Watchlist Update – Liverpool lead goalkeeper and defender sections

We have updated the Watchlist section of our site ahead of Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 10.

This article catalogues the changes we have made to the goalkeeper and defender sections.

It’s good news for owners of Liverpool defensive assets as the Reds look imperious at the back ahead of favourable fixtures.

Goalkeepers

Alisson (£5.6m) keeps his place at the summit of the Goalkeeper section. Liverpool’s fixtures over the next six weeks continue to prove very appealing. Cardiff, Fulham and Everton all have to come to Anfield between now and Gameweek 15. Meanwhile trips to Arsenal, Watford and Burnley feel very much inside Liverpool’s comfort zone as far as clean sheet potential is concerned. A sixth shut-out in nine matches last time out means that Alisson’s form is, not surprisingly ranked as an A.

Chelsea shot-stopper Kepa Arizzabalaga (£5.5m) rises two places to take the runner-up spot this week. With Manchester United out of the way, the appeal of Chelsea’s upcoming fixtures is the main reason he has managed to creep above Ederson (£5.7m) and Rui Patrício (£4.6m). Burnley, Crystal Palace and Everton are the Blues’ next three opponents while both Wolves and Man City face Spurs in that time as well as Arsenal and Man United respectively.

Mat Ryan (£4.5m) climbs the ranking to fifth place as both form and fixture coincide with the Brighton goalkeeper. He has two double-figure hauls in a row now while the Seagulls sit top of the Season Ticker for defence over the next six Gameweeks. It’s Wolves at home up next, followed by Everton (away), Cardiff (away), Leicester (home), Huddersfield (away) and Crystal Palace (home).

Ben Foster‘s (£4.5m) form remains at C with the Gameweek 8 win over Wolves just his second clean sheet of the season, but things look positive for Watford over the coming weeks. Their next three, in particular, look very encouraging with Huddersfield coming to Vicarage Road before trips to Newcastle and Southampton.

Kasper Schmeichel (£5.0m) stays on the Watchlist on account of Leicester’s continued appealing run of games. Home games against West Ham, Burnley and Watford have clean sheet potential, as well as the Gameweek 11 trip to Cardiff. However, we’ve left the C for form on Schmeichel considering that he still has just two clean sheets this season.

Lukasz Fabianski (£4.5m) rises a little on account of West Ham’s continuing fixture swing. With that home meeting with Spurs out of the way, their goalkeeper now has a Favourable Fixtures factor attached to him. In fact, only Brighton and Leicester rank higher than the Hammers for defence on the Season Ticker over the next six Gameweeks. That’s because they play Burnley (home), Huddersfield (away) and Cardiff (home) between now and Gameweek 15. Their meetings with the Clarets and Terriers in Gameweeks 11 and 12 may be of particular interest to Patricio owners, as that is when he plays Spurs and Arsenal.

Martin Dubravka (£5.0m) drops down on account of Newcastle’s struggles converting on clean sheet promise. A home fixture against a Brighton side typically poor on the road in Gameweek 9 was the perfect opportunity for them to capitalise on this appealing run of theirs but they failed to deliver. The Magpies still have teams such as Southampton (away), Watford (home) and Burnley (away) to face so their defensive options must remain on the Watchlist but a form of C reflects our trust in them.

At the bottom of the list is Everton’s Jordan Pickford (£4.9m) who creeps into tenth place to replace Bernd Leno (£4.8m). The Toffees win over Crystal Palace in Gameweek 9 was just their second clean sheet of the season but it represented back-to-back shutouts at Goodison Park. That means that owning an Everton defensive asset could be of use between now and Gameweek 15 as their home fixtures rotate very nicely with some awful away ones. Alternating with trips to Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool are home match-ups with Brighton, Cardiff and Newcastle.

Defenders

Andrew Robertson (£6.4m) stays top of the pile for defenders for much the same reason that Alisson is the best goalkeeper option. The fixtures, as we have mentioned, are great and Liverpool’s defence is in excellent form. Robertson looks the most likely to start in the back-four and has the greatest attacking threat too.

Marcos Alonso (£7.0m) has definitely regressed in terms of attacking options recently but with Chelsea having three very favourable fixtures coming up it feels harsh to push him down the pile. Just as Kepa has risen in the goalkeeper rankings, Alonso holds second place for now. Antonio Rüdiger (£5.9m) is knocking on the door to replace him though.

Benjamin Mendy (£6.3m) goes back up to third after his return to the Man City side. His 10 point haul against Burnley is further proof that when this man starts matches he delivers FPL points. In the six matches that he has played so far this season, he has three clean sheets and six assists.

Matt Doherty (£4.8m) keeps his form factor of A for now as we think that Wolves’ defeat to Watford may have been a flash in the pan. There are still three nice matches coming up for the newly-promoted side, against Brighton, Huddersfield and Cardiff, but we can’t give Doherty the Favourable Fixtures factor as he will also line-up against Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea between now and Gameweek 15. Having risen from £4.4m to £4.8m in a matter of weeks, we have also removed the budget factor from Doherty.

Shane Duffy (£4.5m) is the big riser in defence. As was the case with Ryan, the Brighton centre-back has time his form with a fixture swing which makes him one of the most appealing defenders in his price bracket long-term.

Kieran Trippier (£6.3m) drops down as Spurs face a sticky patch of matches. It’s Man City up next as well as Chelsea and Arsenal between now and Gameweek 15. Only Arsenal and Crystal Palace rank lower than them for defence on the Season Ticker over the next six Gameweeks. Trippier does still hold some attacking potential given his positioning and set-piece responsibilities, but his place is under more threat now that Serge Aurier (£5.8m) has returned to full fitness.

Jose Holebas (£4.8m) comes back from suspension this week and goes back into a defence that kept a clean sheet at in-form Wolves in Gameweek 9. As we’ve mentioned with Foster, the fixtures bode well for this set-piece taker. Another full-back with similar responsibilities is Everton’s Lucas Digne (£4.8m). He’s up next and, just like was the case with Pickford, he can rotate very well over the next six Gameweeks.

Ben Chilwell (£5.0m) has nicer fixtures than Digne looking at things from a more long-term perspective but he drops given that we’re not sure if Leicester can deliver on the appealing schedule. They have just two clean sheets this season. Also in a similar position is DeAndre Yedlin (£4.5m). He drops down the Watchlist because he’s another option with a nice run of matches but little to warrant faith in him just yet.

Become a Member and access our data

Memberships for the 2018/19 campaign are now available for the price of just £15.

Join now to get the following:

• Plot your transfer strategies using the fully interactive Season Ticker.
• Get projections for every Premier League player provided by the Rate My Team statistical model.
• Use Rate My Team throughout the season to guide your selections and transfers.
• Get access to over 130+ exclusive members articles over the season.
• Analyse our OPTA-powered statistic tables specifically tailored for Fantasy Football Managers.
• Use our exclusive tool to build custom stats tables from over 100 OPTA player and team stats.
• View heatmaps and expected goals data for every player.
• Use our powerful comparison tool to analyse players head-to-head.

CLICK HERE TO BECOME A FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT MEMBER