The Scout Squad’s best FPL players for Gameweek 16

The best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards for Gameweek 16 are discussed and debated by Fantasy Football Scout contributors Az, Sam, Neale and Tom.

For those new to this feature, it’s a weekly piece that always takes the form of a ‘Free Hit’-type selection for the upcoming Gameweek.

It’s a slightly smaller pool of players up for contention this week as we’re probably going to be one fixture down due to the expected postponement of Brighton and Hove Albion v Tottenham Hotspur.

All of our panelists will be proposing an 18-man long-list of Fantasy players, explaining their notable inclusions and omissions in the article below.

The Scout Squad also serves as a precursor to the Scout Picks, as the players listed will then be narrowed down to a squad of 15 (with the starting XI not exceeding a total cost of £83.0m) for final our weekly selection ahead of Friday’s deadline.

Each writer must meet the following requirements:

• At least one goalkeeper costing £5.0m or less
• At least one sub-£5.0m defender
• At least one midfielder listed at £6.5m or below
• At least one forward priced at £7.0m or lower
• No more than three players from the same club

SCOUT SQUAD’S PICKS OF THE BEST FPL PLAYERS FOR GAMEWEEK 16

Most popular picks: Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joao Cancelo, Reece James, Jarrod Bowen, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jamie Vardy, Callum Wilson, Michail Antonio (four), Ederson, David de Gea, Diogo Dalot, Mason Mount, Bernardo Silva, Joshua King (three)

AZ SAID…

At the time of writing, it looks like the Brighton v Spurs game will be called off, so I’ve erred on the side of caution and not selected any of those players for my Scout Squad this week. Instead I’ve focused on some of the more promising-looking fixtures for attacking returns, with Norwich v Manchester United, Chelsea v Leeds and Leicester v Newcastle all set for goals, goals and more goals.

Injuries to Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have seen the emergence of Diego Dalot and Alex Telles come to the fore. While I think Shaw immediately gets his place back when fit, Dalot may yet have a run in the side after an impressive showing against Crystal Palace. Takehiro Tomiyasu also appears to have nailed down the right-back slot berth at Arsenal, and Southampton are susceptible down their left-hand side, having conceded 16 chances in the last four matches.

In midfield, we’ve got some great new options emerging, with Mason Mount, Jarrod Bowen and Bernardo Silva all returning double digits last week. With five goals and five assists this season and an expected goal involvement (xGI) of one every 146.8 minutes, Mount seems like a great option ahead of a favourable-looking tie against a once-again patched-up Leeds side. Meanwhile, Bernardo Silva is outperforming his stats (he was last week’s biggest xGI over performer with a delta of 1.78) but remains a constant presence in the league’s second most potent attack. Those looking at Bowen ahead of West Ham’s kind run will likely be kicking themselves that he delivered a week early, but at just 4.5% and with much better underlying numbers than the popular Michail Antonio, should a switch – or double-up – be on the cards?

Up front, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jamie Vardy are front-runners and viable captaincy alternatives to Mohamed Salah this week, as they play two of the league’s worst defences. It is worth noting that Norwich have improved defensively under Dean Smith, and boast the third-best numbers for non-penalty expected goals conceded (xGCnp) in the division. However, they have had the second most “favourable” fixtures during this period. Newcastle, on the other hand, sit in 15th, conceding an xGCnp every 59.5 mins, despite having the best fixtures over the last four Gameweeks. Owners of Vardy will be licking their lips ahead of this one, especially considering he was relegated to the bench for the Foxes’ last encounter.

SAM SAID…

With so much uncertainty around the Spurs squad at the moment and Antonio Conte’s confirmation on Wednesday that eight players and five coaching staff had tested positive for Covid-19, none of the Lilywhites make my picks. Had the coronavirus outbreak not occured, I would have had Ben Davies, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane in this selection against an injury-ravaged Brighton. Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger, Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and Leicester’s Jamie Vardy replace the Spurs boys.

Mason Mount has now returned back-to-back double-digit hauls in the last two Gameweeks and, on Saturday, he faces a Leeds United team who have an injury crisis on their hands. Mount averages 5.5 points per match against the Whites and looks likely to continue his goal-scoring form this weekend. Like Mount, Bernardo Silva looks an excellent pick having returned 25 points in the last two Gameweeks and having been rested from the Manchester City squad for the Champions League match in midweek.

Jarrod Bowen‘s 11 points in Gameweek 15 will put him firmly back on FPL managers’ radars after three Gameweeks without a return. Burnley’s defensive stats this season mean that they are beatable and I would bank on Bowen returning for the second Gameweek in a row.

Joshua King has the best expected goals (xG) tally for forwards over the last six Gameweeks. He faces a Brentford team without Ivan Toney as a result of his Covid isolation and who have only kept one clean sheet since the loss of David Raya to injury. With the Spurs turmoil, a lot of Harry Kane’s owners will look to make the move to Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese veteran is second for xG amongst forwards and faces a Norwich side who will be without Brandon Williams, who can’t play against his parent club.

Leicester’s lack of defensive form (nine goals conceded in the last four Gameweeks) means that managers who brought in Callum Wilson for the last two matches should hold him as he could easily deliver again this weekend. Likewise his opponent, Jamie Vardy, should be an excellent pick as Newcastle have the worst xGC of all the Premier League clubs over the course of the season so far.

TOM SAID

I’ve doubled up on Manchester City’s defence this week ahead of Saturday’s home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Pep Guardiola’s side have now conceded in each of their last five matches in all competitions, but have allowed just three Premier League goals at the Etihad all season, while only Norwich City have scored fewer than Wolves in 2021/22. Ederson is my top goalkeeper pick, while I’m also expected Joao Cancelo to take control of his flank and collect points at both ends of the pitch.

Manchester United also get a defensive double-up from me, via David de Gea and Diogo Dalot. It’s still early days for Ralf Rangnick, but last weekend’s performance against Crystal Palace was encouraging, as they limited their opponents to just eight shots and 0.75 expected goals (xG). During the match, Dalot was central to the way his team played, always offering an outlet on the right flank as a result of the attacking midfielders tucking in. Given that Norwich often look vulnerable defending that side of the pitch, this is a match-up I see the Portuguese thriving in.

Rounding off the backline is keeper Aaron Ramsdale, plus defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James and Vladimir Coufal.

Further forward, Mohamed Salah, a rested Bernardo Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo’s inclusion needs little explanation, so I’ll focus on some of my other picks.

Demarai Gray again looked Everton’s most dangerous player against Arsenal on Monday night, with his late winner ending a run of eight Premier League matches without a win for Rafa Benitez’s side. The winger has been a real talisman for his team this season, providing eight attacking returns across his 15 appearances, including three in his last two. It’s also worth noting that Palace’s right-hand side has looked particularly vulnerable in recent weeks, something Gray may be able to capitalise on.

Longer-term, I actually prefer Josh King at Watford, but in this specific match-up I see Emmanuel Dennis causing problems, with his ability to drift in from wider areas perhaps more suited to facing Brentford’s 3-5-2 formation. He’s joined by West Ham United duo Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio, who take on a Burnley side that conceded three in their last Turf Moor encounter, plus Mason Mount, whose set-piece deliveries could be key against Leeds United.

The forward picks are completed by Jamie Vardy and Callum Wilson, providing the fixture actually goes ahead of course, given the amount of Covid-19 cases currently in the Leicester City camp.

NEALE SAID

There’s a noticeable absence of Manchester City midfielders from my selection this week and it’s mostly because of the opposition. Wolverhampton Wanderers have conceded one goal or fewer in 12 of their 15 fixtures this season, with only the top three shipping fewer shots or goals in 2021/22. Yes, the fixtures have been generally kind and yes, “it’s City”. But we thought that last weekend about free-scoring Liverpool, who bar one Diogo Jota horror miss didn’t really trouble Bruno Lage’s side until the final 10 minutes. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking on my part as a non-owner of Bernardo Silva, who otherwise looks the safest City option this weekend purely based on his midweek breather and ‘undroppable’ tag recently bestowed on him by his manager.

Three of my top four defenders also either had the night off or limited minutes while their teammates were in Champions League action; while I still think it’s too early to be 100% sure about regular starts for Diogo Dalot, a non-performance from, and injury to, positional rival Aaron Wan-Bissaka on Wednesday bodes well for the budget defender’s chances at right-back this weekend at least. Back-to-back 90-minute run-outs for Reece James is a slight concern going into this three-game week but he might even be needed in the middle of the park should Chelsea’s injury crisis show no signs of abating, while an opposition flank of Firpo-Struijk-James looks a darn sight more attractive than Raphinha-Ayling-Llorente on Marcos Alonso’s side.

Jarrod Bowen and Joshua King have been outpeforming the more widely owned Michail Antonio and Emmanuel Dennis from an underlying stats point of view of late, and while there’s more to football than numbers on a spreadsheet, I’d still back the player more commonly stationed in central areas (Antonio has drifted wider and deeper of late, not registering a big chance since Gameweek 9) more often than not. King does occasionally veer to the left but that’s not necessarily a bad thing this Friday: Brentford have second-string defenders in Mads Roerslev and Charlie Goode down that flank at present and have allowed more chances to be created from their right wing over the last five Gameweeks.

The selections of Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy are heavily asterisked due to the Covid outbreak at the club and a pivotal Europa League clash with Napoli on Thursday night, with Patson Daka an alternative to Vardy should the veteran be run into the ground. Barnes, incidentally, is top among midfielders for shots on target over the last six Gameweeks despite limited minutes and will be up against a Newcastle side who have allowed more chances to be created from their right flank than any team this season. The Magpies’ (mostly) porous defence is, of course, a big incentive in itself to include a Leicester attacker but the vice-versa is also true: I wouldn’t be selling Callum Wilson if I owned him, with the Foxes on a run of 14 league games without a clean sheet.

Emile Smith Rowe‘s flag and the need for a box-ticking budget midfielder is the reason I’ve plumped for Martin Odegaard, meanwhile, although the Norwegian is also in on merit having created a joint-high 10 chances (and scored two goals) in just three Gameweeks since his return to the Arsenal starting XI as a more advanced second striker.