Scout’s Matchday 5 picks for the free-to-play SPITCH Fantasy game

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The Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline has passed – and now we play the waiting game…

While you’re waiting to set up your bus team, have a go at SPITCH.

You effectively have a Free Hit chip to play every week with SPITCH and are only judged on your best five matchdays.

So one week of accidentally forgetting is no big drama – even starting in April still gives you a chance of winning prizes.

There are two season-long options for the 2022/23 campaign, one of which is free and has a £2,500 prize pool.

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HOW TO PLAY SPITCH

SPITCH is a platform where managers can use their football knowledge to defeat others and win money prizes.

As with FPL, managers commit to a formation and have a budget to buy players for their line-up, in the quest to score points and win prizes.

But unlike FPL, managers can actually go under or over their ₵1,200 budget – this will determine how many positive or negative points they begin the round with.

Each week of ‘Season’ mode requires a new line-up with no captains. Managers are allowed up to nine players from the same club and can alter teams mid-matchday. ‘Safety Net’ automatically replaces non-starters, whilst a sophisticated scoring system rewards defensive actions in a way that FPL does not.

MATCHDAY 4 REVIEW

These were the top-scoring players from the latest round of matches.

Meanwhile, 18 players finished with a negative score, with Fred (-59) and Yoane Wissa (-52) racking up the worst totals.

SCOUT’S MATCHDAY 5 LINE-UP

The selection for Matchday 4 totalled 2,549 points, which ranked at 5,501st place.

Rodrigo (386) is one of several players who blanked in FPL yet had an excellent game in SPITCH, showcasing the difference between these two Fantasy formats. Names like James Tarkowski (519), Youri Tielemans (452) and Gabriel Martinelli (559).

In fact, it was the latter’s best SPITCH score of the season whilst being his first FPL blank so far.

Speaking of blanks – Mohamed Salah (31). He somehow blanked during Liverpool’s 9-0 win over Bournemouth, although at least our selection grabbed 634 points from Trent Alexander-Arnold.

We start the week on 40 points, due to spending ₵40 under the ₵1,200 budget. In another 3-3-4 system, Jose Sa (₵63) is selected in goal because he faces Bournemouth – a side that has just suffered 4-0, 3-0 and 9-0 defeats.

Joao Cancelo (₵175) should be safe from rotation when Manchester City host Nottingham Forest, although his underlying attacking stats have been poor. He finished last season with the most shots, penalty area touches and expected goals (xG) amongst defenders but is currently far off in all categories.

In the 9-0, Andrew Robertson (₵104) was rested for the final 20 minutes so should start against Newcastle United, whilst fellow Scotland left-back Kieran Tierney (₵61) made his first start of the season against Fulham.

The 200,000 FPL managers who had just bought Ilkay Gundogan (₵170) were frustrated to see him benched on Saturday but that likely means he starts against Forest, hoping to produce an attacking return for the fourth match in a row.

Meanwhile, Pascal Gross (₵85) scored his third goal from four games in the 1-0 win over Leeds United. There was also yet another assist for Dejan Kulusevski (₵94) – no player has more since his February debut.

Up front, Rodrigo (₵66) gets the nod again when facing Everton at home. Roberto Firmino (₵126) is unlikely to replicate his eye-watering 941 points against Newcastle but will have the chance to score past them for the first time in 11 attempts.

Wilfried Zaha (₵60) is selected on the assumption that he shakes off the injury that saw him miss out on Saturday. Finally, the team is finished off with Gabriel Jesus (₵156) and a promising opponent in Aston Villa.

JOIN THE FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT COMMUNITY ON SPITCH

You can join other Fantasy Football Scout users in our community on Spitch here.

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