It’s time for our early Scout Picks for Gameweek 31 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
With some managers playing their Free Hit this week, this is one of the more relevant selections of the season.
As ever, we will finalise our weekly selection nearer Friday’s deadline.
A lot can change between now and then, with nine teams in European action this week. The upcoming Scout Squad nominations, as well as the pre-match press conferences, will also help shape our final Scout Picks.
But this ‘bus team’, at the very least, offers an insight into the players and teams who will be under consideration.
There are, as ever, certain restrictions for our squad:
- An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
- An overall squad limit of £100.0m
- No more than three players per team
GAMEWEEK 31 FIXTURES
Gameweek 31 fixtures, sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker.
This weekend’s EFL Cup final leaves us with a smaller pool of players to choose from, with Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester City and Crystal Palace all set to blank.
It is important to note that, subject to European results, Man City v Palace could stay in Gameweek 31.
However, for now, we will proceed on the assumption that it won’t and will update this article accordingly should that change.
THE LIKELY LADS
There aren’t too many stand-out, ‘essential’ players in Blank Gameweek 31.
Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, for example, rank highly on our ticker. However, both clubs are in poor form and are up against teams in the top half of the table for StatsBomb expected goals conceded (xGC) over the last six Gameweeks, namely Nottingham Forest and West Ham United.
Bruno Fernandes (£10.1m) is one of our nailed-on picks, however.
The in-form Portuguese playmaker has 11 attacking returns in 10 matches since the departure of Ruben Amorim, and has produced five double-digit hauls in that time.
Manchester United’s opponents on Friday, Bournemouth, have notably conceded only 15 Opta ‘big chances’ on home turf in 2025/26, fewer than any other team.
Still, given Fernandes’ form/output as a No 10 under Michael Carrick, he’s naturally our go-to midfielder.
A couple of Fulham players against Burnley will also feature.
Marco Silva’s troops banked their first clean sheet of 2026 on Sunday, so Joachim Andersen (£4.5m), back in the team and bettered by only two other FPL defenders for defensive contribution (DefCon) points this season, is our preferred option at the back.
He’s joined by set-piece taker Harry Wilson (£6.0m), who is unbeaten by any teammate for goals or assists in 2025/26.
Anthony Gordon (£7.3m) also features prominently in our plans. On penalties and mostly playing as a centre-forward, he’s returned in three of the last five Gameweeks, a period during which he has averaged 84.8 minutes per start.
IN CONTENTION
Malick Thiaw (£5.0m) trails only Gordon and Fernandes for Gameweek 31 ‘transfers in’:
St James’ Park is perhaps the likeliest source of defensive returns this week. Injury-hit Sunderland are the lowest scorers over the last six league matches, so a Newcastle defender – perhaps alongside Aaron Ramsdale (£4.8m) – is tempting, even factoring in the unpredictable nature of a derby.
Elsewhere, it’s tricky to predict exactly which way Brighton and Hove Albion v Liverpool will go, particularly with the Reds in midweek action.
Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m), Florian Wirtz (£8.3m), Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) and Hugo Ekitike (£9.2m) are all in contention, but the Seagulls have conceded just four goals in their last six matches and rank second for xGC in that time.
At the back, Virgil van Dijk (£6.2m) appeals. Even in a scenario where Liverpool concede, the Dutchman has already found the net three times this season. His ability to deliver DefCon points also falls in his favour.
Other fixtures, such as Everton v Chelsea, Leeds United v Brentford and Aston Villa v West Ham, also feel difficult to predict.
Chelsea host Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday and given their lack of clean sheets under Liam Rosenior, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.1m), who has four attacking returns in six matches, could be a stand-out option. He might even rival Cole Palmer (£10.6m) and Joao Pedro (£7.8m) for a Scout Picks spot.
The likes of Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.4m), Elliot Anderson (£5.5m), Marcus Tavernier (£5.4m), Dango Ouattara (£6.0m), Igor Thiago (£7.3m), Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.6m) also enter the chat for Blank Gameweek 31.
Bowen carries particular appeal, having blanked just once in the last eight Gameweeks.
If we do decide to look elsewhere in defence, there are plenty of other options from the likes of Aston Villa, Leeds United and Man Utd.
THE LONGER SHOTS
West Ham, Bournemouth, Everton and Chelsea defenders all probably belong in this camp, with the likes of Thiaw and Andersen firmly ahead at this early stage.
There probably won’t be too many takers in Richarlison (£6.3m), but he’s suspended in Europe this week and did rack up five shots, including two big chances, at Anfield on Sunday.
We shouldn’t discount Morgan Rogers (£7.5m) out of hand but it’ll be extremely hard for him or other midfielders like Pascal Gross (£5.5m) and Jaidon Anthony (£5.0m) to sneak in, given the appeal of Fernandes, Gordon and Wilson.
Elsewhere, the likes of Raul Jimenez (£6.2m) and Danny Welbeck (£6.1m) have their merits without being stand-out Scout Picks candidates. In Raul’s case, it’s the knowledge that he’ll likely come off around the 60-to-70-minute mark, as has been the case in each of the last six weeks.
GAMEWEEK 31 EARLY SCOUT PICKS
