Fantasy Premier League

GW37 Bonus points: Defences on top

By The Scout 7 May 2018
Manchester City v Huddersfield Town - Premier League

Managers searched for forwards this Gameweek but have seen defensive players dominate bonus, says The Scout

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Defences have been on top in Gameweek 37 so far, with Nicolas Otamendi (£6.4m) among those to put attackers in the shade in Fantasy Premier League.

The Manchester City defender picked up the maximum three bonus points in Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Huddersfield Town.

He completed 96 per cent of his 77 attempted passes and made two key passes to tally 31 in the Bonus Points System (BPS).

Kyle Walker (£6.6m) and goalkeeper Ederson (£5.7m) were awarded the remaining bonus points from the match.

Walker recorded three key passes, while Ederson made three saves and 11 recoveries to boost his BPS total.

Misfiring forwards

This was not in the plans of many FPL managers eyeing City's assets.

Over 531,000 had signed one or more of Gabriel Jesus (£10.4m), Raheem Sterling (£9.1m) and Leroy Sane (£8.6m) for Sunday’s match.

Indeed, of the 12 most-bought players for Gameweek 37, Chris Smalling (£5.7m) was the only defender, as managers chased goals and assists.

But defensive players have the edge for bonus points with six fixtures to go.

Clean sheets galore

Eight clean sheets so far have meant 18 of the 33 bonus awards have gone to a goalkeeper or a defender.

That trend started on Friday night, in Brighton & Hove Albion's  1-0 win over Manchester United.

Pascal Gross (£5.9m) scored the winner, but Brighton defenders Bruno (£4.5m) and Lewis Dunk (£4.5m), as well as goalkeeper Mat Ryan (£4.6m) received bonus points.

Bruno is the top-ranked defender for BPS on 32 after making three net tackles - tackles won minus tackles lost - on Friday.

Gross deficit

Gross's yellow card proved costly. That, combined with the foul, lost him two points in the BPS.

More significantly, the midfielder attempted just 28 passes, so missed out on a BPS reward for pass completion.

Both Bruno and Dunk made more than 30 passes to pick up two and four BPS points respectively.

It meant that Gross trailed his defensive team-mates on 26 BPS to become the first of many attacking players to take a back seat in Gameweek 37.

Also in this series

Part 1: GW37 Lessons learned: Sellers' regrets over Aubameyang

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