FPL tips: Crystal Palace make case for the defence

Crystal Palace’s defence offers strong differential potential for the Fantasy Premier League run-in.

Joachim Andersen starred in a 3-0 win over Arsenal last time out which extended the Eagles’ unbeaten run to five games with only two goals conceded.

And the PA news agency’s Transfer Score system – combining form, cost, ownership and fixture difficulty (FDR) – sees the appeal of Patrick Vieira’s side in the coming weeks.

Palace guard

Palace have kept three successive clean sheets and conceded no more than once in any of their last eight games.

That is a recommendation for any of their reasonably-priced defenders – as well as keeper Vicente Guaita – especially with a reasonably favourable run-in.

Andersen’s league-high transfer score of 93 is inflated by his two assists against Arsenal last time out, which is unlikely to recur week-to-week – even if he did also achieve the feat against Burnley in gameweek 12, his only previous assists this season.

Similarly, Wolves full-back Jonny should not be counted on to keep his scoring run going – but strikes against Leeds and Aston Villa have added to an impressive comeback from his long-term injury and rank him second among defenders this week on 77, a point ahead of Liverpool’s Joel Matip. Guaita (79) is comfortably our top goalkeeper.

Fred the Red

While Manchester United’s overall form has not markedly improved under interim manager Ralf Rangnick, one unquestioned beneficiary can be found in the engine room.

Fred, priced at £4.9million, now ranks behind only the £11.6m Bruno Fernandes among United midfielders in fantasy points this season, outscoring the likes of Jadon Sancho, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford.

The Brazilian has three of his four goals this season, three of five assists and seven of eight bonus points since Rangnick’s arrival, with the other two assists coming just one week previously in gameweek 14, and a goal and an assist in his last two games make him our top-ranked midfielder this week.

West Ham’s Said Benrahma is next but the most appealing pick may still be third-ranked James Maddison, given Leicester’s friendly run-in which includes three double gameweeks.

Count on Kane

Harry Kane finds ways of keeping himself on the FPL scoresheet and even at £12.5m he is difficult to ignore.

A run of five goals in four games may have come to an end but Kane has followed up with four assists in the last two and is our top-ranked striker, with Spurs’ favourable FDR off-setting his poor cost rating.

His appeal is all the more obvious considering the otherwise slim pickings up front. Cucho Hernandez has three goals and an assist in Watford’s last four games to usurp team-mate and long-time FPL darling Emmanuel Dennis, with Norwich’s Teemu Pukki completing the podium places.