The Scout Squad’s best FPL players for Gameweek 27

The best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards for Blank/Double Gameweek 27 are debated by the Scout Squad panel.

For those new to this feature, it’s a weekly piece that always takes the form of a ‘Free Hit’-type selection for the upcoming Gameweek.

Fantasy Football Scout contributors Az, Sam, Neale and Tom each propose an 18-man long-list of Fantasy players, explaining their notable inclusions and omissions in the article below.

The Scout Squad also serves as a precursor to the Scout Picks, as the players listed will then be narrowed down to a squad of 15 (with the starting XI not exceeding a total cost of £83.5m) for our final weekly selection ahead of Friday’s deadline.

If you didn’t see it previously, we’ve started doing a ‘bus team’ Scout Picks earlier in the week in order to share our initial selection thoughts with Fantasy managers who perhaps couldn’t be around closer to the deadline – but we’ll still be publishing our final squad as we were before.

Each writer must meet the following requirements:

• At least one goalkeeper costing £5.0m or less
• At least one sub-£5.0m defender
• At least one midfielder listed at £6.5m or below
• At least one forward priced at £7.0m or lower
• No more than three players from the same club

SCOUT SQUAD’S PICKS OF THE BEST FPL PLAYERS FOR GAMEWEEK 27

Most popular picks: Nick Pope, Joao Cancelo, Son Heung-min, Wout Weghorst, Armando Broja, Harry Kane (four), Fraser Forster, David de Gea, Tino Livramento (three)

AZ SAID…

It’s Free Hit time for a lot of managers and I am fighting my feelings of ‘FOMO’ as I look to navigate Gameweek 27 with just a couple of transfers.

If I was Free Hitting, however, there are some non-negotiables this week for me. Son Heung-min, Wout Weghorst and Harry Kane would be the first three names I selected. Weghorst has announced himself to the Premier League with a goal and an assist against Brighton and goes straight into another Double Gameweek. Son and Kane play the league’s statistically worst defence, with the Whites surpassing Norwich City’s goals against tally thanks to their 6-0 drubbing at Anfield.

I found defenders tricky to pick this week, so have opted for a double-up of Nick Pope and Ben Mee who… double. Crystal Palace present an easier route into clean sheet points: only three clubs (Burnley, Brentford and Norwich) have less than their 59 goal attempts over their last six matches, highlighting their struggles from an attacking sense.

In midfield, Raheem Sterling is my City player of choice. Jack Grealish doesn’t appear to be fit enough for a start yet, and Sterling faces limited competition out on the left-hand side. In their last six matches, only Mohamed Salah (eight), Jarrod Bowen and Sadio Mane (both seven) better Sterling’s number of big chances (six).

Choosing between Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho is tough. Fernandes has an expected goal involvement (xGI) of 3.35 over the last six, whereas Sancho’s is creeping closer (3.17). A double-up isn’t out of the question either, if you have faith that Manchester United have turned a corner. For me, the jury is still out.

Up front, I’ve flanked the expensive Cristiano Ronaldo with Armando Broja and Patson Daka, both of whom have good fixtures against relegation-battling sides. While Norwich and Burnley have been playing better of late, I expect in-form Southampton to score a couple, and Brendan Rodgers will find himself in real trouble if his side can’t breach the Burnley backline. While Leicester are struggling defensively, they are still scoring goals, and have only failed to find the net once in their last 11 games (against Liverpool).

SAM SAID…

There are a number of players this week that feel like no-brainers for FPL managers on a Free Hit.

Three Burnley players makes perfect sense to target their Double Gameweek. I favour the defensive double-up with Nick Pope and James Tarkowski, the latter of whom returned from illness to help the Clarets to yet another clean sheet on Wednesday. Wout Weghorst is the most desirable of the Burnley players, however. Having scored and got an assist in the first match of Gameweek 26 he looks like being a key player going forward and likely will be one of the most captained players in the FPL community.

Spurs finally found form against Manchester City at the weekend, albeit that superb win was followed up by a poor result against Burnley in midweek. The City match was the first time this season that both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min had returned double-digit hauls in the same match. Kane has more goals in the last six Gameweeks than any other forward and is also top for attempts, big chances, and big chances scored. Son has created 10 opportunities in the same period and only one midfielder in the game has carved out more big chances than the Spurs man. Against a Leeds side that has conceded 36 goals since Gameweek 15, the Spurs attack should return well on Saturday.

Manchester CIty look prime for investment for their fixture against Everton. City do have four matches in 10 days, it must be said, and this is usually worrying when it comes to Pep Guardiola’s rotation. However, Raheem Sterling has little competition on his side of the pitch whilst Jack Grealish is injured and his 29 points in the last three Gameweeks is impressive. Only three midfielders have had more big chances than Sterling in the last four Gameweeks and that bodes well for returns against Everton.

On the other side of Manchester, I have included two United assets. Whilst I haven’t been impressed by the Red Devils in the last few weeks, they are picking up Premier League points and Bruno Fernandes now has back-to-back double-digit hauls. His set-piece threat could prove difficult for Watford to deal with, with his xGI of 3.35 in the last six Gameweeks making him the best United attacking pick. Defensively I have taken a chance on Luke Shaw: whilst Manchester United have conceded eight goals and only kept two clean sheets in the last six Gameweeks, Watford have only scored two goals in five matches since the arrival of Roy Hodgson. I think there could be potential for a clean sheet and some attacking threat from Shaw.

TOM SAID…

With Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal blanking in Gameweek 27, I’ve tripled up on four teams in my selections.Investing in Burnley looks an obvious tactic, given that they are the only side who play twice, against Crystal Palace and Leicester City. Nick Pope is averaging 6.3 points per match across his last eight appearances, while Wout Weghorst has hit the ground running since his deadline day move from VfL Wolfsburg, bagging three attacking returns in four starts. The last Clarets spot is up for grabs, but I’ve opted for midfielder Maxwel Cornet, who’s runs in behind could be key.

Manchester City travel to Everton, who look a little unpredictable under new manager Frank Lampard, so Joao Cancelo, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez get the nod. Prior to last weekend’s defeat against Tottenham Hotspur, City had won 12 of their last 13 matches in all competitions, conceding just seven goals. That leads me to Cancelo, who took up some really nice advanced positions last time out, plus dead-ball specialist De Bruyne and Mahrez, who has blanked in just one of his last seven Premier League appearances.

I’ve also taken three budget picks from Southampton: Fraser Forster, Tino Livramento and Armando Broja. After taking eight points from their last four games against Everton, Manchester United, Spurs and Man City, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side are one of the in-form teams in the division, and now take on a Norwich City outfit who will be without the influential Adam Idah. Ideally, I’d have added Stuart Armstrong in too, who is my favoured route into this Saints midfield, but given the maximum three players per team stipulation, he’ll have to wait for an appearance in the differential’s column later this week.

Meanwhile, I’ve also turned to Manchester United, via David de Gea, Luke Shaw and Jadon Sancho, while Son Heung-min and Harry Kane’s selections need little explanation given their opponents, who could once again be without key injured trio Liam Cooper, Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford.

NEALE SAID…

Spurs assets, Manchester City players and Burnley ‘doublers’ will all be staples of Free Hit and Scout Squad teams in Gameweek 27, so I’ll try and expand on my less-obvious picks elsewhere.

Armando Broja, whose average of 5.1 points per start is the third-best among FPL forwards this season, is also a fairly routine selection but there are a host of other Saints who are in the running this week. Stuart Armstrong nearly made it, with Norwich bottom of the table for chances conceded from their left flank over the last six matches and for much of 2021/22. He himself has racked up 10 shots since his return to the side four Gameweeks ago. Mr Dependable, James Ward-Prowse, was also in the running alongside the fit-again Tino Livramento but I’ve opted with Che Adams and Kyle Walker-Peters alongside Broja – the former as much squeezing in due to the dearth of attractive alternatives in the forward pool, but he does have three returns in as many starts. As for Walker-Peters, he’s arguably now Southampton’s first-choice full-back on current form. He’s also shown an attacking side to his game recently, with one goal and two assists in his last seven outings. In that time, he’s recorded 10 chances created, seven shots in the box and 19 penalty area touches, all competitive totals among defenders.

In the token budget midfield slot, I ended up going for Joe Willock over Armstrong and Leeds United’s Daniel James, who will be facing a Spurs side who have conceded an average of two goals per match over the last five Gameweeks. Willock might ultimately be a risk from Bruno Guimaraes in the long term but for now, he’s a fixture in the midfield of a rapidly improving side and is ranked joint-third among FPL midfielders for shots over his last four matches. After a slow start to the campaign and some stagnation under Steve Bruce, he’s beginning to find those pockets of space under Eddie Howe that made him such a budget gem last season.

Dan Burn and Marc Guehi are differentials of sorts at the back.

Newcastle and Howe don’t seem like a defensive match-up made in paradise but the Magpies have tightened up considerably of late, keeping two clean sheets and conceding only four goals in their last six matches. Burn has slotted in seamlessly at his boyhood club and not only carries a threat from set plays but, given his gargantuan frame, should also mop up a lot of recoveries, clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBIs) against a Brentford side who like to go direct. That should help boost his Gameweek 27 fortunes on the Bonus Points System (BPS).

On the subject of bonus, Marc Guehi is third among FPL defenders for baseline BPS this season. He should rack up plenty of those against Burnley, from passes completed to CBIs, and despite their recent upswing in form, the Clarets are still the division’s second-lowest scorers.