With six clean sheets from his last eight appearances, Stoke’s Jack Butland climbs back up our goalkeeper rankings, while his Potters team-mate Philipp Wollscheid is a new entry among the defenders this week. There is a new face at the top of our defenders ladder, with Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld’s propensity for points at both ends of the pitch earning him a move to the summit.

GOALKEEPERS

On the back of another clean sheet in the goalless draw against West Ham, Man United’s David de Gea keeps his place at the top of our goalkeeper rankings as the most secure route into the United backline. The 5.7-priced Spaniard faces further favourable fixtures (bou, NOR, sto, CHE, SWA, new) over the coming period, although the injuries picked up by Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian last night are a concern to his prospects if they are to be ruled out for any significant period.

The incredible form of Jack Butland shows few signs of abating, with the England international the top-scoring goalkeeper in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) this season with 74 points. Stoke’s fixture list (whm, CPL, MUN, eve, wba, NOR) actually begins to ease over the next six Gameweeks, so it’s little surprise the former Birmingham City stopper has seen his price rise to 4.9 this week, with his ownership now standing at 15% in FPL. That still looks fantastic value, so expect to see that figure continue to soar.

West Brom’s Boaz Myhill moves up a spot in our latest update, with the Baggies’ upcoming schedule very favourable after this weekend’s trip to Anfield (BOU, swa, NEW, STO, che). The former Hull City goalkeeper has failed to register a clean sheet in his last five appearances, but did face five of the current top seven over that period. Available at 4.8 in FPL, Myhill looks a strong option between the sticks in the short-term, although Ben Foster’s expected return towards the end of the month needs to be monitored.

Also moving up our ladder this week is Crystal Palace’s Wayne Hennessey, who, along with Newcastle’s Rob Elliot, is the cheapest active goalkeeper in FPL at just 4.0. While the Welshman hasn’t kept a clean sheet in his last four outings, the Eagles are looking an improved defensive outfit, and with a pretty favourable run of fixtures (SOT, sto, bou, SWA, CHE, avl) over the next six, he is the stand-out budget option between the sticks.

The stock of Sunderland’s Costel Pantilimon increases once again this week, with the Black Cats facing two favourable home matches (WAT, AVL) in the next five. With two shut-outs in three home matches under Sam Allardyce, further defensive returns could be on the cards for the 4.8-valued Romanian, although with Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool also to face over the next few weeks, he may need to rely on save points.

Following Liverpool’s disappointing 2-0 defeat at Newcastle, Simon Mignolet is the big faller in our latest refresh. The Reds have now only managed two clean sheets in seven league matches under Jurgen Klopp, and while their upcoming schedule (WBA, wat, LEI, sun, whm, ARS) remains fairly favourable, the difficult match-ups against Leicester and Arsenal do limit the potential of the 5.0-rated Belgian.

With so many injuries to key attacking players at West Ham, we’ve moved Adrian up a couple of places, with Slaven Bilic likely to put more emphasis of keeping things tight at the back as they did at Old Trafford last weekend. The Hammers also have a pretty kind run of fixtures (STO, swa, avl, SOT, LIV, bou) over the festive period, so the 5.0-priced Spaniard should be back on the radars of Fantasy managers.

Both Petr Cech (5.7) and Hugo Lloris (5.1) stay rooted towards the bottom of our ladder with some negatives surrounding the prospects of the pair. Arsenal have a mixed fixture list over the next six Gameweeks, with favourable match-ups against Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Newcastle mixed in with three difficult clashes (MCI, sot, liv). There is also the fact they’ve yet to keep a clean sheet since Francis Coquelin has been out of action, including two favourable match-ups against Norwich and Sunderland.

It’s a similar story with Lloris, with strong short-term fixtures at home to Newcastle and Norwich tempered by more testing trips to Southampton and Everton and a home clash against Leicester. The Frenchman also hasn’t made more than three saves in a match since Gameweek 7, and while he’s managed a reasonable five clean sheets this term, the argument to bring in the former Lyon keeper right now isn’t particularly strong.

After returning from injury last weekend, and with an attractive price tag of 5.2 in FPL, Thibaut Courtois makes it back onto the Watchlist. While Chelsea disappointed once again in their shock 1-0 loss at home to Bournemouth, they have only conceded two goals in their last four matches, and with three favourable home matches in their next six (lei, SUN, WAT, mun, cpl, WBA), the Belgian could be worth rolling the dice on.

DEFENDERS

Replacing Alberto Moreno at the summit this week is Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld. As already touched upon, Spurs have two favourable home fixtures (NEW, NOR) in the next three, while the former Ajax defender has proved a reliable source of attacking points this season, having bagged two goals and a pair of assists. He has only managed two goal attempts over the last four Gameweeks, though, and picked up the assist against West Brom from his only chance created over the same period, so some regression in the attacking output of the 5.6-priced defender does appear likely.

With a still very reasonable price tag of 5.0 in FPL, Alberto Moreno only moves down one position on our ladder. The Liverpool left-back leads all defenders for chances created over the last four Gameweeks, with eight, and was hugely unfortunate to have a goal incorrectly disallowed against Newcastle on Sunday. The former Sevilla defender still surprisingly only has an ownership of 5% and remains one of the stand-out options for our five-man backlines.

Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin stays towards the top of our rankings by virtue of the Gunners facing three favourable match-ups (avl, BOU, NEW) over the next five Gameweeks. His 18% ownership should be happy to hold, then, although with just one clean sheet from their last six matches, and having failed to make much of an attacking impression of late, the 5.9-valued right back does look slightly over-priced at the moment.

As with Boaz Myhill among the goalkeepers, West Brom defender Craig Dawson should attract the attention of FPL bosses over the coming weeks. The 5.1-rated defender holds station in our rankings, with the difficult fixture against Liverpool on Sunday firmly in mind. Thereafter, the former Rochdale man faces a run of favourable fixtures (BOU, swa, NEW, STO, che) that should offer up a decent amount of defensive returns.

Having slowly been gaining confidence in the Chelsea backline over recent weeks, the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth sees Kurt Zouma drop a couple of spots on our ladder. The France international, available at 5.4 in FPL, still looks a reasonable option at the back with further good home fixtures (SUN, WAT, WBA) to come and a solid threat from set-pieces, but with nearly half the season gone, investing in any Chelsea asset given their struggles doesn’t seem a particularly sensible move.

After picking up a groin injury in the 3-2 defeat to Wolfsburg last night, Man United’s Chris Smalling also slides further down our rankings. We’re still awaiting the exact diagnosis of the injury, but the now-6.9-priced centre-back looks a serious doubt for Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth, while with the fixtures coming thick and fast over the festive period, any question marks surrounding his fitness would likely see an avalanche of sales.

Aleksandar Kolarov (6.4) stays around halfway up our ladder, with the Serbian still holding plenty of upside should he avoid too much rotation over the festive period. No defender has managed more goal attempts (nine) over the last four Gameweeks, while he’s also created five chances over the same period. City’s upcoming fixtures (SWA, ars, SUN, lei, wat, EVE) are pretty reasonable, although their struggles at the back in the absence of Vincent Kompany are an obvious concern regarding possible defensive returns.

Only Norwich’s Russell Martin has scored as many goals (three) as Crystal Palace’s Scott Dann among defenders this season, and on the back of his goal in the 1-1 draw against Everton, the Eagles centre-half once again moves up our rankings. Coming in at 5.3 in FPL, the former Blackburn Rovers defender faces a friendly fixture list (SOT, sto, bou, SWA, CHE, avl) over the next six Gameweeks and should provide a reliable source of Fantasy points.

Two left-sided defenders that leap a few positions in our rankings this week are Sunderland’s Patrick van Aanholt and West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell. As long as Sam Allardyce continues to field him as a wing-back, the 4.6-rated Dutchman holds plenty of upside with his attacking threat, while clean sheets at home to Watford and Aston Villa in the next five Gameweeks look possible.

As previously mentioned, Bilic may look to tighten things up at the back given the injuries to several attacking players, while Cresswell’s crossing ability could garner an assist given Andy Carroll’s aerial threat. The former Ipswich defender is a fairly expensive option, though, setting us back 5.5 in FPL.

With Stoke’s backline currently the most in-form defensive unit, we’ve promoted Philipp Wollscheid onto the Watchlist. The German has started the last nine matches for the Potters, and is available for a bargain price tag of just 4.4 in FPL. He’s also accrued five bonus points despite failing to register any attacking returns.

Newcastle’s Daryl Janmaat moves up a couple of places this time around with confidence in the Magpies’ backline increasing following their 2-0 win against Liverpool. The 4.9-priced Dutchman does face a pretty tough run of fixtures (tot, AVL, EVE, wba, ars, MUN) over the next six Gameweeks though, while he’s only created once chance in his last four appearances.

Seamus Coleman (5.9) is a significant faller, with Everton having only managed one shut-out in their last nine matches. Also sliding down our rankings is Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk (5.6), who disappointingly failed to register a clean sheet in favourable home clashes against Stoke and Aston Villa over the past three Gameweeks, while the Saints face difficult home clashes against Tottenham and Arsenal in the next three.

Leicester’s Danny Simpson sneaks in at the bottom of our ladder given he’s averaged 4.4 points per game since establishing himself in the Foxes’ starting XI. Available at just 4.0 in FPL, he’s one of the cheapest regular starters among defenders, although the upcoming fixtures (CHE, eve, liv, MCI, BOU, tot) are very tough for Claudio Ranieri’s men.