After a lengthy absence from serious Fantasy consideration, Glen Johnson and his braided locks climb onto the Watchlist. At 7.1 in the FPL game, this definitely falls into the category of a luxury purchase, but we are into the holidays after all, so perhaps it’s time to splurge and to consider treating yourself, especially if you’ve got some cash to spare as budget midfielders and forwards continue to outscore many of the higher priced options.
Although disappointing in comparison to their typically lofty standards, Liverpool’s defence has registered a respectable 6 clean sheets in 17 games this season, with 4 clean sheets coming from 8 home games. While woeful displays like this past weekend at Newcastle cause legitimate reason for concern, the scorecard reveals clean sheets in their last 3 home games, with the last goal by an opponent in league play at Anfield dating back to October. The 6 clean sheets overall leaves them tied for 5th with Birmingham, and trailing only Chelsea, Sunderland, and the two Manchester clubs. With the next 5 games including home matches against Fulham, Wolves, and Bolton, rounded out by away games against Blackpool and Blackburn, Liverpool looks a more attractive defensive option than one might think.
As for Johnson, his reputation for attacking and pressing forward precedes him at times. He was grounded by injury for 6 games during October and early November, but has scored one goal this season (and picked up 3 Bonus Points in that goalscoring game) in the 11 games he’s played, to sit on 39 points. Over 3.5 points per game is reasonable, perhaps, but not worthy of his price tag thus far. However, there is no denying his potential. Johnson has scored 3 goals in each of the past two seasons, with 4 and 5 assists respectively, so he is certainly capable of posting similar returns. Further, despite the absence of returns so far, Johnson has been characteristically involved, with the OPTA stats showing him as a very strong option amongst the Liverpool defenders in terms of both shots and crosses.
The forthcoming transfer window offers a slight caveat. It was not that long ago that Johnson indicated a desire to leave Liverpool after less than favourable comments from Roy Hodgson and transfer rumours persist, but Hodgson’s latest comments insist that Johnson will “be a Liverpool player certainly until the end of his contract.” There remains some risk in Johnson long term, but he should at a minimum be reasonably secure for this current run of favourable fixtures.
For comparison purposes if you’re looking at Liverpool defenders, the question is whether an extra 2.0 or so for Johnson is warranted, with options like Sotirios Kyrgiakos (5.2) and Paul Konchesky (5.0) available. Kyrgiakos has certainly emerged as a strong goalscoring and Bonus Point option with significantly improved playing time odds given Jamie Carragher’s injury, but Daniel Agger remains hopeful of a return from injury shortly and thus questions remain as to whether the big Greek will get all of the next 5 games. Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson continues to show an unusually strong allegiance to Konchesky (despite a crucial blunder in the recent Tottenham game), and while the left-back seems unlikely to notch a goal, he has regularly been serving successful crosses so offers assist potential. Given the price differential, both present reasonable options to Johnson, but if you’ve got some extra holiday cash…
