Ive tweaked the format of the fantasy premier league defensive “ones to watch” article by adding a table so you can see the stats side by side. Below that Ive tweaked the narrative from last week to update it on each of the defensive targets as well as giving you the next 6 gameweek fixtures or home fixtures for the budget defenders to the end of the season.
The first part of the table deals with the best overall defences. The next with the budget home rotation defences.
| Rank | Team | Home rank | Away rank | Goals Conceded | Clean Sheets | CS in last 5 games | In top FPL teams | Predicted CS in 6 GWs |
| 1. | Chelsea | 4 | 1 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 5 |
| 2 | Everton | 3 | 4 | 27 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 4 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 6 | 6 | 31 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| 4 | Man City | 3 | 2 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Southampton | 8 | 2 | 35 | 11 | 1 | 11 | 3 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 1 | 14 | 28 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 5 | 11 | 35 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Rank | Team | Home rank | Away rank | Home GC | Home CS | Home CS in last 5 | In top FPL teams | Predicted Home CS |
| 1 | Sunderland | 17 | 13 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | Swansea | 13 | 15 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 16 | 12 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | WBA | 10 | 9 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Norwich | 9 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| 6 | West Ham | 14 | 8 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 7 | Hull | 7 | 16 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Key: Home and Away rank: My ranking of the defences. See my rating the defences article
GC Goals conceded
CS Clean sheets
In Top FPL teams: See my article on following 10 top fantasy premier league teams. The amount the teams are represented.
Predicted clean sheets: Predicted clean sheets in next 6 gameweeks or in home games to end of season for the budget defences
The best overall fantasy premier league defences
1. Chelsea
Another fantastic defensive performance at home to Spurs for a clean sheet. Terry at £6.8m and Ivanovic at £6.7m have the best attacking stats and are probably the most secure gametime wise although Terry still could be rested. Terry however looks a better bonus prospect getting bonus points at close to double the rate of Ivanovic. Azpilicueta is the budget option at £5.6m . He’s fairly gametime secure having played 18 of the last 19 fantasy premier league games but has no attacking returns and only 3 bonus points so you make that sacrifice for the cheap price.
Potential for 5 clean sheets in the next 6. No DGW31
Next 6 fantasy premier league gameweeks:
Aston Villa (A)
Arsenal (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Stoke City (H)
Swansea (A)
Sunderland (H)
2. Everton
Ignore the 4-1 at Arsenal. 2 late goals conceded when chasing the game. Jagielka’s injured but should be back for GW31 to strengthen the defence. Coleman at £6.6m and Baines at £7.4m are the attacking options. Coleman has 5 goals and 1 assists but no attacking returns in his last 7 . Baines has pens and a share of set pieces. In the 9 games since coming back from injury he’s scored a goal and 2 assists plus 9 bonus points. Distin is the budget option with secure gametime at £5.2m. However there’s only clean sheets at stake here. No attacking returns and 1 bonus point since GW5.
Potential for 4 clean sheets in the next 6 gameweeks. DGW31. Postponed game home to Everton
Swansea (H) DGW31
Newcastle (A) DGW31
Fulham (A)
Arsenal (H)
Sunderland (A)
Man Utd (H)
3. Man Utd
Liverpool (H)
West Ham (A)
Man City (H)
Aston Villa (H)
Newcastle (A)
– Gameweek 34 –
Everton (A)
4. Manchester City
Form especially away from home is mixed to say the least. They have some strong underlying defensive stats and the clean sheets will come though. They also have 2 postponed games to go home to Sunderland and Villa. These 2 have yet to have dates confirmed. For more detail see my recent article on Man City and the DGWs. Kolarov is the attacking and budget choice at £5.0m. The best attacking defensive player in fantasy premier league in my view. He is rotated though so it comes at some gametime risk. Very good off the bench though anyway. Kompany at £6.3m has more gametime security and reasonable attacking potential. He’s not performed bonus wise at all though with only 5. Zabaleta offers a halfway house at £6.0m
Fulham (H) DGW31
Man Utd (A) DGW31
Arsenal (A)
Southampton (H)
Liverpool (A)
West Brom (H)
5. Southampton
Just as you thoughT Chambers at £3.9m had nailed his spot then Clyne comes in and takes it against Palace. Needs monitoring before either are transferred in. Shaw has some middle ground at £5.0m before Lovren and Fonte at £5.4m and £5.5m who offer more bonus and attacking potential. Fonte probably has the marginally better attacking returns and underlying stats and bonus stats. Boruc and Davis offer a cheap GK double at £4.8m and £3.9m respectively. Davis is currently injured though with no return date.
Norwich (H)
Tottenham (A)
Newcastle (H)
Man City (A)
Cardiff City (H)
Aston Villa (A)
6. Arsenal
Koscielny at £5.6m is the best all round pick for my money. 12 bonus points in his last 10 games show his bonus potential. Mertesacker is a lot more expensive at £6.5m. He has better attacking underlying stats and looks more dangerous at set pieces than Koscielny. However, no attacking returns since GW16 and the bonus points have suffered as well
Tottenham (A)
Chelsea (A)
Swansea (H)
Man City (H)
Everton (A)
– Gameweek 34 –
Hull City (A)
7. Liverpool
Hard to believe given the defensive shambles they’ve been this year that they have got 8 clean sheets. Personally I don’t think the defence warrants more investment than the cheapie £4.3m Flanagan. His gametime isn’t secure as there are 3 potential LBs. Sakho will be back this week which will be the test although he isn’t a specialist LB just a left footed CB. However if you have more faith than me in the Liverpool defence and are willing to spend more then Skrtel is your man at £5.6m. For that you get excellent attacking potential with 4 goals this season and 13 bonus points. Excellent DGW31 fixtures but with only 3 fantasy premier league players that can be selected do you really want to lose 1 player to the defence?
Man Utd (A)
Cardiff City (A) DGW31
Sunderland (H) DGW31
Tottenham (H)
West Ham (A)
Man City (H)
Norwich (A)
The best fantasy premier league budget home defences
1. Sunderland
West Ham (H)
Everton (H)
Cardiff City (H)
Swansea (H)
2. Swansea
Didn’t really show the defensive mettle required to get a clean sheet against Palace which isn’t a great sign for the future. They definitely aren’t one of the best defensive teams at home but the remaIning fixtures at home are strong which is the reason for their selection. There’s clean sheet potential in every game apart from the Chelsea game giving a total potential clean sheets of 4. Chico who’s suspended until DGW31 at £5.0m is my best choice. 2 goals in 5 games shows his attacking potential. He’s also priced similarly to everyone else.
Everton (A) Arsenal (A) DGW31
Norwich (H)
Chelsea (H)
Aston Villa (H)
Southampton (H)
3. WBA
McAuley at £5.2m is the best bet. He’s a similar price to the others but has good attacking potential. 2 goals and 1 assist this season but nothing simce GW11 again isn’t a great recommendation but he’s looks dangerous at set pieces and his underlying attacking stats are very good.
Tottenham (H)
West Ham (H)
Stoke City (H)
4. Newcastle
Could their 4-1 win at Hull be the corner turned. Very inconsistent but have a DGW31. Williamson at £4.3m should survive Coloccini getting back into the team. He’s the budget choice and seems to have gametime security. Very little bonus or attacking potential though so it’s about whether you think he will get more clean sheets. Debuchy at £5.0m has the better attacking potential with a goal and 4 assists this season. Those attacking returns have mainly contributed to the 8 bonus points recieved. £5.0m for a Newcastle defender is quite pricey to me though.
Everton (H) DGW31
Man Utd (H)
Swansea (H)
Cardiff City (H)
5. Norwich
The home defence has really come right as you can see from the 4 clean sheets in the last 5 home games. The away defence is far from strong though. Olsson is now fit and a good cheapie option at £4.3m. Bassong at £4.7m is my best choices here. Bassong has been unlucky at set pieces and should at some stage get some attacking returns which are zero at the moment. He’s also the best bet on bonus
West Brom (H)
Liverpool (H)
Arsenal (H)
6. West Ham
Demel at £4.5m is the only safe gametime choice as Reid could return against one of the CBs. Armero is there to challenge LB McCartney at £4.0m but he’s played 5 consecutive games now so maybe worth the gamble. The GK Adrian is also a reasonable option at £4.5
Hull City (H) GW31
Liverpool (H)
Crystal Palace (H)
Tottenham (H)
7. Hull
Injuries and some fiddling on selection and formation has made it hard to predict the defensive line up. I would probably go for Rosenior at £3.9m at the moment at the budget level. He seems to be able to move between formations . After that its Davies at £4.7m who is the best attacking prospect with 2 goals this season. Figueroa offers a medium with gametime security at £4.4m
West Brom (H)
Swansea (H) West Ham (A) GW31
Arsenal (H)
Everton (H)
