After Sam, Az, Neale and Tom submitted their Scout Squad selections earlier this week, we have chosen our best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players for Gameweek 11 ahead of tonight’s 18:30 GMT deadline.
We line up in a 4-4-2 formation and, as ever, are limited to an £83.0m budget for our starting XI.
GOALKEEPER
Nuno Tavares (£4.3m) – who makes our bench – was so nearly our Arsenal defensive pick this week but with Kieran Tierney (£4.9m) back in training, that element of doubt led us to the safe hands of Aaron Ramsdale (£4.7m). The Arsenal shot-stopper is second only to Edouard Mendy (£6.2m) for his save percentage (85.7%) this season and the Gunners are on a roll, with their tallies of four goals conceded and as many clean sheets recorded over the last seven Gameweeks beaten only by Chelsea.
DEFENDERS
The allure of a Reece James (£5.8m) and Ben Chilwell (£6.0m) double-up is too much to resist after their midweek rests. Thomas Tuchel’s side have given up just one league goal from open play all season, keeping seven clean sheets in the process, while Burnley are still in the bottom five for goals scored despite their first-half blitz against Brentford. The two wing-backs are massively ‘overachieving’ in terms of expected goals and their current output will surely regress to more sustainable levels but even so, they are posting some attractive numbers from an attacking perspective: the pair are first and third for penalty box touches per 90 minutes among FPL defenders when we look at regular starters, and both are among the top six players in their Fantasy position for goal attempts per 90.
A number of Brighton and Hove Albion defenders have claims for inclusion this weekend but with game-time perhaps not 100% assured for Tariq Lamptey (£4.4m) and Shane Duffy (£4.4m), we’ve opted for Marc Cucurella (£5.0m) ahead of the visit of a Newcastle United side that Albion have conceded only one goal to in their last seven meetings. Cucurella doesn’t quite offer that edge-of-your-seat thrill that Lamptey does but over the last six Gameweeks, only two FPL defenders have created more chances than the Seagulls’ Spanish wing-back.
Confidence is perhaps a little shaken in Brentford after their recent run of defeats and with the jury still out on Alvaro Fernandez (£4.5m) but the visit of a Norwich side who have scored just once from open play in 2021/22 gives the west Londoners the perfect platform from which to bounce back to form. Pontus Jansson (£4.7m) looks like he has a ’15-pointer’ in him given his recent thirst for clear openings from set plays: his total of three ‘big chances’ in the last five Gameweeks is the best among FPL defenders, while teammate Ethan Pinnock (£4.7m) is the only centre-half with more penalty box touches in that time.
MIDFIELDERS
Even with reservations over the fixture (West Ham have tightened up at the back since Kurt Zouma came in and have the best expected goals conceded (xGC) figure of any side over the last four Gameweeks), you’d have to have nerves of steel to go without the free-scoring Mohamed Salah (£12.9m) in FPL at present. To be 53 points ahead of any other Fantasy asset after just 10 Gameweeks is some achievement, and he’s top for everything from shots in the box to big chances created on the underlying stats front.
Leandro Trossard (£6.4m) joins Cucurella in a Brighton double-up, with the Belgian – who has around double the number of shots and penalty box touches than Neal Maupay over the last half-dozen Gameweeks – facing the team he racked up his highest-ever FPL score against when plundering 14 points in 2020/21.
Son Heung-min (£10.3m) is our sole Spurs representative against beleaguered Everton as we wait to see what impact that Antonio Conte can have on the struggling Lilywhites but after a goalscoring first start under his new boss on Thursday, and with Harry Kane (£12.1m) still looking short of his best, the Korean makes the cut. Bettering Kane for everything from penalty box touches and big chances to key passes this season, the cheaper Son has the chance to make hay against a woefully out-of-sorts Toffees backline that has conceded in all but one of their last seven outings -and even that solitary clean sheet was against rock-bottom Norwich.
Emile Smith Rowe (£5.7m) has thrived since Arsenal’s recent switch to a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 formation, with the young midfielder bagging two goals and an assist in his last two outings. During that time, he has posted team-leading totals for successful passes in the final-third and expected assists (xA), while a share of set-piece duties offers further routes to points. This weekend’s opponents, Watford, have failed to keep a single clean sheet all season, and importantly, have conceded more chances from their right flank than any other side since Claudio Ranieri’s appointment.
FORWARDS
Brentford take on rock-bottom Norwich City in Gameweek 11, having lost three Premier League games on the bounce. However, their performances against Chelsea and Leicester City offer hope that they can return to winning ways this weekend, with the Canaries’ ongoing troubles at the back well documented. Notably, Daniel Farke’s side rank 19th for expected goals conceded (xGC) across the opening ten Gameweeks, shipping a whopping 25 goals in the process. That could be good news for Ivan Toney (£6.6m), who is looking to score his first goal since Gameweek 5, and leads the way amongst all forwards for expected assists (xA) so far this season. Bryan Mbeumo (£5.6m) had also been in the running for inclusion but with that tiny lingering doubt over a start, he’s among our Scout Picks substitutes.
Leicester City have made an inconsistent start to the season, but a trip to Elland Road in Gameweek 11 gives them an opportunity to get back on track following last weekend’s disappointing loss to Arsenal. Despite back-to-back blanks, Jamie Vardy (£10.8m) remains the third highest-scoring player in FPL, with eight goal contributions across his ten appearances. During that time, he ranks joint-second amongst all forwards for shots in the box, third for xG and is averaging 5.8 points per match. The veteran striker bagged a goal and two assists in this fixture last season, with his direct running sure to ask plenty of questions of a Leeds backline that has conceded more chances from the centre of the pitch than any other side this season.
THE CAPTAIN
We choose the Scout Picks captain using a four-way vote between our Scout Squad pundits.
Our panel voted as follows:
- Az: Salah, James, Vardy
- Sam: Salah, Vardy, Son
- Neale: Salah, James, Chilwell
- Tom: Salah, Vardy, Toney
Salah is awarded the captaincy, with Vardy nominated as vice-captain.
COMMUNITY CHAMPION
Each week, one of the Fantasy Football Scout community takes on the Scout Picks by pitting their chosen XI against ours.
The community member who beats our team by the largest margin will win a £100 Amazon Voucher and a place in our Moderators and Contributors League for the following season.
Holmes, who triumphed 59-34 in Gameweek 7, has set the target to beat.
Our champion this week is Underdog333, who was gone with a 4-3-3 of Ramsdale, Chilwell, Reguilon, Alexander-Arnold, Mitchell, Son (c), Salah, Maddison, Toney, Aubameyang, Iheanacho.
The Scout Picks are 7-3 up on the community this season.
