With the busy festive period just around the corner, we’ve given our Watchlist rankings, which offer player recommendations for the next four to six Gameweeks, a major overhaul. Palace pair Scott Dann and Wayne Hennessey fly high in our refresh, whilst West Ham’s new-found resilience boosts our belief in Aaron Cresswell.

GOALKEEPERS

While Stoke’s Jack Butland couldn’t deliver another clean sheet against Crystal Palace, the England international remains top of the pile with favourable fixtures against West Brom and Norwich in the next four, as well as a reasonable home clash against Man United on Boxing Day. The former Birmingham goalkeeper, who is available for 5.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), does also face difficult fixtures against Everton, Arsenal and Leicester over the next six Gameweeks, though.

With Crystal Palace’s schedule in the short term pretty kind (bou, SWA, CHE, avl), Wayne Hennessey keeps his spot in second place. The Wales international saw his price rise to 4.1 in FPL this week, having seemingly nailed down the number one position at Selhurst Park after starting the last 11 league matches. With a reasonable four shut-outs to his name already, the former Wolves stopper offers Fantasy managers a viable budget option between the sticks.

Our third non-mover at the top of our ladder is Man United’s David de Gea. The 5.7-priced Spaniard will have really disappointed his 13% ownership in FPL, having chalked up just three points from favourable matches against Bournemouth and Norwich, but with the schedule (sto, CHE, SWA, new, liv, SOT) remaining strong for United, faith has to be kept in the former Atletico Madrid keeper.

On the back of three consecutive clean sheets, which moved him alongside Butland as the highest scoring goalkeeper in FPL with 86 points, Watford’s Heurelho Gomes is the big climber among the goalkeepers this week. The Brazilian faces further difficult fixtures (che, TOT, MCI, sot) over the next four Gameweeks, but with confidence high at Vicarage Road, the 4.7-valued stopper could continue to defy expectations.

Petr Cech remains around halfway up our ladder, with Arsenal’s fixture list (sot, BOU, NEW, liv, sto, CHE) pretty favourable over the coming period. The Gunners did disappointingly concede late on against Man City, courtesy of Yaya Toure’s wonder goal, and have only managed to keep one clean sheet in their last six matches. With two favourable home fixtures against Bournemouth and Newcastle over the festive period, though, owners of the 5.7-rated Czech Republic international may well hold firm for now.

Another keeper in great form of late is West Ham’s Adrian, who moves up a couple of places on our ladder, having bagged three consecutive clean sheets. Slaven Bilic has been forced to adopt a more defensive game plan, with many of his key attacking players out through injury, and with the upcoming schedule (avl, SOT, LIV, bou, new) remaining positive, the Spaniard, available at 5.0 in FPL, offers a solid option for us to consider.

While Swansea’s goalless draw against West Ham was only their third clean sheet of the campaign, with all of those coming at the Liberty Stadium, we’ve moved Lukasz Fabianski up a place or two with further favourable home matches (WBA, SUN, WAT), to come over the next month. The Welsh side do also have to travel to Palace, Man United and Everton over the same period, though, so investment in the 4.8-priced Poland international remains unlikely.

Following the news that Ben Foster is back in training for West Brom, Boaz Myhill falls all the way towards the foot of our ladder. Foster is unlikely to return to first-team action until the New Year, so Myhill does continue to look a good option in the short-term, with the Baggies facing a favourable run (swa, NEW, STO) over the festive period.

Sunderland’s Costel Pantilimon stays towards the bottom of our goalkeeper rankings, with the Black Cats facing a mixed run of fixtures (mci, LIV, AVL, swa, tot, BOU) over the next six Gameweeks. Sam Allardyce’s side have also conceded seven goals in their last three matches though, so it’s unlikely we’ll see the 4.8-valued Romanian appearing on the shopping lists of FPL bosses any time soon.

Although Hennessey is the premier budget option among the goalkeepers, Norwich’s Declan Rudd cracks our top ten for the first time with the Canaries only facing one difficult fixture, the trip to White Hart Lane on Boxing Day, in the next six (tot, AVL, SOT, sto, bou, LIV). The 24-year-old has started the last three league matches having replaced the out-of-form John Ruddy, and only sets us back 3.9 in FPL.

DEFENDERS

With Crystal Palace in confident mood, having won four of their last six matches, and with a favourable run of fixtures over the next four Gameweeks (bou, SWA, CHE, avl), Scott Dann climbs all the way to the top of our ladder. The major upside of the former Blackburn defender is his goal threat, given he has scored three times already this season, while rotation shouldn’t be a concern, as he has only missed one match this season due to injury. The centre-back does now set us back a considerable 5.5 in FPL, though.

West Brom’s Craig Dawson slips down a place, then, having failed to deliver the goods against Bournemouth last weekend. As already touched upon, the Baggies do face further strong fixtures over the festive period, so the 18,000+ FPL bosses who brought in the 5.1-rated defender could still be rewarded over the next few matches, with attacking returns also a possibility, given Dawson has registered a reasonable 10 penalty area touches in his last four appearances.

Although he just missed out on a clean sheet on Monday night, Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin is a non-mover, with the Spain U21 international still one of the stronger options available to us at the back. The 5.9-priced right-back has managed three shots from inside the box over the last four Gameweeks, and as long as he isn’t rotated for the plum home fixtures against Bournemouth and Newcastle over the Christmas period, looks to have decent potential to produce attacking returns.

As with his West Ham team-mate Adrian, Hammers left-back Aaron Cresswell continues his ascent up our ladder with further defensive returns appearing likely over the coming weeks. The former Ipswich defender does set us back 5.5 in FPL, though, and with attacking points perhaps unlikely, given the current state of affairs at Upton Park, that price tag could deter any potential investment, despite defensive returns looking possible against Aston Villa and Southampton, in particular, in the next two matches.

While Tottenham face a favourable match-up at home to Norwich on Boxing Day, their tricky fixture list thereafter (wat, eve, LEI) means Toby Alderweireld falls a few spots in our latest update. The Belgian has also seen his price rise to 5.9 in FPL, and for those who haven’t yet taken the plunge on the former Ajax defender, it would probably make more sense to invest in the cheaper Eric Dier (5.3), should you want Spurs cover.

Having returned to the starting XI against Norwich following a groin injury, and with the already-mentioned favourable upcoming schedule, Man United’s Chris Smalling moves back up a few spots this week. The England also saw his price drop to 6.8 in FPL after missing the Gameweek 16 clash against Bournemouth, and having registered an impressive five shots from inside the box in his last three appearances, is threatening to open his account for the season.

Following a huge 14-point haul in Watford’s 3-0 victory over Liverpool, Hornets defender Nathan Ake is a significant climber on the Watchlist. The 4.4-valued left-back is ineligible to face his parent club Chelsea on Boxing Day, though, while Quique Sanchez Flores’ side do face tough home fixtures against Tottenham and Man City over the rest of the festive period. Nonetheless, the form of the Watford backline can’t be ignored, given they have kept six clean sheets from their nine matches at Vicarage Road so far this term.

Two high-profile fallers in our latest refresh are Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma and Liverpool’s Alberto Moreno. The champions have disappointingly failed to keep clean sheets in favourable home matches against Bournemouth and Sunderland in recent weeks, and with a mixed run of fixtures (WAT, mun, cpl, WBA, EVE, ars) to come over the next six Gameweeks, the 5.5-rated France international could continue to frustrate.

Moreno remains in our thoughts, given he continues to lead all defenders for chances created over the last four Gameweeks with 11. Our patience is starting to wear thin, though, given he’s only registered one assist in terms of attacking returns this season, while clean sheets could be hard to come by for Jurgen Klopp’s men following the news that Martin Skrtel will be out for around six weeks with a hamstring injury. Liverpool also face high-flying Leicester and Arsenal over the next four Gameweeks.

Leicester’s Danny Simpson sees his stock continue to rise as a reliable budget option for us to consider. The former QPR defender is available at just 4.1 in FPL, and with the Foxes schedule easing after difficult matches against Liverpool and City (BOU, tot, avl, STO), the right-back could see some investment in the New Year, particularly given he’s managed to pick up a reasonable four bonus points since earning a starting place in October.

Another big climber this week is Swansea’s Ashley Williams, who has incredibly picked up eight bonus points in the three matches the Swans have managed to keep a clean sheet in this season. The Wales captain does have an extremely limited goal threat, having only scored twice over the last four seasons, but coming in at just 4.8 in FPL, that ability to hoover up the bonus points can’t be overlooked.

Philipp Wollscheid, Virgil van Dijk and Daryl Janmaat all hold station at the foot of our ladder. The Stoke man still offers good value at 4.5 in FPL, although the Potters do only face two favourable fixtures, against West Brom and Norwich, in their next six.

Van Dijk just about remains in our thoughts with Southampton facing four strong fixtures (whm, nor, WAT, WBA) following the difficult Boxing Day clash against Arsenal. The Dutch international has failed to live up to his 5.5 price tag in FPL over the last month, though.

Newcastle only look to have two favourable fixtures in the next six, against West Brom and West Ham, and the Hammers expect to have Manuel Lanzini and Dimitri Payet back in action prior to Gameweek 22. The 4.9-priced Dutchman could struggle for defensive returns over the coming period, then.

The fall from grace of Man City’s Aleksandar Kolarov (6.5) continues, with the Serbian now occupying the final place in our rankings. Rotation remains a huge concern, with Gael Clichy possibly in the box seat to start in the plum home fixture against Sunderland on Boxing Day, with Kolarov earning the start against Arsenal on Monday night. Manuel Pellegrini’s men also have to travel to Leicester and Watford over the festive period.