We have revised our Watchlist player rankings for goalkeepers and defenders following Gameweek 6.
The Watchlist can be found in your sidebar on a desktop, or via your slide-in menu on mobile or tablet. It acts as a collection of our current thoughts on player selection for each position, also citing the factors that affect their ranking on the list.
As a general rule, we try to commit to just one player per position per club. However, in some cases we where we believe double-coverage is advisable, two players will be listed instead.
Goalkeepers
Ederson (ยฃ5.6m) remains top of the Watchlist after securing his third clean sheet and a fourth return of the campaign in Gameweek 6. However, the Manchester City man loses his Favourable Fixtures factor with two particularly tough matches in their next four. Home matches against Brighton and Burnley sit alongside trips to Liverpool and Tottenham.
Alisson (ยฃ5.6m) also retains his place in the Watchlist based on his impressive form. The Liverpool man has kept a clean sheet in all but two matches so far this season. Neither of the fixtures factors applies to Alisson though with two favourable matches against Huddersfield and Cardiff coming after Chelsea and Man City.
Rui Patrรญcio (ยฃ4.5m) and David de Gea (ยฃ5.9m) are two more non-movers on the Watchlist with no change in their respective form or quality of fixtures.
Kasper Schmeichel (ยฃ5.0m) and Petr Cech (ยฃ5.0m) appear next to reflect their continued good fixtures. Neither side has been particularly adept at keeping clean sheets in 2018/19, but they still have the potential. Schmeichel sits a little higher for an increased certainty of a start.
Joe Hart (ยฃ4.5m) is the first of two new inclusions in the Goalkeeper section of the Watchlist. His clean sheet against Bournemouth was his second of the season as the Clarets work towards improving on a poor start. Neither fixtures factor applies to him with Cardiff and Huddersfield up next but Man City and Chelsea after that.
Wayne Hennessey (ยฃ4.5m) drops a little bit despite recording a third clean sheet of the season in Gameweek 6. Just below him is our second new entry Martin Dubravka (ยฃ5.0m). Newcastle’s fixtures are on the turn now and apart from a trip to Manchester United in Gameweek 8, have several with clean sheet potential between now and Gameweek 19.
The popularity of Marcos Alonso (ยฃ6.9m) has pushed Kepa (ยฃ5.5m) off the Watchlist. The left-back is heavily owned for his offensive potential, and the current state of Chelsea’s fixtures do not encourage double-coverage of their defence.
Asmir Begovic (ยฃ4.5m) also dropped off after yet another match in which Bournemouth conceded more goals than their underlying numbers suggested they should have done.
Defenders
Alonso remains the top pick in defence. The Chelsea man has returned points in all but one match thus far in 2018/19, with three clean sheets, a goal and five assists to his name.
Kieran Trippier (ยฃ6.1m) has received a boost after registering his second assist of the season in Gameweek 6. He rises up the ranks as a result of other premium options facing injury and/or tough fixtures. Conversely, Spurs rank second for defence on our Season Ticker over the next six Gameweeks, and Trippier has a role in set pieces.
Andrew Robertson (ยฃ6.2m) just about holds onto his place but Trent Alexander-Arnold has run him close. The Scottish left-back has shown more consistent attacking returns over the course of the season so far, and we believe he is more likely to continue that during tough fixtures. Robertson is also more adept at picking up bonus points with Alexander-Arnold already earning three yellow cards this season.
Aymeric Laporte (ยฃ5.5m) takes Benjamin Mendy’s place on the Watchlist with a fair bit of uncertainty over the wing-back’s fitness. There is no return date on him currently and until we know more, we have to take him off. Laporte is the most reliable replacement considering he has played every minute of the league campaign so far and has some goal threat too.
Matt Doherty (ยฃ4.4m) tops off the best of the rest with Wolves’ defensive potential, appealing fixtures and his budget price. Jose Holebas (ยฃ4.9m) loses his price-related tag now that he has risen in price again but still stays in our thoughts with Watford’s relatively kind run and his role in set pieces. The Greek also receives a ‘Sus’ factor as he is one yellow card away from a one-match suspension.
Luke Shaw‘s (ยฃ5.1m) return to the Man United team keeps him in the Watchlist and he manages to lose his Rotation Risk factor. Aaron Wan-Bissaka (ยฃ4.3m) sits just below him. His slight increase in value has reduced his appeal a little for non-owners and only one of Crystal Palace’s next six fixtures looks like one where a clean sheet is likely for him.
DeAndre Yedlin (ยฃ4.5m) moves onto the defence Watchlist for the same reason as Dubravka. The American has a goal and an assist to his name so far this season and is the most assured of a start out of the budget options available at Newcastle. Jamaal Lascelles is arguably a bit too pricey while there is competition for places at left-back and centre-back between Ciaran Clark, Fabian Schรคr and Paul Dummett.
Ben Chilwell (ยฃ5.0m) takes the place of colleague Ricardo Pereira after the latter was dropped for Gameweek 6. Pereira was held accountable by the local press for the manner of Leicester’s heavy defeat to Bournemouth in Gameweek 5. It appears that manager Claude Puel was in agreement as he deployed Daniel Amartey in his stead against Huddersfield. Meanwhile, Chilwell held onto his place and continued to post encouraging underlying statistics.
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