The Watchlist Updated – Gameweek 4

With Wildcards in play we’ve updated our Watchlist rankings ahead of Saturday’s deadline to offer a view on our mid-term player recommendations. As always, you can locate the full rankings by position in your right-hand menu.

The big movers can be found at the back, with the fixture schedule swinging wildly in favour of a number of teams, promoting their defensive assets. The likes of Liverpool, Stoke and Southampton all face a run of opponents which look set to offer ample opportunity to add to their clean sheet quota.

While Villa’s Brad Guzan has been the most popular keeper pick going into Gameweek 4, his evil schedule of fixtures suggests that Paul Lambert’s defence will struggle to maintain their early-season form. For our money, you’ll need to spend more over the next six Gameweeks to secure a stopper likely to bring in points – namely Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet, Stoke’s Asmir Begovic or Southampton’s Fraser Forster. Vito Manonne could offer value with an improved array of fixtures to come, while QPR’s Alex McCarthy is undboutedly one to watch given his 4.0 Fantasy Premier League price tag and propensity to pick up save points: he could be the only active first choice stopper in the 4.0 bracket if he debuts at Old Trafford.

While Branislav Ivanovic rightly remains rooted at top spot in our defender rankings, Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren and Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne edge him close. In both cases, there are clear alternatives: Alberto Moreno and Ryan Bertrand are available in the same price bracket and should certainly be considered.

Elsewhere, we see the next six Gameweeks as the perfect window to take a chance on the attacking talents of Burnley’s Kieran Trippier. With 12 assists in Burnley’s promotion sesason, we’re expecting a spell where he emerges as a genuine option for our backlines and, given the Clarets run of fixtures, we could be set to flourish.

In midfield, Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling makes the climb to the summit with strong fixtures and form ensuring that he creeps ever closer to “essential” status. Aaron Ramsey’s knock in last night’s international seems him suffer a slight dent, although the latest noises suggest he’ll line up against City at the weekend.

Elsewhere, Southampton’s Dusan Tadic continues his ascent as he goes on recording statistics that suggest that consistent returns could be around the corner. He certainly has the fixtures to thrive.

There’s an array of lower priced talent to be considered, with Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha ousting Jason Puncheon as our weapon of choice at Selhurst Park. Tottenham’s Nacer Chadli, Sunderland’s Seb Larsson and Burnley’s George Boyd complete a cast that offer clear differentials as fourth and fifth midfield options.

There’s a degree of uncertainty up front, with the likes of Diego Costa and Daniel Sturridge nursing injuries. The latter drops out of our reckoning to be replaced by the cheaper and more “secure” Mario Balotelli, while our confidence in Costa is strong enough to see him maintained at the top of the rankings: we’ve already seen him recover from one “hamstring injury” to devastating effect.

There’s no place as yet for United’s Radamel Falcao, with Wayne Rooney still preferred as our Old Trafford striker – that situation will undoubtedly be questioned following Falcao’s debut, when we’ll have more clues on Louis van Gaal’s preferred set-up.

Arsenal’s new capture Danny Welbeck and Southampton’s target man, Graziano Pelle, share a price bracket and an ability to add effective differentials to our squads: we’re tipping both for strong returns in the next four to six Gameweeks. Indeed, with Steven Naismith, Mame Diouf and Leonardo Ulloa all making effective starts to the campaign and staking claims for our consideration over the next month, it’s clear that a big spend in attack is currently not a necessity.