Here’s my fantasy premier league “ones to watch” for the top 4 challenging teams GKs and defenders for GW5. 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 5 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. 10/10 of the top FPL managers I follow played a 3 man defence in GW4. Then the choice comes as to whether you play 1 or 2 elite defenders and then rotate the cheap defenders next. 7/10 top FPL managers I follw played at least 1 defender from the group of teams that is the subject of this article.
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
2 clean sheets in 4 games isn’t too bad if you forget that the opposition couldn’t have been much better. The underlying stats are mixed though. On the one hand they’ve conceded the least shots in the box of any team it’s just that they’ve given away far too many clear cut chances. They cruised through the QPR game although thats a questionable barometer of defensive security. The new players of Blind and Rojo plus the return of Herrera all made a real difference to the defence and with 2 good fixtures next there’s a chance of 3 clean sheets in the next 6 although I’ve been more conservative in my prediction below
13 (8th) clean sheets last season: 2 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: After starting last week £5.3m Rafael could be the value option with some assist potential at RB.
Attacking option: Rojo scored 6 goals in 28 matches last season for Sporting Lisbon as a CB although he did manage 11 yellow cards and 3 reds in those games.
Next 6 fixtures:
Leicester (A)
West Ham (H)
Everton (H)
West Brom (A)
Chelsea (H)
Man City (A)
Projected clean sheets: 2
4 Man Utd GKs/Defs appear in the top 10 FPL managers teams (Evans 1 De Gea 3)
Chelsea
Incredibly last years undoubted defensive team of the year keep on conceding after Swansea got 2 last weekend. It’s incredible to think that both newly promoted Leicester and Burnley have conceded less goals than Chelsea. This is made worse by the fact that Chelsea’s start hasn’t been that difficult. The ray of light is that the underlying shots and big chances stats aren’t that bad so an improvement could be on the cards. However away to City next provides a good time to sell. if you’re fed up.
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 as Mourinho keeps saying that Cech may play premier league games
Value defender: None. Cahill £6.5 or Terry at £6.4m. However if you’re willing to gamble on the Luis LB rotation not threatening him then Azpilicueta is £6.0m
Attacking option: Ivanovic at £7.2m. Has been an attacking revelation with 2 goals and an assist in 4 games and strong in all the scoring attacking underlying stats
Next 6 fixtures:
Man City (A)
Aston Villa (H)
Arsenal (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Man Utd (A)
QPR (H)
Projected clean sheets in the next 6: 2
Chelsea players appear 5 times in the top 10 FPL managers I follow. Ivanovic 2 Terry 2 Courtois 1
Liverpool
When you can’t even get a clean sheet against a Bentekeless Villa and Ludogorets in the Champions league then you really have to question the defence. The promise that the clean sheet at Spurs gave seems to have quickly faded. There’s nothing in any underlying stats that gives comfort either. You’re banking everything on a pretty decent set of fixtures even though the last 2 didn’t produce clean sheets. Possibly WBA at home in GW7 is the best entry point although West Ham away has potential.
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 and others cheaper
Value option: Manquillo at £5.0m while Johnson is injured
Attacking option; Skrtel at £6.0m with 7 goals last season. Moreno has assist potential and has scored at £5.6m
Next 6 fixtures:
West Ham (A)
Everton (H)
West Brom (H)
QPR (A)
Hull (H)
Newcastle (A)
Predicted clean sheets in the next 6 fixtures: 2
5 of the 10 top FPL managers I follow have Liverpool GKs/Defs in their team (Moreno 2 Manquillo 1 Lovren 1)
Arsenal
0 clean sheets in their first 4 games is deeply disappointing given that they had 17 clean sheets last season. The emergence of cheapie Chambers though gives us a chance to get coverage of the Arsenal defence if you believe it will improve. The underlying stats are ok at best but they are giving away far too many big chances. Aston Villa away isn’t a bad entry point but then irs Spurs at home and Chelsea away so you may want to defer until after those games.
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. He’s expensive with Chambers available.
Value defender: £4.5m Chambers is excellent value. He missed the Champions League with tonsilitis so a watch out for the weekend.
Attacking defender: £6.1m CBs Koscielny and £6.0m Mertesacker both have attacking potential. Koscielny has scored once but neither have shown that consistent attacking potential so far this season.
Next 6 fixtures:
Aston Villa (A)
Spurs (H)
Chelsea (A)
Hull (H)
Sunderland (A)
Burnley (H)
Predicted clean sheets in the next 6: 2 clean sheets
5 of the 10 top FPL managers I follow have Arsenal GKs/Defs in their team (Chambers 3, Debuchy 2)
Tottenham
After 2 clean sheets to start the Liverpool match in gameweek 3 was a disaster. 2 goals at Sunderland is pretty poor as well even if they were unlucky. They have got a few reasonable fixtures though mixed in with the tough ones. With WBA at home next now is the time to buy if you’re thinking of it.
14 (6th equal) clean sheets last season. 2 this season
GK option: £5.6m Lloris looks secure but £5.0m Rose looks better value.
Value option; £5.0m Rose although the competition of Ben Davies needs monitoring.
Attacking option: £5.4m Dier has 2 goals in his first 4 games. However none of the Spurs players have great underlying attacking stats in terms of shots or creating chances to give you much longevity comfort. Vertonghen has previous attacking form but you pay the price at £6.0m
West Brom (H)
Arsenal (A)
Southampton (H)
Man City (A)
Newcastle (H)
Aston Villa (A)
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)
Man City
Onlu 1 clean sheet so far this season and Chelsea next. Add that to the fact that only Kompany at £6.5m and Hart at £6.0m seem secure and you are in a position where you can defer any decision this week.
16 (3rd) clean sheets last season. 1 this season
GK Option: £6.0m Hart has had patchy form but looks like he will hold his place and is cheaper than £6.5m Kompany.
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:
Chelsea (H)
Hull (A)
Aston Villa (A)
Spurs (H)
West Ham (A)
Man Utd (H)
Predicted clean sheets in the next 6: 2
1 of the 10 top FPL managers I follow have Man City GKs/Defs in their team
Everton
There’s no point in beating around the bush, Everton have been terrible defensively this season. They did rectify the situation to some extent with a clean sheet against WBA. While that alone isn’t much cause for celebration given WBA’s insipid start to the season it’s even worse as they were pretty lucky to get that clean sheet in the first place. Next is Palace will be interesting but with Liverpool and Man Utd after that then you may want to defer until those are out of the way.
15 (4th equal) clean sheets last season: 1 this season
GK option: £5.4m Howard is the same price as 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 at £7.0m and £6.9m respectively. At the moment they are showing attacking form. Baines has 2 assists and Coleman a goal and an assist. Baines also has pens and direct and indirect free kicks plus a share of corners. It’s whether thats enough with the uncertainty over clean sheets.
Crystal Palace (H)
Liverpool (A)
Man Utd (A)
Aston Villa (H)
Burnley (A)
Swansea (H)
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
Here’s the link to the top 10 FPL managers I follow to cut and paste into your browser:
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 5 tips
fantasy premier league gameweek 5 tips
