Our Watchlist rankings will be updated throughout the rest of month and there will be numerous individual player articles to follow. With the fixtures coming thick and fast, however, this is likely to be our last opportunity to break down our rankings in full before the New Year. As usual, you’ll find our current rankings in your sidebar – click on the tabs to view each position in turn and read on for the round-up of the movers and shakers…
Despite his heroics in the 2-0 win over Fulham, Michel Vorm slips down our Watchlist rankings for the Christmas period, with fixtures stiffening, undermining his chances of clean sheets. Away trips to Newcastle and Everton, and a home clash with Spurs in the next four, looks set to limit Vorm for the rest of December.
Newcastle’s Tim Krul and Blackburn’s Paul Robinson are the benefactors of Vorm’s slip – both have stronger short-term fixtures with two home matches to cover the Dutchman’s away trips. Neither have secure defences in front of them, although Alan Pardew will attempt to patch up his back four for the weekend clash with Swansea and, with West Brom to follow, the Magpies still look strong enough to muster shut-outs, particularly if Fabricio Collicini and Cheik Tiote make returns.
Lower down the keepers, Wolves’ Wayne Hennesey also offers a good rotation option with Vorm, while Thomas Sorensen provides a route into a Stoke defence which has shown improvement in recent weeks. The Dane appears to have cemented a starting role ahead of Asmir Begovic and, at just 4.3, presents strong value.
There’s relatively little movement amongst the defender rankings. Everton’s Leighton Baines still sits on top, despite two consecutive blanks. His fixtures give him a pair of Goodison encounters up next, with trips to Sunderland and West Brom to follow. All four fixtures show promise and we’re expecting assists and maybe dead-ball returns from the lively left-back.
United’s Phil Jones climbs to second, after holding down a start in Alex Ferguson’s midfield. As injuries mount in the United squad, with Darren Fletcher the latest casualty, Jones seems destined to keep his start, either in defence or midfield. The absence of Nemanja Vidic will impact on the likelihood of clean sheets but, with attacking returns a possibility, Jones remains a strong option given his Christmas fixtures.
John Terry is at last included in our thinking, having established himself as the key target within a Chelsea back four which has started to keep opponents out, adding clean sheets to Terry’s goal threat and his uncanny ability to draw FPL bonus. A similar goal threat from Blackburn’s Chris Samba and Ryan Taylor, coupled with their two home fixtures, keeps Terry mid-table in the rankings, although the Chelsea skipper will likely climb when his fixtures improve from gameweek 18 onwards.
Futher down, it’s worth noting that Robert Huth replaces team-mate Ryan Shawcross. The German has established a starting role in recent weeks, has a stronger goal threat and, with Shawcross sitting on four bookings, seems more likely to sustain starts over the Christmas period.
Swansea’s Steven Caulker re-enters our thinking as a budget option. Back from injury, the Spurs loanee is now priced at 3.9 – a bargain within a Swans defence that has kept seven clean sheets this term. His fixtures are stiff over Christmas, however, making him a long-term prospect rather than a necessary acquisition for the next month.
Moving into attacking areas, we find Gareth Bale retaining his top ranking in midfield. A blank at Stoke provided a blip amongst recent returns, but with two home fixtures and a double gameweek to come, the winger remains a hot property.
Nani climbs to second and could threaten Bale once he’s clear of his two away trips. The Portuguese flier broke out from his shackles against Wolves, returning his biggest gameweek profit of the season. With our forward lines packed with talent, Nani looks the most efficient route to United attacking coverage over Christmas. Although, like the entire United squad, Nani may well be subject to rotation as the fixtures pile-up going into the New Year.
Elsewhere, some familiar names jostle for position. Stoke’s Jon Walters, Wolves’ Jamie O’Hara, Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa and Fulham’s Clint Dempsey, all enjoy climbs. The latter has poor fixtures but, with Bobby Zamora seemingly out of favour at the Cottage, Dempsey could be due a run installed as centre-forward. A personal nightmare for Demspey at the Liberty Stadium last weekend shouldn’t distract us from the fact that the American is the major goal threat in Martin Jol’s side.
Robin Van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor maintain their top rankings going into the festive spell, although there is a shuffle taking place below them.
Newcastle’s Demba Ba climbs above both Yakubu and Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge off the back of his two goals at Norwich, and has strong short-term fixtures to come. It’s a close call between this trio – all three have form, all present decent value and it’s likely that most Fantasy managers will be going into Christmas with at least one of them in their squad. Ba has the African Cup of Nations absence looming over him from January and Sturridge, with two away games to come, has a slight disadvantage right now. We can expect the Chelsea man to climb when he enters a run of three kind home matches in four from gameweek 18 – his potential see-saws with Ba’s rather nicely, then.
Further down, Wayne Rooney is, of course, the intriguing option. We mentioned in last week’s Watchlist Updated that Rooney could yet emerge as an unlikely differential if he can rediscover his goal touch to coincide with a decline in Robin Van Persie’s form. Rooney outscored the Gunners skipper last weekend and certainly has the fixtures to prosper. Again though, shifting from Van Persie to Rooney is a risk; one which most will resist given the Dutchman’s ability to score, regardless of opposition. That’s something that will be put to the test at City this weekend.
