FPL tips: Paint the town Red as Liverpool look to march on

Liverpool’s winning run positions their players as the men to help your Fantasy Premier League team at either end of the field this week.

Having won six games in a row in all competitions – including four in the league with just one goal conceded along the way – it is no surprise to see Jurgen Klopp’s defensive unit in particular well represented in the PA news agency’s Transfer Score rankings.

Combining form, cost, ownership and upcoming fixture difficulty rating (FDR), we take a look at the players to target for gameweek 16.

Reds riding high

Liverpool have three of the top seven players this week in Transfer Score, led by Trent Alexander-Arnold as the full-back ties for the league lead in form with 8.8 points per game.

He and Virgil van Dijk are among our defensive recommendations after three clean sheets in four, with Alexander-Arnold also contributing four assists and a goal in the last five games and Van Dijk scoring against Southampton.

They trail only Tottenham’s Ben Davies among transfer score for defenders and with Spurs’ coronavirus outbreak raising concerns over their game against Brighton, Liverpool is where to look.

They also have this week’s top-ranked goalkeeper in Alisson Becker, while full-back Andy Robertson is another option – the Scot’s transfer score of 75 is one point better than Alisson even as it ranks eighth among defenders.

Alisson edges out Wolves’ Jose Sa for top spot in goal, with Spurs again providing the other top pick in Hugo Lloris. If you are worried about their game being postponed and are full up on Liverpool players, Manchester United’s friendly run of games mean David De Gea remains a tempter.

Go go Diogo

Diogo Jota has become a key man in Klopp’s front three and like many of the league’s best attackers, he has the added FPL benefit of being classed as a midfielder.

Four goals in three games before his blank against Wolves have the Portuguese riding high in the form charts and while his price has risen from £7.5million to £8m over the season so far, he has matched team-mate Sadio Mane’s points tally and is still nearly £4m cheaper.

Our top pick in midfield is compatriot Bernardo Silva, increasingly influential for Manchester City and matching Alexander-Arnold’s recent points per game average. Fred ranks second after a goal and two assists in his last two games, though his standing also owes much to low ownership and United’s 2.2 average FDR over their five coming games.

Sting like a Hornet

Among players classed as out-and-out strikers, Watford lead the way as Claudio Ranieri’s caution-to-the-wind approach does for their attacking stars what it did for Leicester’s 2016 title winners.

Emmanuel Dennis trails only Ranieri’s former protege Jamie Vardy in points among strikers this season and is the third player tied with Alexander-Arnold and Silva atop the form rankings, and at £5.7m he remains a bargain even as his ownership rockets beyond a quarter of FPL managers.

His transfer score of 90 is the highest in the league and leads all strikers by 23 points, with team-mate Joshua King just edged into third place by Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke.

Che Adams and Neal Maupay are the other leading options for those not keen to jump on the Dennis bandwagon, though the Southampton man is an injury doubt, while Watford also have Joao Pedro and Cucho Hernandez rated 60 or above.