With popular defender Marcos Senesi (£5.0m) suspended for Gameweek 14 in Fantasy Premier League and set for a tough run of matches, The Scout looks at what managers should do and who his best replacements are.
Before making any decisions, Fantasy managers must remember that they will have five free transfers after Saturday's Gameweek 15 deadline passes due to the departure of some key players for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Depending on the make-up of your FPL squad, you could look for a short-term option and aim to attack the next two Gameweeks only, before swapping the player out again with your extra transfers, or alternatively you could pinpoint players who have favourable schedules over a longer period.
First of all, it's worth bearing in mind that Senesi is only banned for AFC Bournemouth's home match against Everton on Tuesday evening, and he will then be available to face Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.
See: Who's suspended or close to a ban?
So if you have bigger issues to deal with elsewhere in your squad and you have a strong enough defence to simply bench him, there's an argument that you can wait until you have five free transfers in Gameweek 16 to deal with Senesi.
Either way, Bournemouth's form and fixtures suggests it’s time to look for a replacement sooner or later.
The Cherries have managed only one clean sheet in the last eight Gameweeks and now have a tough schedule ahead, facing seven of the top 10 teams in their next 10 matches.
As Senesi currently costs £5.0m, the players listed below all come in under the £5.5m mark.
Nico O’Reilly (Man City) £5.2m
The Manchester City left-back is the third top-scoring defender in Fantasy since making his first start of the season in Gameweek 4.
O’Reilly has started nine of those last 10 Gameweeks and amassed 55 points in that spell, combining a goal and three assists with five clean sheets.
The underlying data backs up the 20-year-old’s huge attacking potential. O’Reilly’s 13 shots, 10 shots in the box and 12 chances created all rank among the top five defenders over the last 10 Gameweeks.
Crucially, his prospects for more starts looks promising as his rival for the left-back spot, Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m), is set to depart for AFCON.
Man City’s home matches with Sunderland and West Ham United in the next four Gameweeks alone give O’Reilly the chance to bring in huge returns.
Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea) £5.2m
His goal against Arsenal last weekend has cemented the Chelsea’s centre-back status as a fixture-proof pick for your defence.
Chalobah has climbed to fourth spot among defenders on 70 points, with three goals, an assist and six clean sheets showcasing his impact at both ends of the pitch.
If you also factor in his eight points from defensive contributions, Chalobah has essentially blanked just twice in his 12 starts.
A visit to Leeds United and a home match with Everton in the next three Gameweeks look very encouraging for more clean sheets.
Malick Thiaw (Newcastle) £4.9m
Newcastle United’s centre-back has both the short and mid-term schedules to offer a ready-made solution.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the difficulty of each fixture is ranked from one to five - with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest - each of the Magpies’ next 10 matches score no more than three.
That run gets under way with back-to-back home matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley in the next few days.
Newcastle's next 10 matches
| Gameweek | Opponent | FDR* |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Spurs (H) | 3 |
| 15 | Burnley (H) | 2 |
| 16 | Sunderland (A) | 3 |
| 17 | Chelsea (H) | 3 |
| 18 | Man Utd (A) | 3 |
| 19 | Burnley (A) | 2 |
| 20 | Palace (H) | 3 |
| 21 | Leeds (H) | 2 |
| 22 | Wolves (A) | 2 |
| 23 | Villa (H) | 3 |
*1=easiest possible match, 5=hardest possible match
Thiaw offers a secure route into the Newcastle defence at a point where full-backs Lewis Hall (£5.2m) and Tino Livramento (£4.9m) are perhaps more prone to rotation in this congested period, because they have both only recently returned from injury.
Thiaw's eight shots in the box this season are more than the combined seven of all other Newcastle defenders, marking him out as their likeliest source of attacking returns from the back.
Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton) £4.4m
The centre-back provides a secure route into an improving Brighton & Hove Albion defence that have produced all three of their clean sheets this season in the last four Gameweeks.
Van Hecke has proven the most reliable of the Brighton defenders in Fantasy for defensive contributions, with his 10 points more than twice the total of any of his team-mates.
Brighton have three home fixtures in the next four Gameweeks and two of those – against West Ham and Sunderland – score only two in the FDR.
It’s worth noting that Fulham’s Joachim Andersen (£4.5m), who is another top performer for defensive contributions, offers a great rotation pairing with Van Hecke.
By starting the one with the most favourable fixture and benching the other in each Gameweek, six of your next seven matches would score just two in the FDR.