<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; text-decoration: none;"><em>With a short turnaround this week, <a href="https://twitter.com/RichP_FPL">@RichP_FPL</a> takes a bite-sized look at Defenders specifically, given so many people suffered from “Pep Roulette” and “Tuchel Tinkering”. It might be that we can no longer rely on some of these guys, so let’s try and address a problem area. There are other options to consider apart from the below of course, but maybe some of these guys are flying under the radar!</em></p>
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<h3>Using FPL Points as a Metric &#8211; Defenders</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; text-decoration: none;">We’ll try and identify some defenders with good upcoming fixtures using the Ticker and then look into some <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a> to find some decent options.</p>
<div id="attachment_32018" style="width: 2103px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32018" class="wp-image-32018 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6317.jpg" alt="best fpl defenders gw22" width="2093" height="844" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6317.jpg 2093w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6317-300x121.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6317-1024x413.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6317-768x310.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6317-1536x619.jpg 1536w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6317-2048x826.jpg 2048w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6317-610x246.jpg 610w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6317-1080x436.jpg 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 2093px) 100vw, 2093px" /><p id="caption-attachment-32018" class="wp-caption-text">Defenders Points Conceded, Points Scored and Fixture Ticker</p></div>
<p>So the next four fixtures generally bode well for a few teams…from next week. So my first inclination would be to save your transfer this week if you can. Teams like <strong>Burnley and West Ham</strong> have a decent few fixtures after this week. For Chelsea we still don’t know who we can rely on at the back and Manchester City’s fixtures turn slightly from Gameweek 23. We’ll start by taking a look at Crystal Palace assets though, as a run of Newcastle, Leeds, Burnley and Brighton isn’t *too* bad.</p>
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<h2>Crystal Palace Defenders</h2>
<p>My immediate problem is that none of these players appear nailed. Palace have had injury problems all season, so working out who will start is tricky. In addition to this,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Cheikhou Kouyate (£4.9m)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>has taken one of the defender spots for the majority of the season and he’s classified as a midfielder!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Joel Ward (£4.3m)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>has started four of the last five and came off the bench vs Wolves, so he could be a safe bet. I wouldn’t be expecting much in an attacking sense from Palace as a whole, let alone their defenders.</p>
<div id="attachment_32019" style="width: 847px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32019" class="wp-image-32019 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6320.jpg" alt="fpl crystal palace defenders" width="837" height="952" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6320.jpg 837w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6320-264x300.jpg 264w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6320-768x874.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6320-610x694.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 837px) 100vw, 837px" /><p id="caption-attachment-32019" class="wp-caption-text">FPL Points Against and For, split into Home &amp; Away on a Points Per Game basis</p></div>
<p>If we drill down to the specific fixtures, Newcastle are only averaging 13.3 Points Per Game (PPG) to opposing defensive units when they play at home. Leeds however are giving up an average of 17.3 PPG at home, which is the 5<sup>th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>highest of all teams. Burnley give up 23 PPG to opposition defensive units when they play away, and Brighton are giving up an average of 17 PPG when they play at home, just outside the top five. Note that I will refer back to this table with the other teams.</p>
<p>In respect to opposition attacking output over the last three Gameweeks, Newcastle (of Palace next four opponents mentioned above) have had the most shots (46) and this is 9<sup>th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>overall. In terms of shots on target, all four of them are ranked 11<sup>th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and lower (Brighton highest ranked on 12), and in terms of shots in the box, Brighton are highest in this metric with 28 (ranked 10<sup>th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>overall).</p>
<p>Palace themselves are 12<sup>th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>for most shots conceded (36), 13<sup>th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>for most shots in the box conceded (21) and 7<sup>th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>for most shots on target conceded (17) over the last three gameweeks. They are also 7<sup>th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>for big chances conceded over that timeframe. Palace defenders feel like high risk, high reward in my opinion, as aside from<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Tyrick Mitchell (£3.9m)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>they are at incredibly low ownership, but are all prone to rotation. It’s also worth noting that there are rumours that<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Patrick van Aanholt (£5.4m)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>could be heading to Arsenal on deadline day, which would then elevate Mitchell to a must start at his price.</p>
<h2></h2>
<h2>Burnley Defenders</h2>
<p>If you can afford to roll this week, I’d take a look at Burnley defenders from Gameweek 23. After Man City at home, they play Brighton at home, Palace away, and West Brom at home.</p>
<p>In terms of specific fixtures as per the table above, all three of Burnley’s opponents are in the middle of the field. Burnley themselves give up a lot of FPL Points to opposition defenders when they play away, and actually they have conceded the most shots, shots on target and shots in the box over the last three gameweeks. However, their opponents have been Liverpool, Aston Villa and Chelsea, so I’d expect that number to drop and them to be more defensively resolute.</p>
<p>Both West Brom and Palace are ranked highly for both headed goal attempts conceded and attempts from set pieces over the last four, so Burnley could use their lofty centre backs to target these teams.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Ben Mee (£4.9m)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>is their highest scoring defender and has two goals to his name, so he’s an intriguing option. Only<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Stuart Dallas (£4.8m) and Jannik Vestergaard (£4.7m)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>have scored more goals than Mee of defenders £4.9m and under.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Charlie Taylor (£4.5m),<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>if fit again, could also be a good option, as West Brom especially are leaky down their right-hand side (to be fair they’re leaky down the left-hand side too).</p>
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<h2>West Ham Defenders</h2>
<p>These guys have much higher ownership than either Palace or Burnley defenders, but The Hammers have been a different class this season. Currently fifth<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>in the table, David Moyes has done a fantastic job with them. In terms of defensive assets, they have players that are pretty nailed as well.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Aaron Cresswell (£5.5m)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>is 21% owned and the top scoring defender in the game. I also like<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Vladimir Coufal (£4.7m)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>and he is only 7% owned at the time of writing. Whilst his numbers aren’t as good as Cresswell, he does provide some attacking threat at a cheaper price point.</p>
<div id="attachment_32020" style="width: 1777px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32020" class="wp-image-32020 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6323.jpg" alt="FPL Gameweek 22 tips" width="1767" height="1493" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6323.jpg 1767w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6323-300x253.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6323-1024x865.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6323-768x649.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6323-1536x1298.jpg 1536w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6323-610x515.jpg 610w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_6323-1080x913.jpg 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 1767px) 100vw, 1767px" /><p id="caption-attachment-32020" class="wp-caption-text">Coufal vs Cresswell comparison on a Per 90 basis since Gameweek 16</p></div>
<p>Cresswell does edge it as you can see, but I like Coufal as a budget friendly option. In respect to West Ham’s fixtures, after Aston Villa they play Fulham away and then Sheffield United (SHU) at home, before what could be a fascinating tie against Tottenham Hotspur.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>Looking at these specific fixtures, Villa are flying so you may not get much in respect of a clean sheet. However, Villa are 4th overall for chances conceded down their right flank in the last four matches, so you might get some joy from Cresswell. They’re also 3rd for big chances conceded (nine) in the last four gameweeks. Fulham at home give up the 3rd most FPL Points to opposition defensive units with 18.7 PPG. Fulham are giving up the most chances on their left flank over the last four games, so Coufal could be dual threat here. SHU are giving up the 3rd most FPL Points to opposition defenders when they play away, averaging 21.4 PPG. Most of their chances conceded over this time period are also down Coufal’s side. In fact, Spurs have conceded more chances down that flank over the last four than SHU, so Coufal could be a shrewd start in that game as well, especially given the fact Spurs have conceded the 4th most shots on target (21) since gameweek 18. I’m not saying Coufal will score, but he could provide assists.</p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Based on the above, I’d back a punt on the lower owned Coufal.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial;">Well there we have it. I hope you’ve found this interesting and would love to hear your thoughts on it! Drop me a follow </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial;"><a href="https://twitter.com/RichP_FPL">@RichP_FPL</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial;">.</span></p>
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FPL Tips – Using FPL Points as a Metric – Looking at Defenders

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