The Watchlist Updated – Gameweek 12

Our Watchlist rankings, which offer player recommendations over the next four-to-six Gameweeks, have been updated over the last 24 hours.

Defence

Chelsea’s upturn in fixtures earns Thibaut Courtois a climb to the top of the keeper standings. At 6.0, the Belgian is a relatively cheap option when compared to most of Jose Mourinho’s defensive options and a kind set of fixtures (WBA, sun, TOT, new, HUL, sto) in the next six should arrest a run of four matches without a clean sheet. At 7.2, Branislav Ivanovic remains our Blues defender of choice – we expect the Serbian’s raids down the right to come to fruition over that schedule.

West Ham pair Adrian and Aaron Cresswell have some kind upcoming fixtures (eve, NEW, wba, SWA, sun) to prosper. At 5.4, the latter may be the dearest Hammers defensive option around but he’s justified that in recent outings, earning 22 points in the last four Gameweeks.

Having kept out the Hammers last time out, Villa duo Brad Guzan and Ron Vlaar are on the up ahead of showdowns with Burnley, Palace, Leicester and West Brom in the next five. Vlaar is, however, nursing a knock picked up on international duty and any possible period of absence will dent our confidence here.

Southampton slip in our estimations as Ronald Koeman’s men brace themselves for matches against City, United, Arsenal and Everton in the next six, suggesting Fraser Forster and Ryan Bertrand will find it hard to replicate the resilience which has seen them concede just five times in 11 matches.

Elsewhere at the back, Leighton Baines stays at the defenders summit in spite of his current hamstring complaint. Given that Everton have refused to rule him out of this weekend’s clash with West Ham, there’s every chance of a speedy return to action for a player who has now earned attacking returns in seven of the last nine.

Burnley’s Kieran Trippier remains in consideration after finally earning attacking points last time around. The right-back served up a 12-point haul against Hull and, now down to 4.8, has Stoke, Villa, Newcastle and QPR in the next four. If you’re scraping around the budget bracket for a first-choice defender, the 3.9-priced Yun Suk-Young has started the last four for QPR and hosts Leicester, Burnley and West Brom in the next six, whilst Paul Dummett (4.1) has been key to the resilience which has seen Newcastle concede just once in the last four.

Midfield

Alexis Sanchez’ move up front for Arsenal ensures the in-form Chilean holds steady at the summit – the Gunners face three dodgy defence (MUN, wba, sto) in the next four.

Eden Hazard is our premium Chelsea midfielder – the decision is made easier by the fact that Cesc Fabregas is battling a hamstring injury and is also just one booking from suspension. The 10.0-priced Hazard has served up double figures in each of his last two at the Bridge ahead of the Blues’ above-mentioned run, whilst Oscar, at 8.4 and with 4% ownership, looks a decent cheaper differential, with three goals in the last six.

Stewart Downing remains our mid-price midfielder of choice, whilst Gylfi Sigurdsson climbs as Swansea’s fixtures take a turn for the better in Gameweek 13 and Nacer Chadli continues to thrive for out-of-sorts Tottenham. The Belgian’s sixth goal of the season against Stoke took him into second spot in the FPL midfield standings and with Hull, Everton, Palace and Burnley in the upcoming six, it’s perhaps a little surprising only 16% have snapped him up.

Ross Barkley has started three of the last four for Everton since returning from injury and has the fixtures to play his way into consideration. The Toffees entertain West Ham, Hull and QPR and also travel to Spurs in the next five and at 6.7, Barkley’s 4% ownership suggests he could be a decent mid-price differential if he can avoid Roberto Martinez’ rotation policy.

Elsewhere on Merseyside, Raheem Sterling faces Palace, Stoke, Leicester and Sunderland in the next four, though with reports suggesting Daniel Sturridge has suffered another injury setback in training, it remains to be seen whether the youngster can rediscover his early-season form.

Southampton’s Dusan Tadic is the main faller. The playmaker’s underlying stats remain strong but, having blanked in seven of the opening 11 Gameweeks, his consistency is clearly an issue and with the schedule stiffening, he may struggle to stay in the reckoning.

Forwards

Up front, Sergio Aguero holds firm after firing seven goals in the last four for City, with the Argentine’s armband credentials affording him the edge over any frontline option right now.

Finally free from injury and rested for Spain’s recent internationals, Diego Costa looks poised to take advantage of Chelsea’s upcoming schedule. Having scored in seven of his nine league appearances, the summer signing is on a par with Aguero for consistency but sits just one yellow card away from a single-match ban after earning a fourth booking of the season at Anfield last time around.

Below them, Charlie Austin and Diafra Sakho look the pick of the budget strikers right now. The former’s four goals in the last three – including back-to-back strikes against Chelsea and City underline his capabilities, whilst Sakho has netted in all but one of his league starts for the Hammers and, like Austin, looks an absolute steal in the sub 6.0 category.

Olivier Giroud’s imminent return for Arsenal knocks Danny Welbeck down in our estimations, whilst Graziano Pelle – another forward who is one booking shy of a ban – also takes a tumble in light of Southampton’s post-Gameweek 12 schedule.

Further down, Tottenham’s Harry Kane offers an option in the sub-5.0 bracket – handed his first start in the previous Gameweek, his current form suggests the youngster could be a real bargain if he remains ahead of Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado in the pecking order. We’d tentatively reserved a place for Daniel Sturridge ahead of Liverpool’s fine fixtures but, as mentioned above, the striker could be sidelined yet again after apparently suffering a thigh injury in training.