For the final time this season, we roll out the Scout Picks.
We considered the Scout Squad submissions from Neale, Tom F, Sam and Marc before coming up with our final team.
As ever, we are limited by certain restrictions:
An £83.0m budget for our starting XIAn overall squad limit of £100.0mNo more than three players per teamGAMEWEEK 38 SCOUT PICKSGOALKEEPER
We’d have preferred David Raya (£6.2m) or Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.6m) in the goalkeeper slot this week but with question marks over whether either ‘keeper will start, we’re playing it safer.
Chelsea’s defence has flattered to deceive for months but they’ve looked more solid under Calum McFarlane, with a clean sheet drought ended in the FA Cup semi-finals and then only one goal conceded in each of the last three matches in all competitions. The return of Levi Colwill (£4.7m) and Reece James (£5.6m) has also been a tonic.
We’ve not got overly high hopes of Robert Sanchez (£4.8m) but opponents Sunderland, not usually the most free-scoring of sides, have to win to stand a chance of making it to the Europa/Conference League, so he should be kept busy. He has his faults but shot-stopping isn’t one of them.
Opponents Sunderland have scored just two goals in their last six home matches.
DEFENDERS
Pedro Porro’s (£5.2m) attacking threat earns the Tottenham Hotspur defender a call-up as Everton make their way to north London. The set-piece taker has already found the net under Roberto De Zerbi, and his forward forays could be key as Spurs search for a vital victory over the Toffees – remember, a win at home and Premier League survival is theirs. In De Zerbi’s six matches in charge, Porro has racked up 10 shots and 13 chances created, both of which are the joint-most of any defender. He’s also banked defensive contribution (DefCon) points three times.
West Ham United’s Konstantinos Mavropanos (£4.5m) entertains a Leeds United team that have scored just one goal from open play in their last two matches. That solitary strike was a gift from Jan Paul van Hecke’s (£4.7m) wayward pass, too. Meanwhile, Mavropanos is placed joint-fourth among defenders for shots from set plays over the last six Gameweeks, as he looks to add to his three-goal tally for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. In that same period, he’s also delivered six DefCon points.
We’ve called up another DefCon magnet, James Hill (£4.2m), as our final defender ahead of Bournemouth’s trip to the City Ground. Since becoming a first-team regular in Gameweek 19, no defender has bettered his tally of 224 DefCons. This period also contains three assists and six clean sheets. A win for Andoni Iraola’s side, who are unbeaten in 17 Premier League matches, could take them into the Champions League.
