Following a weekend in which the home clubs dominated with eight wins, 24 goals and four clean sheets, we swiftly move onto Gameweek 16 to check out who has the best clean sheet potential and which players are worth considering for your FPL squad.
With the busy winter schedule underway and just a couple of days to plan for the midweek fixtures, unfortunately we don't have time to include the usual in-depth analysis charts. However, in this mini-preview we have instead taken a look at low, medium and high risk backlines, as well as expected defensive rotations which might affect your team and the best way to counteract this.
So first off, who should you trust for defensive returns in Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 16?
Low Risk Defence For Gameweek 16
Tottenham (H) vs. HUL It's simple really, Spurs have proven over the last two seasons that their defensive form at White Hart Lane is the most consistent of any team in England's top flight. Coming up against Hull, Pochettino will expect nothing less than the three-points and a clean sheet. Having lost out to Man United in Gameweek 15, Spurs will look to bounce back in timely fashion. We expect them to dominate possession and limit Hull to a couple of chances throughout the 90 minutes. This season, their opposition rank 20th for big chances created (10) and attempts from inside the box (77), as well as remaining 19th for total attempts (143). This plays into Tottenham's hands, who contrastingly rank 1st equal for goals conceded (11) and 2nd for big chances conceded (14). Hull have never scored more than a single goal versus Spurs and have failed to find the net in their last 3 away matches. Tottenham are undefeated in 13 of their last 14 Premier League matches, so it's safe to say the travelling club are ill-prepared for this trip. Danny Rose (5.9m) may be the nemesis of Man United fans at the moment having chopped down Henrikh Mkhitaryan at the weekend, but nevertheless, it's his attacking prospects and bonus-points suited playing style which caught our eye. The left-back, who is available at a drop down price to Kyle Walker, has made 17 tackles and attempted seven dribbles in his last three fixtures. The rapid left-back banked seven assists last season, so will surely improve his tally of one so far this season. With two extremely favourable home fixtures coming up (HUL & BUR), we are backing him to do just that and maybe heighten his output with a couple of clean sheets.Medium Risk Defence For Gameweek 16
Man City (H) vs. WAT Before anyone goes off on the 'I can't believe City spent 50 million on Stones' malarkey, let's be sensible and discuss their chances of a clean sheet. Yes, it's been difficult to take Guardiola's formation seriously in recent weeks, after using what looked like a 2-7-1 versus Leicester. Originally a right-back, Pablo Zabaleta spent the 90 minutes running around in midfield like a lost child, while John Stones picked up his fourth assist of the season with another delightfully short back pass to Claudio Bravo. Despite this collection of flaws, it doesn't change the fact that Watford have found the net just three times in their last five away matches. The wonderfully named Stefano Okaka was their hero in Gameweek 15 with a brace, but the Italian striker is far from prolific at this level having scored just a solitary goal in his last 20 appearances for Sampdoria - this eventually saw him make the switch to Anderlecht. City also sport an impressive home record against The Hornets with four clean sheets in the last five meetings. This is not massively important, and should not sway your decision one way or the other, but it can only be seen as a positive in their quest to shut up the critics and shut out their opponents. Aleksander Kolarov (5.8m) shares free-kick duty and chipped in with a goal and an assist at the weekend so is obviously worth considering, while John Stones (4.9m), despite the question marks surrounding his starting role, offers good value and might even drop another 0.1m by the start of Gameweek 16.High Risk Defence For Gameweek 16
West Ham (H) vs. BUR This pick is purely based on Burnley's woeful away form. If Sean Dyche had managed to sneak a couple of wins away from home this season, his side would be sitting inside the top six as we speak. However, this just isn't the case with 14 or their 15 goals coming at Turf Moor. The fact they are currently situated in 13th position, despite scoring just once away from home comforts this season, is frankly impressive, but it does go to show how much they rely on home exploits. Now to discuss West Ham. They are far from a steady choice in terms of defensive form (home & away), but they will fancy their chances of ending a seven-match winless streak on Wednesday, especially having giving Liverpool a run for their money in Gameweek 15. The last time these two clubs came head-to-head was during the 2014/15 Premier League campaign. West Ham pinned Burnley inside their own half for most of the game, and with the help of 60% possession, 29 attempts on goal and 13 corners, overwhelmed their opposition towards a one-nil victory. Slaven Bilic will be hoping for more of the same, however, it's worth noting that with the emergence and excellence of Dimitri Payet thrown into the mix, West Ham will be encouraged to spark attacks of their own. This will have a detrimental effect on their clean sheet potential, but we still expect a low-scoring encounter whatever happens. Our first choice recommendation from The Hammers backline is Aaron Cresswell (5.3m). We are not going to pretend that 5m+ is good value for a West Ham defender, but he does contribute heavily down the left flank alongside Payet. The Englishman has four goals and eight assists since the start of 2014/15. Winston Reid (5.0m) is another option, but definitely more of a hit or miss type of FPL player. He'll go from high; grabbing two assists vs. Tottenham in Gameweek 12, to low; getting sent off in the same match, literally in the space of minutes - but sharing the same price tag as an underwhelming Ashley Williams and with attractive fixtures on the horizon, his ownership will most likely increase.Player Rotation Risks
Southampton Fullbacks? When the news filtered through that Cedric Soares was not included in Southampton's Gameweek 15 matchday squad, a mini meltdown commenced on twitter and Reddit's FantasyPL forum. The defender, priced at 5m following a recent price rise, was many managers last hope for clean sheet points. It made it even more depressing for his 2.4% ownership when The Saints successfully held the clean sheet they'd all been dreaming about a few hours prior. This was Southampton's third consecutive shutout at Saint Mary's and with one of the best winter schedules you'd assume that they'll add to this. Anyway, we've drifted away from the main talking point… the rotation between Cedric/Martina and Bertrand/McQueen. In our opinion, the first name mentioned in each pairing is Claude Puel's first choice selection. We shouldn't be happy that a Premier League side have been knocked out of a major European competition, but it's such a boost to Southampton's FPL potential that we couldn't help ourselves. Free from the long flights, the Thursday night fixtures and untimely injuries. You can now select Cedric or Ryan Bertrand without a little voice in the back of your head screaming ‘rotation risk'. Additionally, if you want a foolproof option who will only miss a match if he picks up an injury, then you can't go wrong with Virgil Van Dijk. The man-mountain is a bonus-point magnet (5pts in his last four matches), as well as showing an eye for goal - often seen charging forward to transition moves, as well as attacking corners with intent. Any Man City Defender? Pep has tinkered with his squad more than Arsene Wenger has struggled with his jacket this season, so that's a good place to start! FPL Minutes by Defender: Kolarov - 1201 Stones - 1075 Otamendi - 952 Sagna - 618 Clichy - 511 Zabaleta - 516 Aleksander Kolarov will be a big hit in Daily Fantasy contests and seeing that his manager has chopped and changed personnel, with the Serbian being the only defender to play 100% of the last seven gameweeks - we can say with confidence that he's now the most nailed-on of the bunch. Vincent Kompany's constant injury setbacks might be a silver-lining for John Stones, as he continues to build his reputation as a dodgy defender, whilst occupying a place in the starting XI. Guardiola evidently has faith in the ball-playing centre-half and you have to admit that he's done great things with perplexed players in the past, but nevertheless, he's treading on thin ice. City's pecking order in terms of fullbacks is up in the air, especially as they often play without them. We advise that you steer clear of them, unless you pick Kolarov in the hope he plays at left-back.
