Welcome back for another article. 📖
Who are the best players to buy for GW19? Nearing the halfway mark of the season, still a long way to go. We're just a couple days away from the next deadline, so let's break it down nice and simple by position.
🧤 Goalkeepers
Goalkeepers first and looking at the fixtures there's a few with good clean sheet potential:
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Arsenal home to Villa - though that one is debatable.
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Man City have Sunderland away.
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Newcastle have Burnley away.
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Man Utd face Wolves home.
Raya is top of all keepers for projected points over the next 5, which is some food for thought if you were thinking of selling given Arsenal's next 5 do look tougher: Villa, Bournemouth, Liverpool, Forest, Man Utd.
It was a frustrating GW18 as the top defences conceded; no clean sheet for Arsenal, City, Liverpool. Man Utd managed one against Newcastle which was a surprise.
Feels like jury's still out on Lammens as an FPL pick for 5m; if he were 4.5m he'd be really tempting. I do have a stat which could surprise you: Since Lammens came in, Man Utd are fifth best in the league for expected goals conceded with 15.3 xGC. The four teams ahead of them are Arsenal, Man City, Palace and Liverpool. 🛡️
Some managers have had a lot of joy lately with the Verbruggen + Dubravka combination for about as cheap as keeper combos get at 4.4m and 4.1m. An 11 pointer for Dubravka last match, 11 for Verbruggen the week before.
Looking at the next 8 gameweeks keeper rotations, Brighton don't have the best rotation with Burnley now, West Ham have the best rotation, then Newcastle, Everton, and Forest. John has started 3 in a row for Forest now and is only 4m; if he continues playing he'll be a gem at that price and far better than Dubravka for 4m. Rotating keepers can backfire when you bench a keeper with a worse fixture who keeps an unexpected clean sheet with a ton of saves, but recent gameweeks have shown it can work very well too. I've got 9 points from my set and forget Raya over the last 2 games; Verbruggen and Dubravka owners got 22 points.
🛡️ Defenders
Moving on to defenders next. Dalot's hit a bit of a mad patch recently; only 1 of his last 5 games he's failed to get an attacking return, 1 goal 3 assists. Wolves, Leeds and Burnley his next 3; you can do a lot worse for 4.4m that's for sure, though after those three he has to be benched or sold—it's Man City and Arsenal following those 3 fixtures. 📈
Should also mention Dorgu. In his 38th game and with his 31st shot for the club, Patrick Dorgu has scored his first Manchester United goal in all competitions. Was a great strike on the volley and played out of position winger as well. He's also great for 4.1m.
Hall would be my top defender transfer target this week if you can afford him, a little pricey at 5.2m though he's fallen in price 3 times. Really attacking, takes some corners, and their next 4 are unbelievable fixtures:
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Burnley away
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Palace home
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Leeds home
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Wolves away
It's just a shame they've got so many injuries as this could still be a difficult spell for them with Livra, Botman, Trippier, Lascelles, Krafth all out so there's no depth. Miley is having to play right back. Hall is worth the .2m over Thiaw if you can afford.
What's going on with Arsenal defenders then? So Timber wasn't even in their squad last match; the rumours are that it's just precautionary. He did play the 90 vs Palace in the league cup and even took a pen; apparently it was something from that game. Difficult one to get a read on with Arteta unlikely to tell us anything; my best guess is he starts which would make him a hold. Calafiori pulled out in the warm up injured before the Brighton game; Hincapie started but Gabriel came back from injury and came on. So this could be the week to move Hincapie on if you have him. 🚑
Keane and Tarkowski had a fantastic game against Burnley, both getting a clean sheet, defcon and bonus. They have Forest away next, so the ideal time to buy could be GW20 or 21. From GW20 Everton have Brentford home, Wolves home, Villa away, Leeds home, Brighton away and so on. It's not bad to buy this week though; looking at projected clean sheets Everton are third after Arsenal and Man City over the next 6 gameweeks. Then it's Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea.
