Exceeding most if not all pre-season projections, Sunderland’s defence will end 2010 with 9 clean sheets to their name, ranking them up there with Chelsea and Man City.
It is no surprise given that record, that three of the top six defenders for “Value (Season)”* are Sunderland players, Ahmed Elmomahady (14.2), Nedum Onuoha (13.8), and Phil Bardsley (13.1). Owning a Black Cats defender has become an economical, if not necessary, way to pursue the elusive defensive returns, with roughly 30% of the FPL teams currently owning one of these three defenders.
Onuoha has proved a popular selection, despite being the most expensive option in Steve Bruce’s back four, but a recent hamstring injury has de-railed his bandwagon. Elmomahady meanwhile, is less expensive at 4.8 but lost his role on the right of midfield, only to be recently reinstalled at right-back following injuries. He’s a far less secure and attractive option in that role. Which leaves Phil Bardsley, the least expensive of the options at 4.5 and a player who has taken his opportunity this season to cement a left-back role and emerge a prime Fantasy target as the Sunderland fixture list continues to fall favourably.
A warm story for the holidays, Bardsley was benched at the end of last season and then only had 1 appearance for 45 minutes in the first five games of this season. But a pre-season stint in a boxing gym is credited with improvements to his fitness and primed him to seize the opportunity presented by Kieran Richardson’s early season hamstring injury. The result is that he has started every game since Gamewek 6, being subbed on only one occasion, and is enjoying one of his best seasons.
In reality, Bardsley should be viewed as a reliable and economical purchase and one of the Fantasy surprises of the season. Tempered expectations are warranted, but our Members can see for themselves how Bardsley’s OPTA stats offer some promise of offensive returns, confirming that he has had a high level of involvement in terms of touches of the ball and key passes.
Onuoha’s absence may present some short-term options and/or create some defensive frailties, but with the fixtures largely showing different shades of blue (BLA, avl, NEW, blp, CHE, stk), owning a Sunderland defender or goalkeeper Craig Gordon, has to be given very serious consideration, with a strong case being made for selecting Bardsley for the Gameweek’s ahead.
[*] A handy tool for determining how to spread one’s funds between players and positions, “Value (Season)” is calculated by dividing the total number of points that a player has scored by the player’s current price.
