Here’s my view for GW16 on the fantasy premier league best defenders and defences. I’ve used a number of stats, actual and underlying. I’ve kept with the blended home and away version rather than splitting them out although may change this in GW20. I’ve also added the premium attacking defender and the value defender and also given you the value of the player as at Thursday morning.
Fantasy premier league best defenders and defences GW16
I’ve provided the information in a very simple table form with a few general notes on the table and an attempted explanation for any surprises. I’ve tried to sacrifice some value and attacking where there isn’t a decent amount of gametime security. Obviously in the top 4 challenging teams the squad sizes and the number of games sees that rotation can be a risk so it’s impossible to be 100%. I’ve also added my fixture ease ranking as a proxy for defensive fixtures although it is intended as an attacking fixture check. The first number is the ranking ease of the next 6 fixtures and the 2nd number is the next 3. It’s also important read the notes on each club below as they include the clean sheets in the last 6 games. That makes some interesting reading as some of the better defensive sides have struggled for clean sheets recently and the reverse is also true.
| Team | Value Def | Attacking def | fixt ease | |
| 1 | Man Utd | Smalling £6.9m | 1/3 | |
| 2 | Arsenal | Mertesack £5.3m | Bellerin £5.9m | 12/17 |
| 3 | Man City | None | Otamendi £6.5m | 7/9 |
| 4 | Liverpool | Moreno £5.0m | Moreno £5.0m | 6/6 |
| 5 | Tottenham | Walker £5.1m | Alderweir £5.6m | 3/4 |
| 6 | Watford | Nyom £4.6m | None | 19/10 |
| 7 | Southampton | Bertrand £5.3m | Van Dijk £5.6m | 13/19 |
| 8 | Stoke | Wollscheid £4.4m | Shawcross £4.8m | 9/11 |
| 9 | C Palace | Souare £4.5m | Dann £5.3m | 4/8 |
| 10 | WBA | Evans £4.8m | Dawson £5.1m | 5/12 |
| 11 | Leicester | Simpson £4.0m | None | 17/16 |
| 12 | Everton | Stones £5.5m | Coleman £5.9m | 8/1 |
| 13 | Chelsea | Zouma £5.4m | 10/2 | |
| 14 | Swansea | Bartley £4.3m | none | 14/14 |
| 15 | A Villa | Richards £4.5m | Richards £4.5m | 2/5 |
| 16 | West Ham | Reid £5.0m | Cresswell £5.5m | 11/7 |
| 17 | Bournemouth | Francis £4.4m | Francis £4.4m | 15/15 |
| 18 | Newcastle | Coloccini£4.5m | Janmaat £4.9m | 20/13 |
| 19 | Sunderland | Coates£4.2m | Van Aanholt £4.9m | 16/18 |
| 20 | Norwich (Bassong £4.3m) 18/20 | |||
Notes
Man Utd – It seems everyone including Smalling is now an injury risk so the safe choice becomes £5.6m GK De Gea. How the defence performs potentially without all of their first choice defenders remains to be seen but it does give some short term possibilities to £4.0m LB Borthwick-Jackson. 4 clean sheets in the last 6.
Arsenal – The ongoing question will be how will the absence of Coquelin affect the defence. Mertesacker is cheap but does have some competition from Gabriel. Everyone else seems pretty secure. No clean sheets in the 2 games without Coquelin and 1 in the last 6.
Man City – Kompany is the key. In theory he’s back at the weekend but we’ve heard this before. With him 7 from 8 games have seen clean sheets. 7 games without him have seen none and they’ve conceded 4 goals twice. 2 clean sheets in the last 6
Liverpool – Moreno is the outstanding choice here and pretty free from rotation too. 1 clean sheet in the last 6 isn’t great though.
Spurs – Alot of choice here although Alderweireld is the FPL managers favourite. Only 1 clean sheet in the last 6 though isn’t turning those stats into clean sheets
Watford – probably the best £4.5m ish defence. Nyom seems secure. 3 clean sheets in the last 6.
Southampton – Yoshida had some cheapie potential at £4.2m but lost his place at the weekend to Cedric. 2 clean sheets in the last 6.
Stoke – £4.8m Shawcross is the best pick with GK £4.9M Butland. Incredibly 4 clean sheets in the last 6.
C Palace – GKs Hennessey at £4.0m is a great back up or him and McCarthy are a great double £4.0m combination if you want to save cash. 1 clean sheet in the last 6
WBA – Olsson has some cheapie potential at £4.4m and has started the last 2. GK Myhill is a cheap route but will eventually be replaced by GK Foster. 1 clean sheet in the last 6
Leicester – a tough schedule ahead but Simpson is a great £4.0m bench filler. Incredibly 3 clean sheets in the last 6
Everton – Baines made a 29 minute sub appearance and will end cheapie £4.5m Galloways run. He will be the best attacking option at £6.1m. The advanced position of RW Deulofeu seems to be limiting RB Coleman. 1 clean sheet in the last 6.
Chelsea – Zouma looks good value. GK Begovic has now lost his place to Courtois. 2 clean sheets in the last 6.
Swansea – £4.3m cheapie Bartley has started the last 3. No clean sheets in the last 6
A Villa – Richards seems the only secure choice however is an injury doubt. Only 1 clean sheet since the opening day of the season and 1 in the last 6.
West Ham – 1 clean sheet in the last 6
Bournemouth – £4.0m cheapie Smith has had some gametime and started at the weekend but still needs more monitoring for security especially with the current injuries causing reshuffles. 1 clean sheet in the last 6
Newcastle – GK Elliot offers a £4.0m GK option. LB Dummett at £4.3m also offers some savings having started the last 7. Unbelieveably it’s 3 clean sheets in the last 6. It’s either a clean sheet or a thrashing which is a bit bizzare.
Sunderland – Big Sam is in the process of improving the defence and it’s 3 clean sheets in the last 6. PVA is a great attacking LWB but needs monitoring for security
Norwich – 1 clean sheet in the last 6 although their has been a much more defensive attitude which has stopped the mass leaking of goals. Interestingly £3.9m GK Rudd started at the weekend.
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