Leaping like a sixteen stone salmon, Robert Huth is the scourge of 18-yard boxes the length and breadth of the land. Equally terrifying at both ends of the pitch, Huth’s aerial despotism has long ensured that he is as much “on” Stoke’s set-pieces as whoever happens to have the honour of hoofing the ball in his general direction.
The top scoring defender in the Premier League last term, Huth’s six goals were augmented by three assists, eight clean sheets and fourteen bonus points. Amassing 138 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) points from a starting price of 5.0, it was no surprise when he was unhesitatingly elected to our team-of-the-season. With the Potters’ defensive parsimony a proverbial constant, and their attacking prosperity ever predicated on set-plays, a price hike to 6.0 this time round seemed unlikely to present a significant impediment to would-be investors.
Three clean sheets in the first four games seemed to forecast a business-as-usual campaign for Tony Pulis’ men, but with new arrivals Matthew Upson and Jonathan Woodgate now competing for centre-back spots a formerly settled defensive line began to betray an uncharacteristic uncertainty. A long clean sheet drought saw Pulis’ protracted search for a solution assuming the character of a rotational merry-go-round, and Huth often found himself out on a limb at full-back or even, at times, on the bench.
The restoration of last season’s centre-back pairing of Ryan Shawcross and Huth has applied a much needed prophylactic to Stoke’s unusually profligate campaign. The re-galvanised Potters have secured two clean sheets in their last six, and a goal and an assist last weekend in the FA cup saw man-of-the-match Huth back to his imperious best in the opposing penalty area.
Three home games in the next four make Stoke’s upcoming run an inviting proposition (SUN ful SWA NOR), and a January sale price of 5.6 seems eminently reasonable for a player boasting a strong record in both attack and defence. With the threat of rotation hanging ominously over Stoke’s budget defensive options, Shawcross represents the only other safe choice in the Potters’ back line, but priced at 5.1 and offering little competition to Huth in terms of attacking threat, a saving of 0.5 may well be a false economy.
With more attempts on goal in the last six games than the rest of the Potters’ defence combined, and the prospects for clean sheets never remote at the Brittania, Huth may offer the strongest value in the Stoke side over the coming weeks.
