Two-time Indian Fantasy Premier League (FPL) champion Lateriser discusses his shortlist of defenders and the current dilemma over owning Erling Haaland (£15.1m) – and presents his Gameweek 13 team reveal.
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With a lot of FPL managers owning both Rico Lewis (£4.8m) and Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.3m), a fair few will be shopping for defenders. I own both and am currently scouring the market for replacements.
While Everton have four clean sheets in six, their next half-dozen opponents feature five of the traditional top six, so it’s time to let go either now or definitely after Gameweek 14’s clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
As for Manchester City, their freefall is making headlines, conceding goals left, right and centre. However, they have plenty of early kick-offs on the horizon, meaning we could keep receiving pre-deadline team news. Two of those are against Everton and Leicester City.
YELLIN’ TIMBER
If you have some money lying around and already have an Arsenal centre-back in place, the defender I like is Jurrien Timber (£5.5m). His position maps from the last couple of games have really caught my eye, now that Martin Odegaard (£8.2m) is back.
Against Sporting CP, his three created chances included a big one, accumulating 0.5 expected assists (xA). Last Saturday versus Nottingham Forest, Timber set up two chances and almost scored an offside goal.
Playing on that right-hand side with Odegaard and Bukayo Saka (£10.2m), he’s spending a lot of time in and around the penalty area and I wouldn’t be surprised to soon see some attacking returns. The prospect of owning an attacking Arsenal defender is appealing, knowing they’re only behind Chelsea on our Season Ticker between now and Gameweek 22.
Ben White (£6.2m) is out for a while and, although left-back Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m) is a huge set-piece threat, the early substitutions put me off slightly – especially with Oleksandr Zinchenko (£4.8m) fit. Timber is cheaper, more secure for minutes and part of Arsenal’s right-sided dominance.
The only potential setback is that there’s a lack of concrete news on White’s injury, so the Dutchman might not be a long-term option.
OTHER DEFENSIVE TARGETS
Alternatively, if you’re hunting for cheaper FPL defenders, the ticker highlights a few teams to focus on.
Chelsea rank in mid-table for expected goals conceded (xGC, 16.27), making the likes of Levi Colwill (£4.5m) and Wesley Fofana (£4.5m) good picks.
Their high-upside pick is probably Malo Gusto (£4.9m) but the full-back was ill in Gameweek 12 and there are slight doubts over his minutes. The 21-year-old tends to play an attacking role if Romeo Lavia (£4.5m) and Moises Caicedo (£4.9m) are the double pivot but not when Enzo Fernandez (£4.8m) plays.
- READ MORE: Jump on, jump off – Best FPL fixture runs for each team
- READ MORE: Who are the best FPL defenders under £5.0m?
Another side with strong fixtures for a while is Brighton and Hove Albion. Captain Lewis Dunk (£4.4m) has been pictured in training but the safer option is Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m). The Seagulls certainly don’t have a watertight defence and sit in the lower half for xGC but they’ve still collected three clean sheets and are capable of dominating lesser opponents.
It’s also worth mentioning Lewis Hall (£4.4m), left-back for the ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Newcastle United. They have the seventh-best xGC and the return of Dan Burn (£4.4m) from suspension. Playing the Joelinton (£6.0m) and Joe Willock (£4.8m) combination, they’ve found some steel and Hall provides attacking threat, having created 15 chances this season and racked up three box shots on Monday alone.
All things considered, my primary FPL recommendation is an Arsenal defender if you can afford it. Yet these other names are also good choices – particularly a fully-fit Dunk.
GAMEWEEK 13 TEAM REVEAL
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10 days, 22 hours agohi all which def to buy:
1) timber
2) ait nouri
and which gk to start:
A) flekken
B) verbruggen