Welcome to our second Fantasy Premier League Scout. Last week was our first Fantasy Premier League Scout and we got mixed results. The defenders and Strikers gave points, but midfielders and goalkeepers failed to give many points. But that was last week and we are back with a whole new list of players.
I will be selecting two players from each position (Two Goalkeepers, two defenders, two midfielders and two Strikers) on the basis of easiness of their fixtures, form, price, teams selected by %, guesswork and prediction.
SoccerSouls Fantasy Premier League Scout – Gameweeks 4
The Goalkeepers
1. Tim Howard-
The Everton number is priced at 5.0 and is selected by only 4.1% of the FPL managers. Everton is facing Tottenham away this week. The hosts are without their key playmaker, Christian Eriksen. Spurs have only scored three goals this season and they will find it even more difficult to score without Eriksen. Their key striker Harry Kane has not been able to find his first goal of the season and his form is not as high as last season. Howard has only kept one clean sheet but is second on the most saves list. Putting Howard in your team is a little bit of risk, but considering other fixtures, Howard is one of the best Goalkeeper options for this week.
2. Jack Butland-
The new Stoke number one is rated at 4.5 and is selected by 7.0% of the FPL managers. Stoke is playing West Brom home this week. West Brom scored their first goal of the season last week against Chelsea. Their key striker Berahino is having problems with the club after his transfer request was rejected by the club. Stoke still has not kept a clean sheet, but Butland is third on the most saves list. This is Stoke’s second home game of the season and they played their first home game against Liverpool quite well. Liverpool could not score until the 83rd minute of the game. A clean sheet for Stoke against West Brom looks likely.
The Defenders
1. Bacary Sagna-
The right-back has started all three games for Manchester City due to an injury to their preferred right-back Pablo Zabaleta. Manchester City has kept three clean sheets in all three games. This week they are playing Watford at home and a win with a clean sheet is almost a guarantee. Sagna is rated at 5.1 and is selected by only 4.2% of the FPL managers.
2. Gabriel Paulista-
The Arsenal centre-back is rated at 4.9 and is selected by only 0.2% of the FPL owners. Paulista got his first start of the season last week against Liverpool due to injuries to both Mertesacker and Koscielny. Paulista contributed well to Arsenal’s first clean sheet of the season last week against Liverpool while his partner Chambers was not in the form. Paulista is likely to continue as the centre back this week because Arsene Wenger has said that Mertesacker is still struggling with illness. Arsenal is playing Newcastle away and Paulista might be a risky pick, but still my mind says Arsenal is going to keep a clean sheet.
The Mid-Fielders
1. Jack Grealish-
The Aston Villa youngster is rated at 5.4 and is selected by only 0.3% of the FPL managers. Aston Villa is playing Sunderland at home. Sunderland has conceded eight goals already and is likely to concede against Aston Villa though Aston Villa is still to find a consistent goal, scored. Grealish missed the first two games due to an injury and he returned to Aston Villa’s starting 11 last week. Grealish is also a risky pick, but a weak Sunderland defense will concede a couple of goals and Grealish will be involved at least in one of them.
2. Wes Hoolahan-
The Norwich midfielder is rated at 5.0 and is owned by only 2.2% of the FPL managers. Norwich is playing Southampton away. Southampton is struggling with a bad start to the season and they are yet to get a win. Southampton faced a heavy defeat against Everton at home a couple of weeks earlier. We saw Ronald Koeman change his formation and play a 3-5-2 formation. Koeman succeeded in getting a clean sheet last week after they changed their formation, but Norwich has impressed this season by scoring at least one goal in each of their matches. Hoolahan has got three assists to his name already and he is playing as the key playmaker for Norwich.
The Strikers
1. Mame Diouf-
Diouf was present in our last week’s Scout picks and he is getting picked this week too. Mame Diouf has scored a goal in each of the last two matches for Stoke. This week Stoke is playing West Brom at home. Stoke is always a strong side at home. Shaqiri’s arrival will make scoring easy for Stoke and Diouf scored a goal last week from Shaqiri’s cross. West Brom has conceded six goals already and it is probably going to increase this week. Diouf is rated at 6.5 and is owned by 4.7% of the FPL managers
2. Shinji Okazaki-
The new Leicester striker scored his first Premier League two weeks ago against West Ham. Leicester has scored seven goals this season (four of them are scored by Riyad Mahrez). Leicester is playing Bournemouth away this week. Bournemouth has conceded five goals in their three games and it is almost a certainty that Leicester will score more than one goal this week. Okazaki who is rated at 6.0 is owned by only 1.3% of the FPL managers.
Risky Player Of The Week – Glenn Murray
Last week’s risky player of the week was somewhat a hit (Madibo Maiga – 5 points, scored one goal). This week I am going for Murray of Crystal Palace. Murray and Gayle are the only striker options for Crystal Palace (Bamford, Wickham, Campbell and Chamakh are all out due to different reasons) and Alan Pardew is likely to opt Murray over Gayle. Crystal Palace is playing Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea defense is a failure so far this season. Ivanovic is nowhere his form of last season and also they are without their captain and key centre-back John Terry. It is likely that Crystal Palace will score one or two goals, even though Chelsea will probably win. Murray is rated at 5.8 and is owned only by 0.3% of the FPL managers.
These are the scout picks of the week. Aguero will be the most guaranteed player of the week and he is also the most sensible captain of the week, but I would suggest you to go for Olivier Giroud, who is a cheaper, riskier and also a differential option when compared to Aguero. Giroud has a love for Newcastle. He has scored eight goals against the Magpies. It is unlikely that Newcastle will keep a clean sheet this week and it will probably be Giroud who is going to be on the score sheet.