It’s not official yet but Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s (£8.6m) involvement in Double Gameweek 25 looks in serious doubt.
Widespread media reports on Wednesday suggest the defender will miss the EFL Cup final later this month.
By extension, that would rule him out of the Double Gameweek that precedes it.
Here, we look at a few candidates to replace him in Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
VIRGIL VAN DIJK
- Club: Liverpool
- Cost: £6.4m
- Good for: Gameweek 25 Free Hitters, managers with a contingency plan for Blank Gameweeks 26 + 29
- Not so good for: Managers trying to get XI out in Blank Gameweeks 26 + 29
Conor Bradley (£4.1m), Andrew Robertson (£6.4m) and Joe Gomez (£4.6m) have all got their suitors ahead of Liverpool’s upcoming double, with Bradley particularly appealing because of his cost.
As a right-back, he’ll get an ‘expected minutes’ bump due to Alexander-Arnold’s likely absence.
But Jarell Quansah (£4.0m), Ibrahima Konate (£4.8m) and Kostas Tsimikas (£4.5m) are all tussling for game time, too.
What’s more, the Reds are about to face three matches in the space of nine days, the last of which is an EFL Cup final.
So, step forward Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m). A starter in 183 of the last 185 league matches he’s been available for, his only two benchings came off the back of injuries.
About as nailed as you can get, fitness permitting, he’s one of the few Liverpool players who you’d be confident of getting 180 minutes in Gameweek 25.
The leading Fantasy defender for shots in the box this season (23, see above), it’s not just minutes and possible clean sheets that van Dijk offers.
So, he’s arguably the standout defender for Gameweek 25 in isolation.
The problem is, if you’re not Free Hitting this week or Wildcarding next, Gameweek 25 isn’t in isolation.
The Reds will be faced with the following run if they beat second-tier Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round in two weeks, so have an exit plan, a strong bench or a chip ready if you go for him.
NATHAN AKE
- Club: Manchester City
- Cost: £5.0m
- Good for: Managers who want a ‘doubler’ in Gameweek 25 who also has a fixture in Blank Gameweek 26
- Not so good for: Managers trying to get XI out in Blank Gameweek 29 without a chip, managers who like nailed starters
An injury to Josko Gvardiol (£4.8m) has seen the stock of Nathan Ake (£5.0m) rise ahead of this imminent double.
But we’ll reiterate what we said in an article on Manchester City yesterday. While Ake is an obvious beneficiary of Gvardiol’s injury due to their shared positions, Pep Guardiola has used Manuel Akanji (£4.9m) and Rico Lewis (£4.3m) on the left side of the defence in the past.
So, there are certaintly no guarantees of two starts in Gameweek 25.
If you can swallow the rotation risk, you’re getting a defender who averages a shot at about the same rate as van Dijk. He was close to scoring against Copenhagen in midweek, having delivered five attacking returns already in the league.
He’s also part of a defence that boasts the second-best expected goals conceded (xGC) tally in the division.
And prospective owners could look at the rotation risk in a positive light. You’d think he gets at least two starts across City’s next three league games so even if he does warm the bench at the Etihad in one of them, he’ll be no worse off than most other Fantasy defenders in the next two Gameweeks.
The likely Blank Gameweek 29 is something to bear in mind, of course.
SERGIO REGUILON
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