While Chelsea’s run of upcoming fixtures has many a Fantasy manager eyeing up the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Juan Mata, we’re going to throw another hat in the ring this morning – John Terry.
There’s no doubt Terry is a costly option at the back. Coming in at 7.5, he’s the third priciest defender in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) but he’s justified that so far, producing 80 points, joint-top scoring defender with Man City’s Vincent Kompany; all this despite chalking up just four clean sheets this season.
With four goals to his name after 18 appearances, Terry has already equalled his top-scoring campaign for the Blues and has found the net as many times as Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres combined. His game seems to be perfectly suited to this season’s bonus points system, too; he ranks at the top for defenders with 14 and has picked up the maximum bonus in three matches. The Chelsea captain has also proved capable of returning substantial points hauls, picking up double-figures on three separate occasions, a feat bettered only by Frank Lampard for Andre Villas-Boas’ side.
The Blues skipper has been top of the Watchlist rankings for Defenders over the past two weeks now and further analysis of his stats- particularly in comparison to Sturridge – makes for interesting reading. While many may baulk at the idea, it’s worth noting that Sturridge is priced at 7.4 and has returned 82 points (also including 14 bonus), with both players’ tallies almost identical. With cut-price forwards such as Steve Morison and Heidar Helguson proving strong value options up top, there’s room for manoeuvre if Fantasy managers wanted an alternative to the likes of Leighton Baines or Thomas Vermaelen at the back.
Along with Ashley Cole, Terry is the only player to have seen every minute of his side’s campaign thus far – there’ll be no substitutions or rotation when it comes to his game time, a key factor worth considering as the fixture list continues at a hectic pace.
With a run of five games that reads (AVL, wol, SUN, nor, swa) the potential for plundering the points is clearly there and if Terry can continue on the goal trail and grab a clean sheet or two along the way, he could well prove a handy acquisition over the next few gameweeks.
