There are no prizes for guessing who the runaway leading points scorer in Fantasy Premier League is this season.
With attacking returns in all but one of his 11 appearances, Mo Salah is streaming away from the chasing pack with his 117 points taking him 50 clear of his nearest rival.
That Salah is top of the standings is no surprise given a) his track record as an FPL asset and b) that attacking players traditionally feature towards the top of the charts given they tend to have an easier route to points than goalkeepers or defenders.
It is interesting, therefore, that Salah aside, the next three leading scorers are defenders as opposed to midfielders or forwards. Joao Cancelo (67 points), Trent Alexander-Arnold (64) and Reece James (63) are second, third and fourth in the leaderboard, largely due to their exploits in the final third.
Cancelo has combined four assists with seven clean sheets; Alexander-Arnold has scored once, provided four assists and managed five clean sheets; James has netted four goals, managed three assists and kept three clean sheets.
Between them, that trio has accumulated at least one bonus point in 11 of the 12 occasions in which they have registered an attacking return (a goal or assist) and they usually claim maximum points. Cancelo has earned three bonus points in every game in which he has returned, Alexander-Arnold’s record is three from four, while James’ is three from five.
Of the three instances in which Alexander-Arnold or James did not earn three bonus points, a teammate either scored a hat-trick, or they were sent off. Essentially, this suggests that FPL’s bonus points system is weighted in favour of defenders if they provide a goal or assist, presumably because it used to happen far less frequently – statistical anomalies like Leighton Baines aside.
Now though, with so many Premier League managers encouraging their full-backs or wing-backs to fly forward, the likelihood of them making an impact in the opposition penalty area has increased greatly. Thomas Tuchel’s recent comments on the in-form Reece James and Ben Chilwell offers a case in point.
When asked how important the duo are to Chelsea before the game against Newcastle in Gameweek 10, Tuchel replied: “Very important, very important position in the system we play. A very important part of the position is to arrive in the box and to create a goal threat from that position. This is what we want and what we demand.”
In Manchester City’s system, meanwhile, Cancelo routinely occupies an average position midway through the opponent’s half, with the two centre-backs and right-back Kyle Walker, effectively forming a back three to guard against counter-attacks. Liverpool’s full-backs, Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson both play high and wide, with defensive midfielder Fabinho dropping between the centre-backs to form a back three.
In previous years, FPL managers might have picked a maximum one or two premium defenders in their teams in order to funnel funds into midfield and attack. But with so many expensive defenders providing consistent returns, particularly in comparison to midfielders and especially, strikers, there is a case to be made for selecting an unusual looking five-man defence moving forward.
James (42 points), Chilwell (37) and Alexander-Arnold (29) feature in the top-five highest-scoring players in FPL over the past four gameweeks, while Cancelo was FPL’s “King of the Gameweek” last weekend after accumulating more points (14) than any other player. That quartet cost a combined £26.1m at the time of writing and while it may seem counter-intuitive to spend so much of your budget on defenders, they are proving to be well worth the investment at present.
Beyond the big four, there are plenty of other exciting defensive assets to target, if you are considering a five-man defensive strategy. Although Southampton’s Tino Livramento is now worth £4.5m, he still represents exceptional value at his price tag having averaged 5.5 points per game since Gameweek 4. Brighton’s fit-again Tariq Lamptey (£4.4m) is an intriguing alternative in the bargain basement category.
Aaron Cresswell (£5.5m) is a great option too given the quality of his set-piece delivery and West Ham’s potency from such situations. Since the start of last season, no player has provided more assists from dead balls than Cresswell (seven) and with the likes of Michail Antonio, Kurt Zouma, Tomas Soucek and the injured Angelo Ogbonna’s understudy Craig Dawson to aim for, he could well boost those numbers.
A defensive double-up on Manchester City is a possibility given they have kept the joint-highest number of clean sheets (seven) with Chelsea in the league. Ruben Dias (£6.1m) is the most nailed-on starter of City’s centre-backs and is joint-fifth for FPL points this season alongside Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk (£6.7m).
While the aforementioned players are well-owned already, now could be an optimal time to take a punt on a Spurs defender, following Antonio Conte’s appointment. Similarly to Tuchel, Conte favours a back three and encourages his wing-backs to drive forward into advanced areas. In Conte’s first season in charge of Chelsea in 2016-17, the three top-scoring defenders in FPL were all Chelsea players, including both wing-backs: they were Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso.
That bodes well for the likes of Sergio Reguilon (£5.0m) and Emerson Royal (£4.9m) who have started in both of Conte’s first two matches in charge. Reguilon was the most advanced player in Tottenham’s team and missed a big chance in the 0-0 draw against Everton in Gameweek 11, while Emerson also had one effort on goal.
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