Reece James (£6.0m) and the fit-again Ben Chilwell (£6.0m) have been priced up identically in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) ahead of the relaunch for the 2022/23 season.
Both players are unsurprisingly cheaper than the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m), Andrew Robertson (£7.0m) and Joao Cancelo (£7.0m), FPL’s three top-scoring defenders of 2021/22.
While some Fantasy managers will be tempted to punt on a Chelsea defensive double-up, how do Chilwell and James stack up in comparison if it’s an ‘either/or’?
We investigate in this latest Premium Members article.
PERIOD OF ANALYSIS
Typically in pre-season, we concentrate on players’ exploits in the previous campaign.
But Chilwell made only six starts and one substitute appearance in an injury-ravaged 2021/22, so we’ve extended the lookahead to Gameweek 20 of 2020/21 onwards – Thomas Tuchel’s first match in charge of Chelsea – in order to increase the data sample size.
Although we’re mostly comparing James and Chilwell in this article, we’ve also included the same underlying stats for Alexander-Arnold, Robertson and Cancelo for 2021/22 only, just as a point of reference.
GOAL THREAT
Player | Mins per penalty box touch | Mins per shot | Mins per shot in the box | Mins per big chance | Mins per shot on target |
Chilwell | 24.3 | 52.9 | 64.4 | 370.5 | 148.2 |
James | 29.3 | 58.5 | 110.8 | 1033.7 | 221.5 |
Alexander-Arnold | 33.2 | 56 | 178.4 | n/a | 190.3 |
Robertson | 27.3 | 141.2 | 231 | 847 | 317.6 |
Cancelo | 29.9 | 39.8 | 104.1 | 819.3 | 140.3 |
Chilwell has generally posed the bigger goal threat under Tuchel.
While there isn’t a great deal separating the pair when it comes to minutes per shot (52.9 v 58.5), Chilwell really stands out when it comes to higher quality, close-range efforts.
While just under 50% of James’s shots have been from outside the area, over 80% of Chilwell’s attempts have come from inside the opposition box.
In fact, Chilwell’s stats compare really well with the numbers that Alexander-Arnold, Cancelo and Robertson were posting last season.
1 year, 10 months ago
Interesting prices for Spurs.
I think Perišić could be a bargain at 5.5m because he will likely be subbed just after 60mins for Sessegnon, potentially with a clean sheet in the bag. Romero at 5m is also a bargain Bit disappointed Lloris is 5.5m but at least Kane is < 12m.
I think I'm going big on wing-backs given many will be subbed after the 60th minute.
Here is my team so far. Anything you would alter?
Ederson
Trent, Van Dijk, Chilwell, Perišić, Trippier
Salah, Saka, Maddison
Kane, Johnson
(4.0, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5)