The Scout is tipping four players for big success in Gameweek 12 of 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League ahead of Saturday's 11:00 GMT deadline, to help managers gain an edge over their mini-league rivals.
Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd) £8.9m
Manchester United's Portuguese playmaker provides all-round appeal and a guarantee of minutes, having started every Premier League match this season.
Ranking fifth among Fantasy midfielders for shots, with 25, he fares even better when it comes to chances created, supplying a league-high 29 of those.
All of that, coupled with penalty-taking duties, has helped him to an Expected Goal involvement (xGI) tally of 6.45 that's superior to every other midfielder in FPL.
Crucially, despite two rare misses from the spot, Fernandes retains the backing of his manager when it comes to penalties.
Meanwhile, six defensive contribution points have supplemented his five attacking returns.
United now enjoy an appealing run of fixtures, with all of their next 10 matches scoring no higher than three in the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the easiest possible match is ranked as one and the hardest possible match as five.
Man Utd's next 10 matches
| GW | Opp. | FDR |
| 12 | Everton (H) | 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Crystal Palace (A) | 3 |
| 14 | West Ham (H) | 2 |
| 15 | Wolves (A) | 2 |
| 16 | Bournemouth (H) | 3 |
| 17 | Aston Villa (A) | 3 |
| 18 | Newcastle (H) | 3 |
| 19 | Wolves (H) | 2 |
| 20 | Leeds (A) | 3 |
| 21 | Burnley (A) | 2 |
Unlike Bryan Mbeumo (£8.5m), who will depart for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) next month and will need to be sold, Fernandes is a solid set-and-forget option through to the New Year.
Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) £6.6m
With their trip to the Etihad Stadium behind them, Liverpool now embark on a favourable run of fixtures.
In fact, according to the FDR, none of their next nine matches score higher than three.
How best to tap into the Reds' attack is a question on many Fantasy managers' lips, and Szoboszlai is certainly making a case for himself - especially for those who can't afford Mohamed Salah (£14.2m).
The Hungary international offers a bit of everything, including corner-taking and direct free-kick duties.
Szoboszlai ranks joint-sixth among all Fantasy midfielders for shots and chances created combined, with a total of 37 in 2025/26.
Having operated at right-back and in central midfield this season, he's more recently been deployed as an attacking midfielder by Arne Slot. That should boost his goalscoring potential, as evidenced by the big chance that he was presented with in Gameweek 10 at home to Aston Villa.
At the other end of the pitch, he's picked up defensive contribution points in four of his 11 starts.
One of his biggest plus points, however, is his security of starts. He's the only Liverpool midfielder or forward to have started and finished all 11 Premier League matches this season, so there's little of the rotation risk that has damaged the appeal of Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) and Florian Wirtz (£8.0m) over recent weeks. Coming into a busy winter period, that reliability is a big draw.
Dango Ouattara (Brentford) £6.0m
Ouattara appeals a short-term buy given he, like Mbeumo, is AFCON-bound next month.
But with Fantasy managers having their free transfers topped up to a maximum of five following the Gameweek 15 deadline to help negotiate the exodus to Africa, there is scope to concentrate on the here and now.
Ouattara and Brentford have some favourable fixtures up until the middle of December, including home matches against Burnley and Leeds United, and a trip to a Tottenham Hotspur side who are ranked 19th for results at home. It remains to be seen if Ouattara is still selectable for the Leeds match due to international duty, but the extra free transfers can address any availability issues if not.
The Burkina Faso international, who is owned by less than one per cent of managers, has racked up seven big chances this season, a total that only three midfielders - all of them costing more than £8.0m - have bettered.
Indeed, he leads the way for Expected Goals (xG) among midfielders priced under £6.5m, with a score of 2.55.
Emiliano Buendia (Aston Villa) £5.3m
Another midfield differential, also sat in less than one per cent of squads, Buendia has racked up five attacking returns, more than any of his Aston Villa team-mates this season.
A combined total of 24 shots and chances created in 2025/26 is also better than any other Villa player.
With three goals and two assists from just 435 minutes, Buendia has delivered the goods when handed the opportunity.
Watch Buendia's goal v Bournemouth
The Argentinian playmaker has featured increasingly prominently in Unai Emery's plans, starting the two most recent league matches he has been available for. He missed out in Gameweek 10 due to injury.
With six of the Villa's next seven fixtures scoring three or less in the FDR, there'll be opportunities to continue his fine form heading towards Christmas.