Watchlist Update – Wolves defensive options climb rankings

We have updated the Watchlist after the important events of Gameweek 5.

There is a sizeable shift in the prospects of some goalkeepers, while the best budget defenders are still a little tricky to pin down.

We’ve gone over the changes we’ve made to those sections in this article, with midfielders and forwards to come later in the week.

Goalkeepers

Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson (£5.6m) stays top of our Watchlist for now. The Brazilian registered his third return of the season against Fulham in Gameweek 5 and still has decent fixtures coming up. It’s a trip to Cardiff up next before Brighton come to the Etihad Stadium. Given his form and fixtures, he represents the best option among the premium ‘set and forgets’.

Alisson (£5.6m) stays second on our list although does lose the Unfavourable Fixtures factor with the Tottenham Hotspur clash out of the way. While Chelsea (away) and Man City (home) are still to come, those matches are bookended by Southampton (home) and Huddersfield (away). Liverpool remain the best side in the league for big chances conceded, and they were close to collecting a clean sheet at Wembley.

The headline riser from the goalkeeping department is Wolves man Rui Patricio (£4.5m), could be a potential bargain. He has climbed all the way to third after keeping back-to-back clean sheets. The reigning Championship title-winners have looked very organised at the back this season and rank very well for big chances allowed. A tough trip to Manchester United in Gameweek 6 is not too appealing but after that, there are four very favourable fixtures against Southampton (home), Crystal Palace (away), Watford (home) and Brighton (away).

Premium options David de Gea (£5.9m) and Kepa (£5.5m) are up next. The Manchester United man is in worse form but has better fixtures looking ahead, although the Chelsea custodian has collected more points in 2018/19.

The return of James Tomkins to the Crystal Palace starting XI boosts Wayne Hennessey (£4.5m) and sees him climb up to sixth place. The Eagles now have two clean sheets this season and have favourable fixtures on the horizon. Hennessey has already saved one penalty and has earned additional save points in all but one match. His rise up the list, combined with Patricio’s causes Asmir Begovic (£4.5m) to drop down.

Our new entry is Joe Hart (£4.5m) who creeps onto the list having made more saves than any other goalkeeper so far. Burnley have just one clean sheet this season but they face Cardiff (away) and Huddersfield (home) in their next three matches.

Kasper Schmeichel (£5.0m) and Petr Cech (£5.0m) complete the goalkeeper contingent based on their fixtures, although both are in pretty poor form. The Leicester man sits above Cech considering slightly more favourable matches as well as being more assured of a start, with Bernd Leno (£4.8m) still waiting in the Arsenal wings. Alex McCarthy (£4.5m) drops off the Watchlist this week with Southampton’s fixtures turning incredible sour.

Defenders

Despite losing the Favourable Fixtures factor and blanking in Gameweek 5, Marcos Alonso (£6.8m) stays top of the pile for defenders. The fact that has registered returns in four of the first five weeks show shows his quality. With Liverpool and Man United to come in the next four weeks, it’s hard to say his fixtures are appealing. But those matches are offset by trips to West Ham and Southampton.

Benjamin Mendy (£6.5m) keeps his fixtures factor but stays below Alonso on account of the doubt around his place in the side for Gameweek 6. He reportedly has a minor injury but the performance of Fabian Delph against Fulham could indicate a rotation risk once the Champions League gets up and running. That said, we can’t take anything away from his form.

Like Alisson, Andrew Robertson (£6.2m) loses the Unfavourable Fixtures factor with Spurs out of the way. However, with Chelsea and Man City still to come he can’t be rewarded with the Favourable Fixtures factor.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.1m) and Matt Doherty (£4.4m) come in as the most appealing budget options. The former has a great set of fixtures and stands to collect clean sheet points while the Wolves man is showing great attacking potential, also with an attractive run of matches after Man United in Gameweek 6.

Watford defender Jose Holebas (£4.8m) keeps his budget tag for now, even though he has risen to £4.8m. That’s because he can still offer a direct route into virtually every Watford set piece apart from penalties. A blank against Man United is not enough to remove his A for form.

Another set piece orientated defender is Spurs right-back Kieran Trippier (£6.0m). He is on corners and free-kicks and now has a very favourable run of games against Brighton (away), Huddersfield (away) and Cardiff (home). However, knowing Mauricio Pochettino as we do, Trippier has to retain the rotation risk factor.

Luke Shaw (£5.1m) loses his injury after Jose Mourinho revealed last week that he had recovered from the concussion suffered on England duty. We can’t bring ourselves to put a rotation risk on him just as Ashley Young‘s (£5.8m) appearance against Watford at the moment can be put down to Shaw missing the training for Gameweek 5 rather than a tactical choice. More weeks of both players being available will tell us more about the Man United left-back spot.

Ricardo Pereira (£5.1m) and Steve Cook (£4.6m) round off the defence section of the Watchlist. Both players have favourable fixtures upcoming but have struggled to pull in clean sheets thus far. Pereira’s advanced positioning and three assists suggest he has potential, while Cook is a threat from set pieces.

Shkodran Mustafi (£5.4m) comes off the Watchlist altogether. Arsenal have registered no clean sheets so far this season in spite of favourable fixtures. Anyone who wants to cover their defence while their appealing run of matches continues could turn to the much cheaper Cech.

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