In our second article looking at the player list in the Sky Sports game, we bring you our top targets in defence.
Defenders have struggled in the game for a number of seasons, with the premium assets often offering little value in comparison to their midfield equivalents. Meanwhile, the cheaper backline assets regularly fail to deliver thanks to the point lost for every goal conceded.
Sky Sports have now looked to address this issue by giving defenders a goal conceded cushion – they now only get penalised after conceding two goals.
Ironically, this rule change looks set to boost the returns of the defenders who get fewer clean sheets rather than more.
Take Craig Dawson as an example.
The West Brom defender ended on 89 points, having kept just six clean sheets from his 37 starts. That means there were 31 matches when he conceded one goal (or more), which would have translated into an additional 31 points this time around, bringing his total to a more respectable 120 points.
Chelsea’s Gary Cahill, by comparison, would have only recorded an extra 19 points.
Cheap defenders again look the best way to go then, allowing the bulk of our budget to be spent in the attacking positions.
As our first article suggested, we will look at our top ten defenders before the squad overhaul. We aim to reassess and bring you some longer-term options after the international break.
The Picks
Vincent Kompany – 8.5 – 4.1% – Fixtures: bha EVE bou
The Belgian has a hefty price tag at 8.5, but that’s still a full 2.0 cheaper than the most expensive defenders. We had expected Kompany to be in the same bracket as those premium options, but clearly his previous injury problems have tainted Sky Sports’ view.
As a result, he appears to offer good value and, with the overhaul looming, you don’t need to be concerned with Kompany’s fitness for longer than three Gameweeks.
In his ten starts last season, the centre-back earned four clean sheets, three goals, one Man of The Match award and also managed a tier one tackling bonus and tier one passing on four occasions.
That’s an extraordinary rate of scoring for an 8.5 asset, particularly when you consider that a similar sum in midfield will get you Spurs’ Moussa Sissoko or Watford’s Etienne Capoue.
Granted, City’s fixtures are not totally straightforward, but factor in strong pre-season form and his ability to pick up points from several sources and Kompany easily makes our top ten.
Kieran Trippier – 8.1 – 15.3% – Fixtures: new CHE BUR
Over 15% have turned to Tripper already due to the transfer of Kyle Walker to rivals Man City.
Spurs were the best defence last season, both in terms of clean sheets (17) and just 26 goals conceded, so it’s easy to see why Fantasy managers have turned to Trippier.
The value is even clearer to see when you consider that Toby Alderweireld comes in at a lofty 10.1. Trippier promises more than just clean sheets, having racked up five assists in limited appearances last season – he started just six games and was a substitute six times. He could well be stationed in a wing-back role more often than not with Spurs swapping between a 3-5-2 and 4-2-3-1 on a regular basis.
They may take time to adjust over their two Wembley “home” fixtures but, at Trippier’s price, he is a worthy investment for the first three Gameweeks.
Charlie Daniels – 7.5 – 6.9% – Fixtures: wba WAT MCI
Many Fantasy managers have opted for Daniels from the off, despite the daunting visit of Manchester City in Gameweek three.
The opening two matches do look decent for clean sheet potential, however, particularly as Bournemouth have added Nathan Ake (7.6) and Asmir Begovic (6.6) to a defence that managed ten shut-outs in 2016/17.
Daniels’ main appeal remains his attacking influence – he recorded four goals and three assists on the way to 108 points last term. On the flipside, bonus points were hard to come by for the marauding full-back. He only managed an additional nine points, and 67 goals conceded by Bournemouth didn’t help his cause either.
But the addition of a potent finisher in Jermain Defoe may help Daniels capitalise on his 86 crosses, and 28 chances created last season – statistics that put him in the top 20 for defenders in both categories.
Craig Dawson – 7.4 – 3.2% – Fixtures: BOU bur STK
The main appeal of the West Brom assets pre-overhaul is their strong opening fixtures.
Dawson gets the edge over goalkeeper Ben Foster due to his goal threat at set-plays. He scored four last term and is potentiality the main target for dead-ball deliveries given that Gareth McAuley (7.5) is currently sidelined by injury.
New signing Ahmed Hegazi (6.2) looks set to start in McAuley’s place and offers us a risky, but cheaper, route into Tony Pulis’ back line, while full-back Allan Nyom (6.7) provides the middle ground. What Nyom lacks in attacking output he makes up for in bonus potential, having earned 23 points from tackling last season. However, I feel that Dawson warrants the extra investment.
Jack Stephens – 6.5 – 1.4% – Fixtures: SWA WHU hud
A very cheap price, great fixtures and a differential to boot – seems too good to be true? Quite possibly.
A new manager at the helm and uncertainty surrounding Virgil van Dijk’s (8.9m) future make Stephens a risky pick at this stage. But it may be one worth taking.
The young centre-back registered six clean sheets in his 15 starts, and Saints themselves managed 14 over the season. Stephens didn’t make much of an impact bonus-wise or offensively, but that’s of little concern when he comes in at roughly the same price as the three promoted teams’ defenders, all of which he will surely outscore if he continues to make the starting line-up.
Tommy Smith – 6.2 – 0.6% – Fixtures: cry NEW SOT
Experienced Sky Sports managers are used to eyeing up the promoted defenders, given the need to invest heavilty elsewhere.
Tommy Smith, at 6.2, will likely have raised a few eyebrows following his four goals and ten assists in the Championship. In fact, Huddersfield Town’s backline may make or break many of our pre-overhaul teams as they offer some of the cheapest starting defenders in the game, with decent fixtures.
Competition is stiff in the Terriers’ defence, but Smith gets our nod as he looks the most secure option while also offering a significant attacking threat.
Joel Ward – 6.0 – 7.6% – Fixtures: HUD liv SWA
A man who has probably made his way into many initial drafts because of his rather bizarre price tag in comparison to his Palace defensive team-mates.
Two strong home matches from his three pre-overhaul fixtures suggest that Ward is a great enabler, and he even flirts with tackle bonus fairly often – he earned 21 points last campaign.
However, new Eagles manager Frank de Boer looks to have thrown a spanner in the works, with Ward benched in some recent pre-season friendlies following the move to a three-man backline.
He remains on the list, but will need monitoring. Elsewhere, new arrival Jairo Riedewald (7.1m) offers us a more secure route into the Palace backline, but at an increased price.
Paul Dummett – 6.0 – 0.7% – Fixtures: TOT hud WHU
With little attacking threat and average fixtures, Dummett doesn’t immediately jump out as an option.
But it’s our quest for cheap starting defenders who aren’t too leaky at the back that makes him a candidate for our pre-overhaul line-ups.
Newcastle conceded 40 in the Championship, making them one of the better defences, and with Rafa Benetiz’s top-flight experience, you would expect him to focus on ensuring that his side are difficult to break down over the opening matches.
At 6.0 and with a secure starting spot, Dummett offers us a fairly secure, if unglamorous, pre-overhaul option.
Markus Suttner – 5.7 – 0.3% – Fixtures: MCI lei wat
The fixtures are not great for Brighton’s new left-back, but his price and potential certainly are.
Four goals and five assists in the Bundesliga for the relegated Ingolstadt seem pretty impressive, and he even fancies himself as a set-piece expert, although he’ll need to oust former team-mate Pascal Gross to have a say for the Seagulls.
Suttner is also a keen tackler, averaging 2.2 a match. That means he could delve into tier one bonus now and again, and if he starts well, he could also be an option post-overhaul.
Connor Goldson – 4.0 – 4.4% – Fixtures: MCI lei wat
Connor who? You may not know his name because he probably won’t play for Brighton, and, believe it or not, therein lies his appeal.
Almost 5% have cottoned on to the fact that he is the cheapest player in the game and that’s all that matters.
Playing with only ten players seems like madness, but the sheer amount of money saved by picking him and the knowledge that you cannot receive minus points after a drubbing is quite liberating.
Pairing Goldson with a more expensive defender such as Spurs’ Trippier would set you back 12.1 – just 0.1 different from a partnership of Joel Ward and Paul Dummett, for example.
Alternatively, going with Goldson and keeping the rest of your defence low-cost also frees up lots of cash to cover the top midfielders and forwards pre-overhaul. Whether he remains an option post-overhaul will depend on which cheap defenders start the season on form.
Weekly Articles And Podcast
There are still two player list articles to come, before we also analyse the Man of the Match awards in the build up to Gameweek 1 on Friday.
Also, I’ll be talking through the week’s action and upcoming plans with FFS posters Buffrey and Lewis on our regular podcast – the latest episode can be found here.
We also have the dedicated RMT community article to exclusively deal with Sky Sports Fantasy teams.
Those looking to get involved should click this link.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
We’ve already set up our Fantasy Football Scout League and, after winning the League of Leagues for each of the last four seasons, we’re looking to defend our crown in 2017/18.
Get your teams in – the name is FFScout and the pin number to join is 8300422.
