FPL Gameweek 31 Scout Picks: Newcastle triple-up

There’s a very quick turnaround to this weekend’s Premier League action. So, no bus team, no Scout Squad – just the good old Gameweek 31 Scout Picks.

Our in-house team have put their heads together to produce the following selection. As ever, it is 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 31 SCOUT PICKS

GOALKEEPER

David Raya (£5.5m) gets the nod between the sticks as Arsenal travel to Everton. They may have lost an important cog in their backline but the Gunners still have one of the division’s best defences with 11 clean sheets and a Premier League-low 25 goals conceded so far this season. While uncertainty rages over who will line up in front of him, the Spanish shot-stopper is assured of gametime.

In his last eight league matches, Raya has recorded four shut-outs and conceded just four goals. He has racked up 20 saves and three bonus points for good measure.

The reverse of this fixture ended in a goalless stalemate. David Moyes’s crew have also scored only three times in their last four matches, with Toffees targetman Beto (£5.0m) without a goal in that time.

DEFENDERS

Pedro Porro’s (£5.3m) long-term viability as a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) asset may be waning after back-to-back benchings (and only two starts in his last five appearances). However, Ange Postecoglou has hinted at imminent rotation for this weekend’s visit of Southampton, which comes three short days after their Gameweek 30 outing and just four before their Europa League quarter-final.

The Spanish right-back returning to the XI – likely at the expense of Djed Spence (£4.4m) or Destiny Udogie (£4.8m) – is surely one of the easiest switches to make for what should be a straightforward win against a side Spurs beat 5-0 away in Gameweek 16. Saints’ struggles need little elaboration, and Porro has seven attacking returns already this season.

Tino Livramento (£4.5m) is our defender of choice for Newcastle’s trip to Leicester. On the Foxes’ current form – 12 games without a goal from their last 15 – you’d back just about anyone to keep them out, and the Toon’s young stand-in left-back created a pair of good chances in his last appearance. Livramento’s selection is also due in part to comments by his manager, with Eddie Howe offering little update on fellow full-back Kieran Trippier (£5.6m), who may otherwise have made the cut.

Bournemouth have lost momentum in recent weeks, sliding into a five-match winless run. Luckily, Milos Kerkez (£5.3m) has other routes to points than clean sheets. The Cherries’ left-back has three assists in his last four appearances and eight attacking returns across the season. Gameweek 31 opponents West Ham have seen an overall improvement in their defensive numbers since Graham Potter’s arrival but that has come at the expense of much of the Hammers’ attacking promise. If that continues, it could help Bournemouth and Kerkez to a first clean sheet since Gameweek 23.

MIDFIELDERS

Quelle surprise, Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) makes the midfield line-up of our Gameweek 31 Scout Picks.

The FPL king was quiet in the midweek Merseyside derby but Everton are a frustrating team to face while the reverse fixture against Fulham in December was much more of an end-to-end affair – which could help create more opportunities for Salah to add to his otherworldly tally of attacking returns. Surprisingly, only the bottom three clubs have kept fewer clean sheets than Fulham (five) this season.

Leicester’s absence of good form invites further investment in Newcastle, which brings us to Jacob Murphy (£5.0m).

The budget winger delivered his ninth league assist of the season in Gameweek 30 and should be nailed on to start come Monday at a time when question marks remain over whether Anthony Gordon (£7.4m) will immediately usurp Harvey Barnes (£5.9m) on the left.

Cole Palmer (£10.7m) is still without a goal since mid-January but did register an assist against Spurs on Thursday, creating two chances and firing off two shots of his own. Nicolas Jackson’s (£7.7m) return, as anticipated, led to an improved Chelsea attack in that match. Now the Blues face Brentford, who they beat in the reverse fixture and whom are on a six-match winless run at home. The Bees are also the only side without a home clean sheet in 2024/25.

Chelsea are in the midst of a seven-match winless away streak themselves but the fact that their talisman’s attacking numbers are ticking over during his recent dry spell means he’s bound to score again soon.

The Blues have kept only one clean sheet in 12 league matches on the road, so we’re hoping for goals in west London. With so many hard-to-call, evenly matched fixtures this weekend and rotation risks abiding across the country, sometimes it pays to stick with the tried and trusted.

Hence, the inclusion of Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m). Level with Palmer in the overall FPL points standings, the penalty-taking, corner-delivering Brentford talisman has more home goals to his name (nine) than any other midfielder bar Salah this season.

FORWARDS

Alexander Isak (£9.5m) completes our Newcastle triple-up.

Like with Trippier, owners of the Swede face a nervous wait until Monday night after he was withdrawn early during the week with a recurring groin issue. But if fit, Isak certainly is the stand-out forward for Gameweek 31. He scored one goal and assisted another in the Magpies’ comfortable 4-0 victory in the reverse fixture, and reached 20 goals for the season during his 65-minute Gameweek 30 run-out despite his underlying stats having dropped off slightly recently.

A selection that leans more heavily on the woes of his opponent than his own current form, Dominic Solanke (£7.3m) makes the cut for our Scout Picks at home to Southampton.

Solanke was a mere bystander throughout Spurs’ Gameweek 30 loss to Chelsea, but in the two matches prior following his return from injury, the England international registered six attempts, all in the box, with two Opta-defined ‘big chances’. He also swerved domestic rotation around the last two European fixtures, with Ange Postecoglou unwilling to use anyone else up top.

Omar Marmoush (£7.5m) delivered a goal for his legions of new Gameweek 30 backers. He perhaps could have scored more, having registered nine shots against Leicester – the most of any player in a single 2024/25 match. It was only the Foxes but that bodes well for the man who should start up top for Manchester City with Erling Haaland (£14.8m) sidelined for several weeks.

The close race for Champions League football means City may have to win every match from here on out. Factor in Manchester United’s defensive frailties – they’ve beaten only Southampton and Ipswich at Old Trafford since Gameweek 13, losing on five other occasions on their own turf – and the Sky Blues’ search for revenge after losing the reverse fixture, and this could be a free-flowing derby day that presents Marmoush with plenty more chances to keep up his streak of attacking returns.

SUBSTITUTES

Alphonse Areola (£4.2m). West Ham have conceded only four goals in their last six games, keeping two clean sheets. Bournemouth’s form is on the wane, with Andoni Iraola bemoaning his attackers’ output.

(£4.2m). West Ham have conceded only four goals in their last six games, keeping two clean sheets. Bournemouth’s form is on the wane, with Andoni Iraola bemoaning his attackers’ output. Ezri Konsa (£4.4m). Aston Villa have kept five clean sheets in their last six games in all competitions. It could be a low-scoring affair at Villa Park, with a Wood-less Forest also mean at the back.

(£4.4m). Aston Villa have kept five clean sheets in their last six games in all competitions. It could be a low-scoring affair at Villa Park, with a Wood-less Forest also mean at the back. Emmanuel Agbadou (£4.0m): The budget defender has been excellent since signing in January. Wolves have kept three clean sheets in their last seven league games, conceding only six times in the process.

(£4.0m): The budget defender has been excellent since signing in January. Wolves have kept three clean sheets in their last seven league games, conceding only six times in the process. Jeanricner Bellegarde (£4.9m): The cheap midfielder has delivered four assists in his last six matches, creating 11 chances along the way.

THE CAPTAIN

We chose the Scout Picks captain using a vote between our Scout Squad panel.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed and handing Alexander Isak the armband, with Mohamed Salah our vice-captain.

COMMUNITY CHAMPION

A Fantasy Football Scout community member takes on the Scout Picks each week.

The community member who beats our team by the largest margin will win a £100 Amazon voucher. They’ll also get a place in our Moderators and Contributors League for the following season.

Boleyn Boy’s 80-44 victory in Gameweek 6 gave them the biggest win (36-point difference) of 2024/25 so far.

Shuddahaddun defeated us 57-37 in Gameweek 30 The Scout Picks are now 19-8 up on the community this season.

We’ll announce this week’s champion in due course.

FOLLOW THE SCOUT’S WEEKLY TRANSFER PLANS

We’re running a Scout FPL community team this season, with regulars like TopMarx, Tom Freeman, Marc Jobling 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 read more about here.

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