We’ve created our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ for Gameweek 23 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
In this selection, we choose a first draft of our regular picks. We will then finalise and publish them much closer to Saturday’s deadline.
Plenty can change between now and then, of course.
The upcoming Scout Squad nominations will help shape the final Scout Picks.
The midweek European ties and the pre-match press conferences will no doubt further influence our thinking and maybe change our minds, too.
There are certain restrictions for our picks, however:
- An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
- An overall squad limit of £100.0m – so sometimes the bench will contain glorified bench fodder
- No more than three players per team
GAMEWEEK 23 FIXTURES
Above: The Gameweek 23 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker
THE LIKELY LADS
There’s only one place to start when it comes to Scout Picks contenders in Gameweek 23.
Liverpool are undefeated in their last 13 Anfield matches in all competitions, a period which has seen them score 35 goals:
Graphic courtesy of WhoScored
They are at home against an Ipswich Town side who are in the bottom two for expected goals (xG) and expected goals conceded (xGC) in 2024/25.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) and Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) are pretty much nailed on for Scout Picks duty this week, then.
A defensive double-up is favoured for now, with Alisson (£5.5m) filling the third Liverpool spot, but midweek minutes, injuries and press conference quotes will be deciding factors when we finalise our selection on Friday.
Others such as Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m), Luis Diaz (£7.5m), Cody Gakpo (£7.4m) and Darwin Nunez (£7.0m) are firmly in our thoughts.
Diogo Jota (£7.2m), however, is a non-option in Gameweek 23, with Arne Slot ruling him out in the immediate future.
“Jota a bit earlier than Joe [Gomez], both expected back within weeks, not months. I said many times before, the last stage of rehab is most difficult. It’s clear we expect them back within the upcoming weeks… not months. Diogo overloaded a certain a muscle a bit.” – Arne Slot
Heavy representation from Newcastle United also looks likely against Southampton.
Lewis Hall (£5.0m), Anthony Gordon (£7.7m) and Alexander Isak (£9.4m) are the standout options, with Jacob Murphy (£5.1m) a strong alternative to Gordon should we need to make a saving in Friday’s Scout Picks.
IN CONTENTION
Tottenham Hotspur are also in action against newly-promoted opposition in Gameweek 23.
Still, the fixture against Leicester City perhaps looks a bit iffy from a clean sheet perspective. The Lilywhites defence was all at sea at Goodison Park on Sunday and with just three home clean sheets in 30 attempts under Ange Postecoglou, we may choose to look elsewhere.
Jamie Vardy (£5.5m), anyone?
Further forward, Dejan Kulusevski (£6.4m), James Maddison (£7.5m), Son Heung-min (£9.8m) and Richarlison (£6.8m) carry more appeal.
Kulusevski has easily been Spurs’ best player this season, with five attacking returns in his last eight starts. 22 key passes and four big chances have arrived during that run. It’s also worth noting Leicester left-back Victor Kristiansen (£4.5m) was guilty of giving up far too much space against Fulham on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Phil Foden (£9.3m), Kevin De Bruyne (£9.4m), Erling Haaland (£14.8m) and Cole Palmer (£11.4m) all ought to be in the conversation for Friday’s selection, given the flaky nature of both sides’ defences.
Above: Teams sorted by StatsBomb xG conceded per 90 minutes since the start of December
Arsenal defensive representation, be it through David Raya (£5.6m), Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.4m) or Jurrien Timber (£5.6m), looks on the cards for the Scout Picks, with only Ipswich recording a lower xG at home than Wolverhampton Wanderers this season.
Even without William Saliba (£6.2m), you’d hope for a clean sheet at Molineux – and no one has conceded more goals from set plays than Wolves.
The oft-derided Kai Havertz (£7.8m) is a potential pick up front, with Leandro Trossard (£6.8m), Gabriel Martinelli (£6.7m) and Martin Odegaard (£8.3m) perhaps coming into the reckoning too.
Havertz, Trossard and Martinelli all contributed attacking returns against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Crystal Palace assets are certainly worthy of consideration against Brentford.
Daniel Munoz (£4.8m), Eberechi Eze (£6.7m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.3m) head the queue for the Eagles, with the latter up to four goals in the last three Gameweeks.
An Aston Villa attacker also carries appeal against a West Ham United side who have conceded six goals in Graham Potter’s first three games in charge. Morgan Rogers (£5.5m) struck the winning goal when the two sides recently met in the FA Cup.
Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest and Brighton and Hove Albion v Everton feel like harder-to-call affairs.
The likes of Milos Kerkez (£4.8m), Lewis Dunk (£4.3m) and Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m) are certainly under consideration at the back, however, with Justin Kluivert (£5.6m), Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m), Chris Wood (£7.1m), Kaoru Mitoma (£6.3m) and Joao Pedro (£5.6m) potential candidates further forward.
THE LONG SHOTS
There probably won’t be too many takers in Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) or Amad Diallo (£5.6m) this week, with a trip to Fulham not the easiest of match-ups, especially given Manchester United’s ropey form.
Antonee Robinson (£5.1m) and Raul Jimenez (£5.7m) remain outside shouts for the Cottagers, too, although on current evidence a Fulham pick is likelier to make the cut than a United asset.
Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8m) and Yoane Wissa (£6.2m) will surely be back in Scout Picks contention next week, but others are probably ahead in Gameweek 23. That’s because Crystal Palace have conceded just two goals in their last five games, a period which has seen them concede only six big chances, the joint-fewest in the division.
GAMEWEEK 23 BUS TEAM
CHECK YOUR LIVE FPL RANK
If you haven’t seen it already, the beta version of our new Premium Members Area gives you a customised dashboard detailing your latest points and where you rank in the world.
You can find it via this link and you only have to type in your FPL ID number (so no password/email) to see the visuals.
13 hours, 37 mins agoJackson, Kerkez -> DCL, TAA(-4)?
Either Kerkez or Robinson to go but I prefer keeping Robinson