Team of the Season – Andrew Robertson

Andrew Robertson has been named in Fantasy Football Scout’s team of the season, after finishing third in our poll behind Nicolas Otamendi and Cesar Azpilicueta, with a 14.48% share of the vote.

The left-back’s 111 points was only the 20th-highest score among FPL defenders, but the vast majority of those were won after establishing himself in the Liverpool XI towards the second half of the season.

Robertson’s average of 5.0 points per match was matched only by Phil Jones and Marcos Alonso among players in his classification.

The Scot finished as Liverpool’s highest-scoring defender, despite seeing fewer minutes than Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren, while also surpassing his total of 73 points for Hull City in 2016/17 by some margin.

Despite making just 22 appearances, only six FPL defenders bettered his total of five assists.

Robertson’s season effectively began in Gameweek 15. Alberto Moreno had started 2017/18 as Jurgen Klopp’s first-choice left-back, featuring in 12 of the first 14 fixtures.

In retrospect, a league debut for the Reds in Gameweek 2 hinted at things to come. He collected all three bonus points with a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. No defender created more big chances (two) or had more touches in the final third (52) than Robertson in that round of matches.

A further ninety minutes in Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Burnley in mid-September was Robertson’s only involvement before a return to the first team in Gameweek 15, upon which he embarked on a run of 17 starts in 18 league fixtures.

During this time frame, no defender created more big chances than Robertson (six). Only Kyle Walker (642) made more successful passes in the final third (557), while Robertson’s total of 68 crosses was bettered by only three defenders.

From Gameweek 15 until the end of the season, Robertson received more passes in the opposition half (744) and the final third (410) than any other defender.

Robertson’s ownership by Gameweek 15 was below 0.8%, while his price had dipped from an initial £5.0m to £4.6m. Fantasy managers were slow to latch onto his bargain value, though, mainly due to worries over rotation, his price not increasing to £4.7m until Gameweek 21. It was a further seven Gameweeks before there was another price rise.

Robertson’s second assist of the season, the first of four assists in his final eight appearances of 2017/18, came in the home fixture against West Ham United in Gameweek 28. No defender created more chances (three) or big chances (two) in that round. A score of 33 on the Bonus Points System was enough for him to be awarded his first bonus point since Gameweek 2.

A clean sheet, an assist and two bonus points in Liverpool’s 5-0 win over Watford in Gameweek 31 steered Robertson to his first double-digit haul of the season and profited those who picked him up on their Free Hit chip for that restricted round of fixtures. He topped all other defenders for BPS (42) and Baseline BPS (21) that week, which was particularly notable for his 12 recoveries.

An assist and three bonus points followed in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace in Gameweek 32, with Robertson creating two chances and making more successful passes in the opposition half than any other defender that Gameweek.

Though Robertson only featured in three of Liverpool’s final six league matches due to UEFA Champions League-influenced rotation, the 22-year-old full-back saved his best till last.

An assist and clean sheet in the Reds’ 4-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion was topped off by an 85th-minute goal – Robertson’s first of the season – and three bonus points, with no FPL player beating his total of 18 points in Gameweek 38.

The Prospects

Now established as the first-choice left-back under Klopp, Robertson’s run of starts prior to Liverpool reaching the last eight of the Champions League suggests that he was almost immune to rotation.

The only league match he missed in that aforementioned 18-fixture run was at Burnley on New Year’s Day – just two days after a Gameweek 21 clash with Leicester.

Unfortunately, with notable form and security of pitch time comes a near-certain hike in cost. A starting price of at least £6.0m in 2018/19 would seem likely given his performances in the second half of the season.

Fantasy managers should expect more of the same from Robertson going forward. Only Cesar Azpilicueta (11), who made 15 more starts than Robertson, created more big chances this season among defenders than the Liverpool full-back (eight).

At 5.2 minutes per successful pass in the final third, Robertson’s average was also better than any other Premier League defender.

Bonus points could be a source of joy for Fantasy managers, too: Robertson scored more (12) than any of Liverpool’s backline and was second only to Azpilicueta (355) for BPS accrued (318) in the last 15 Gameweeks of 2017/18.

While Clearances, Blocks and Interceptions (CBI) are not Robertson’s strong suit, recoveries, pass completion and chances created are key to his bonus potential.

Goals threat is an obvious weakness in his arsenal. The left-back could only muster 12 shots over the course of the whole season, the same as Moreno and Trent Alexander-Arnold despite playing more minutes, with a paltry two of these efforts on target.

Robertson’s rate of chances came at one every 161.9 minutes, a long way short of Marcos Alonso’s average of 44 minutes, for example. Not one of Robertson’s dozen goal attempts was deemed to be a big chance, either.

Liverpool have looked a lot more accomplished defensively this season, notably after the January signing of Van Dijk. From the points of the Dutchman’s debut in Gameweek 24, Klopp’s men recorded more clean sheets (eight) than any other side and were joint-most resilient with Man City, conceding on ten occasions.

Should this new-found solidity continue into next season, then Robertson can usurp Van Dijk as the go-to Liverpool defender next time around.