Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) cut a forlorn figure when he was taken off with a hamstring injury after only 11 minutes of Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw with Manchester United on Sunday.
He was almost as dejected as those Fantasy Premier League (FPL) owners who decided not to watch the match and assumed they had got his clean sheet points, only to realise he had played virtually no part in proceedings.
It is unclear how long Konsa will remain sidelined but he has withdrawn from the England squad to play Greece and Finland in this international break.
Recent reports suggest he will be back in one or two weeks, so it is currently unknown whether Konsa will be available for Aston Villa’s first game after the international break against Fulham.
Regardless, tricky away ties at Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Chelsea await beyond that:
Still owned by over 13% of FPL managers, Konsa, at the time of writing, has suffered over 60,000 transfers out. That number will rise as the Gameweek 8 deadline approaches so, in the meantime, let’s take a look at Konsa’s potential replacements in the £4.5m-and-under market.
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JOACHIM ANDERSEN (£4.4m)
The central defender has not taken long to settle at Craven Cottage as he spent the 2020/21 season on loan there. An excellent signing for Fulham, Andersen is a player who flies under the radar.
He has totalled over 120 FPL points in two of his last three seasons and his 121 points last term was only one fewer than Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.1m) and two fewer than Josko Gvardiol (£5.9m). He can certainly improve on those returns, too, given that Marco Silva’s upwardly mobile side are by far the best team he has played for.
In his four appearances so far this season Andersen has already managed one clean sheet, and defensive returns are sure to improve as the schedule eases. Across the next five Gameweeks Fulham play three of the bottom five clubs.
Since his first start in Gameweek 4, only two defenders have made more than his 41 clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI), he is in the top 10 for aerial duels, and only Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m) has more clean sheets. The Denmark international also poses an attacking threat. Since Gameweek 4 only four defenders have had more goal attempts. All in all, Andersen is a differential with potential.
LEIF DAVIS (£4.5m)
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