We’ve put together our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ for Gameweek 10 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

In this initial selection, we select a first draft of our regular picks. They will then be finalised and published much closer to Friday’s deadline.

Plenty can change between now and then, with Scout Squad nominations and a whole host of press conferences still to come.

But in the meantime, this ‘bus team’ article – a term coined by the duo behind the Always Cheating podcast – will discuss the players who are likely to be in the running.

We are, as ever, limited by certain restrictions in our selections:

• An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
• An overall squad limit of £100.0m
• No more than three players per team

GAMEWEEK 10 FIXTURES

Above: The Gameweek 10 fixtures sorted by ‘difficulty’ on our Season Ticker

THE LIKELY LADS

Gameweek 10 is all about some juicy-looking home fixtures for Arsenal (SHU), Aston Villa (LUT) and Liverpool (NFO).

Arsenal entertain a Sheffield United side who have struggled defensively all season. The selection of Gabriel (£4.7m) is made with one eye on The Blades being rock-bottom for headed chances allowed and efforts from set plays conceded, while Bukayo Saka (£8.5m) is the obvious route into a Gunners attack that has racked up nine goals in their last four outings, despite facing Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Chelsea.

The initial thought at Arsenal is towards an attacking double-up, with Gabriel Martinelli (£7.7m) bound to pick up a bit of interest alongside Martin Odegaard (£8.5m). Sheffield United changed shape against Manchester United on Saturday and while it generally worked well, they did look vulnerable down their right. On another day, Marcus Rashford (£8.7m) could have had a goal and a couple of assists, which bodes well for Martinelli in Gameweek 10.

David Raya (£4.8m), Ben White (£5.6m), William Saliba (£5.2m) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (£4.9m) are strong alternatives at the back, meanwhile.

Aston Villa, too, look like certainties for Scout Picks inclusion, having recorded their 11th consecutive Premier League home win on Sunday.

Ollie Watkins’ (£8.3m) fine form surely makes him the closest thing we have to a nailed pick this week: The England international has 13 attacking returns in nine matches and has been involved in 12 Opta-defined ‘big chances’ (nine of his own, three created for others) in that time.

Moussa Diaby (£6.7m) could muscle his way into contention, but for now, we’ve opted for a Villa defender over a second attacker.

Matty Cash (£5.1m) is surely the front-runner. He is the league’s leading shot-taker in his position but it is worth noting when playing at right-back, which has happened in all four home games so far, his attacking threat isn’t quite so pronounced. In fact, it’s the cheaper Lucas Digne (£4.7m) bossing a lot of the underlying stats:

Above: Matty Cash and Lucas Digne’s underlying numbers compared at home in 2023/24

The final Scout Picks will unquestionably feature significant representation from Liverpool. Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) is leading the charge, while Kostas Tsimikas (£4.5m) is a cost-cutting route into the defence.

He was allowed to get forward quite a bit in the Merseyside derby and took three corners in just over an hour. Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.9m), Luis Diaz (£7.5m) and Darwin Nunez (£7.4m) all feature prominently in our thoughts, too.

Meanwhile, Scout Picks regular Erling Haaland (£14.0m) is included in our bus team for the Manchester derby.

The Norwegian ended his two-match goalless run with the winner over Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, and now faces a vulnerable Manchester United outfit who have failed to keep a clean sheet and conceded seven goals in their last four Old Trafford encounters.

IN CONTENTION