The weekly Scout Picks are, in effect, just a big old Free Hit in all but name.
While it’s not often that Fantasy managers deal in one-week-only picks, that is the case for many this time.
Over two-thirds of responders in our on-site poll, in fact, say they’re using their Free Hit in Gameweek 34.
Here is our own initial draft for the upcoming Gameweek, then, with the final selection to come on Friday evening.
ABOUT THE SCOUT PICKS ‘BUS TEAM’

The upcoming Scout Squad nominations, as well as the pre-match press conferences, will help shape those finalised Scout Picks.
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 34 FIXTURES

Above: The Gameweek 34 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker
THE LIKELY LADS

With all three Championship-bound clubs in action in this Blank Gameweek, most Free Hit sides will inevitably contain several players facing these strugglers.
Not many Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham assets are what you would call Scout Picks shoo-ins, however. There’s debate to be had below about the composition of any double-ups/triple-ups.
Alexander Isak (£9.5m) is one ‘likely lad’, even though he may not be firing on all cylinders at present. Still, only some uncharacteristically wayward finishing deprived him of a mega-haul in Double Gameweek 32. Everyone in Saudi-white-and-green was then poor at Villa Park; a week’s rest, Newcastle’s first since the March internationals, will hopefully provide a much-needed reset.
A four-match suspension didn’t break Matheus Cunha‘s (£6.9m) stride. A goal off the bench on his comeback was followed up by an assist and maximum bonus in Gameweek 33, with his recall to the starting XI at Old Trafford the rubber stamp we needed for his Scout Picks inclusion. Cunha averages 6.0 points per start in 2024/25, a superb number that only three forwards – Isak (6.4) is one – can better.
Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.9m) is likely to join his teammate in our XI this week. He’s remarkably had more shots and key passes combined (20) than any Wolves player over the last six Gameweeks, while no defender in FPL can better his tally of 10 attacking returns this season. He might have had more had he not missed the reverse fixture against Gameweek 34 opponents Leicester City: stand-in wing-back Rodrigo Gomes (£5.1m) joined a long list of left-sided defenders to return against the Foxes in 2024/25.
Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) is probably the fourth and final name we can confidently predict will make the Scout Picks cut this week. Yes, the attacking returns have dried up of late. There was also an individual and collective sag in performances around the two cup defeats in March. But he’s looked livelier since the new contract was penned, culminating in Gameweek 33 when he racked up a preposterous seven shots without scoring. Having delivered a 21-point haul against Tottenham Hotspur in the reverse fixture, there’s every chance he takes the armband, let alone makes the Scout Picks XI.
IN CONTENTION

So, back to the sides facing this season’s whipping boys.
Which Magpies join Isak in the XI is a big dilemma. Harvey Barnes (£6.0m) is on a phenomenal run of six games without a blank; give him game-time, which he hasn’t often had, and there’s every chance of an attacking return. In fact, Barnes averages 7.0 points per start this season, a total that only Salah can better among midfield regulars.
At the rear, Tino Livramento (£4.6m) has been a revelation and an open-play threat from left-back, while Fabian Schar (£5.5m) has scored in back-to-back appearances.
We’ve gone with Kieran Trippier (£5.6m) and Jacob Murphy (£5.2m) in this ‘bus team’, however. Ipswich could be down two left-backs this weekend through injury and suspension, while the Tractor Boys have already allowed more opportunities to be created from their left flank than any other team in the last six matches. Yes, the threat of Anthony Gordon (£7.4m) looms large. But is Jason Tindall really going to shake things up after one defeat in seven? The interim Newcastle boss talked of “physicality” being a problem after Gameweek 33 rather than anything else, with the Magpies at the tail-end of a three-game week. A full week of recharging should benefit his hitherto in-form side.
Injuries could be a key determining factor in which Fulham players, if any, we side with. The ‘out of position’ Ryan Sessegnon (£4.1m) is an exciting prospect but seemed to take a knock before he came off on Sunday, so news is awaited on him. If he’s fit, six shots and 19 penalty area touches in three starts as a right-winger underscore his potential. If not, there’s always Antonee Robinson (£4.8m), whose levels have admittedly dipped of late, or Bernd Leno (£5.0m).
Similarly, up top, an update on Rodrigo Muniz (£5.5m) is keenly awaited. If he misses out again, then Raul Jimenez (£5.3m) looks a lot more inviting as a Gameweek 34 punt.
Outside of the shameless flat-track bullying of Championship-bound fodder, there are plenty more contenders to consider.
The attacking threat of Marc Cucurella (£5.4m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m), and presentable home fixtures, could see those two get the nod. Whether he’s been inverting or holding width, Cucurella has been a real threat in the second half of the season. His last six home games have seen him score three times and rack up 25 penalty box touches, so he’s definitely in the conversation this week. So too is Alexander-Arnold, although minutes concerns over him (Arne Slot made it abundantly clear he wasn’t ready for anything other than substitute duty on Sunday) mean we’ll hold fire for now. Perhaps an extra week of training puts him in starting XI contention.
Midfield is probably the trickiest position to fill this week.
Luis Diaz (£7.5m) has five returns in six and braced against Spurs in December, so enters the thinking.
Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m), now FPL’s second-highest scorer, keeps ticking away and occasionally exploding too. With Nottingham Forest surprisingly ranked 17th for expected goals conceded (xGC) over their last six matches and currently fielding stand-in options at left-back, a trip to the City Ground may not be the formidable test it once was. With the forward slots more keenly contested this week, there’s probably more chance of Mbeumo making the cut than Yoane Wissa (£6.5m).
Justin Kluivert (£6.0m) and Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) are possibilities, too, although a) Bournemouth have wilted recently and b) you’d imagine Ruben Amorim (a bit like Ange Postecoglou) goes with a stronger starting XI – and recalls another Scout Picks outside bet in Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) – than he did in Gameweek 33 for this his final pre-Europa League ‘warm-up game’.
THE LONGER SHOTS

The dearth of stand-out midfielders could see Cole Palmer (£10.6m) scrape into the Scout Picks but a 16-game goal drought doesn’t exactly scream ‘select me’. Everton are a stubborn sort, too, only tasting defeat twice in 13 games – and they were narrow losses to Liverpool and Manchester City.
We may avoid Chris Wood (£6.9m) and his Forest friends altogether, given that they’ve got a post-deadline FA Cup tie before their Gameweek 34 fixture. That means we couldn’t react to any injuries sustained at Wembley.
It’s hard to trust Brighton or West Ham at present given their poor form (winless in five and six games respectively) and subdued displays but Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) could well enter the equation, with the Seagulls conceding 13 goals in their last five outings.
Cunha’s return pushes Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.4m) down the Scout Picks forward pecking order, while the likes of Alex Iwobi (£5.5m) maybe feel too much like a desperate attempt to play the fixtures with a player who wouldn’t in any other circumstances be seriously considered.
GAMEWEEK 34: EARLY SCOUT PICKS


12 days, 18 hours agoEveryone needs to keep complaining to FPL until they rightly award Marmoush his assist. This is a grave injustice