We’ve put together our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ ahead of Gameweek 30 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
In this early selection, we select a first draft of our regular picks before they are finalised and published much closer to Saturday’s deadline.
We are limited to an £83.0m budget for our starting XI, while our bench is also price-capped after a reader vote.
In the meantime, this ‘bus team’ article – a term coined by the duo behind the Always Cheating podcast – will discuss the players who are likely to be in the running.
GAMEWEEK 30 FIXTURES
Times given in BST
THE LIKELY LADS
A below-par Marcus Rashford (£7.3m) failed to register a shot when blanking in Sunday’s defeat at Newcastle United, but you’ll struggle to find many Fantasy teams without him this week. Despite his recent mini-slump, he is FPL’s leading points scorer since the World Cup and now meets an Everton side that have conceded at least two goals in each of Sean Dyche’s four away games. Rashford’s home form is also worth noting: he has blanked just three times at Old Trafford all season. Writing before Manchester United take on Brentford on Wednesday, only an unfortunate injury will keep him out of the Scout Picks.
Another player barely involved at the weekend was James Maddison (£8.3m), with Leicester City’s 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace marking the end of Brendan Rodgers’ reign. The Foxes are in a perilous position at the bottom of the table, but with Bournemouth up next, their talisman is likely to make the cut, having supplied 15 attacking returns across the season so far. If a quick appointment isn’t made, Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell will be in the dugout. They temporarily took over in 2019 after Claude Puel’s sacking, guiding Leicester to a 2-1 home win against Brighton and Hove Albion, with Maddison providing an assist. Like Rashford, we’ll also get him to see him in action again before the weekend, when the Foxes meet Aston Villa on Tuesday.
Staying with Villa, they will be hosting a Nottingham Forest side that have conceded 32 goals in 13 away matches this season, so it’s a fair bet to assume Ollie Watkins (£7.5m) will be included. The home side have scored in every game under Unai Emery so far, with his star striker growing into his role as the focal point of the attack, returning in 10 of his 13 Premier League games since the restart. In that period, only Erling Haaland (£12.0m), Rashford and Harry Kane (£11.8m) have scored more goals than Watkins.
IN CONTENTION
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