The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted that I’ve recently updated the monthly picks in your right-hand menu bar. If you new here, this is where I rank players according to their form, fixtures and circumstances over the next five games. You can read more on how how this works here.

As always, take what you will from these, although I will say this – with United and Liverpool facing a tough few fixtures, buy in Chelsea for clean sheets and if you have the cash, it looks wise to have at least one of Lampard or Drogba in your lineup. Read on for some position-by-position analysis…

Keepers

Cech holds firm at the top then with three home games in the next five against City, Bolton and Everton which all look strong clean sheet contenders. United and Van der sar in contrast, have a tough run of games and, having already gone conceded over the past two matches, slip below Chelsea this month when it comes to clean sheet hunting.

Everton’s Howard drops to third with tough games at the end of the 5-game period. Almunia holds firm just behind him with strong form but it’s West Ham’s Green that’s the big climber. He climbs above Reina on the back of a decent run of form and with kind fixtures to come. Points from saves and the propensity to do the business from spot-kicks, makes him a decent differential for the month to come if you’re keeper shopping.

For long-shots, you have the likes of James, Given and Duke further down while Brad Jones is also a budget option with excellent fixutes. He could find his place under threat however, given his errors against Everton in the Cup on Sunday.

Defenders

Chelsea’s fixtures finds Bosingwa back on top of the defenders. Carvalho’s return to fitness clouds the potential of Alex, although there’s always Terry and Ashley Cole to consider as further options. Jagielka replaced Lescott in the rankings with his place seemingly more secure, but he falls just behind the fantasy mainstay that is United’s Vidic for the coming five games.

West Ham’s Upson is the big climber. He comes into the next five with strong form and recent FPL bonus – his fixtures with decent home games against West Brom and Sunderland, should offer decent returns for a mid-price purchase. Below him we have have big climbers in Stoke’s Shawcross, with excellent fixtures and a goal threat, and Hull’s Turner with a four goals to his name and strong fixtures in the next five. The likes of Carragher and Hangeland below them, look fairly fragile in comparison given their fixtures and form.

For a strong differential, how about Portsmouth’s Glenn Johnson? Always good for attacking points, he enters the next five looking at three home games against Everton, West Brom and Bolton which could even bring a couple of cleanies under Paul Hart’s new regime. Johnson also has an additional fixture in gameweek 33, although that is against United at Old Trafford.

Midfielders

Lampard holds on to the top spot with good fixtures to come. Ronaldo meanwhile just does enough for me to hold off Everton’s Cahill in third. Gerrard’s knack of stepping up in the big games see him in the top four, despite his fixtures over the coming weeks. Below him comes a possible differential in Boro’s Downing. Still without a league goal this term, Downing is nonetheless hugely influential in Southgate’s side and certainly has the fixtures to make an impression at last. He’ll never have a better opportunity than Boro’s next five games.

Bolton’s Taylor and City’s Ireland remain steady options just below him, with Portsmouth’s Kranjcar (with an extra fixture) and Tottenham’s Lennon providing two further differential candidates. West Brom’s Simpson, playing up front of course, could at last repay some of the fantasy faith put in him with a strong run of fixtures to come in the next month.

Further down you have West Ham’s Noble, with Parker also an option as considerations, although West Ham’s attacking output could be limited somewhat by the absence of Carlton Cole for the next two games through suspension.

Forwards

This has been the toughest area of the team to fill all season and, looking at the next five games, things don’t appear to get much easier. If you have the cash and are confident enough to back a Chelsea charge, then Drogba has the form and fixtures to warrant investment. He holds the top spot right now, with Berbatov’s (or Rooney if you prefer) form just about enough to hold off the push from Stoke’s Beattie who has outstanding form and good fixtures at a budget price. They are likely to swap places next week though, once Beattie has his tough trip to Goodison Park out of the way this gameweek.

Looking further down the list you have Bolton’s Davies climbing with decent fixtures, while Robinho has three strong home games in his favour, if he can regain fitness and form. There are new entries from Keane, Crouch, Santa Cruz and Arshavin for those desperate for a diffential up front. Risky business though, despite the recent flurry of form from Keane.

And Finally

Before you’re done and are considering long-term plans, you should take in this post which goes into detail about gameweek 33. Right now, we’ve got some postponements and missing fixtures to consider in that week, although as you’ll read in the post, things could work out just fine.