Antonio Rudiger was absent for Chelsea’s 4-2 loss against Arsenal on Wednesday due to a groin injury having played the full 90 minutes of the FA Cup win over Crystal Palace.
Wednesday’s defeat was an insight into life without the 29-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer.
The Germany international is also owned by 24.8 per cent of Fantasy Premier League players, but that number is now expected to drop considering his return against West Ham on Sunday is doubtful.
“It is groin pain and a little, minor injury,” said Thomas Tuchel. “It is a matter of days, I hope, and the doctors told me that today is unfortunately too soon, but he will be close for the West Ham game.”
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As the sixth most expensive defender on FPL, managers should not struggle to find a suitable replacement.
Manchester United and Chelsea have a double gameweek in which they face each other but, considering the Red Devils’ recent form, only keeping seven clean sheets in the Premier League this campaign, their defenders are not exactly tempting.
Despite losing three home games in a row, Tuchel’s side should not be overlooked for gameweek 34, especially as Reece James is back in the mix and only costs £0.2m more than Rudiger.
A cheaper Chelsea option is Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.6m), who scored the team’s second against the Gunners and has rotated between the centre-back and right-wing-back position with James recently.
The Blues have the third strongest defence in the league, conceding 27 goals but FPL managers will likely target Manchester City and Liverpool who have let in only 20 and 22 goals respectively.
For City, Aymeric Laporte (£5.9m) has stepped up alongside John Stones to fill the void left by Ruben Dias (£6.1m), who suffered a hamstring injury against Peterborough seven weeks ago.
Laporte has played every Premier League minute since the injury to Dias and has picked up four clean sheets.
However the Portuguese defender is another viable option as he returned against Brighton on Wednesday as a substitute on half-time for the injured Nathan Ake.
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As for Liverpool, a relatively cheap option is Joel Matip (£5m), who has only missed six league games this season.
Rather than focusing on centre-backs, however, wing-backs have a much more lucrative points return as one of the team’s main creative sources – Wolves’ Jonny a case in point with two goals and 30 points in their last five games.
Matt Doherty also proved the value of wing-backs before his season- ending injury, which has seen Sergio Reguilon (£5.1m) move back into the left of a back five.
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