Leicester options rise up Watchlist ahead of important fixture swing

The impending fixture swing for Leicester City is the biggest influence on our Watchlist ahead of the end of season run-in.

The Foxes now have a very appealing schedule from now until Gameweek 35, which sees them top the Season Ticker for at least the next 11 round of matches.

It was impossible to ignore them as we updated our Watchlist, our ranking of the best Fantasy options for the next few weeks, by position.

Furthermore, as a team that is already confirmed to have fixtures in both upcoming Blank Gameweeks (31 and 33), Leicester City assets should help us navigate chip season too.

In goal, Kasper Schmeichel (£5.0m) has risen to second place, heavily influenced by those fixtures, especially in the short-term.

Crystal Palace, Brighton and Fulham are the next three to visit the King Power Stadium, offering the potential for clean sheets.

Also making moves in the goalkeeper department is West Ham United’s Łukasz Fabiański (£4.7m), who now holds the top spot.

The Hammers’ fixtures look particularly strong from a defensive perspective over the next six Gameweeks, with Fulham, Newcastle, Huddersfield and Everton all set to visit the London Stadium between now and Gameweek 32.

The rise of Fabiański and Schmeichel has seen Alisson (£6.0m) slip down to third following Liverpool’s recent defensive slump. Now that the Brazilian has risen to £6.0m, he needs to show a bit more consistency to justify his price tag, especially with just two clean sheets in seven matches.

Ricardo Pereira (£5.3m) is our chosen Leicester option in defence after weeks of potential. With a goal and three assists since Gameweek 19, the former Porto man has well and truly passed his audition for the end of season run-in.

Only one defender has created more chances than Pereira in the last four Gameweeks, which bodes well for continued attacking returns.

Crucially, he is often used as an attacking winger (although not always) so has the potential to be ‘Out of Position’ for Leicester.

However, Pereira has a little bit of work to do to break into the top three in defence, with Andrew Robertson (£6.8m), Matt Doherty (£5.4m) and Sead Kolasinac (£5.0m) all still offering a regular balance of defensive and attacking returns.

Those Leicester fixtures should allow him to have a great shot at the top spots though.

Two new names in defence include Fabian Schär (£4.6m) and Shane Duffy (£4.6m). Both centre-backs have promising fixtures according to the Season Ticker and have been carrying attacking threat recently too.

Newcastle man Schär has two goals and an assist in his last four while Brighton centre-back has struck twice since Gameweek 21 and has the most shots in the box of any defender in the last four Gameweeks.

In midfield, James Maddison (£6.6m) gets a boost all the way up to fourth following his impressive creativity in recently.

Only two players have played more key passes than the Foxes midfielder in the last four Gameweeks.

Just three options sit above Maddison in the midfield section of our Watchlist right now, Mohamed Salah (£13.6m), Paul Pogba (£8.8m) and Son Heung-min (£8.9m).

Felipe Anderson (£7.2m) returns to the Watchlist to reflect West Ham’s appealing fixtures.

Up front, Sergio Aguero (£11.5m) claims top spot after back-to-back home hat-tricks. No player has had more shots on target in the last four Gameweeks as the Manchester City forward.

The fact that he has shaken off competition from Gabriel Jesus makes him a hugely important asset to own in the coming weeks, even if he has a Blank in Gameweek 27.

The next two Gameweeks are a big part of why Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.1m) currently occupies the second spot.

Marcus Rashford (£7.8m), Raúl Jiménez (£6.8m) and Ashley Barnes (£5.6m) complete the top five as our best budget forwards.

The Manchester United man has put together an incredible run of consistency, registering 11 attacking returns in 12 Gameweeks.

Wolves centre-forward Jiménez is joint-top among all players for shots in the box over the last four Gameweeks, while only Aguero has more accurate efforts in that time than Barnes.

Jamie Vardy (£8.8m) comes in as our Leicester representative just ahead of Roberto Firmino (£9.3m).

He compares quite favourably with the Liverpool man over the last four Gameweeks, recording the same number of shots in the box and just one fewer chance created, from fewer minutes.

With better fixtures and a slightly cheaper price, Vardy just has the edge of Firmino.