Welcome to our FPL GW21 Scout Picks blog! The games continue to come at us thick and fast, with another round of mid-week premier league games taking place between Tuesday and Thursday this week. Don’t forget to manage your teams and make any last minute transfers before the deadline at 18:30 on Tuesday evening!
Another defeat in GW20 reduces our lead to 2 points ahead of the scout picks team going into FPL GW21.
AAFPL Scout Picks 11 – 9 Official Scout Picks
| GW1 | GW2 | GW3 | GW4 | GW5 | GW6 | GW7 | GW8 | GW9 | GW10 | GW11 | GW12 | GW13 | GW14 | GW15 | GW16 | GW17 | GW18 | GW19 | GW20 | |
| AAFPL Team | 62 | 58 | 57 | 68 | 34 | 60 | 77 | 67 | 58 | 73 | 39 | 52 | 59 | 82 | 58 | 82 | 77 | 40 | 32 | 49 |
| Official FPL Team | 56 | 50 | 57 | 90 | 43 | 57 | 67 | 63 | 41 | 78 | 54 | 52 | 41 | 66 | 67 | 80 | 92 | 35 | 46 | 57 |
As always, our Scout Picks will be based on the eye test, stats, and analysis. But before we discuss player picks, let’s take a look at the fixtures for FPL GW21.
Link to all our FPL GW21 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 GW21 Fixtures
Teams to target in FPL GW21
- Arsenal
- Aston Villa
- Manchester City
FPL GW21 Scout Picks
FPL GW21 Scout Picks – Goalkeeper
Kelleher (4.5m) starts between the sticks for the AAFPL Scout Picks team in FPL GW21 following Brentford’s stunning run of form and their improved defensive numbers. Let’s first look at the baseline stats: Brentford have the 6th best xGA in the league and have conceded 28 goals (the same number as Liverpool, joint 11th). They’ve kept 4 clean sheets, two of which have come in their last 5 games. So why, if they are arguably a mid-table defense, are we targeting them for FPL GW21?…
Brentford are in a rich vein of form and are unbeaten in 5 matches in the league, picking up 3 wins, 2 draws and conceding just 4 goals in that time (2 clean sheets). The bees face a Sunderland side that is also unbeaten in 5, but which has scored just 3 goals in that time, failing to score in 2 of their last 5 and 3 of their last 6. In all of the three matches in which they have managed to score (out of the last 5), they have registered less than 1xG on every occasion.
In fact, across Sunderland’s last seven matches they have registered more than 1xG only once. While the results suggest they’re in decent form, there is clearly an underlying issue when it comes to creating chances. If we look at their season-wide underlying stats, they are second bottom of the league for xG and joint 4th bottom for goals scored, suggesting that this is no new issue.
Brentford’s solid defensive numbers and excellent form coupled with a fixture against a struggling attack mean that we’re going for the Brentford number 1 for FPL GW21!
FPL GW21 Scout Picks – Defenders
Our defense includes Gabriel (6.6m), Cash (4.8m) and Hall (5.3m)…
Gabriel naturally retains his spot in the team following a 9 point haul against Bournemouth in FPL GW20. With Saliba now back alongside him and more stability reinstated across the Arsenal defense, Gabriel looks like an excellent FPL option going forwards. Goal threat, clean sheet potential, defcon, Gabriel does it all, but with a tough fixture against Liverpool this week, some managers might be put off…
Arsenal are ranked joint most likely to keep a clean sheet by FFH’s fixture analysis tool, while their player points prediction tool has Gabriel as the highest scoring defender in FPL GW21. Of course, predictive tools like these are never 100% accurate, but this analysis perhaps illustrates just how far Liverpool have fallen, and how solid Arsenal have looked in recent weeks. Liverpool struggled to break Fulham down, and one would imagine that Arsenal will only be more difficult. In the reverse fixture Liverpool created under 0.5xG and scored the winner from a sublime free kick; with this match taking place at the Emirates and the form of these two sides taken into account, the gunners are likely to come out on top.
Cash comes into the backline as Villa face Palace away in FPL GW21. The polish defender bagged an assist in GW20 against Forest, making it 5 goal contributions (3 goals, 2 assists) for the season. Cash is the highest scoring defender for his side so far this campaign, and is a close second (to Digne) for points per 90 amongst defenders at Villa. He is by far one of their more attacking defenders, and is therefore the best option for this fixture against a struggling Palace side.
Palace have fallen to 14th in the league having not won a game in the league since the 7th december. The eagles are struggling in attack in the absence of Sarr and Munoz and have scored just 2 goals in their last 5 games. Their underlying stats suggest that they’ve been a bit unlucky in some of those matches, but their confidence will now be badly damaged.
Finally we have Newcastle’s Lewis Hall. Thiaw will likely be on many people’s radar following his huge 17 point haul against Palace in FPL GW20, but it is instead his defensive partner Hall who we have selected for this week’s team. Hall has the best xGI/90 of any Newcastle defender as well as ranking highly for defcon, the issue he’s been having this season is his fitness. With those issues now behind him he looks like a solid option for those looking to target Newcastle’s great fixture run which continues this mid-week with a fixture against Leeds United at home.
FPL GW21 Scout Picks – Midfielders
Our midfield remains unchanged for FPL GW21, with Rogers (7.6m), Cunha (8.2m), Foden (8.9m) and Saka (10.2m) all retaining their spots!…
Rogers followed up his impressive form with another assist in FPL GW21, taking his total thus far to 7 goals and 4 asissts. As mentioned in the previous section, Palace are really struggling at the minute, and while a lot of their problems seem to be in attack, their defense is also in a bad way. 11 goals conceded in their last 5 matches paints a bleak picture, and while Richards will likely return for this match, the absence of Munoz has been sorely felt.
Saka’s benching in FPL GW20 means that he is pretty nailed to start the match against Liverpool on thursday night. While his benching came as a surprise to many managers, including us, consider Arsenal’s relative strength in depth, particularly in attack, we should have seen this one coming.
Fortunately for his many owners, Saka made an impact off the bench, assisting Arsenal’s third and ending the GW on 4 points. In the 23 minutes he was on the pitch he created 3 chances, 1 big chance, took 1 shot and obviously assisted, not bad for a brief cameo! His 4 goals and 3 assists are over shadowed by the under performance of his expected data (he should be on at least 5 goals and 5 assists); now that he’s starting to get into some solid form we can hope that he is able to translate these excellent performances into actual FPL points…
Saka comes in at third place for predicted points this week and is followed by another one of our picks for this week, Manchester United’s Cunha!
Cunha is predicted almost 7 points in FPL GW21 which would make it 16 points in two games after he scored once and took 2 bonus points in United’s 1-1 draw with Leeds. That result marked the end of the Amorim era at United, and it’s likely that a caretaker will now be in place for a period (possibly until the end of the season). This is unlikely to affect Cunha much, as his play style and flair has remained pretty much the same as his time at Wolves…
Cunha has 4 goals so far this season, but is marginally under performing his underlying stats. In his last 5 matches in the league Cunha is averaging 4.4 shots per game, a ridiculous number considering some of the top strikers in the league tend to average around 3 across the season (Haaland: 3.84/90, Thiago: 2.36/90, Ekitike: 3.03/90). Shots obviously don’t equal goals, but taking more shots definitely gives you more of a chance of scoring, especially if they’re in good positions (12/22 shots (last 5 matches) have been inside the box).
Finally we have Manchester City’s Foden, who retains his spot in the team in spite of his run of 4 blanks in a row. Foden remains one of the premier attackers in the league and is still ranked 6th overall for points scored amongst midfielders. Fantasy Football Hub’s player profile tool allows us to look at Foden’s expected versus realised points, and the below graph shows us something interesting about his recent run of blanks.
His underlying numbers have actually remained fairly steady through this period, a fact which should offer some consolation (or perhaps frustration) to Foden owners. The midfielder’s key asset is his ability to over perform his expected numbers through moments of magic, be it long shots or creating exceptional chances, so these recent blanks should not be of too much concern. In that period of four game Foden has created 10 chances, 3 big chances and has taken an average of three shots per game – he is still very much involved in the city attack and it is just a matter of time before he starts to haul again.
FPL GW21 Scout Picks – Forwards
Watkins (8.7m), Haaland (15.1m) and Thiago (6.9m) complete the team for FPL GW21…
Haaland naturally retains the captaincy as City face Brighton at home in GW21. His three successive blanks are no cause for concern, as he continues to be a threat and take shots inside the box. Haaland will be Haaland and there are very few other plausible captaincy options this week, so for now we’re sticking with the robot!
Watkins comes into the team following his impressive run of form in recent weeks in which he has 8 goal involvements since GW14. In the previous period (GW1-13) he managed just 1. With Palace struggling this week feels like the perfect time to go all in on Villa assets, and Watkins is certainly the best attacker outside of Rogers.
Since 1st December Watkins ranks:
- Joint 1st for Goals scored (6)
- Joint 1st for Goal involvements (8)
- 1st for xG/90 (0.98)
- 3rd for FPL points (49)
- 1st for xFPL points (40.24)
Those stats are phenomenal, and with Palace and Everton in the next two (followed by an average to good run of fixtures after) now is certainly a good time to target the english striker! Speaking of strikers in great form…
Thiago scored his first premier league hatrick over the weekend, bagging 3 goals against Everton and taking his tally for the season to 14 goals and 1 assist. The brazilian is somewhat comparable to Mateta in that he is a low-volume-high-quality striker, taking low numbers of shots but accruing high xG from the ones he does take – a classic penalty box striker.
The Brentford attacker had been in a spot of poor form prior to this game, having managed just 1 assist in his last 6 matches, but GW20 reminded the FPL community what a fantastic asset he is. In red hot form and with an attractive fixture against Sunderland, Thiago regains a spot in the AAFPL Scout Picks team.
FPL GW21 Scout Picks
Further Reads from ALLABOUTFPL Ahead of FPL GW21
Premier League Players who will miss PL due to AFCON 2025
AK’s FPL GW21 Team Reveal & Transfer Plans | 3x Top 5K Finishes
FPL GW21 Transfer Targets & Watchlist Based on Stats & Eye Test
FPL Gameweek 21 Transfer Tips: Two Players to Buy, Hold, & Sell
Top FPL Gameweek 21 Captain Picks Based on Analysis & Metrics
Top FPL GW21 Differential Picks to Target Ahead of Deadline
FPL GW21 Scout Picks Based on Stats, Analysis and Matchups
FPL GW21 Ultimate Guide: Tips, Differentials, Captaincy & More
Link to all our FPL GW21 blogs, including 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 21 of the 2025/26 FPL Season?
We’ll be covering differential picks, transfer targets, Buy, Hold, Sell analysis, Scout picks, Gameweek preview, Captaincy metrics, FPL GW21 tips, and more. Keep checking allaboutfpl.com for all our blogs. We’ll also be posting regularly about the same on our social media accounts so follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and keep our notification ON.
