FPL Gameweek 36 Scout Picks: Forest double-up includes Wood

It’s time to turn our attention to the Gameweek 36 Scout Picks.

We deliberated over the Scout Squad submissions made by Neale, Tom, Sam and Marc before coming up with our final team.

As ever, we are limited by certain restrictions:

An £83.0m budget for our starting XI

An overall squad limit of £100.0m

No more than three players per team

GAMEWEEK 36 SCOUT PICKS

GOALKEEPER

A home clash with relegated Leicester City offers Matz Sels (£5.2m) the chance of further returns. The Nottingham Forest number one is the top-scoring goalkeeper in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and has served up eight of his 13 clean sheets at the City Ground. Furthermore, he faces an attack that has failed to score in five of their last six road trips.

DEFENDERS

Manchester City’s resilient rearguard has to be backed for the trip to Southampton. Josko Gvardiol (£6.4m) is our preferred route in, having served up four clean sheets, five bonus and 31 points across his last six matches. While Gvardiol’s open play goal threat has dried up since his redeployment at centre-half, there is a chance he could revert to left-back at St Mary’s, with the fit-again Manuel Akanji (£5.3m) back in contention for a starting spot in the middle. Gvardiol is a set-piece threat regardless, one of Southampton’s many weaknesses.

Brentford’s Michael Kayode (£4.5m) offers a decent chance for points at both ends of the pitch this weekend. The right-back, whose throw-ins caused havoc against Manchester United last time out, travels to a relegated Ipswich Town outfit with just two goals in their last three matches. The Tractor Boys have also allowed more chances to be created from their left flank than any other side in 2025.

With six attacking returns in his last nine appearances, Ryan Sessegnon (£4.2m) is another in-form option as Fulham entertain Everton. The out-of-position prospect is joint-top among defenders for shots (10) over the last six matches. He also ranks joint-seventh for chances created (eight) over that same timeframe. Sessegnon’s early withdrawal in Gameweek 35 was admittedly a bit off-putting, but his first-half booking was likely a factor in the substitution. Prior to that, he had a goal ruled out for handball, further highlighting his attacking instincts.

MIDFIELDERS

We can’t ignore Kevin De Bruyne (£9.5m) as Man City travel to Southampton looking for the win that would move them one step closer to UEFA Champions League qualification. Back in the goals in last week’s clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Belgian has served up three attacking returns in his last four matches, and with Erling Haaland (£14.8m) still yet to kick a ball since returning from injury, looks likely to start at St Mary’s.

Bryan Mbeumo (£8.2m) visits an Ipswich side that have conceded 24 goals across their last seven home matches. The Cameroon international, who is the current leader of this week’s captain poll, produced 15 points in his previous meeting with the Tractor Boys. He is also averaging 12.8 points per start against promoted opposition this season.

Our final two midfielders, Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m) and Eberechi Eze (£6.9m), both face opponents who were in UEFA Europa League action on Thursday night, which is key to their appeal.

With five goals and four assists in his last 12 matches, Bowen has played a crucial role for West Ham United this year, and his contribution looks vital if the visitors are to get one over Manchester United on Sunday. Crucially, Ruben Amorim’s side have conceded 10 goals and rank 16th for big chances conceded over the last four Gameweeks (see below).

Eze, meanwhile, is our preferred Crystal Palace attacker. The England midfielder is back in form and has upped his consistency of late, producing either a goal or an assist in four of his last six matches. He’ll fancy his chances on the counter-attack against an unconvincing Tottenham Hotspur rearguard, who have recorded just two clean sheets in 19 matches.

FORWARDS

Despite concerns over his role/recent output, Omar Marmoush (£7.6m) has to be in the Scout Picks. He faces a Southampton defence without a clean sheet in their last 18 league outings. Furthermore, his total of eight shots and three chances created in Gameweeks 33-35 hints at his potential.

Nottingham Forest are suffering a major wobble in their attempt to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, but we’re still backing Chris Wood (£7.1m) to do the business at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon. The Kiwi forward has blanked in six of his last seven matches but delivered a double-digit haul in the reverse fixture, and remains FPL’s second-top scoring forward.

Finally, Yoane Wissa (£6.7m) continues in our Scout Picks XI as Brentford visit Ipswich. The forward has scored in each of his last four matches and rolls up to Portman Road in his most consistent form of the season. In fact, Wissa has failed to return in just two of the Bees’ last 10 games.

SUBSTITUTES

Bernd Leno (£5.0m): Opponents Everton have scored just 12 away goals this season, the fewest of any top-flight side.

(£5.0m): Opponents Everton have scored just 12 away goals this season, the fewest of any top-flight side. Daniel Munoz (£5.3m): The raiding wing-back has the potential to exploit Spurs’ backline in Gameweek 36. The Lilywhites were, of course, in European action in Norway on Thursday night.

(£5.3m): The raiding wing-back has the potential to exploit Spurs’ backline in Gameweek 36. The Lilywhites were, of course, in European action in Norway on Thursday night. Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.1m): Having racked up 33 points across his previous three home matches, the wing-back is an in-form option for Wolves’ Molineux encounter with Brighton and Hove Albion.

(£5.1m): Having racked up 33 points across his previous three home matches, the wing-back is an in-form option for Wolves’ Molineux encounter with Brighton and Hove Albion. Anthony Elanga (£5.5m): The winger has produced three of his four double-digit hauls this season at the City Ground and hosts relegated Leicester next.

THE CAPTAIN

We chose the Scout Picks captain using a vote between our Scout Squad panel.

Marc: Mbeumo, De Bruyne, Marmoush

Mbeumo, De Bruyne, Marmoush Sam: Mbeumo, De Bruyne, Wissa

Mbeumo, De Bruyne, Wissa Tom: Mbeumo, Wood, De Bruyne

Mbeumo, Wood, De Bruyne Neale: Mbeumo, De Bruyne, Wissa

We’re handing Bryan Mbeumo the armband this week, with Kevin De Bruyne named as the vice-captain.

COMMUNITY CHAMPION

A Fantasy Football Scout community member takes on the Scout Picks each week.

The community member who beats our team by the largest margin will win a £100 Amazon voucher. They’ll also get a place in our Moderators and Contributors League for the following season.

Boleyn Boy’s 80-44 victory in Gameweek 6 gave them the biggest win (36-point difference) of 2024/25 so far.

Our champion this week is CasaBanter, who has gone for: Sels; Munoz, Sessegnon, Gvardiol; De Bruyne, Sarr, Mbeumo, Eze; Wood (c), Marmoush, Isak

The Scout Picks are 20-12 up on the community this season.

FOLLOW THE SCOUT’S WEEKLY TRANSFER PLANS

We’re running a Scout FPL community team this season, with regulars like TopMarx, Tom Freeman, Marc Jobling and more contributing to the weekly decisions.

And we’re not just looking one week ahead like we are with the Scout Picks but instead planning in advance for the weeks and months to come.

You can follow our team via the Premier Fantasy Tools Pro Planner, which you can read more about here.

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