Scout Picks – Gameweek 34

The midweek Scout Squad article revealed our unease at overloading on assets from the three double Gameweek teams, amid concerns around rotation, lack of form and, in certain cases, testing fixtures to follow.

With that in mind, we can now reveal just how many Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough players survived the cut to clinch Scout Picks place.

Save, bonus and clean sheet points can make goalkeepers a lucrative source of profit in a double Gameweek. This has seen us turn to Crystal Palace’s Wayne Hennessey (4.3), who should be kept busy away to Liverpool and at home to Spurs. Over his last four, the Welshman earned five save points and takes on a pair of attacking sides that have fired off 140 goal attempts between them over the same time frame.

A pair of double Gameweek defenders make our backline trio, with Ben Gibson (5.0) earning a spot due to security of starts for a Middlesbrough side that travels to Bournemouth before hosting Sunderland.

While we believe Boro are likely to concede against the Cherries, we have pinpointed the Black Cats encounter as key for the centre-back – the Wearsiders’ two goals against West Ham last weekend were their first in the league since Gameweek 24. With six sets of bonus returns, the 11.2%-owned Gibson also offers a further route to a return.

Eric Bailly (5.4) is our Manchester United defender of choice.

Injuries to fellow centre-backs Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo mean that Jose Mourinho can ill-afford to rest the Ivorian. A total of 13 bonus points is more than any of his defensive team-mates, with clean sheets a very real possibility away to Burnley and Manchester City, considering the Red Devils have conceded just three times over their last six.

Goal threat and shut-out potential finds Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso (6.8) completing our rearguard selection. Back in training after recovering from illness, the top-scoring FPL defender has already racked up five goals and four assists ahead of Southampton’s midweek visit.

Just one double Gameweek pick, Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha (6.0), makes the cut among our midfield picks.

Five double-digit FPL points hauls this season look too good to ignore against a leaky Liverpool defence that has conceded in all but one of their last six at Anfield, with Jurgen Klopp’s also nursing some injury concerns. Spurs may just offer up further returns when they visit Selhurst Park, given that they have conceded five in their last six away days.

As mentioned, we believe that Bournemouth will breach the Boro backline, which has seen us opt for Cherries midfielder Josh King (6.0), who has five goals and an assist over his last six Gameweeks.

With money saved by nominating this cut-price pair, we have enough within our budget to splash out on FPL’s two most expensive midfielders Alexis Sanchez (11.5) and Eden Hazard (10.4).

Of this premium priced duo, the Chelsea schemer has the edge in terms of form over his last six starts, with four goals and an assist compared with Sanchez’ two strikes.

Both are set to host sides that have struggled for defensive returns on the road.

Hazard’s visitors Southampton have conceded five times in their last three outside of St Mary’s, while Sanchez – back in the goals at Middlesbrough on Monday – hosts a Leicester City side that have conceded at least twice in five of their last six away fixtures.

Similar to midfield, we’ve only opted for one double Gameweek asset up front.

Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic would have made the cut but, after succumbing to injury in last night’s Europa League game, we have instead turned to the man who sits second in our newly-launched Captain Poll – Middlesbrough’s Alvaro Negredo (6.2).

The Spaniard has netted in each of his last two starts and offers a promising pair of matches, with the Cherries and Black Cats shipping a combined 21 goals over their last six.

With 93,000+ transfers in this week, Negredo’s ownership has soared to 13% and his kind price tag means we can fit in two premium-priced single-Gameweek strikers who are battling it out for this season’s Golden Boot.

Romelu Lukaku (10.5) looks primed to add to his 24 goals when he drops by the London Stadium to take on a West Ham defence that has shipped 13 in their last six.

The Everton forward’s record in head-to-heads with the Hammers is also difficult to ignore – he’s scored in each of his nine Everton appearances against West Ham.

Spurs’ Harry Kane (11.5) also earns a call-up as he travels to Crystal Palace in midweek – over their last four, no side has conceded more shots in the box than the Eagles’ 48.

Even though the Spurs talisman has failed to score in his last three road trips in the league, he has produced double figures in each of his last three starts and, fully motivated by the title and Golden Boot race, Kane presents a convincing case.

Two goals in as many appearances, plus a home tie with a Watford side that has shipped eight in their last four away trips, ensures that Hull City’s Harry Maguire (4.4) earns a place on our bench.

We have also handed a substitute’s role to Scout Picks regular Gylfi Sigurdsson (7.5), who has failed to deliver attacking returns over his last five.

With the Swans mired in the relegation zone, two points from safety, we are backing the Icelander to secure a much-needed win when Stoke City drop by. Over their last four road trips, Mark Hughes’ charges have shipped eight goals without reply, arguably making Saturday’s match a nervous watch for the 63,000+ FPL bosses who have shown Sigurdsson the door only this week.

Marcus Rashford (6.5), this week’s most popular player in the transfer market, with 172,000+ new FPL owners, completes our bench.

A surge in popularity follows a heightened security of starts due to Ibrahimovic’s injury. With two goals in as many league matches and the winning strike against Anderlecht last night, the 19-year-old offers far more than mere appearance points. A slight question mark over his pitch time against Burnley – given he played 120 minutes on Thursday night – has prevented us from adding him to our first XI.

Community Champion

The community member who beats our picks by the biggest margin over the campaign will win a £100 Amazon Voucher and a place in our Contributors and Moderators League for the following season.

The current champion to beat is Boris Bodega, who achieved a 33-point margin of victory over us in Gameweek 15.

This week’s champion A Manager Has No Name has opted for a 3-4-3 formation of: Jakupovic; Gibson, Blind, Bailly; Hazard, Eriksen, Coutinho, Ozil; Negredo, Lukaku, Benteke.