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Premium Defenders v Mid-Price Midfielders

This season we are spoilt for choice when it comes to premium attackers.

The likes of Tottenham striker Harry Kane, Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez and Manchester City duo Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero are all understandably attracting attention. There is also Sanchez’s team mate Alexandre Lacazette, in addition to Romelu Lukaku, formerly of Everton and now of Manchester United, to compete for a place in our sides.

But with each commanding a hefty price tag precious funds will need to be freed up, which is where wingbacks and other premium defenders could come in handy. This group of pricey rearguard options offer the potential to keep pace with mid price midfielders but at a fraction of the cost – with between £1-3m savings to be made.

This article aims to look at the value offered by premium defenders to see if they really can compete with mid-price midfielders and offer Fantasy managers the chance to free up money for those enticing premium forwards.

Methodology

For this analysis I’ve looked at how many points were returned last season from players whose prices this time around would categorise them as either (a) premium defenders or (b) mid-price mids.

I removed the outliers, of players who had played only a few games, and ensured that each set of price ranges had a good sample of players.  Here are the results:

The Results

PositionPriceAverage Points
DEF£6m – £7m127
DEF£5.5m – £7m109
MID£6m – £8m104
MID£5.5m – £7.5m89

It would seem that investing more in defence and ignoring the age-old Fantasy Football instinct to unearth bargain defenders may be the way to go this season.

Like for like defenders who cost between £5.5m to £7.5m outscore midfielders in the same price bracket by 22%. This suggests that, not only can this group of  defenders cover the points of the midfielders –  they can actually exceed them.

If you’re willing to really splash the cash in defence and go for £6m plus players in your back line, then they can really outperform the mid-price mids (by a huge 43%). Even when you compare this with midfielders who cost £6 to £8m, which should weed out all the defensive midfielders, you’re still left with 22% more points.

This also impacts on formation and shows that a better way to maximise returns could be through opting for four, or even five at the back.

Could this consign the more popular 3-4-3 or 3-5-2  formations to the history books?

According to Firetog‘s recent analysis of formation there is already mounting evidence to suggest that investment in quality and quantity at the back could reap significant rewards.

2017/18’s Midfield Mimics

So who should you get in if you are looking to replace a midfielder with a defender?

It makes sense to minimise the risk by opting for a defender who mimics a midfielder as much as possible –  by offering goal and assist potential as well as the chance of clean sheets.

Chelsea left wing-back Marcos Alonso (7.0) is a prime example.

While listed as a defender his forays up the flank mimicked the attributes of a traditional midfield winger last season. We can expect the same again this season.

It makes sense to invest in such defenders, who essentially offer the chance to field an extra midfielder, but one who grabs more points for clean sheets and goals.

Here are my top choices among these ‘midfield mimics’. They all cost between £5.5m to £7m and judging by what happened last season, three to five of these players should comfortably outscore similarly priced and more expensive midfielders during 2017/18.

  • Marcos Alonso (Chelsea)
  • Victor Moses (Chelsea)
  • James Milner (Liverpool)
  • Kieran Trippier (Tottenham)
  • Danny Rose (Tottenham)
  • Hector Bellerin (Arsenal)
  • Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal)
  • Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
  • Antonio Valencia (Manchester United
175 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Fi_fpl addict
    • 12 Years
    6 years, 8 months ago

    Not really sure this holds up the 7 mil bracket has a few mids lanzini , Ramsey, Zara one prem maybe Alonso could be the one if not rotated given his goal threat as well as CS but not sure you need to load up.

    But look at the top 10 scores by def 178,177,170 , then 142 down to 131 and not all premium 6-7m def
    I would look at points per million as a better indicator , also can those scores improve much more at top end for def

    For the mids son was around 7 I believe last yr Zara under 7 last yr as expamples , is still plenty there , you could have a 7 mil mid and 5.5 def and prob score more than a7mil def and 5.5 , so is a mix of player team and timing on selections and luck to some degree

    1. Alexis Nonsense
      • 8 Years
      6 years, 8 months ago

      Yes, thos funds used in premium def has to some from somewhere...last season was special as a few defs that were budget friendly (Alonso etc) was on fire

      1. Splatter\\\'s Omerta
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        6 years, 8 months ago

        Points per game per million also works for the above thesis. Taking PPG for 2016/17 season / cost for this coming season (filtered cost 6.0-7.5m 17/18 and for over 1000 mins played 16/17), in order of 'value': Stanislas 0.85 (MID 6m), Alonso 0.81 (DEF 7m), Coleman 0.78 (DEF 6.5m), Cahill 0.74 (DEF 6.5m), Rose 0.72 (DEF 6.5m), A.Ayew 0.71 (MID 7m), DBaines 0.70 (DEF 6m), Bailly 0.70 (DEF 6m), Azpi 0.69 (DEF 6.5m), Phillips 0.68 (MID 6m), D.Luiz 0.67 (DEF 6m)....... The top 15 of value in this filter only has 4 MIDs (1st, 6th, 9th, 15th (Snodg)). This list continues to be dominated by DEF until reaches Zaha 0.61 (MID 7m) in 21st place when MIDs start being more prevalent, Zaha followed by Antonio, Lallana, Fabregas..... If consider Milner now as a DEF and adding back points would have got for that classification in 16/17 (higher CS and goal points), he then sits in 4th with 0.77.

  2. Iceball
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    6 years, 8 months ago

    Are you sure Kolasinac best Arsenal defensive option? Bailly maybe better 6.0 option?

    1. FPL Virgin
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      6 years, 8 months ago

      You want a defender who raids forward and acts like a midfielder. Bailly won't get forward much.

    2. Eden ACCOUNT CLOSED
      • 8 Years
      6 years, 8 months ago

      Kol is wing back like Alonso

  3. C-Dawgg
    • 9 Years
    6 years, 8 months ago

    Quickly knocked up a draft based on this to see what the rest of the team would look like.

    Foster
    Alonso - Trippier - Milner - Bellerin - Lindelof
    Ali - Willian - Ramsey
    Kane - Likaku

    Myhill - RLC - Murphy - Caroll

    I hate the bench but that team is flyyyyy

    1. Make Arrows Green Again
      • 7 Years
      6 years, 8 months ago

      That looks really nice! Though i prefer a guaranteed starter as first sub. I understand there is more love for Carroll than RLC on this site at the moment.

    2. Bodie
      • 8 Years
      6 years, 8 months ago

      I like it...but bellerin is still on holiday after the under 21s so lime Sanchez will probably not start the season imo

  4. Dreams
    • 7 Years
    6 years, 8 months ago

    Great article Virg. Good food for thought before the beginning of the season.

    1. FPL Virgin
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      6 years, 8 months ago

      Thank you, Dreams 🙂

  5. @FPL_Chess
      6 years, 8 months ago

      FPL Chess is a 30-40 strong mini-league (code 7741-3334). It would be an honour if any Fantasy Football Scout players joined us. If you check out the web site you'll see our league has been going since 2010-11 season, but it's the same people playing each other every year and we could do with some new players.

      1. The 12th Man
        • 10 Years
        6 years, 8 months ago

        Chess. I'm always up for a game. Are you on chess.com?

        1. @FPL_Chess
            6 years, 8 months ago

            No I don't play anymore, but if you're interested in chess I once played and won 12 games of Chess on the same chess board that Gary Kasparov (pictured) beat Anatoly Karpov in 1986 (Park Lane Hotel, London) but I was only doing the security for it and just beat ordinary night staff. I got to speak to Anatoly though. He asked me where the toilet was, and when I told him he thanked me and went in the opposite direction! 🙂

            1. The 12th Man
              • 10 Years
              6 years, 8 months ago

              Ha ha. Nice experience.

        2. KingMaalik
          • 9 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          I joined...game on !

          1. @FPL_Chess
              6 years, 8 months ago

              Nice one. Welcome aboard.

        3. roflmaofc
          • 11 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          You forget a very important point here. There are a lot more points in budget defenders. If you're lucky, you can find a few 4.5 def that will give you points, while there are hardly none 4.5 mid that gives good points over a whole season..

          1. FPL Virgin
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 7 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Very true.

          2. Beavis
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 12 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            This is the most important point and people constantly forget this imo.

          3. Ryssel
            • 10 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            At 4.5 you are going to be benching that player most of the time... so you would have to look at who will give you a better combined return:
            Milner/4.5 benched mid OR Tadic/4.5 Benched def
            Alonso/4.5 benched mid OR Zaha/4.5 benched def

            I just can't help looking at those and thinking Milner and Alonso would have the edge over Tadic and Zaha in the long run.

            Once you get injuries it is true that your task becomes a hell of a lot tougher... the chances of your 4.5 mids scoring points of the bench is a lot smaller than the 4.5 def scoring of the bench... and it takes away from any rotation plan.

            1. Deulofail
              • 8 Years
              6 years, 8 months ago

              Don't think you should constrain the possible strategies by assuming Roflmaofc will bench his 4.5 def most of the time...

              Price does not dictate points in FPL, and perhaps Roflmaofc sees great value in a 4.5 defends. Perhaps Roflmaofc doesn't see value in 4.5 but sees it in how Roflemaofc spends the money saved etc, and then in THAT case you's be looking at combined scores, but not in a rotation policy. Roflmaofc

        4. TJ_777
          • 9 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Nice article virg. didn't know it was u when i read it

          1. FPL Virgin
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 7 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Cheers pal.

        5. cdfcdevils
          • 11 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Thoughts please??

          Foster

          Alonso, Trippier, Cedric

          de Bruyne, Alli, Zaha, Redmond

          Lukaku, Lacazette, Robson

          -Myhill
          -Rangel
          -Rossier
          -Carroll

          1. TripHazard
            • 6 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Start Myhill

        6. RichPickings
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          I'd be interested in a bit more information on this article!

          A) How many players were in each bracket?
          B) What are the results if you limit the players included in the analysis to the top 20 in each bracket?

          I wonder whether the reason for the results is that there are far more of the midfield options, meaning that fewer of them play and bring down the average?

          Assuming that we can all successfully choose only the best (20) in each category, are the results still the same?

          Cheers!

          1. Ryssel
            • 10 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            good call!

          2. FPL Virgin
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 7 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            On the previous page.

            1. RichPickings
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 6 Years
              6 years, 8 months ago

              Ah yes, sorry! So it was true that there were more players in the midfield bracket than defender bracket. All the same, food for thought... cheers for the article!

        7. FC Lackless [BALEGIUM]
          • 7 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Nice article Virg. I'm going with three with the best value I believe; I haven't the minerals to go with more despite the stats. Just wondered though, how do the figures stack up against an effective 4.5 rotating pair of defenders?

        8. Ryssel
          • 10 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          How come that list of defenders doesn't include
          - Mccauley
          - Kompany
          - Cedric

          Yes, not really as attacking, but they still score a lot of points and makes it far more feasible to have 2 HEAVY defenders and 2 or 3 of the 5.0 defenders to follow this 5-2-3 strategy

          1. FC Lackless [BALEGIUM]
            • 7 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Re: McAuley/Kompany: presumably because of their average position in a game? I've incl Cedric as one of my attacking defenders though ... maybe not premium but good value when fixtures are taken into account.

        9. Ryssel
          • 10 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          I played around a bit, and have always been a fan of more spending in defense (Baines, Coleman, Kompany, Vidic etc have been in my teams for years).
          How do you reckon these two options would stack up for the first few weeks of the season if following a 5-2-3 or 4-3-3 formation. One is all out, the other is a bit more balanced. These aren't really RMT's, its meant to poke holes in or shore up the argument for spending heavier on defense.

          Balanced:
          Foster (Fabianski)
          Alonso, Milner, McAuley, Cedric (Dunk - rotated with 3rd striker)
          Ali Pogba Tadic (RLC Cork)
          Kane Lukaku Rodriguez

          5-2-3
          Foster (Fabianski)
          Alonso, Milner, Trippier, McAuley, Cedric
          Lanzini, Tadic (Gradel, RLC, Cork)
          Kane, Lukaku, Lacazette

          Personally, I prefer the 4-3-3.... but why would or would the 5-2-3 be a bad idea to start out the season with?

          1. columbus189
            • 9 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            It would be interesting to see how many time a midfielder blanks in a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 in average.

            Last year I kept to those tactics. But on average I think I had 2,3. midfielders delivering assists/goals every week.
            A clean sheet adds only one point. So if you replace those midfielders with defenders you have the possiblety of them getting higher cleen sheet points.

          2. City Road End
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 8 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            I guess the problem with 5-2-3 is the weeks when (through no fault of their own) the defenders in questions get no clean sheet and attacking returns are few and far between; suddenly you've only got 5 'scoring' players and two of those are average mids (from teams that are themselves average).

            I'm in the 'balanced' camp.

        10. Roberto Baggio
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          But how many times do you actually stick to your initial plan? Usually your team will evolve throughout the season according to forms and fixtures. I think the difference is how well you can navigate all these.

          It is not the first season we have premium defenders outscoring mid price mids, it happens every season if I recall. Coleman Baines ivanovic Terry and if you remember the legendary Martin Laursen and Ian Hart.

        11. No Professionals
          • 6 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Thoughts on this team please?

          Foster (Elliot)
          Monreal Cedric trippier (mee humeneier)
          KDB coutinho Ramsey redmond (Carroll)
          Kane lukaku rodriguez

          1. Roberto Baggio
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 12 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Nice

            1. No Professionals
              • 6 Years
              6 years, 8 months ago

              KDB and Rodriguez
              Or
              Jesus and Richie/knockaert?

              1. Roberto Baggio
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 12 Years
                6 years, 8 months ago

                Jesus Richie

        12. foreverton
          • 10 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Any chance WH score vs. United?

          1. Manas810
            • 7 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            anything can happen

        13. claretdownunder
          • 13 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Great article FPLVirgin - I happened upon this strategy two years ago with Arsenal defenders and then last year with Spurs and Chelsea defenders - I found the strategy worked better in the second half of the season

          Used it more last season and finished ranked below 4K

          Your article has me revisiting my team once again - thanks

          1. FPL Virgin
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 7 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Very interesting. Thanks, man.

        14. 6thGoal
          • 6 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Good work Virgin, enjoyed the read but agree with Deulo and Red Arrows there was further analysis that could have been completed. With that said a 5-3-2 is where my initial planning has started, thanks in part to Firetog's article.

          Before prices were announced for FPL, I was planning a rotation of three 4.5 defenders based on HOME games and match ups against the lower 10 teams in the EPL. While there are some good options, I feel there are better options to rotate in the midfield. With 15 (I believe the number was) 6.0 midfielders to rotate from, these players should score higher than a 4.5 defender. I haven't done any deep analysis on this to date.

          What my starting XI looks like today is follows:

          Foster (Elliot)
          Walker - Milner - Bailly - Bertrand - Cedric
          Coutinho - Tadic - Phillips (Ritchie, Ince)
          Lukaku - Kane (Fletcher)

          This lineup is still a work in progress. Not sure I am going to stay with Walker and Milner and feel there will be some better options out there since both teams are looking at adding depth to that position. The midfield rotation will make or break the season. The 6.0 midfielder is the key position that I plan on rotating. Tadic is somewhat of a crapshoot early on, as his underlying numbers are good, but didn't produce last season. With a strong first 11 games, I am expecting good number from him.

          However I could drop him to a 6.0 player an use that 0.5 to upgrade Coutinho to a 9.5 midfielder. Been playing with that option. A 5-2-3 is still in the cards, but haven't got too far along with that

          You can read more about my 5-3-2 here: http://the6thfloor.com/2017/07/17/premier-league-five-back/

          1. Swanremainsthesame
            • 8 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Defenders tend to rotate on chance of a CS which is mostly (but not always) related to Home & vs bottom 10.

            But what basis are you using for Mid rotation and do the stats make it a solid way to go?

            1. 6thGoal
              • 6 Years
              6 years, 8 months ago

              By no means do I think it's a solid way to go, but I think it does carry weight, based on defensive selections. Midfielders were selected because of their price index of 6.0. This tends to be on the lower end of the pricing tiers. It was also noted in Firetog's article to use this priced midfielder to rotate.

              To start the season, I am using home fixtures against lower ranked teams. So for the first 6 weeks, taking no price increase into account and ignoring other facts my rotation looks like this:

              GW1: Tadic (SWA) - Phillips (BOU)
              GW2: Tadic (WHM) - Ince (NEW)
              GW3: Tadic (hud) - Ince (SOU)
              GW4: Tadic (WAT) - Knockaert (WBA)
              GW5: Ince (LEI) - Ritchie (STO)
              GW6: Knockart (NEW) - Carroll (WAT)

              So 12 players over the course of 6 weeks complementing Coutinho (right now) as my premium midfielder. GW3, I made the decision to play Tadic away to HUD, but have the possibility to play Phillips (STO) or Ritchie (WHM) in his place if I want the home game.

              Of course, as the season rolls along we will see player prices rise and fall. By GW6 I hope to be about 102.0m, which will allow me to re-evaulate and upgrade some of the 6.0 midfielders to a 6.5 or 7.0.

              I also feel this formation gives me a lot of flexibility when it comes to moving players around. If Kane isn't striking, I can picking any other forward up in the game. If one of the defenders isn't hitting, I have 16 other defenders between 6.5 and 6.0 to select from.

              Of course all this looks great on paper and in the planning stages. Now we have to see how it plays out when we start on Aug 11.

        15. Swanremainsthesame
          • 8 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          I'd agree about Alonso, he has effectively been OOP a midfielder who fpl have offered up as a Def. On points per game Alonso comes out even higher.

          I'd agree that MIDs at 4.5 to 6.5 rarely offer value for money, a lot of them are DMs who dont get points either way. Other than that they are mostly fillers or fly by nights, who hit a purple patch and then go missing again.

          Tho you should look more at points per game rather than total points as weekly transfers are permitted. Defenders who score big mainly do this on playing almost every game, less so with MIDs

          I can see 442 with Alonso this season,
          But otherwise you'd really have to judge if not being able to play the field with transfers in Midfield by maxing yourself on premiums and defenders actually pays off. Good luck.

        16. Eden ACCOUNT CLOSED
          • 8 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Price prediction after GW4:
          Alonso 6.6
          Kolasinac 6.4

          Kol should be this years Alonso and I can't justify 7.0 for him...Barely spending that in mid

          1. Deulofail
            • 8 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Kolasinac > Alonso GW5 then 🙂

        17. salazar1963
          • 6 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          How many starts does Raheem Sterling get? Is he worth a risk at 8 m? 14 assists last year.

          1. Garlana
            • 9 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Nah not worth the risk this time around.

        18. Hotdogs for Tea
          • 8 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          I don't think you can generalise for a price range ... the skill of a manager is in indentifying the prime defender for £5 mill that will score the same as a premium defender - from last season the McCauleys of this world ! This season even better identifying the likes of Mawson or £4.5 million Olsson, Mee, Prodl, Morgan, Cameron etc

        19. Back on the horse
          • 13 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Haven't read the whole thread but it part of the issue that you can get a 4.5m defender who plays, but not a 4.5m who plays.

          1. Back on the horse
            • 13 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            * insert "midfielder" before the last two word...

        20. The Mighty One
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 14 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Milner seemed a no-brainer until this Robertson addition. Is that causing any of you to scare away from Milner?

          1. iarmst
            • 7 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            I had Milner originally but I now think Klopp could rotate between the two and so he is now out of my team.

        21. Ironside
          • 6 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Very interesting article but just wondering what the "combined" effect is? I.e in order to afford the premium defenders you're most likely down-grading one of your midfielders. Using the table in the article, the sum total of the following combinations are essentially the same; (Premium Defender + Cheap Midfielder) or (Cheaper Defender + Mid-Price Midfielder).

          1. Eden ACCOUNT CLOSED
            • 8 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            This - I've got 3 * 4.5 mids currently with Def: 6 5.5 5.5 5.0 5.0

            1. chdixon90
              • 7 Years
              6 years, 8 months ago

              are you playing 5 at the back? feel like leaving a 5m defender on the bench could be used elsewhere

              1. Eden ACCOUNT CLOSED
                • 8 Years
                6 years, 8 months ago

                Yes currently feeling that Cedric & Robertson (assumed 5.0) is better than a 5ml midfielder

              2. Eden ACCOUNT CLOSED
                • 8 Years
                6 years, 8 months ago

                Alternatively 5.5 mid and 4.0 def still only allows 1 player who is likely to start.

                Can't think of a single 5.5 mid right now who will score well

        22. asgerlange
          • 10 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          A) Kane + Ramsey
          B) Lacazette + Alli?

          1. iarmst
            • 7 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            I think A, just due to the history behind Kane! But then Ramsey is an unknown quantity (as usual) but appears better suited to Arsenal's new formation.

        23. iarmst
          • 7 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          Please critique my team:

          Foster/Fabianski
          Alonso/Trippier/Daniels/Dawson/Yedlin
          Alli/Willian/Ramsey/Stanislas/Ince
          Kane/Lacazette/Abraham

          I think this affords me the opportunity to choose any formation and be confident of a solid points return.

        24. The Man Pastore
          • 9 Years
          6 years, 8 months ago

          What do you think of this team :

          Foster l Fabianski
          Trippier l Daniels l Cedric l Dunk l Rangel
          KDB l Ozil l Willian l Fraser l TCarroll
          Kane l Lukaku l Gayle

          Thanks!

        25. @FPL_Chess
            6 years, 8 months ago

            FPL Chess is normally a 30-40 strong mini-league (code 7741-3334); however, we advised you that it would be an honour if any Fantasy Football Scout players joined us - and you have - in droves. Fabulous. This is going to be the most exciting season FPL Chess have had.
            Please continue to join our league. If you check out the web site you'll see it has been going since 2010-11 season, but it was the same people playing each other every year - and we knew we needed new players within our ranks. So please continue to use the above code. And make yourself at home. You'll be most welcome.

          • Eleesium Lions
            • 11 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Please RMT FOSTER BAILLY BERTRAND TRIPPIER ALONSO
            ALI WILLIAN ZAHA MKHITARAYAN
            LAKAKU LACAZETTE

          • david2378
            • 9 Years
            6 years, 8 months ago

            Sky sports team.
            Right need some comments on my team.

            As it stands before the transfer window closes and who will start first games of the season etc. I believe my team, after a billion changes is almost finally picked but still not sure.

            Dea gea/ Court rotate depending kompany injuries. Don't like Chelsea starting fixtures.

            Kompany who I believe is a bargain price this season and hopefully stay fit.
            If injured swap for Lindoff. Which means de gea out and Court in.
            Ward
            Bruno/ Suttner(Brighton)
            Dummet (NEW)

            Coutinho (off to Barca after Liv qualify for champ league)
            Hendo (great for extra points and consistent, although injuries)
            Fabregas
            Zaha/Pedro/Sala :- not sure on this. Maybe cut Kompany or cheap Keeper and get Rooney in a 433. ??????

            Aguero Will be top scorer this season
            Sanchez if goes to city then maybe Kane.

            Front two will rotate with Kane and Lukaku.

            All help welcome

            Thanks