha have swapped sides a couple of times in the last few matches … Harrison was obviously subbed off last match … but Raphinha actually moved to the left with Hélder Costa coming on the right, so there is a chance you’ll see Raphinha on the left.

And on Harrison himself, his last two goals I believe, certainly his last goal, came straight down the middle. So if he’s up against the weak full-back that might be more for the assist [but] for the actual goals we might see him making those runs through the middle.

So I think realistically, what’s the crux of this conversation, it’s all quite close. Get the three attackers if you can, if you can’t get Bamford and Raphinha.

– Seb

Raphinha and Harrison touch heatmap last four matches

When it comes to deciding who to captain, it’s worth noting that Raphinha takes corners while Bamford is expected to stay on penalty duties.

No Premier League team has conceded more spot-kicks this season than Wolves (seven). And Southampton are not doing particularly well in that department, either, having given up four penalties  in 2020/21.

But Danny Ings should not be discounted, the Saints talisman has recorded six attempts on goal in his last two Premier League fixtures, including three big chances. And Southampton’s high-press could prove effective against Leeds, as Arsenal discovered in Gameweek 24 scoring four goals. 

Speaking on FPL Black Box, Pro Pundit Mark revealed that he is contemplating buying Ings with one of his two free transfers, factoring in that Southampton may have three Double Gameweeks in the next four. Although, as Greyhead noted in the 100th edition of The Great and The Good, how many of us will trust Danny Ings’ fragile hamstring to manage two games in quick succession?

And, as Jamie pointed out in his Members-only analysis of Southampton, if Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side are to get the best out of Ings, then they will need to create more chances, with the Saints creation ranking near the bottom in their last six matches.

Nonetheless, Ings is the only Southampton player included in the Scout Picks starting XI alongside a triple up of Bamford, Raphinha and Stuart Dallas (£5.0m) from Marcelo Bielsa’s troops.

Pro Pundit Plans

Along with Jack Harrison, the other players who could exploit the weakness down Southampton’s right side are Timo Werner (£9.2m) and Marcos Alonso (£5.7m).

I get the feeling that [Alonso] could drop a 15-pointer in any game if he continues in the same attacking vein. It looks like Tuchel is going to persist with the 3-4-3 formation and his comments with regards to Alonso seems particularly encouraging.

– Lateriser

As high-flying Pro Pundit Andy mentioned, the Spaniard offers massive potential at both ends of the pitch if you can cope with him missing the odd game.

Chelsea were picked out by both Andy and Lateriser due to their appealing fixtures, despite a difficult-looking Gameweek 26.

West Brom, Leeds and Palace are all in the bottom three for expected goals conceded this season, with Everton the seventh-worst team in the league. The fixtures from Gameweek 27 look prime for goals.

– Andy

Werner, who has started Chelsea’s last four matches under new boss Thomas Tuchel, has accumulated the joint-highest number of big chances (five) over the last four Gameweeks. 

Lateriser also noted that for those who are not Wildcarding in Gameweeks 25/26, there is a decent fixture swing in Gameweek 31, and it could be a good time to Wildcard. Something fellow Pro Pundit Az is planning to do, his thinking no doubt supported by some colourful spreadsheets!

Meanwhile, Werner was not one of the forward options being considered by Hall of Fame No 1 Fábio Borges.

The consistent top 10,000 manager is looking to replace the injured Michail Antonio (£6.6m) in his side and, after running the rule over several candidates, it boiled down to getting Danny Ings now or benching Antonio before buying Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.7m) for Double Gameweek 26.

Community Competitions and Head-to-Head Fixtures

This is your last chance to enter the open-to-all Fantasy Football Scout Cup with qualifying for the first round taking place in Gameweek 25. Qualifying for the Members Cup – entry for Premium Members only – gets underway in Gameweek 26.

A total of £300 in prizes is available across the two tournaments.

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

Impressively, the two main FFScout mini-leagues are the top two Leagues in FPL, followed by Andy’s own mini-league. Well done to the top five managers in each of those mini-leagues.

There’s been another small tweak this week by Mat (aka matzi11a) to the fixtures and results displayed on the Head-to-Head Leagues main page.

From now on the scores and tables will update each night, so managers can see how they are getting on as the Gameweek unfolds.

The fixtures for Gameweek 25 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

2,870 Comments Post a Comment
  1. JenkoJunko
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Slight repost and bottomed soz 🙂
    Mcarthy
    Cresswell Cancelo Shaw
    Sterling Salah Bruno Soucek
    Bam Antonio Ings

    Forster / Bissouma / Holding / Neco

    A. Sterling & Neco to KDB & Dallas -4
    B. Sterling & Bissouma to KDB & Raph -4

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

      B

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

      a

  2. Punty McPuntface
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    So there is still every chance that these additional fixtures get announced for gw 26?

    1. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Yes.

      Real life and sports administration continues.

    2. bitm2007
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      It will be a surprise if none are announced for GW26, the question is which will be.

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

    Chances of playing for the following..?

    Cancelo
    Gundo
    Cavani
    Antonio

    1. jb1985
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      50%
      50%
      75%
      60%

  4. bitm2007
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    WC team.

    Martinez, McCarthy
    Dias, Stones, Shaw, White, Struijk
    Salah, Gundogan, Fernandes, Son, Raphinha
    Ings, Bamford, Wadkins

    Is keeping 1.6m ITB sensible so I can do either Raphinha to Grealish (if fit), or Ings to Kane if Saints don't get three DGW's in a row ?

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

    A- Double with Mee and Pope
    B- Play Martienz

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

      A

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

      A it's west Brom v Leicester

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

      Cheers

  6. AC/DC AFC
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    G2G

    ... To the pub?

    Or for a haircut.

    Yay or Nay?

    1. djman102
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Waiting for confirmation of lockdowns

  7. Better Call Raul
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Choose one:

    Raphina
    Ings

    1. Salah’s Sonnet
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Raphinha

    2. Dream Killers 2.0
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Raphinha

    3. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Everyone seems to be going both.

    4. Egg noodle
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      No

  8. WVA
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Who to start?

    A. Cancelo (worried about a cameo)
    B. Stones (more likely to start IMO)

    1. Dream Killers 2.0
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      B

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

      I've gone A

  9. damiang2233
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Captain choice?

    1. Bamford
    2. Raphina
    3. Salah
    4. Fernandes
    5. DCL

    1. Dream Killers 2.0
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      1

  10. Chief Break-Everything
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Gundo - Raphinha for free?

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

      Yes

  11. fridge
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    McCarthy
    Dias. Dallas. Lowton
    Salah. Bruno. Rashford. Raphinha
    Bamford. Antonio

    Pope. DCL. Stones. Coufal

    A) Antonio/ DCL > Ings
    B) save FT
    C) something else?

    1. djman102
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Antonio to Ings for me.

  12. Dream Killers 2.0
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Is this good to go? Bench order correct?

    Areola
    Cancelo, Dias, AWB
    Salah, Bruno, Raphinha, Son, Gundo
    Bamford, Watkins

    DDG, Tarkowski, DCL, Coufal

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

      Play DCL and bench Gundo

  13. Kun Tozser
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Any Bamford triple cappers?

    1. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      A few

    2. Boly Would
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Wonder if he's triple captained himself

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

      Nah, feels too optimistic.

  14. Salah’s Sonnet
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Well after a lot of indecision, I’ve decided not to WC.

    So.....this look GTG? Any hits needed?

    Martinez
    Dallas - Shaw - Dias
    Raphinha (c) - Bruno - Gundogan - Salah - Son
    Bamford - Richarlison
    ___________________________________
    Pope: Antonio: Stones: Holding

    3.8m ITB, 0FT

    Maybe Richarlison > Kane/Ings for a hit?

    Appreciate any feedback during this rush hour 🙂

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

      Nice team, no hit needed. Very similar to me,

      Pope
      Cancelo Mee Dallas
      Salah Bruno Son Gundogan Raphina
      Ings Bamford
      Martinez Antonio Stones Coufal

      1. Salah’s Sonnet
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Cheers bud! Yeah yours is similar and looking swweeeet!
        Just so undecided about Pope or Martinez, gotta be Pope hasn’t it?

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

          Yeah has to be Pope home v West Brom but only because Martinez has Leicester.

          1. Salah’s Sonnet
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            yeah very true, Pope it is then 🙂

    2. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Who is your vc?

      1. Salah’s Sonnet
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Oh, sorry haha, VC will be Bruno

  15. Pedram
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Pick two to start

    A. Shaw
    B. Dias
    C. Dunk

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

      Dunk and Shaw - in that order

  16. xtina
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Start Gundo or Cavani?

    1. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Gundo for me but Cavani tempting.

      Many selling the latter.

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

        Thanks!

  17. Flynny
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Any confirmation of a grealish injury?

    Thanks

    1. PatrickDawson1976
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      shin stress fracture, out for 4-6 weeks

      1. how now brown cow
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        That's the rumour. No confirmation.

      2. jdp219
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        source?

      3. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        For true?!

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

          It's just a rumour tho....

      4. DA Minnion (Former great)
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Are you serious?

      5. jb1985
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        If that's true makes my life easier to swap for Son next week.

  18. Agamenmon
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Who to start?

    A) Cresswell
    B) Rudiger

    1. Vlekz
        3 years, 1 month ago

        B

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

      I have BB left with no WC so need to think in the future. Who is best 4.5m DEF for upcoming double??

    3. Vlekz
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Please RMWCT BB26 FH 29

        Ederson (Martinez)
        TAA Dias Rudiger Shaw (strujik)
        Salah barnes Gundo (raphinha jorginho)
        Bamford ings DCL

        Will get kane + son/vardy (-4) next week

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

          Don’t like the two pricey GK or Jorginho but rest of the team is okay.

          1. Vlekz
              3 years, 1 month ago

              That's for BB

        2. Twisted Saltergater
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Bring in Mané or KdB for Gundog?

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

            Mane

          2. pingissimus
            • 5 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            KdB

            City are scoring for fun again. 24 in last 8. Reasonable to suppose he'll get his share of the greater returns

          3. Twisted Saltergater
            • 14 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            thanks guys

        3. Plagued by indecision
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Grealish > Raphinha and TAA > Dallas gives me an easy route to Kane (for Antonio) in GW26. Thoughts?

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

            I would, for free

        4. Zladan
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Bamford or Raphinha captain?

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

            Bamford is the "shield" pick, Raphina the "sword" pick

        5. Edge
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Bench

          A) Son
          B) Gundo
          C) Kane

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

            b

          2. Sid1891
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Gundo if must

        6. Nutella
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Start three of:

          A) TAA (EVE)
          B) Lowton (WBA)
          C) Barnes (WBA)
          D) Stones (ars)
          E) Gundogan (ars)

          Currently benching the two city boys, is this daft?

          Thanks gents!

          1. IN SANE IN DE BRUYNE
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            ACE

          2. djaddy
            • 3 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Start Stones. Was rested against Everton

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

          Do we expect Cancelo to start?

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

          Sell cavani or Antonio for Bamford?

        9. g40steve
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Choosing players on WC include Ings or straight to Kane?

          1. My neck my back my Saed Kol…
            • 9 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Can you not get both?

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

          RMWCT
          Martinez/mccarthy
          Cancelo/stones/shaw/vestergaard/konsa
          Salah/bruno/Son/Gundogan/raphinha
          Ings/watkins/Bamford

          Ings->Kane and BB next GW

        11. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          What’s all this about Grealish being injured

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

            Not pictured in training

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

              "Not pictured in training"
              is this confirmed?

          2. Eh, just one more thing ...
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            People suggesting a shin injury but haven’t seen any confirmation anywhere.

            1. Corgz Dark side of the Loon
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Seems odd to me that its a shin injury when we all know he plays with no shin pads.........just sounds wrong ?? however loads on twitter about it.