It’s time for a very early ‘early Scout Picks’, with the Gameweek 28 deadline still well over a week away.
A lot can change between now and then, of course, with FA Cup action and European club fixtures to come. The odd injury here or spot of rotation there could majorly affect the finalised XI.
The upcoming Scout Squad nominations will also help shape the final Scout Picks.
ABOUT THE SCOUT PICKS ‘BUS TEAM’
This ‘bus team’ selection is essentially a first draft of what we will finalise a week on Friday.
There are certain restrictions for our picks:
- An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
- An overall squad limit of £100.0m
- No more than three players per team
GAMEWEEK 28 FIXTURES
Above: The Gameweek 28 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker
THE LIKELY LADS
There’s only one place to start this week: the champions elect against one of the Premier League’s worst-ever teams.
The only question is which three – and it will surely be three – Liverpool players to go for.
The Reds have a UEFA Champions League double-header on either side of the visit of Southampton. It’s a Wednesday-Saturday-Tuesday run, too, which adds to the possible game-time concerns.
An EFL Cup final follows after that.
Could Arne Slot rest some of his key assets in that Gameweek 28 clash with the sorry Saints, then?
The good thing, from an FPL perspective, is that Liverpool are out of the FA Cup. They consequently get a week’s breather from Gameweek 27 to their trip to Paris.
Slot said the following about having “a normal week” just a few days ago:
“I’m not so sure if it is difficult because these players are trained for this and are used to this. If they go to a World Cup or to the Euros they have to play those amount of games in a short spell of time as well. They’re able to do so but I sometimes feel like if we have one game in between and the game starts, I’m like, ‘Hmm, they’re not as aggressive as they were’. They’re in a certain rhythm and they’ve shown this season many times already that they’re able to. But it was the reason why I changed my line-up against Plymouth so drastically because I don’t think you can do this for a whole season. You need to have once in every 4, 5, 6 weeks a normal week. What I call a normal week is two games in a week instead of three games in a week. Of course that hurt us in the FA Cup but it also means that these players are now able to play five games in a row at the highest possible level.” – Arne Slot on having to play five Premier League games in a fortnight
Discounting game-time worries, Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) and Trent Alexander–Arnold (£7.4m) are Scout Picks shoo-ins. The third Liverpool slot, as it has been all season, is up for grabs – more of which below.
Elsewhere, a Crystal Palace side in a rich vein of form get to host relegation-threatened Ipswich Town. It’s safe to assume that Daniel Munoz (£4.9m), at least, will feature in our selection. The gung-ho Munoz ranks third among defenders for expected goal involvement (xGI) in 2024/25.
Finally, is Cole Palmer (£11.1m) still a ‘likely lad’ after Tuesday? The once ice-cold asset is now tepid, goalless in six Gameweeks. The visit of Leicester City, without a clean sheet in 19 matches, does present him with the perfect platform to rediscover that frozen touch. We thought that about Southampton (h), too, mind…
IN CONTENTION
There could, and probably will, be more Liverpool, Palace and Chelsea assets making the cut.
Revisiting the Reds, you’d ideally want another attacker in there given the potential for a cricket score. Cody Gakpo (£7.5m), Luis Diaz (£7.5m) and Diogo Jota (£7.2m) are all in the mix – and the minutes they get in France next week could have the final say. At the moment, it’s hard to call which two will start.
Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.3m) could be a neat alternative, however. He’s Liverpool’s leading shot-taker over the last six Gameweeks, ahead of even Salah for non-penalty xG in that time. There’s a minutes risk there with Curtis Jones (£5.2m) lurking, too, but we’re probably going to say that about most Liverpool names at this early juncture.
Above: Liverpool players sorted by shots over the last six Gameweeks
As for Palace, Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) looks set to miss out through injury; he would have unquestionably made the picks had he been fit. Eddie Nketiah (£5.9m), fresh from back-to-back goals in league and cup, could instead get the nod.
Eberechi Eze (£6.7m) and Ismaila Sarr (£5.5m) could alternatively make the cut. They’d not been particularly clinical before Sarr’s midweek brace, combining for a grand total of zero goals between Gameweeks 20-26. The Senegal international’s four shots against Aston Villa actually matched his total in the preceding seven matches.
Above: Eze is comfortably clear for shots and key passes combined over the last six Gameweeks – but that isn’t reflected in the xG contributions
Back to Chelsea, Pedro Neto (£6.2m) was one of our differentials in Gameweek 27 – and there’s a temptation to promote him to Scout Picks duty. His ‘out of position’ run-outs up top continue, although he basically did a reverse Palmer on Tuesday: one shot, one goal and one key pass, one assist.
Marc Cucurella (£5.1m) was someone who made the Scout Picks XI last Gameweek and has a good chance of doing so again. Leicester have conceded a lot of goals from their problem right flank this season (see below), which further raises Cucurella’s stock – and maybe even that of the much-maligned Christopher Nkunku (£5.7m), who has operated on Chelsea’s left in the last two matches.
Afforded more attacking license these days, Cucurella has had 12 shots in as many appearances – he’d had one all season before that.
Above: Where opponents have created chances (and goals) from against Leicester this season
Away from these three clubs, there are some trickier-to-call fixtures.
Representation from Arsenal’s division-best defence may be a go-er against sorry Manchester United. The Gunners themselves haven’t impressed from an attacking perspective of late, so there’s less in their frontline.
Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) and Yoane Wissa (£6.4m) are viable candidates against Aston Villa, who were all at sea on Tuesday. Villa’s dismal tally of three clean sheets all season is better only than the bottom three clubs.
Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak (£9.5m) is in the Scout Picks mix most weeks but might a West Ham player or two instead be advisable, given the Magpies’ defensive woes (16 conceded in six games) and the fact that they’re off to Wembley six days after Gameweek 28?
THE LONGER SHOTS
Could you call who is going to start up front for Brighton and Hove Albion and Fulham, let alone the result of a match between the two? Fulham’s clean sheet shortage (four in 27) raises a bit of interest in Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) et al but there are probably safer punts elsewhere this week.
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton is also tough to call. Nevertheless, Beto (£5.0m) has demanded attention in recent weeks and there are worse forward shouts this week.
Tottenham Hotspur’s recent improvement, coupled with the return of myriad first-teamers, also means that Bournemouth’s trip to north London is not as favourable as it once looked. Justin Kluivert‘s (£6.1m) 10 away goals in 2024/25 make him a consideration, of course. Dango Ouattara (£5.2m) is less so, now that Evanilson (£5.6m) is back.
Finally, you wouldn’t back against Chris Wood (£7.2m) to find the net against Manchester City – as he has done against 13 other teams in 2024/25. You’d rather he was facing the shambolic City of November/December but Pep Guardiola’s side did give up plenty of chances to Spurs on Wednesday, so they’re still not the formidable force of past.
GAMEWEEK 28: EARLY SCOUT PICKS
