Tuesday, September 10

GW1-3 Top Rated Defenders

Last week we went through the forwards and midfielders who were topping our fantasy xPts metric which gives an indication of which players are getting or setting up the best goalscoring chances. Last,  but certainly not least with the new bonus points system, comes the turn of Fantasy Premier League Defenders.

Team Pos Player Shots xGoals Key Passes xAssist xPts
ChelseaDEFIvanovic5110.16.115,6.09
LiverpoolDEFEnrique30.560.85.115,5.1
Man UnitedDEFEvra40.550.74.715,4.65
EvertonDEFColeman50.650.44.515,4.53
Man CityDEFZabaleta1051.3415,4.02
ManCityDEFLescott40.6003.715,3.66
LiverpoolDEFJohnson40.5003.215,3.24
EvertonDEFBaines30.1100.82.815,2.79
West HamDEFReid40.5102.815,2.79
StokeDEFHuth20.230.42.315,2.31

Ivanovic has been a bona fide goalscorer throughout his career with Chelsea, scoring a goal every 7 games in the last three seasons, and it looks like he's started this season in the same vein. 

Enrique, Evra and Coleman all appear key to their team's attacks this season, Enrique benefits from the space vacated by Coutinho who will drift insides practically handing Enrique the responsibility to get down the wing. Similarly for Coleman at Everton and Evra at United, the preference for their team's wide forwards to drift inside opens up space for the fullbacks to attack.

Zabaleta's partnership with Navas and the latter's tendency to stay tight to the touchline has seen Zabalata overlapping the winger in attack but on the inside rather than the outside, meaning he has a much more direct route to goal.

The key takeaway is that these attacking performances are a deliberate facet of their team's tactics. With clean sheets being more valuable this season these elite defenders are going to raise questions of the established 3-4-3 formation of recent seasons. Take your pick of these guys. You do well to have two, if not more, in your team. Evra and Enrique in particular look strong propositions with defence-friendly fixtures coming up.
View the Ratings for all player in all positions here