One of The Scout's panel of Fantasy Premier League experts, Az Phillips is using his Wildcard chip in Gameweek 7. Here he reveals his 15-man squad and the reasons for his choices.
Nick Pope (£5.0m): Just one win for Newcastle this season, but Pope has four clean sheets in six matches and has great fixtures on the horizon after a tricky start for the Magpies.
Gabriel (£6.2m): The Brazilian is currently the top-scoring defender for Arsenal and is my favourite defender to own in the game right now. He provides strong potential for defensive contribution points, as we saw in Gameweek 6, as well as an attacking threat, and he is arguably playing for the best defensive side in Europe.
Maxence Lacroix (£5.1m): The Palace centre-back has achieved defensive contribution points in half of his games so far and is a menace from set-pieces.
Marcos Senesi (£4.9m): Bournemouth's centre-back has a 100 per cent record for collecting defensive contribution points so far, averaging 13-14 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles (CBIT) per match, well above the threshold of 10 required for the extra two points. The Cherries have also only lost once so far this season, to leaders Liverpool on the opening weekend.
Bukayo Saka (£9.8m): Arsenal's "Star Boy" Saka feels like a bit of a pricey "punt", but he is more than capable of hitting 25-30 goal involvements when fit over a season, like he did in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Fantasy. I am also expecting him to share penalty duties with Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m).
Antoine Semenyo (£7.8m): He is the main man at Bournemouth and has only blanked once this season. Enough said.
Enzo Fernandez (£6.7m): I have switched my investment in Chelsea from the forward line to midfield, parting ways with Joao Pedro (£7.8m) and bringing in Enzo. The Argentinian has strong underlying stats and penalty duties when Cole Palmer (£10.3m) is not on the pitch.
A recurrence of Palmer's injury may force Maresca's hand with rotation and early subs, at least in the short term, further boosting Enzo's appeal.
Ismaila Sarr (£6.4m): Crystal Palace's Sarr has been delivering on excellent underlying numbers this season and when fit looks to be Palace's main goal threat.
Tijjani Reijnders (£5.8m): He provides great value, particularly given he has played almost every minute in the heart of Manchester City's midfield.
Erling Haaland (£14.4m): The Man City forward has eight goals in six matches and it feels like it could have been even more. He will be my captain in the majority of Gameweeks.
Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m): The new Arsenal forward hasn't always looked at his the best, but he has still managed three goals in six starts, having played some of the best defences. I'm expecting plenty of goals in the more favourable fixtures coming up.
Substitutes
Martin Dubravka (£4.0m): The Burnley goalkeeper is an easy choice as the only goalkeeper at this price point expected to keep his place long term.
Omar Alderete (£4.1m): Sunderland have started the season incredibly well on their return to the Premier League. Alderete and Sunderland have now kept three clean sheets, and the budget defender is also a menace from set-pieces.
Cristian Romero (£5.1m): The Spurs centre-back looks great for some kind fixtures in the short term, and he can be benched in the more difficult matches. Romero offers a strong aerial threat from set-pieces and looks a good pick for a Bench Boost in Gameweek 8.
Igor Thiago (£6.0m): He has an attractive fixture against West Ham in Gameweek 8 when I am planning to Bench Boost and can be benched for Brentford's more difficult fixtures against Man City in Gameweek 7, Liverpool in Gameweek 9 and Crystal Palace in Gameweek 10.