Here’s our FPL gameweek 18 defenders article where we give our Defender and Goalkeeper player rankings GW18. There’s a table of information and commentary on key teams.
FPL gameweek 18 defenders – player rankings for Defenders and Goalkeepers
I outline my FPL strategy along with 10 other FFGeek contributors in our new EBook.
A reminder of the additional Patreon content
$2 plus Vat per calendar month
* Weekly podcasts with myself and the FFGeek Contributors
* All the articles on www.fantasyfootballgeek.co.uk advert free
$3 plus Vat per Calender month (plus the above)
* access to the FFGeek Contributor tracker team incl live transfers (52k OR in 19/20)
*access to Joseph Crilleys transfer planner and points projection tool
* access to the the Patreon Planner team runs from Joe’s planner projection tool incl live transfers (32k OR 19/20)
* Imaginary wildcard articles
*Bandwagon and Sinking Ships articles
*Slack Channel access
*access to private FPL leagues
No Commitment beyond 1 Calendar month
https://www.patreon.com/fantasyfootballgeek
The Schedule
The scehedule uses 20/21 stats only
The teams are ranked by defensive strength only
You can access the google spreadsheet here
Team values were Wednesday 6 January
Possible transfer targets for GW18
Here I’m trying to find transfer targets by finding a balance between a good next fixture, fixtures generally, defensive form in 20/21
Man City
City have a BGW18 fixture and 2 DGW19 fixtures and a great run after that.
£5.8m Dias feels the safest of the defenders although having played a first string team in the EFL semi v Man Utd it will be worth seeing who Pep plays vs Birmingham in the FA Cup. £5.0m Stones has started 6 of the last 7 and £5.7m Cancelo the last 6 but both feel more rotatable.
£4.4m GK Steffan should play in GW18 with Carson and Ederson both ill with Covid. I can’t find a return date for Ederson at the moment.
Man Utd
Man Utd have a BGW18 fixture and 2 DGW19 fixtures and good fixtures after that
United may have the advantage of the fixtures in the blank and double but they haven’t been in great defensive form at all. Wan Bissaka and Maguire are the safest but at £5.3m and £5.4m they’re hardly the cheapest. £4.8m Luke Shaw is much better value and has started 3 of the last 4 but he has competition from Telles as well as being injury prone and a substitution risk as we saw in GW14 against Leeds with a 59 minute subbing.
Arsenal
Have a fixture in BGW18 but no double in DGW19
If you’re free hitting then Arsenal v Palace is a reasonable clean sheet prospect. £4.5m Holding has started 10 of the last 11 but will face competition from Mari and Gabriel when Gabriel returns from Covid. Bellerin and Tierney are safer bets but are £5.1m and £5.4m respectively.
Newcastle and Sheffield Utd
Both have a fixture in BGW18 but no double in DGW19
Interesting the bookies rate Sheffield as a better clean sheet prospect than Newcastle. Both offer cheap bench options with Yedlin at £4.3m and Ampadu at the same price
Aston Villa
Villa have a BGW18 fixture and 2 DGW19 fixtures
I would probably limit myself to GK Martinez as the initial fixtures aren’t that great. What you do have with Martinez though is that perfect GK storm of playing for a good defensive team that still concedes relatively lots of shots but the GK has a good save %. He’s top in PPM for regular GKs, top in GK total points and only Pope has more bonus points.
A fixture ease schedule for defensive players
Here’s a graphic where the teams are ranked by the ease of the attacking teams they face over the next 6 gameweeks. See more in my fixture ease schedule
The clean sheet schedule
My schedule tries to focus on the stats that will lead to clean sheets rather than clean sheets themselves but I thought it would be worth while getting the 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 is aome 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
Ben and Joes draft Free Hit teams
Analysing the teams of 10 top FPL managers
Early thoughts on the FFGeek team
FFGeek Contributors teams part 2
A season blanks and doubles schedule
Andrew’s strategy for BGW18 and DGW19
Follow FFGeek on twitter and facebook and instagram for article updates and news
Auto join the FFGeek FPL league
