The Watchlist Updated – The Defence

With the deadline passed for Gameweek 14 due to a quick turnaround in fixtures, our midweek refresh of the Watchlist rankings focuses on the schedule from next weekend and beyond. As always, we build from the back and roll out our defensive selections for the next four-to-six Gameweeks – our updated rankings can be found in the right sidebar, as always.

Goalkeepers

United’s David De Gea has struggled to pick up the clean sheets in recent matches but the schedule falls kindly for the Spaniard, who rises to top spot in the keeper rankings. Home games against Newcastle and West Ham in the next five, allied with trips to Villa, Hull and Norwich look potentially prosperous – the Spaniard offers a security of starts that has proven rare amongst David Moyes’ backline.

Cardiff’s David Marshallis a big climber and offers an option to those eyeing up a replacement for the stricken Artur Boruc. The Bluebirds number one has a trip to Palace followed by three very favourable home encounters, as West Brom, Southampton and Sunderland all make their way to Wales – he’ll be hoping to improve upon a run of two clean sheets in the last 10, though.

Petr Cech has a trip to Stoke and home games against Palace and Swansea in the next four fixtures to heighten his appeal. Like both Mignolet and De Gea, he’s found defensive returns heard to come by, though; with just a single shout-out in eight appearance, there are better attack-minded options in the Blues defensive to consider.

With only one goal conceded in the last five Gameweeks, Wojciech Szczesny has racked up the points in recent matches. The Pole sits just four points off the summit of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) keeper standings but faces a real test of his resilience as he squares up to Everton, City and Chelsea in the next three Gameweeks.

Three favourable home games (WHM, CAR, HUL) in the next six suggest Simon Mignolet owners may be happy to hold but Liverpool’s away schedule is as tough as their home matches are enticing – visits to Spurs, City and Chelsea may well persuade some to part company with the Belgian, who has one clean sheet in 10 heading into this evening’s visit of Norwich.

With just a single goal conceded in the last four Gameweeks, Julian Speroni has edged his way onto Fantasy radars. The arrival of Tony Pulis has continued the good work of caretaker boss Keith Millen and bodes well ahead of home games against Cardiff and Newcastle and a trip to Villa in the next four – despite his budget price of 4.5, though, the Argentine’s appeal is lessened by cheaper options in the Eagles’ backline. Like Marshall, he looks a viable replacement for Boruc over until our winter wildcards come into play and rotates home/away well with the Cardiff keeper over the next few Gameweeks and beyond.

John Ruddy welcomes Swansea and Hull to Carrow Road as he looks to build on a run of one goal against in the last three home appearances. The Canaries stopper also has trips to Sunderland and Palace in the next six but, valued at 4.9, is pricier than any of his defensive team-mates heading into that kind run.

Brad Guzan has earned three clean sheets in the last four Gameweeks heading into a run which sees Villa pay visit to Southampton, Fulham and Stoke. With home games against Palace and Swansea also amongst their next six, Paul Lambert’s side will be optimistic of picking up further defensive returns over the festive period.

City’s Costel Pantilimon has trips to Southampton and Fulham, in addition to a home clash against Palace, to boost his points potential. The imminent return of Vincent Kompany also helps as Arsenal and Liverpool both roll up to the Etihad, though there’s still a risk he could make way for Joe Hart as Manuel Pellegrini assesses his options. A gamble but one worth taking by those who are lucky enough to have a settled lineup with transfers going spare.

Defenders

John Terry retains his spot at the summit after picking up a third double figure haul of the season at home to Southampton. The Chelsea skipper remains the biggest goal threat from the back amongst Jose Mourinho’s charges and looks immune to rotation as the schedule picks up pace.

United’s kind run of matches earns Jonny Evans a climb. The centre-half has now started each of the last six and, at 5.0, is the most favourably priced of David Moyes’ backline options – for those with cash to splash, though, Patrice Evra has justified the extra outlay at 6.3.

Per Mertesacker suffers a slight drop due to Arsenal’s tough run. The big German’s attacking threat in the box still keeps him firmly in our thoughts, though, with a goal and assist to his name already. Glen Johnson remains the most secure route into Liverpool’s back-four with Jon Flanagan offering a cheaper alternative if he continues to see off the challenge of Aly Cissokho for the left-back berth – Brendan Rodgers’ side need to up their resilience, though, ahead of the upcoming schedule.

Home games against Norwich and Hull, allied with a trip to Cardiff in the next four, help Gareth McAuley climb this week’s refresh. Between the sticks, Boaz Myhill’s prospects are dented as Ben Foster closes in on an injury return, leaving the Baggies centre-half as the most appealing option – at 5.5, he’s not cheap, but two goals and an assist shows just why he’s costlier than the rest of Steve Clarke’s defence.

Budget options Martin Olsson, Joel Ward and Ben Turner all clamber up the rankings in light of their upcoming run of games. All three are nailed-on for their respective sides, with Olsson the dearest of the trio at 4.2 – Ward and Turner come in at 4.0 and 4.1 respectively, as mentioned above, rotate very favourably. Indeed, between now and Gameweek 27, they’d hand you a run of (CAR, WBA, NEW, SOU, SUN, NOR, WHM, STO, HUL, NOR, WBA, AVL, HUL) – an outstanding set of home fixtures.

At 4.6, Ron Vlaar offers the most secure route into Villa’s defence ahead of the upcoming run of matches, while Swansea skipper Ashley Williams has showdowns with Hull, Villa and Norwich in the next five for those on the search for a sub 5.0 price defender.

A weekend trip to Arsenal limits the appeal of Seamus Coleman but once that’s out the road, the Everton right-back is poised for a superb run of matches to help cement his spot at the top of the FPL defender standings. From Gameweek 16 onwards, the subsequent fixtures (FUL, swa, SUN, SOT, sto, NOR) could barely be kinder for Roberto Martinez’ side.