Gameweek 11 of Fantasy Premier League is hoving into view and we’ve taken the time to update our Watchlist.
We discussed our goalkeeper selections on Wednesday morning and we now switch our focus to defenders.
Our top three remain unaltered, despite Andrew Robertson‘s (£6.4m) no-show at Anfield last Saturday.
The Liverpool left-back heads the list of defenders, having retained his “A” form rating after six clean sheets in nine league appearances this season.
Robertson and the Liverpool defence have fixtures on their side too, meeting Fulham (h), Watford (a), Everton (h) and Burnley (a) after Saturday’s trip to the Emirates.
Robertson avoids the Rotation Risk tag for now, even though we can expect Alberto Moreno (£4.2m) to get further opportunities at full-back later in the season: from establishing himself in the Liverpool starting XI in Gameweek 15 of 2017/18 right through to the UEFA Champions League-influenced rotation of Gameweek 33 and beyond, Robertson was benched only once.
Assist machines Marcos Alonso (£7.0m) and Benjamin Mendy (£6.3m) are going nowhere in our Watchlist as they both returned clean sheets in Gameweek 10, though Alonso loses his Favourable Fixtures tag given that Chelsea have to face Spurs and Manchester City in the next six Gameweeks.
With three home matches in the next four, however, there is plenty of encouragement for Alonso’s owners after his first attacking return since Gameweek 4 against Burnley on Sunday.
Mendy also enjoys three home fixtures in the next four Gameweeks, though Manchester United and Chelsea are on the horizon for the Citizens.
Our first riser in this top ten echoes the faith we put in Mathew Ryan (£4.5m) in our goalkeepers’ piece.
Budget defender Shane Duffy (£4.6m) has recorded three consecutive clean sheets to earn himself an “A” form rating and with a sea of blue for Brighton on our Season Ticker, his Favourable Fixtures tag remains intact.
Kieran Trippier (£6.3m) also moves up a place despite a poor performance against Manchester City on Monday. With the fit-again Serge Aurier (£5.8m) now back to offer competition in the right-back role, we have decided to keep the Rotation Risk tag on the England defender for now – despite Trippier starting nine league matches in a row.
With Wolves (a) to come before Chelsea (h) and Arsenal (a) in the next four Gameweeks, Trippier and Spurs narrowly avoid an Unfavourable Fixtures tag.
The biggest faller this week is Matt Doherty (£4.9m), whose Wolves side face Spurs and Arsenal in the next two Gameweeks and are subsequently lumbered with an Unfavourable Fixtures tag.
Anyone who saw Doherty’s performance in his side’s defeat to Brighton will understand why he remains at the front of our thoughts, however, with the Irish wing-back registering six shots on goal and more penalty box touches than any player on show at the Amex.
Our only new entry in this top ten is another budget pick and one who replaces a team-mate in our Watchlist.
Jose Holebas (£4.8m) drops out of our thinking after seemingly losing his place to Adam Masina (£4.3m), so we have opted to go with Kiko Femenia (£4.2m) as our route into a Watford backline that faces goal-shy Newcastle United and Southampton in the next two Gameweeks.
Femenia registered an assist in the 3-0 win over Huddersfield Town last weekend and the Hornets’ full-backs are key to their attacks, given that Javi Gracia likes to play with “inverted wingers” in midfield and requires the likes of Femenia and Masina to get forward and provide natural width.
Our “tail-enders” of Ben Chilwell (£5.0m), Lucas Digne (£4.8m) and DeAndre Yedlin (£4.5m) remain unchanged in order, though Chilwell’s form has dropped to a “C” with just one clean sheet and one assist in his last eight fixtures.
Chilwell and Yedlin retain their Favourable Fixtures tags, with both Leicester City and Newcastle United sitting near the top of our Season Ticker for the next five Gameweeks (and beyond, in the Magpies’ case).
Digne’s excellent home fixtures (Brighton, Cardiff, Newcastle and Watford) are somewhat soured by away trips to Chelsea and Liverpool, meanwhile, so the Everton left-back misses out on a Favourable Fixtures tag.
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