We’ve put together our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ ahead of Blank Gameweek 30 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

This is a new feature we first rolled out last month and it’s essentially a first draft of our regular XI, which gets published much closer to the deadline.

Those final picks will stay as they are and cement our weekly selection based on the Scout Squad long-list entries, midweek action/minutes and fresh injury updates but this ‘bus team’ – a term coined by the Always Cheating boys, as it’s the XI you set at the start of the week in case you get hit by a bus before the deadline – will discuss the players who are likely to be in the running.

Here it is, then: our early, rambling thoughts on the runners and riders up for selection in Gameweek 30, followed by the preliminary picks themselves.

THE LIKELY LADS

Gameweek 30 is a curious affair as even those with a Free Hit chip active, and ourselves compiling this cherry-picked XI, don’t have too many stand-out, “must-have” targets.

The quantity of the matches going ahead is one reason for this but the fixtures themselves are largely tricky-to-call affairs, with the two north London sides facing very capable claret-clad outfits in the form of Aston Villa and West Ham United.

Harry Kane‘s (£12.3m) resurgence surely makes him the closest thing we have to a nailed pick this week: the in-form striker has seven attacking returns in five matches ahead of the midweek clash with Brighton and Hove Albion and has been involved in a whopping 10 Opta-defined ‘big chances’ (seven of his own, three created for others) in that time.

Gameweek 30 would perhaps have been a good time to play the now-defunct All-Out Attack chip, had it not gone the way of the ‘man in the stand’ and 7.30pm midweek deadlines. It really is a struggle to see where the clean sheets are coming from this weekend; G-Whizz will bring us the odds later in the week but it’d be a surprise to see any team above 50%.

Perhaps the likeliest source of defensive returns will come at Molineux, where Wolverhampton Wanderers entertain Leeds United. Only the top four have kept more shut-outs than Bruno Lage’s side this season (11), although as widely discussed, they have massively ‘overachieved’ on the goals conceded front. Jose Sa (£5.3m) has often been the difference-maker and he’s probably the stand-out ‘keeping option this week.

Can we say anyone else is assured of their place in the Scout Picks at this point, however? Probably not – although there are multiple names competing for our nomination.

IN CONTENTION

Given the paucity of obvious clean sheet opportunities in Gameweek 30, perhaps the best bet is to back attack-minded options from the eight defences in question.

Matt Doherty (£4.8m) and Sergio Reguilon (£5.2m) have the first and fourth-best rates of expected goal involvement (xGI) among FPL defenders this season, with Ryan Sessegnon‘s (£4.3m) injury suddenly boosting the latter’s game-time prospects.

Matthew Cash (£5.2m) is second among Fantasy defenders for penalty box touches in 2021/22, meanwhile, and has delivered four attacking returns in as many matches over the last fortnight.

West Ham United may be flying high in the Premier League and competing for silverware in Europe but there are still question marks over their backline, with just one clean sheet arriving in their last 10 away league matches – and even that was against goal-shy Burnley. There’ll be plenty of shouts for at least one of Son Heung-min (£10.9m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£6.2m) to follow Kane into the Scout Picks, then, with a dearth of other premium options with a Gameweek 30 fixture meaning that budget isn’t an issue when looking at the respective merits of the two Spurs midfielders this week.

Son and Kulusevski trail only Philippe Coutinho (£7.4m) and Bukayo Saka (£6.6m) for midfielder ‘transfers in’ ahead of Gameweek 30. Those two in-form players will also be in the running for Scout Picks duties this week; their own individual qualities aren’t in question but it’s very hard to predict which way Aston Villa v Arsenal goes. Villa, for example, haven’t won or kept a clean sheet against any side currently ninth or higher since Steven Gerrard took charge, but the Gunners are facing a daunting clash with Liverpool less than 72 hours before they travel to Villa Park. Jacob Ramsey (£4.8m), Gabriel Martinelli (£5.3m), Aaron Ramsdale (£5.1m) and the in-form Alexandre Lacazette (£8.3m), who has blanked in only two of his last 11 run-outs, are also stand-out options for Saturday’s fixture, but Arsenal minutes will have to be monitored at the Emirates on Wednesday night first.

The same goes for Leicester City, who are in UEFA Conference League action on Thursday. James Maddison‘s (£6.7m) new-found rotation risk status leaves Harvey Barnes (£6.5m) as the stand-out Leicester option for their home clash against a Brentford side without a shut-out on the road since Gameweek 5. Barnes has nine attacking returns in 12 matches and nearly added to that tally at the Emirates on Sunday.

Kasper Schmeichel (£4.8m) and the made-for-benches Daniel Amartey (£3.9m) may come into consideration from the Foxes’ ranks but recent defensive improvements can’t disguise the fact that they have allowed more ‘big chances’ than any other side in their last six home matches, a problem they’ve struggle to shake all season. Ivan Toney (£6.6m), enjoying a real purple patch at present, could prosper at the King Power, as could set-piece whizz Christian Eriksen (£5.5m) given that Brendan Rodgers’ side have been vulnerable at free-kicks and corners all year.

Team news will also be important this week: Jarrod Bowen (£6.8m) and Michail Antonio (£7.5m) could both be absent for the Spurs game due to injury, which may help (or hinder, in Antonio’s case) the Lilywhites’ chances of a clean sheet. It may also spell more game-time for the previously peripheral Said Benrahma (£5.7m) and Andriy Yarmolenko (£5.1m), who both impressed when delivering attacking returns on Sunday.

At Molineux, Raul Jimenez (£7.5m) and co will fancy their chances of a clean sheet against a Leeds side who haven’t banked a single shut-out since Gameweek 14. Raphinha (£6.5m), meanwhile, has somehow racked up the highest xGI figure of any Premier League player over the last four Gameweeks, with the previously below-par Brazilian looking more like his old self Sunday’s haul-dodging display against Norwich.

THE LONG SHOTS

Such is the limited pool at our disposal that many of the players who would have ordinarily been long shots in most weeks have already been discussed above.

Brentford, West Ham and Leeds defenders certainly belong firmly in this camp, however, given their clean sheet avoidance on the road. Ethan Pinnock (£4.5m) and Pontus Jansson (£4.5m) could, at least, capitalise on Leicester’s post-European hangover and their aforementioned vulnerability at dead-ball situations.

On the subject of the Foxes on the continent, whoever doesn’t get the nod between Patson Daka (£7.1m) and Kelechi Iheanacho (£6.9m) in Rennes looks good for a start on Sunday agaisnt the Bees, such has been the rotation up top at home and abroad.

There probably won’t be too many takers in Daniel Podence (£5.5m) but he has registered two goals and 11 shots in his last four matches at Molineux and will be up against the division’s worst defence. Should Hwang Hee-chan (£5.4m) be ruled out through injury, that will further his game-time prospects.

SCOUT PICKS: GAMEWEEK 30 ‘BUS TEAM’

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