FPL GW29 Scout Picks Based on Stats, Analysis, and Matchups

Welcome to our FPL GW29 Scout Picks blog! As many of you (hopefully all of you) may know, FPL GW29 is a blank gameweek, with Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, and Newcastle United all not playing in this round of fixtures. That means no Salah, no Trent, no Munoz, no Isak etc… Many FPL managers will be playing their FH chip this week, and others may well be taking hits to cover for their non-playing assets – regardless of your strategy, this post should provide you with an XI of players who we believe will deliver big points in FPL GW29!

After back-to-back losses against the Official FPL Scout, we managed to get back to winning ways last weekend, scoring 70 points to the Official Scout’s 58, taking us to 17-11 for the season so far! We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to extend that lead further this week…

	GW1	GW2	GW3	GW4	GW5	GW6	GW7	GW8	GW9	GW10	GW11	GW12	GW13	GW14	GW15	GW16	GW17	GW18	GW19	GW20	GW21	GW22	GW23	GW24	GW25	GW26	GW27	GW28	Total
AAFPL Team	84	65	92	44	59	42	59	26	72	35	83	70	83	67	63	51	95	65	73	71	77	49	78	113	92	78	69	70	17
Official FPL Team	64	96	77	46	54	39	44	46	71	55	78	66	97	66	78	46	89	59	82	68	72	59	61	121	86	80	72	58	11

As always, our Scout Picks will be based on the eye test, stats, and analysis. Let’s first take a look at the fixtures for FPL GW29!

Link to all our FPL GW29 blogs including scout picks, players to target, buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, best forwards, and more. Completely free to access as well!

FPL GW29 Fixtures

FPL GW29 Scout Picks

FPL GW29 Scout Picks – Goalkeeper

The most obvious GK pick this week is Nottingham Forest’s Sels (5.0m). Nuno’s side face Ipswich away in FPL GW29, and if there’s one thing we’ve learnt from this season it’s to target promoted sides. Ipswich are win-less since 30th December last year, that’s 9 games for those counting, and have scored in just 6 of those 9 matches. They have scored just 26 goals so far this season (3rd fewest) and remain in the bottom three for xG as well.

Forest on the other hand are going into this game off the back of back-to-back clean sheets against Arsenal and Man City, having drawn 0-0 with the former and beaten the latter 1-0. In fact, they limited Man City to just 0.72xG over the course of the game in GW28 – they’ve only managed less in 2 games this season (Liverpool and United at home). They’ve bounced back exceptionally well from their recent dip in form and will be looking to take their excellent home form from the last two games on the road with them on Saturday afternoon.

As mentioned, Forest face Ipswich, a fixture which they won 1-0 earlier this season – keeping a CS and limiting the Tractor Boys to under 0.5xG over the course of the 90′. The Tricky Trees are tied with Liverpool for the most clean sheets in the league so far this season (12), and will be confident they can take their total up to 13 in GW29!

Further Read: 2024/25 Chip Strategy Guide- Best Windows to play all Chips & Combinations

FPL GW29 Scout Picks – Defenders

Our back 3 for FPL GW29 is made up of Everton’s O’Brien (4.5m), United’s De Ligt (4.8m) and Arsenal’s Gabriel (6.3m)!

Arsenal have the best defense in the league according to the underlying numbers. They’ve also kept 10 clean sheets so far this season – 3rd most in the league. They’ve also kept 2 clean sheets in their last 4 games. Gabriel has been at the heart of this solid backline, contributing not just defensively but also posing a major aerial threat from set pieces. With his 0.17xG/90 and 0.87 shots per 90 (to put that into perspective, Saliba takes 0.16 shots per 90), the Brazilian center-back is always a goal threat.

While Arsenal are in a bad moment, their main issues have been goal scoring, not goal conceding – up against Chelsea this week, they stand a good chance of securing a CS. Chelsea have been fairly lackluster in recent weeks, a dip in form which has coincided with a dip in star man Cole Palmer’s output: they scraped past Leicester 1-0 and fell to convincing defeats against Brighton and Villa in February. Having drawn the reverse fixture 1-1 earlier in the season the Gunners will be confident they can do one better in FPL GW29!

“If there’s one thing we’ve learnt from this season it’s to target promoted sides”… Manchester United face Leicester in FPL GW29, which means that, despite their inconsistency, they are a team to target this weekend. Leicester haven’t scored a goal since January, and have only scored 25 all season! United on the other hand have kept 7 clean sheets in 24/25, with just one of those seven coming since the turn of the year…

Look, let me be frank. I’m not confident in United’s ability to keep a clean sheet at all. The markets, on the other hand, put them as the third most likely team to keep a CS in GW29, behind only Everton and Arsenal. The main reason we’ve gone for De Ligt is because of the fixture – Leicester are hopeless both at creating and scoring chances, so it would be foolish to not include at least one United defensive asset.

Completing our back-line is Everton’s O’Brien. Everton have been a resilient defensive unit in recent weeks, particularly since Moyes took over – with the Toffee’s keeping 2 clean sheets and conceding 10 goals across the 9 games since his appointment. O’Brien has been one of their standout performers since the turn of the year, filling in the absence of a natural right back. Everton face West Ham in GW29, a side that has struggled for consistency in attack, with an xG of only 0.82 in their last match against a Newcastle side with a limited number of fit defenders.

Everton have the best odds to keep a clean sheet in FPL GW29, sitting at around 36%, so it makes sense to go for at least one of their defenders. O’Brien is our pick due to his threat from set pieces – he’s a big guy, and has demonstrated in recent weeks that he’s not scared to attack the ball from corners and free kicks. Mykolenko, Pickford, and Tarkowski are all also great options for this weekend’s round of premier league fixtures.

Further Read: FPL GW29 Free Hit Guide – Tips, Players to Target, and Best Drafts

FPL GW29 Scout Picks – Midfielders

With Liverpool blanking this week, we’ve got the space and money to go for an interesting (but fairly template) midfield quartet of: Mbeumo (8.1m), Fernandes (8.4m), Kluivert (6.2m) and Gibbs-White (6.5m)!

Bournemouth face Brentford at home in GW29, and we’ve gone for one midfielder from each team, with talismen Mbeumo and Kluivert taking up two of the midfield spots in this week’s AAFPL Scout picks team. Kluivert has been one of the Cherries’ most dangerous attacking players, and is statistically far and away the top dog at Bournemouth. Over his last 4 matches, he has recorded 3 goal contributions despite Bournemouth only winning one of those four! Due to his current form and the rotation risks associated with Bournemouth’s other attacking options, Kluivert is our pick for FPL GW29.

Mbeumo has been instrumental in Brentford’s attack, especially in the absence of other key attackers across the season. With 15 goals and 4 assists this season, he continues to deliver for the vast number of FPL managers who have put their faith in him. Mbeumo has managed 3 goal involvements in his last 3 matches in the league, though was kept fairly quiet against Aston Villa in FPL GW28. Kerkez is a notoriously attacking fullback, Mbeumo should have plenty of space available for him to exploit at the Vitality. Furthermore, with the injuries to a number of Bournemouth’s other defensive players, Mbeumo (along with Brentford’s other attackers) will definitely fancy his chances!

Bruno Fernandes remains Manchester United’s creative hub, with 60 chances created and 7 assists this season. Against Leicester, his role as a playmaker and penalty-taker boosts his FPL appeal. What’s more, Leicester have conceded 7 goals from outside the box, almost 10% of their total goals against, an area where Fernandes excels (he’s taken 41 shots from outside the box and scored 4 goals).

He has absolutely dragged Manchester United kicking and screaming to wins and draws in recent weeks, providing 3 goal involvements in his last 3 premier league matches. With Leicester’s defensive vulnerabilities—conceding 8 big chances in their last 3 games—Fernandes is well-positioned to capitalize. In the reverse fixture earlier this season Fernandes put in a MOTM performance, bagging a goal and an assist and taking home 3 bonus points – in total a huge 17-pointer!

Finally, we have MGW – Forest’s creative mastermind and the heart of their team. 6 attacking returns in his last 5 games is an exceptional rate of return for a player who costs just 6.5m and is owned by under 7% of FPL managers! Ipswich have conceded 11 goals in their last five games, with four of those matches against bottom-half opposition—Aston Villa being the only exception. Given his impressive form, Gibbs-White will surely back himself to capitalize on their defensive struggles!

Morgan Gibbs-White has been in excellent form recently, leading all midfielders (with a GW29 fixture) in goal involvements since GW15 with 13—two more than second-placed Mbeumo. The Englishman has registered five goals and six assists this season, ranking second in the Forest squad for both. Unlike the more streaky Elanga and CHO, he offers consistent returns and serves as the creative heartbeat of this Forest side.

Further Read: FPL Gameweek 29 Transfer Tips: Two Players to Buy, Hold & Sell

FPL GW29 Scout Picks – Forwards

Haaland (14.7m), Wood (7.3m) and Evanlison (5.6m) complete the team!

Erling Haaland is undoubtedly one of the first names on any Free Hit GW29 team sheet, and was also a no-brainer for the scout picks team! There’s really no need to dive into the specifics of his numbers—he’s one of the best strikers to ever grace the Premier League, consistently putting up outstanding stats season after season. People are calling this a ‘bad’ season for Haaland – despite the fact he’s scored 20 goals in the league already…

This weekend, City face Brighton—a fixture that, while tricky due to Brighton’s recent form, is by no means a terrible matchup. Haaland’s impressive shot volume of 3.72 per game and his xG/90 of 0.75 indicate that he’s consistently in the right positions to score and that another big haul could be just around the corner – hopefully this weekend! Given City’s struggles of late, they’ll be eager to turn things around, and with many other premium options not playing this week, Haaland stands out as a prime captaincy choice. His potential for a haul return makes him a must-have for GW29.

A Forest triple-up was practically a given in the Scout Picks for GW29, as Nuno’s side boasts one of the best fixtures and are in pretty good shape themselves. No free hit draft for BGW29 is complete without Wood, and our scout picks team is no different! Between GW19 and GW26, Wood was in excellent form, producing 11 goal involvements despite facing some tough defenses – he’ll be looking to bounce back from his 2-game blank streak.

Chris Wood has been significantly overperforming his underlying numbers this season, with 18 goals scored from just 12 expected goals (xG). While such overperformance can’t be expected to continue indefinitely, it clearly demonstrates how in-form Wood is at the moment. His ability to exceed expectations speaks to his confidence and sharpness in front of goal, making him a player worth considering while he’s still riding this hot streak. Ipswich, however, have struggled defensively this season, conceding the third-most goals in the league and posting the second-highest expected goals against (xGA) – the perfect opportunity for Wood to end his ‘drought’.

Evanilson returned to the starting XI against Spurs in FPL GW28, highlighting his importance to Iraola’s system – when he’s fit he plays! His impressive 0.48xG/90 is bettered only by Outtara (the player he is replacing) in the Bournemouth squad (500+ minutes) though he has so far underperformed his underlying data.

Bournemouth, as a whole, have been one of the league’s best-attacking sides and in fact have the third-highest xG this season. Their attacking prowess has been steadily on the rise, and much of their success can be attributed to how well Evanilson has plugged the gap left by Solanke’s summer departure. We’re confident that his return to the side will help the Cherries escape their recent win-less run and place them firmly into European contention… Given Brentford’s somewhat inconsistent defensive performances and his decent performance against Spurs last weekend, Evanilson is a solid pick for FPL GW29!

Full FPL GW29 Scout Picks Team

Further reads from AllAboutFPL ahead of FPL GW29:

2024/25 Ultimate Chip Strategy Guide- Best Windows to play all Chips & Combinations
FPL GW29 Free Hit Guide – Tips, Players to Target, and Best Drafts
FPL GW29 Scout Picks Based on Stats, Analysis, and Matchups
FPL Gameweek 29 Transfer Tips: Two Players to Buy, Hold & Sell
Impact of FA Cup on FPL Blank Gameweek 34 | FPL BGW34
Upcoming FPL Double/Blank Gameweeks | 24/25 FPL Season
FPL GW29 Free Hit- Players to Target Position wise
FPL GW29 Tips & Ultimate Guide: Differentials, Captaincy & More

Link to all our FPL GW29 blogs including scout picks, players to target, buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer targets, and more. Completely free to access as well!

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What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL Gameweek 29 of the 2024/25 FPL Season?

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