It’s time to look ahead to Gameweek 34 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) with our Scout Picks ‘bus team’.
Gameweek 34 is a ‘double’ for seven clubs, a blank for Tottenham Hotspur and a single Gameweek for the remaining dozen.
In this selection, we put together a first draft of our regular picks. We will then finalise and publish them on Friday.
Plenty can change between now and then, of course, with Scout Squad nominations, European matches aplenty and a whole host of press conferences still to come.
We are, as ever, limited by certain restrictions:
- 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
As a consequence of playing twice, there will inevitably be considerable representation from Arsenal and Liverpool in Gameweek 34, despite some iffy recent results.
Bukayo Saka (£9.0m), Martin Odegaard (£8.6m) and Kai Havertz (£7.4m) are the stand-out options from the Arsenal attack.
Saka and Odegaard both have good shouts for inclusion this week, though we await the midweek minutes and news on the injury the latter picked up on Sunday.
Havertz, meanwhile, has entered a purple patch over the last few weeks and months to become a first-choice pick in a highly competitive attack. The German has delivered five goals and six assists in ten consecutive league starts, a period which has seen him average 7.7 points per match. Profligacy and rotation are concerns, but Havertz has a strong case for inclusion in Gameweek 34.
Two Arsenal defenders could prove a wiser decision, however, with six clean sheets in nine matches, so let’s not forget David Raya (£5.1m), Ben White (£6.0m), William Saliba (£5.9m) and Gabriel (£5.4m).
Saturday’s opponents Wolverhampton Wanderers aren’t in great form at present and while Chelsea may pose a stiffer test, Arsenal are easily the best team in the Premier League defensively.
Liverpool picks will be better assessed after the midweek minutes in the UEFA Europa League are logged but initial thoughts turn to Virgil van Dijk (£6.6m), Mohamed Salah (£13.5m) and Luis Diaz (£7.7m).
However, benching’s for Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4m), Andrew Robertson (£6.4m) or Darwin Nunez (£7.7m) in Bergamo on Thursday would seriously elevate their chances of a start in Sunday’s 4.30pm kick-off, so they could come into Scout Picks contention.
IN CONTENTION
There are other teams who ‘double’ in Gameweek 34, of course, one of which is Crystal Palace.
The Eagles beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday, the clearest sign yet that Oliver Glasner’s ideas are starting to translate. They also might be facing West Ham United at the perfect time (three days after their trip to Leverkusen).
Palace’s defensive numbers across the season are pretty good, so Dean Henderson (£4.4m), Daniel Munoz (£4.5m) and Tyrick Mitchell (£4.5m) will all be worthy of consideration.
Eberechi Eze (£6.0m), Michael Olise (£5.6m) and Jean Philippe-Mateta (£5.0m) come into the thinking further forward, as well. The South London club are a completely different proposition with these players on the pitch, with far more quality to unlock opposition defences.
If there are concerns over Olise’s ability to get through successive starts in four days (Sun-Wed), Eze might be the safer play.
There are other ‘doublers’ likely to make the cut.
Dominic Solanke (£7.2m), an ever-present in Andoni Iraola’s team, looks safe for a pair of starts, and he’s delivered 11 attacking returns in 15 away starts this season.
Matheus Cunha (£5.6m) will surely come into the reckoning, too, given that he is averaging 6.1 points per start from Gameweek 12 onwards.
Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m) could also come into the equation if passed fit: the Algerian sits top of the defender table for expected goal involvement (xGI) over the last six matches.
Meanwhile, Everton were thrashed by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday night but a clean sheet was banked in their last home fixture, so Jordan Pickford (£4.7m), Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.6m) or James Tarkowski (£4.6m) have good shouts for inclusion, as the Toffees play host to Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
Away from the Double Gameweek clubs, there are two standout fixtures: Brighton and Hove Albion v Manchester City and Manchester United v Sheffield United.
Erling Haaland (£14.3m) and Phil Foden (£8.2m) are rarely far from our thoughts in this series but they might struggle to squeeze into our final selection on Friday.
As for Manchester United, Erik ten Hag’s position as manager is becoming more and more uncertain by the day but Wednesday’s opponents Sheffield United still represent favourable opposition: only United themselves have conceded more shots than the Blades over the last six matches.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.2m) has seven attacking returns in as many matches and is easily the stand-out pick, given Alejandro Garnacho’s (£5.0m) social media activity.
THE LONG SHOTS
Cole Palmer’s (£6.1m) ridiculous recent form continued on Monday but such is Arsenal’s defensive strength – they’ve conceded six goals in 12 matches since Gameweek 21 – that there has to be a question mark over his inclusion in the Scout Picks.
Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) is another tough sell, given the appeal of other forwards in Gameweek 34.
If we do decide to add one or two differential ‘doublers’ into the mix, there are a handful of possible options that carry some potential.
Admittedly, it won’t be easy for any of Justin Kluivert (£4.6m), Ben Brereton Diaz (£5.0m), Pablo Sarabia (£4.8m) or Dwight McNeil (£5.4m) to force their way past others in Gameweek 34, but they could perhaps become possible shouts.
Kluivert is arguably the standout selection, having supplied either a goal or assist in three straight matches.
Bryan Mbeumo (£6.8m), Anthony Gordon (£6.1m) and Alexander Isak (£8.0m) oughtn’t be discarded out of hand either, despite representing ‘single Gameweek’ sides.
GAMEWEEK 34 SCOUT PICKS: BUS TEAM
