Here’s our fantasy premier league GW1 defenders article where we give our Defender and Goalkeeper player rankings GW1. There’s a table of information and commentary on each team
fantasy premier league GW1 defenders – player rankings for Defenders and Goalkeepers
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The Schedule
Note at the bottom of the article is the explanatory notes and methodolgy
If you want access to copy and paste the schedule here’s the google spreadsheet link which I’ve set out differently if you want to sort different columns. Just go File> make a copy to get your own version
The teams are ranked by defensive strength only. You can also see defenders attacking ranking in this article
Individual team summaries
Man City
£6.0m Laporte is the obvious target here but given the importance to the defence and his injury history he maybe treated with kid gloves and rotated alot. The FBs will definitely rotate making them difficult chpoices and the GK may get clean sheets but just doesn’t make enough saves to warrant the value. The value will be in Laporte’s CB partnmer especially if it is £5.0m Garcia. The problem is the GW1 blank and if you are not intending to use a Wildcard GW2 how he just doesn’t cause you bench problems.
Man Utd
£5.5m Wan Bissaka is the safe pick who hopefully improves his attacking skills for this season. Lindelof and Shaw have potential for £5.0m value and Brandon Williams even more so at £4.5m but again the GW1 blank isn’t helpful.
Liverpool
It’s hard for me to look pst £7.5m Alexander Arnold. 4 goals and 15 assists is an insane number. £7.0m Robertson looks good for the double up with 2 goals and 12 assists. Remember that Alisson’s injury early season and a fairly laxidasical attitude to defending post lockdown with the league won meant that potentially there is more than last seasons 15 clean sheets available.
Wolves
£6.0m Doherty is a great attacking pick but should an LB not be signed then £4.5m Vinagre offers incredible value as Jonny looks like he could be out injured for sometime. £5.0m Saiss is also good value and more secure
Leicester
The injury to Ricardo Pereira should give a few weeks with Cheapie £4.5m Justin. The injury or potential sale of Chilwell also gives £4.5m Thomas a look in unless an LB is signed. A 3 match suspension to Evans could alow £4.5m Morgan in as well for those 3 games. The question is how solid will that defence be with 3 regulars not a part of it.
Chelsea
It’s hard to pick out anyone apart from incredibly expensive £6.0m Azpilicueta who has a secure spot. A new GK would be a massive boost. £5.0m RB James is the value if he looks secure
Everton
£5.0m CBs Keane and Holgate finished the season. If £5.0m CB Mina gets the spot though he is an excellent attacking option. £6.0m Digne is the secure attacking option. £4.0m Branthwaite would be the real value but it will take something to unsurp 2 other CBs to get the starting spot
Sheffield Utd
The Sheffield defence fell apart at the end of last season with injuries and suspension. The loss of Henderson will be a big loss and I feel the defence is a £5.0m one. That’s why I would go Egam over £5.5m attacking option Stevens.
Spurs
£5.5m GK Lloris is my premium GK of choice here with an excellent save %. £5.5m Aurier is probly worth the extra £0.5m over the cheaper choices who are a little uncertain on gametime.
Burnley
Unfortunately they miss GW1 which makes selection tricky. £4.5m Charlie Taylor is my pick here. I think £5.5m GK Pope is too expensive
C Palace
A team decimated by defensive injuries at the moment. That gives £4.0m Ferguson and Mitchell a starting chance although potentially for the same LB position. Ward should start at RB unless Ferguson starts ahead of him which would be a result.
Southampton
For me McCarthy is the best of the £4.5m GKs. For me the defence it feels like £4.5m is the right price but there is a bit of uncertainity of over the 2nd CB. It should be £4.5m Bednarek but I can’t rule out the sme priced Vestergaard at this stage.
There are 2 competitors for the RB position which rules that out for the moment
Arsenal
£5.0m Bellerin should be the RB of choice. £4.5m Saliba would be good value if he starts at CB. Likely new signing Gabriel may take that spot as well though
£4.5m GK Martinez would be good value if he could hold that spot over £5.0m Leno but that’s a big ask
West Ham
£4.5m Diop seems the safest best. There is some theory that £4.0m Johnson could beat Fredericks to the RB spot
Brighton
A £4.5m defence for me with GK Ryan and RB Lamptey the best options
Leeds
Impossible to rank the promoted teams at the moment£4.5m Ayling is probably the safest bet with £4.5m Dallas having more upside but some more gametime risk. Whether the defence will be as strong after star performer BenWhite went back to Brighton is the question
Newcastle
£4.5m Lascelles is the best choice here if fit.
WBA
The defensive lineup seems incredibly hard to pick
Villa
£4.5m Targett seems the best defender and has attacking potential. £4.5m Heaton if fit will be the GK. £4.0m GK Nyland should be the back up and may get some early season gametime
Fulham
Were a defensive disaster last time out and hard to be positive here. Rodak and Hector are the £4.5m choices.
Stats definitions:
I’ve firstly ordered the teams by what I think is their defensive strength based their goals conceded, xG conceded and the shots per game conceded. I’ve also now added their last 10 gameweek form. You can see the rank of each stat mentioned above in the first 4 columns.
The stats after that are their:
My suggested defender for that team. I’ve tried to take into account what I think is an appropriate price for the team as well as their attacking and points potential. The table then shows their value and current 19/20 PPM.
The likely starting GK for the team with the same price and PPM next to them
The Clean Sheets obtained and then the ranking of them. Equal number of clean sheets will give an equal ranking
I’ve added in their fixture ease schedule for defensive teams.
The clean sheet schedule
I know it’s now in the schedule but I though worth repeating as a standalone schedule.
My schedule generally tries to focus on the stats that will lead to clean sheets rather than clean sheets themselves but anyway here’s clean sheet schedule from the premier league site
Goalkeeper save %
Here’s another schedule which shows you a goalkeeper save %. It’s not a ranking in itself as you can see there’s no correlation between % and clean sheets but does give you some idea of GKs who are good shot stoppers. It’s from the free stats site fbref.com
Other posts
The FFGeek Contributors first draft team
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