Here’s my fantasy premier league “ones to watch” for the top 4 challenging teams GKs and defenders for GW4. We’ll look at the cheaper rotation options and the bargain basement players in the next article. This article will be from a team basis and give you the value and the attacking options as well as a view on the viabilty of the GK within that team. We’ll also give you the next 6 fixtures and project the number of clean sheets in those fixtures. Lastly we’ll tell you how many of the top FPL managers I follow have the teams defensive assets in their FPL team. I’ll put the link below to the article.
fantasy premier league gameweek 4 tips – “ones to watch” best elite defenders/GKs
The 3 man defence seems to be the vogue these days given the attacking nature of the premier league. 9/10 of the top FPL managers I follow played a 3 man defence in GW3. Then the choice comes as to whether you play 1 or 2 elite defenders and then rotate the cheap defenders next.
Top 4 Challenging teams
The top 4 challenging teams for this article are Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, Spurs and Man Utd.
Man Utd
1 clean sheet given the opposition is a bit disappointing and the nervous performances have made it seem worse. However in terms of shots conceded in the box and big chances conceded there aren’t many teams who have done better. That maybe a finction of the opposition but it does give some hope for the future as do the fixtures
Rojo and Blind will definitely improve the defence as well but will confuse us line up wise until we see the teamsheet against QPR. Whether the new signings will end up chaNging the system to a back 4 also needs assessing.
Home to QPR without Remy is definitely not the time to sell and a good time to buy if you’re looking to gamble
13 (8th) clean sheets last season: 1 clean sheet this season
GK option: £5.5m De Gea is good value and is solid enough to gamble on a non playing reserve
Value option: No one really of value is safe. Rojo is probably the safest selection at £6.0m but my hunch is Jones at £5.5m will be his partner even if it goes to a back 4. Selection is uncertain though as I mentioned above
Attacking option: Rojo scored 6 goals in 28 matches last season for Sporting Lisbon although he did manage 11 yellow cards and 3 reds in those games.
Next 6 fixtures:
QPR (H)
Leicester (A)
West Ham (H)
Everton (H)
West Brom (A)
Chelsea (H)
Projected clean sheets: 3
6 Man Utd GKs/Defs appear in the top 10 FPL managers teams (Jones 3 De Gea 3)
Tottenham
After such a promising start it all came undone spectacularly against Liverpool. Pochettino though improved a diabolical Southampton defence incredibly and long term there should be some hope. The underlying shots conceded in the box and big chance stats are diabolical though although there maybe some distortion by playing against West Ham wuth 10 men. Selection is also tricky with so many options. Good next 2 fixtures and only 2 tricky ones in the next 6. It’s just a confidence thing for FPL managers after the Liverpool game and with the underlying stats as they are
14 (6th equal) clean sheets last season. 2 this season
GK option: £5.5m Lloris looks secure but there £5.0m Rose looks better value if he can get over his injury
Value option; £5.0m Rose looks secure if he can get over his injury
Attacking option: £5.4m Dier has 2 goals in 2 games and also the best goal related attacking stats. Vertonghen has previous attacking form but you pay the price at £6.0m
Sunderland (A)
West Brom (H)
Arsenal (A)
Southampton (H)
Man City (A)
Newcastle (H)
Predicted clean sheets in the next 6 games: 3 clean sheets but needs to see an improvement on current defending
1 of the 10 top FPL managers I follow have Spurs GKs/Defs in their team (Dier)
Liverpool
After 2 pretty poor defensive performances in the style of last year Liverpool produced a great performance to keep Spurs goaless. Was that the new norm or the exception? Well the underlying shooting and big chance stats suggest it was the exception. However the fixtures couldn’t be any better and there’s value there in Manquillo at £5.0m while Johnson has no return date for his injury. Even Lovren is only £5.5m which isn’t that bad for the fixtures.
10 (12th equal) clean sheets last season. 1 this season
GK option; Mignolet at £5.5m isn’t great value compared to Lovren at the same price.
Value option: Manquillo at £5.0m while Johnson is injured
Attacking option; Skrtel at £6.0m with 7 goals last season
Next 6 fixtures:
Aston Villa (H)
West Ham (A)
Everton (H)
West Brom (H)
QPR (A)
Hull (H)
Predicted clean sheets in the next 6 fixtures: 2/3
2 of the 10 top FPL managers I follow have Liverpool GKs/Defs in their team (Lovren 2)
Chelsea
Incredible to believe they have conceded 4 goals in 3 games and only have 1 clean sheet which they didn’t deserve anyway. The new attacking style obviously has had an effect but for FPL holders of the very expensive Chelsea assets Mourinho’s words that the current defensive performance is not acceptable has to be helpful. The underlying stats of shots conceded in the box arent that bad and also give hope that the situation will improve. The next game is home to Swansea and despite Swansea’s good attacking start it’s a fixture that Chelsea should deliver a clean sheet. After that it’s a difficult set with Man City, Arsenal and Man Utd 3 of the next 5. The Swansea game will be a good test and no clean sheet will surely see a wave of sales.
18 (1st) clean sheets last season. 1 this season
GK option: Courtois at £6.0m is the first choice. A £4.5m playing back up maybe required though given Mourinhos words about Cech not being finished.
Value defender: None. Cahill or Terry at £6.5m
Attacking option: Ivanovic at £7.2m. Has been an attacking revelation and strong in all the scoring attacking stats and reasonable in the assist based underlying stats
Next 6 fixtures:
Swansea (H)
Man City (A)
Aston Villa (H)
Arsenal (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Man Utd (A)
Projected clean sheets in the next 6: 2/3
Chelsea players only appear 3 times in the top 10 FPL managers I follow. Terry 3 times
Arsenal
No clean sheets this season and with 2 of the more suspect attacking teams in the 3 played the it’s even more disappointing. The underlying stats though are still good and should see an improvement. Unfortunately the value option of Chambers looks like it will disappear with Mertesacker match fit. Difficult fixtures coming up and not the time to buy with City at home next.
17 (2nd) clean sheets last season. 0 this season
GK option: £5.5m Szczesny has competition with Ospina fit and without a £4.5m back up it could be risky
Value defender: £5.5m Debuchy is good value.
Attacking defender: £6.1m CBs Koscielny and £6.0m Mertesacker both have attacking potential
Next 6 fixtures:
Man City (H)
Aston Villa (A)
Spurs (H)
Chelsea (A)
Hull (H)
Sunderland (A)
Predicted clean sheets in the next 6: 2 clean sheets
6 of the 10 top FPL managers I follow have Arsenal GKs/Defs in their team (Chambers 3, Debuchy 3)
Man City
The problem with City isn’t the prospect of clean sheets it’s who to pick that you can guarantee gametime. Only Kompany comes close to being secure and even he could be rested for the easier premier league games given his injury record. 1 clean sheet in the games they had isn’t anything to write home about though. Still the underlying stats aren’t too bad and give hope that a decent clean sheet haul is still on the cards. It’s just who do you pick? Well the next 2 fixtures certainly aren’t the time to buy. Interesting that none of the top 10 FPL managers I follow own a City defender or GK
16 (3rd) clean sheets last season. 1 this season
GK Option: £6.0m Hart after a poor showing against Stoke has to be on the guard for his place but still looks more secure than anyone apart from Kompany at a slightly cheaper price.
value option: No one until selection policy is clear. Unsure if it will ever be
Attacking option: Kompany with 4 goals last season but no one else evenly remotely gametime secure to stand for comparison
Next 6 fixtures:
Arsenal (A)
Chelsea (H)
Hull (A)
Aston Villa (A)
Spurs (H)
West Ham (A)
Predicted clean sheets in the next 6: 2
None of the 10 top FPL managers I follow have Man City GKs/Defs in their team
Everton
It’s incredible after last year to think that Everton have been so awful defensively in the first 3 games. While it easy to say that Chelsea were brilliant and they dominated Arsenal for a long time, the fact is that they were terrible against Leicester and had no clue against Giroud when he came on for Arsenal. It’s scary to think that if Jagielka were selected that 3 of the England back 4 against Switzerland would be from Everton tonight. The underlying shots conceded and big chance stats show that Everton weren’t unlucky they were terrible. What Everton do have though is 2 of the best attacking defenders in the game in Coleman and Baines. However they come at a price at £7.0m and £6.9m respectively. You have to have alot of faith in their attacking ability to pay that cash on current clean sheet form. However if you are inclined to do so the next 2 fixtures couldn’t be much better and will give Everton’s defence a chance to redeem themselves.
15 (4th equal) clean sheets last season: 0 this season
GK option: £5.5m Howard is a similar price to Jagielka who is gametime secure
Value Def: £5.4m Jagielka but for that price Everton need to look more solid
Attacking Def: Both Coleman and Baines are options although very expensive as mentioned above. Baines has pens and direct and indirect free kicks plus a share of corners
West Brom (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Liverpool (A)
Man Utd (A)
Aston Villa (H)
Burnley (A)
Predicted clean sheets in the next 6 fixtures: 2
None of the 10 top FPL managers I follow have Everton GKs/Defs in their team
Follow us on twitter @fantasyfoot20 or www.facebook.com/fantasyfootballgeek
This website is free. If you find it useful please support us via the donate button on the site
fantasy premier league league code: 11254-4258
Telegraph fantasy football: Code 8000919 league name: fantasy football geek
Sky Sports fantasy football: League name: FANTASY FOOTBALL GEEK PIN 8026353
Sun Dream Team: PIN 8295737
Fox Sports EPL fantasy: Classic 3195-609 H2H 3195-610
fantasy premier league gameweek 4 tips
fantasy premier league gameweek 4 tips
