The Watchlist – Ben Davies
Filed under: The Watchlist - Posted by: stilicho
Abounding in every kitchen, but an unsatisfactory meal in themselves: budget defenders are the condiments of the Fantasy football feast. Only earning a place at the table if they marry with the main course, for every ketchup there’s a forgotten chutney, peacefully gathering mould in the dusty recesses of the cupboard. With few Fantasy managers ambitious of employing their free transfers to chop and change the cheapies that no longer cut the mustard, and fewer still prepared to pay points to preserve themselves from such pickles, Winter Wildcard season affords a welcome window to clear the shelves and stock up afresh for the closing months of the campaign:
Boasting both long term promise and short term appeal, Swansea’s Ben Davies stakes a claim as the most appetising option in the budget bracket at present. Promoted to the starting line up in the wake of Neil Taylor’s broken leg on September 1, the young Welshman has ably fended off competition from emergency signing Dwight Tiendalli to make the left-back berth his own. Initially priced at just 4.0 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL), a cool million less than the rest of the Swansea rearguard, Davies has emerged as the obvious choice for those keen to tap into the clean sheets on offer from Michael Laudrup’s side.
Swansea sit joint seventh in the Premier League in terms of clean sheets, and fifth in terms of fewest goals conceded – on both counts that’s comfortably ahead of Manchester United, and crucially it’s a better defensive record than the other teams with budget defenders on offer. Of players with an initial price of 4.0 in the FPL, Davies currently sits third in terms of total points on 56, with only the potentially Canada-bound Ryan Nelsen and the hamstrung Hammer Joey O’Brien ahead of him. Even if Nelsen stays at Loftus Road and O’Brien quickly recovers, the Swans’ fixture list should afford Davies the chance to challenge for the top spot over the coming weeks.
Stoke arrive at the Liberty on Saturday in uncharacteristically shaky form, having shipped 10 goals in their last three games and failed to find the net away from the Britannia since December 1. Following that are trips to Sunderland and West Ham – both of whom boast an underwhelming tally of just 24 goals for the season thus far. As the spring approaches the Swans host strugglers QPR and Newcastle, with a testing trip to Anfield tucked in between.
Priced at just 4.2 in the FPL (3.6 in the Sky Sports game) Fantasy managers are likely to have few qualms about playing Davies at home and benching him for tricky away trips but it’s worth noting that the Swans backline has been breached just twice in their last five away games. Indeed, a total of nine goals against outside of the Liberty is the joint-best away defence along with Arsenal. With fullbacks afforded license to roam in Laudrup’s system, those who opt for a home-only schedule over the short-term (STK, QPR, NEW) should provide Davies good chances to augment his haul of two assists and reap returns at both ends of the pitch.
About The Author
“I never make predictions and I never will”
stilicho
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January 16 at 10:58 am
RobinVanSuperman says:
Any suggestions when I play the WC after the arsenal DGW
Mignolet
Gibbs, Davies, Luiz
Walcott(C), Mata, Fellaini, Michu
Suarez, Van Persie, Berbatov
Begovic, Noble, Cuellar, Shawcross
January 16 at 12:19 pm
sporrtsman says:
Anyone thinking about bringing in Dawson or Naughton from Spurs, cheap options, I’m just not sure if they’ll consistently play!
January 16 at 4:51 pm
isacki - losing makes winning sweeter says:
——2008/2009———-2009/2010————2010/2011—————2011/2012—————2012/2013 (in progress)
1—-VfL Wolfsburg—–Bayern Munich—–Borussia Dortmund–Borussia Dortmund—Bayern Munich
2—-Bayern Munich—Schalke 04 ———-Bayer Leverkusen—-Bayern Munich———Bayer Leverkusen
3—-VfB Stuttgart——Werder Bremen—–Bayern Munich——–Schalke 04————–Borussia Dortmund
4—-Hertha BSC——–Bayer Leverkusen–Hannover 96————Borussia MG———–Eintracht Frankfurt
5—-Hamburger SV—-Borussia Dortmund-FSV Mainz 05——–Bayer Leverkusen—-SC Freiburg
January 16 at 4:52 pm
isacki - losing makes winning sweeter says:
——2008/2009———-2009/2010————2010/2011—————2011/2012————-2012/2013
1—-VfL Wolfsburg—–Bayern Munich—–Borussia Dortmund–Borussia Dortmund-Bayern Munich
2—-Bayern Munich—Schalke 04 ———-Bayer Leverkusen—-Bayern Munich——Bayer Leverkusen
3—-VfB Stuttgart——Werder Bremen—–Bayern Munich——-Schalke 04————Borussia Dortmund
4—-Hertha BSC——–Bayer Leverkusen–Hannover 96———–Borussia MG———Eintracht Frankfurt
5—-Hamburger SV—-Borussia Dortmund-FSV Mainz 05——-Bayer Leverkusen–SC Freiburg
January 16 at 4:53 pm
isacki - losing makes winning sweeter says:
——2008/2009———-2009/2010———2010/2011——–2011/2012———2012/2013
1—-VfL Wolfsburg—–Bayern Munich–Dortmund———Dortmund———–Bayern Munich
2—-Bayern Munich—Schalke 04 ——-Leverkusen——-Bayern Munich—Leverkusen
3—-VfB Stuttgart——Werder Bremen–Bayern Munich-Schalke 04———Dortmund
4—-Hertha BSC——–Leverkusen——–Hannover 96—–Borussia MG——Frankfurt
5—-Hamburger SV—-Dortmund———-FSV Mainz 05—Leverkusen——–SC Freiburg
January 16 at 11:00 pm
dave0128 says:
Grav test
January 17 at 2:25 pm
akshaycj47 says:
Hey guys.. heres my team.
Jaask-Bego
Clyne-Naughton-Demel-Nelsen-Gorkss
Bale-Mata-Michu-Walcott(C)-Puncheon
Lambert-RvP-Suarez
0.4 in the bank.. Is there any way I can get Gibbs into the team. All my defenders are 4 millioners. So direct swap is ruled out. Ready to take a hit. But dont know whether its worth it. Already have 3 DGW players in Walcott, Jaask and Demel. Any suggestions?
January 18 at 12:13 am
vanrooney says:
switch out suarez for ba and use the remaining funds to switch out one of your current defenders for him