Transfer activity is particularly rampant this week, with hordes of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Managers choosing to play their winter wild cards early into January. Many are looking to pack their attacking ranks full of powerful point-devourers and compensate for their ‘Galácticos’ style spending with a bargain defence. However, your backline needn’t consist of reserve team players you’ve barely heard of to accommodate those big-hitters in midfield and up front, with plenty of worthwhile discount options available.
Wigan Athletic’s Antolin Alcaraz, priced at £4.5 million on the FPL game, is one of these ‘value’ options. The Paraguyan international is not just there to make up the numbers though; he has proven to be an integral part of Roberto Martinez’s set-up so far this season, having played in every Premier League fixture bar one (which he missed through suspension) after signing for the Latics in the summer from Belgian side Club Brugge. Don’t let the suspension put you off though, as Alcaraz is anything but a dirty player; apart from the dismissal against Manchester United, he has received just one booking so far this term.
Alcaraz has managed to chalk-up an impressive FPL return of 59 points and his magnitude to Wigan has not gone unnoticed by the Bonus Points committee, who have dealt him an hefty 10 so far, a total bettered by only one other defender, Gary Cahill of Bolton. A rather ambitious sum for a player whose team currently sit 19th in the Premier League, 1 point off bottom-placed West Ham.
As well as his low valuation and capacity to attain points, it is Wigan’s forthcoming Premier League fixtures (FUL, ars & AVL, wba, BLA, liv,) that also make Alcaraz an eye-catching choice. With the exception of a tricky clash at The Emirates -the first match of their double Gameweek 24- you would have to fancy them to achieve something from the rest of those fixtures and Roberto Martinez must be looking to this run of games as a means of rekindling his side’s season.
Just two defenders in a similar price-range have managed to score more FPL points than Alcaraz this season; Sunderland’s previous Watchlistee Phil Bardsley and Blackpool’s Ian Evatt. With an ownership of 3.9% Alcaraz proves to be slightly less popular than his counterparts, so could be seen as a good “differential” over the coming weeks.
