We have chosen our best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players for Double Gameweek 23 ahead of Saturday’s deadline.
It is, of course, a ‘double’ for two sides, Arsenal and Manchester City.
As ever, we are limited to £83.0m for our first XI. And, after a reader vote ahead of 2022/23, an overall price cap of £100.0m is in place for our 15-man squad, too.
With the surprise Double Gameweek 27 announcement interrupting our regularly scheduled programming, the Scout Picks is eating into the slot usually occupied by Mark Sutherns and Andy North’s Members-only video – but don’t worry, you can still find that live from 20:00 GMT below:
GOALKEEPER
Ederson (£5.4m) is the first of three Manchester City players included in this week’s Scout Picks.
The Brazilian shot-stopper has underwhelmed since the restart, having been outscored by 11 other goalkeepers. However, he offers a secure route into Man City’s backline and is the only player to start all 21 of their league matches this season.
Man City have had a tough week both on and off the pitch, with allegations of financial breaches and a poor defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. Still, they sit top of the Season Ticker in Double Gameweek 23 and rank as one of the best defensive units across the season.
DEFENDERS
Newcastle United have the top flight’s best defensive record this season, conceding just 12 goals. Now, they visit a Bournemouth side that have struggled since the restart, losing five of their six games and failing to score in all of those defeats, which is why we are comfortable doubling up.
Kieran Trippier (£6.1m) has 40 points across his last four away matches and is currently the second-highest scorer in the game. This week, his ability from dead-ball situations could be key, with opponents Bournemouth vulnerable to conceding from set plays.
Team-mate Fabian Schar (£5.2m) is second only to Trippier for FPL points among defenders. It’s also worth noting his 21 shots inside the box and five big chances is more than any other player in his position in 2022/23.
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.2m) joins the Newcastle duo. The Brazilian has two cracks at a clean sheet in Double Gameweek 23 and also offers potential for attacking returns: his 13 shots in the box are more than William Saliba (£5.3m), Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.1m) and Ben White’s (4.7m) efforts combined (11).
The Gunners are showing some of the best defensive stats in the league, but with in-form Brentford and champions Man City to come, their backline will be tested, so Gabriel’s additional goal threat is welcome.
MIDFIELDERS
The rest of this article is completely free to read but requires a Fantasy Football Scout account for access – you can get yours at no cost here.
COMMUNITY CHAMPION
Each week, a member of the Fantasy Football Scout community takes on the Scout Picks.
The community member who beats our team by the largest margin will win a £100 Amazon voucher and a place in our Moderators and Contributors League for the following season.
Boleyn Boy’s 81-54 victory in Gameweek 6 gave them the biggest win (27 points difference) of 2022/23 so far.
Our champion this week is Badgevilla who has gone for the following: Pope; Trippier, James, Estupinan, Alexander-Arnold; Odegaard, Saka, Mahrez; Kane, Haaland (c), Nketiah
The Scout Picks are 12-9 up on the community this season.
FOLLOW THE SCOUT’S WEEKLY TRANSFER PLANS
We’re running a Scout community team in FPL this season, with regulars like TopMarx, Geoff, Tom Freeman and more contributing to the weekly decisions.
And we’re not just looking one week ahead like we are with the Scout Picks but instead planning in advance for the weeks and months to come.
You can follow our team via the Premier Fantasy Tools Pro Planner, which you can learn more about here.
