We have put together an early draft of our Scout Picks for Gameweek 22 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

We will finalise our weekly selection nearer Saturday’s deadline.

The upcoming Scout Squad nominations and the pre-match press conferences will help shape our final Scout Picks.

But this ‘bus team’, at the very least, offers an insight into the players and teams who will be under consideration.

There are, as ever, certain restrictions for our squad:

• An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
• An overall squad limit of £100.0m
• No more than three players per team

GAMEWEEK 22 FIXTURES

Above: The Gameweek 22 fixtures sorted by difficulty, on our Fixture Ticker.

THE LIKELY LADS

There really aren’t too many players who you would say are ‘nailed’ for Scout Picks duty in Gameweek 22.

Perhaps the likeliest source of defensive returns will be at the City Ground, where Arsenal will face Nottingham Forest, a team that might still be reeling from their “unacceptable” FA Cup loss to Wrexham.

Averaging 7.5 points per match this season and delivering only three blanks in his 14 starts, Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.7m) is on a different level to every other Fantasy defender right now. And with the most clean sheets (10) and fewest expected goals conceded (xGC), it’s easy to see why we have decided to include an Arsenal defender.

At least one of Morgan Rogers (£7.6m) or Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) also seems like a no-brainer. The pair are ninth and seventh respectively for FPL points since the start of December. Sunday’s opponents, Everton, are out of form at present (one win in six) and will be without the suspended Michael Keane (£4.8m) for the trip to Villa Park, where Unai Emery’s troops have won 11 in a row in all competitions.   

IN CONTENTION

Staying with the Midlands outfit, and Matty Cash (£4.8m) is certainly on our ‘maybe’ pile: with the exception of Neco Williams (£4.7m), Jurrien Timber (£6.3m) and Pedro Porro (£5.2m), he has surpassed all other Fantasy defenders for combined shots and key passes in 2025/26. Aston Villa, meanwhile, have already kept four league clean sheets on home turf, conceding only eight times in 10 outings.

As for Liverpool, we’ll keep a spot free for Hugo Ekitike (£8.9m) should the Frenchman look like he may start against Burnley – as seems likely after Monday’s cameo in the FA Cup. But for now, we have chosen Florian Wirtz (£8.2m), who, before the Reds visited Arsenal in Gameweek 21, had amassed 31 points over four matches, with 10 shots and eight chances created. Additionally, Burnley rank third-bottom for key passes conceded from the centre zone. Liverpool defensive coverage is likely, too, simply due to their opponent, with Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m) and Jeremie Frimpong (£5.7m) firmly in the mix.

Elsewhere, attacking representation from Arsenal seems probable – but who? It appears to be a choice between Bukayo Saka (£10.2m) and Declan Rice (£7.3m). The former has registered an attacking return in eight of the last 11 Gameweeks, but Rice is cheaper and is actually averaging more points per start away from home (7.5/4.9) over the season so far:

Saka is ahead for expected goal involvement (xGI) on the road, however, leading by 6.45 to 4.34.

Given the current uncertainty at Chelsea, with Liam Rosenoir only recently appointed, as well as the challenge posed by a competent Brentford team, we have decided to omit defensive coverage in our ‘bus team’, but have opted for Enzo Fernandez (£6.4m) over Cole Palmer (£10.4m) further forward.

Playing as a No 10, Enzo’s five chances created was the most of any Chelsea player against Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup on Saturday, while he also racked up four shots, clearly making the most of his 21 minutes on the pitch. Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final should provide clearer insight into what to expect under Rosenior.

The Manchester derby at Old Trafford is another eye-catching encounter. The hosts’ dearth of clean sheets (only one in 14 matches) will interest Erling Haaland (£15.1m) and Phil Foden (£8.7m), while Antoine Semenyo (£7.6m), Rayan Cherki (£6.8m) and Jeremy Doku (£6.4m) are other names to consider, provided we have enough confidence in their minutes. As for United, it’s only really Bruno Fernandes (£9.1m) putting his hand up right now.

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United is a tricky one to call. Thomas Frank’s side are in really poor form, having failed to win six of their last seven matches in all competitions, so it’s perhaps likelier that Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m) makes the Scout Picks cut. Porro does at least carry an attacking threat: no FPL defender has created as many chances as the Spaniard in 2025/26.

From the other defenders, it’s mainly Sunderland (CRY), Newcastle United (wol) and Brighton and Hove Albion (BOU) options under consideration.

Bruno Guimaraes (£7.2m), Anthony Gordon (£7.5m), Kaoru Mitoma (£6.1m) and Danny Welbeck (£6.2m) are also in the mix. A home clash against Bournemouth looks pretty appealing for the latter pair, given that the Cherries are bottom for xGC on the road:

At Elland Road, the in-form Brenden Aaronson (£5.4m) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) will fancy their chances of bolstering their goal counts against a Fulham side who have banked just one away clean sheet all season. Harry Wilson (£5.9m) and Raul Jimenez (£6.2m) are also on the radar, with Leeds United clean sheet-less on home turf since August.

THE LONGER SHOTS

There probably won’t be too many takers in Matheus Cunha (£8.2m), whose good run of form seems to have come to an end.

Man City defenders such as Matheus Nunes (£5.5m) and Nico O’Reilly (£5.3m) perhaps carry more appeal, although given their recent injury problems at the back, it’s hard to see them dislodging the options currently selected in our ‘bus team’.

The in-form Igor Thiago (£7.1m) could feature, and it’ll be really interesting to see how the Scout Squad panel view him this week, but an away trip to Chelsea isn’t the easiest of fixtures.

GAMEWEEK 22 EARLY SCOUT PICKS