In his latest article, three-time top 200 finisher Lateriser looks at the best defender replacements for Daniel Munoz (£6.1m) ahead of Gameweek 16.
We received some pretty big news yesterday with regards to Daniel Munoz, who is expected to be out for over a month due to knee surgery.
“Dani Munoz has to undergo surgery, knee surgery. We will miss him for a few weeks.
“The prognosis is 4-6 weeks, that he should be ready to play. Always when you have to undergo a surgery, then you never know. I had a few in my career. That’s why we are always a little bit cautious. It doesn’t look so serious.” – Oliver Glasner on Daniel Munoz
There is a lot of Premier League football being played in the next four to six weeks, which makes him a definite sell in my books. Munoz is a fairly highly owned asset, so who do we look at as potential replacements?
NICO O’REILLY
At the top of the pile for me has to be Nico O’Reilly (£5.2m). Manchester City have some decent fixtures coming up and are smelling a title challenge, sitting just two points behind Arsenal. I wouldn’t worry too much about rotation, as I think he’s very much first choice in that Manchester City team. Even if you were worried, positional rival Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m) is off to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as well.
Pep Guardiola has sung his praises multiple times, including yesterday when O’Reilly scored his first Champions League goal for Manchester City against Real Madrid.
“He’s top! Right now, apparently, he’s the left-back for the England national team”.
“He has incredible pace, he’s so intelligent. Yeah, he makes mistakes but he tries, and that is top”. – Pep Guardiola on Nico O’Reilly
Recently, Pep also last week spoke about his fitness and age, all while mocking Bernardo Silva (£6.2m)…
“He’s young, he’s not Bernardo, maybe, or another player where they are already grandfathers. He’s so young, recovers well, and we’ll see…” – Pep on whether Nico O’Reilly needs a rest
“He played at the [Club] World Cup and was really good, played the first game against Wolves, the second against Spurs, and after injured. And after came Nico [O’Reilly], and he’s performed really well. This is the only reason. No more than that.
“We’re really pleased with Rayan Ait-Nouri and I know he’s going to help, he came for a long time, he knows the Premier League, can play outside and inside, can play in different positions. But now, Nico is playing really good! And that is the only reason why…” – Pep Guardiola on Rayan Ait-Nouri’s lack of opportunities
When I watch O’Reilly play, I can’t help but think that the 15-pointer is going to come aty anytime as he parks himself inside the box next to Erling Haaland (£15.0m) multiple times during a game and he’s capable of points through multiple routes – making a driving run and assisting, making a driving run inside Jeremy Doku and scoring, clean sheet points and set-piece threat (he’s big guy!). He is sitting top for non-penalty expected goal involvement (NPxGI, 2.15) amongst defenders in the last six games, with eight shots in the box and six chances created (three of them ‘big’ ones) in that period.
JURRIEN TIMBER
If you don’t already own Jurrien Timber (£6.5m), he’s a viable replacement.
It is worth noting that he wasn’t in the squad last night in the Champions League. It could probably just be rest/rotation but Arteta was his usual poker-face self.
“They both had issues from the weekend, both really bad kicks. For Jurrien, it was too early and for Ricci [Calafiori], we have to manage to see if he can do some minutes. [tonight]” – Mikel Arteta
It’s worth mentioning that Timber has been in training footage all week, so it could just be a breather. If you are going for the Dutchman, I’d wait until the press conference on Friday to see what Arteta has to say (I know, I know!).
Despite losing William Saliba (£6.0m) and Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.2m), Arsenal are still sitting top for expected goals conceded (xGC) in the last six matches. Saliba should be back soon, too.
If Timber is playing at centre-back, he has defensive contribution (DefCon) potential. If he is playing wide, he has attacking threat. A win-win.
VIRGIL VAN DIJK
I would also look at Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m). While he has been a frustrating asset to own all this while, I do think Liverpool are showing improvement in their defensive numbers.
He has been unlucky not to score of late and Liverpool actually have the third-best xGC in the league in the last six Gameweeks.
The Reds have some really good fixtures on the horizon, including home games against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United and Burnley.
The whole Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) situation might galvanise the team, and I do expect them to be tight at the back.
EVERTON + FULHAM DEFENDERS
If you are in the market for someone cheaper that could maybe allow upgrades in attack, I would look at DefCon monsters like Joachim Andersen (£4.6m), Michael Keane (£4.6m) and James Tarkowski (£5.4m). Both Fulham and Everton have some decent upcoming fixtures, while these three are reliable for both DefCon points and minutes. It simply comes down to which of the two teams fits your rotation at the back. Both teams sit in the top half for xGC in the last six matches, so are fairly reliable and predictable for clean sheets in the games you expect them to shut out the opposition.
It is worth mentioning that Brentford sit top of the Fixture Ticker until Gameweek 25, if you fancied Nathan Collins (£4.9m) or Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) instead. However, I still think Fulham and Everton are better defences in general.
For more, we cover Free Hit options, how to best to use (or not use) your five free transfers and plenty more besides on this week’s episode of The FPL Wire, which you can view below:
