A question was raised about when when to draft defenders in Fantasy Premier League and we think managers should approach the draft as they would look at the pricing structure in the standard game.
That game has weighted the top attacking players, midfielders and strikers, with much higher starting prices than defenders and goalkeepers.
There is also a larger price difference between the most expensive attacker (Harry Kane 12.5) and cheapest attacker (Tom Carroll 4.5) than there is between the most expensive defender (Marcos Alonso 7.0) and the cheapest defenders and goalkeeper who cost (4.0). This leaves a price difference of just 3.0 for defence as opposed to 8.0 in attack in the examples above.
The pricing can obviously be ignored in the draft but it gives an idea of the positions where the most value is placed in the game and this is one of our reasons for electing to fill up the attacking positions with the available big hitters you want as soon as possible.
When all the attackers you wanted are drafted you can then focus your attention on your defence, even leaving some attacking spaces free for your squad players which can be filled in later rounds.
Another reason for focusing on your midfielders and forwards is that using one of your invaluable picks in the early rounds of your draft on a defender could he considered wasteful as there are other more important positions to fill up with the higher individual points scorers in the attacking positions.
For example Gary Cahill was the highest scoring defender last year in the standard Fantasy Premier League game with 178 points (only three defenders in total scores over 150 points, all from Chelsea), whereas Alexis Sanchez was the highest scoring midfielder on 264 points and Harry Kane recorded 224 points up front.
To find similar points totals in attack to the Chelsea trio of Cahill, Alonso and Azpilicueta, you need to look at Josh King and Firmino who are now strikers, scored well in midfield last season and their totals include clean sheet points and an extra point for a goal that they won't be awarded this seasons strikers.
Only one player can get goal points and only one other can get the assist which leads us on to our next point.
Another aspect to consider is to view defensive units as a whole whereby rather than an individual, you may need Arsenal defensive cover, but do you need Koscielny, would Monreal or even Cech give similar returns if picked in a later draft round? More than likely yes.
Clean sheets and points last season
- Cech kept 12 clean sheets and scored 134 points in 3097 minutes
- Monreal kept 11 clean sheets and scored 115 points 3153 in minutes
- Koscielny kept 10 clean sheets and scored 121 points in 2821 minutes
Our thinking on this is that clean sheets are the major points getters for defenders. So if you miss out on a defender that you wanted, there will be other defenders and the goalkeeper at the same club tonight pick up to a least cover those clean sheet points.
You can argue that more attack minded defenders are the exception to rules for early draft picks such as Alonso's great form on the wing last season, Milner's solid returns from set pieces last season or Leighton Baines who has been Everton's dead ball specialist for years.
What we're saying is it is much more detrimental to your team to miss out on a top draft pick from midfield or up front than it is to miss out of your first choice defender.
Have a look at our rankings for each position to see who we'll be going for our drafts.
