September
06

Just three games in but already we’re seeing familiar patterns and trends. Chelsea’s are dominating our Fantasy thinking both at the back with three consecutive clean sheets and going forward with Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba blazing a trail atop the Midfielder and Forward rankings. While exploiting Chelsea’s outstanding start to the season is essential, a real advantage at this early stage can be gained by identifying those teams who are overacheiving and exceeding expectations and have the fixtures in front of them to maintain the trend.

In our latest Members “Numbers Game” series, we take a look at Opta’s performance statistics to analyse team defensive performance so far in an attempt to idenfity the meanest defences available and in doing so, reveal an unlikely potential source of defensive talent for the coming gameweeks.

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About The Author

“Mark created the beast. He's now looking to tame it.”

Mark

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Scout Picks

For Gameweek Twenty Four

  • Krul
  • Vermaelen
  • Kompany
  • Huth
  • Silva
  • Morrison
  • Bale
  • Valencia
  • Ba
  • van Persie
  • Agüero
  • Taiwo
  • Donovan
  • Zamora

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Goalkeepers

Player Club Factors
No Change Krul NEW A, Vs
No Change Hart MCI B, Vs
No Change Kenny QPR C, Vs, Rest, £
No Change Mignolet SUN B, £
Up Al-Habsi WIG B, Vs, £
No Change Foster WBA B
No Change Vorm SWA B, VsX, £
Down Hennessey WOL B, Vs
No Change Sørensen STO B, Vs, Rest, £
Up Bogdan BOL C, Rest, £

Defenders

Player Club Factors
No Change Kompany MCI B, Vs
Up Huth STO B, Vs
No Change Simpson NEW B, Vs, £
No Change Riise FUL C, Vs
Up Bardsley SUN B, £
Up Senderos FUL B, Vs, Rest, £
Up Taiwo QPR B, Vs, £
No Change Evans MUN B, VsX, £
No Change Taylor NEW B, Vs, Rest, OoP
Up Rangel SWA B, VsX, £
No Change Clark AVL B, Vs, OoP, £
No Change McAuley WBA B, £
Down Johnson WOL B, £
Up Vermaelen ARS C
Down Enrique LIV B, VsX
Down Assou-Ekotto TOT A, VsX

Midfielders

Player Club Factors
No Change Bale TOT A, VsX
No Change Dempsey FUL A, Vs, OoP
No Change Silva MCI A, Vs
No Change Sessegnon SUN A, £
No Change Valencia MUN A, VsX
No Change Walters STO B, Vs, OoP, £
Up Moses WIG B, Vs, OoP, £
Up McClean SUN A, £
No Change Sinclair SWA B, VsX, £
Up Ben Arfa NEW B, Vs, Rest, OoP
Down Mata CHE C
Up Barton QPR B, Vs
Up Sigurdsson SWA B, VsX, £
No Change Ireland AVL B, Vs, Rest, £
No Change Donovan EVE B, VsX
No Change Morrison WBA B, £
Up Buzsaky QPR B, Vs, Rest, Inj, £
Up Murphy FUL B, Vs

Forwards

Player Club Factors
No Change van Persie ARS B
No Change Agüero MCI C, Vs
Up Ba NEW C, Vs
No Change Zamora QPR B, Vs
Up Dzeko MCI C, Vs, Rest
Up Bent AVL A, Vs
Up Morison NOR B, £
Down Fletcher WOL B, £
No Change Rooney MUN C, VsX, Inj
Down Sturridge CHE C
Down Welbeck MUN A, VsX, Rest, £
No Change Crouch STO B, Vs
No Change Adebayor TOT C, VsX
Up Odemwingie WBA C, Vs, Rest
Up Keane AVL A, Vs, £

Selection Factors

A, B, C Current Form
Vs Favourable Fixtures
VsX Unfavourable Fixtures
Rest Rotation Risk
Inj Injured/Returning from Injury
OoP Out of Position
£ Potential Bargain
Sus Suspended/Near Suspension

Suspension Tightrope

Player Team YC
Lowe BLA 9
Terry CHE 8
Barton QPR 8
Cattermole SUN 8
Song ARS 7
Meireles CHE 7
Fellaini EVE 7
Huth STO 7
Shawcross STO 7
Caldwell WIG 7
Henry WOL 7
N'Zonzi BLA 6
Cole CHE 6
Luiz CHE 6
Lucas LIV 6
Barry MCI 6
Naughton NOR 6
Larsson SUN 6
Hunt WOL 6

“I think we needed that. I had good years with Neil Warnock but we were in a bad position.I spoke with the chairman and the situation now has changed. They want to keep me and we're going to have a discussion when we come back.”

Adel Taarabt seems glad to have a new man in charge at Loftus Road