The Watchlist player rankings have been updated for the Christmas period.
The table can be found in the bottom right corner your frontpage and represent our current ranking of players based on form and their fixtures over the forthcoming Gameweeks.
The update is dominated by the return of two heavyweights, as Tottenham’s Dutch playmaker Rafael Van der Vaart and Man City’s settled skipper Carlos Tevez, blink back on the radar as major considerations for the Gameweeks to come.
Joe Hart holds the top ranking in goal, with three home fixtures in the next five Gameweeks enough to see him keep United’s Edwin Van der Sar at bay. Pepe Reina falls to third then with his Boxing Day fixture at Blackpool in doubt. Sunderland’s Craig Gordon is the high new entry – presenting strong value at just 4.5 in the Fantasy Premier League game. Expect another climb for him once this weekend’s Old Trafford trip is out of the way.
Aleksandar Kolarov climbs to the top of the Defender rankings – despite defeat against Everton on Monday night, the Serbian should enough attacking intent to warrant his ranking. Leighton Baines’ form has him remain in the top five and has him climb to second, with Liverpool’s Sotirios Kygiakos dropping to third. Again it’s Sunderland presenting the value here – with Phil Bardsley remaining in our top five.
Chelsea’s Ashley Cole is slowly climbing back up the rankings and could push the top five once the trip to the Emirates has passed. Below him, both Ryan Nelsen and Carlos Salcido are new entries to represent the Blackburn and Fulham defences – Fulham in particular, have fixtures that could see the Mexican and team-mate Brede Hangeland, pick up some profit over the next six Gameweeks.
Nani keeps the top spot amongst the Midfielders once more – his forthcoming fixtures should allow him to maintain that position for a few more weeks at least. Rafael Van der Vaart is the big threat though; the Dutchman is back in contention for Harry Redknapp’s side and has fixtures ahead of him that present the opportunity for him to maintain his impact on the Premier League.
The rest of the top five remains intact with Gareth Bale holding off the charges of Cesc Fabregas, while Frank Lampard’s return to the Chelsea midfield also promotes Florent Malouda. Chelsea’s fixtures after their Boxing Day clash with Arsenal, should give Malouda the opportunity to regain some form.
Carlos Tevez arrives back in the Forward rankings and topples Fernando Torres to second, while Dimitar Berbatov is the big climber – ousting Darren Bent for third spot. Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba and the in-form Danny Welbeck are all on the rise this week. Expect further a further climb for the 5.1 Welbeck once this Gameweek has passed – the Sunderland striker is ineligible for the trip to Old Trafford.
The Watchlist will be refreshed once more ahead of Gameweek 21; there may well be a few tweaks along the way but we will alert you to any updates as they occur over Christmas.
