FPL tips: Chelsea key to case for the defence

Defence is where the action is in Fantasy Premier League gameweek seven as Chelsea continue to headline the transfer recommendations.

Three of the week’s top four players in the PA news agency’s Transfer Score – a rating combining form, cost, ownership and upcoming fixture difficulty rating (FDR) – are defenders.

Chelsea provide two of those as well as a midfield pick as FDR makes their players a tempting proposition.

Goalkeepers

The Chelsea dominance does not extend to Edouard Mendy, largely due to his injury absence for the 3-0 win over Tottenham in gameweek five, leaving Wolves’ Jose Sa as our top-ranked goalkeeper this week.

The Portuguese has made 20 saves already this season to add three points to his total but the real boost to his form score, from last week’s assist for Raul Jimenez, is more likely to be a flash in the pan.

Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale is cheaper, at £4.5million in FPL, and has put together his identical transfer score of 74 in more conventional fashion, while the podium is completed by a premium option in Manchester City’s ever-reliable Ederson.

Defenders

Chelsea veteran Thiago Silva posts this week’s highest transfer score, 85 out of a possible 100, with his goal against Spurs boosting his form rating while his £5.4m cost is manageable, his ownership remains low and the Blues have five successive games rated two on FDR.

Those fixtures against Southampton, Brentford, Norwich, Newcastle and Burnley also help Antonio Rudiger – another scorer against Spurs – rank third among defenders and fourth in the league this week with a transfer score of 77.

The pair are split by Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo, who has taken a different path to his transfer score of 83 – five straight clean sheets and a pair of assists making him FPL’s form player and offsetting an FDR score of 43 out of 100, with City’s fixtures rated a full point harder on average than Chelsea’s.

Midfielders

Midfield is not far behind defence as an area of interest this week and again Chelsea show the way in the form of Mateo Kovacic – the Croatia international has three assists and a goal already at £5.2m to go with regular one-point clean sheet boosts.

Bukayo Saka‘s European Championship hangover appears to be behind him after a goal and two assists in his last two games, helping him to a transfer score of 75 – five points behind Kovacic but good for a top-five place among all players.

And right behind him is Everton winger Andros Townsend, who already has two goals and two assists to his name. One of those was a penalty against Norwich, though, and the expected return of Dominic Calvert-Lewin may take Townsend off those duties.

Forwards

There is less to get excited about up front, with our top three recommendations only ranking 22nd, 25th and 30th among all players.

Allan Saint-Maximin leads the way and has either a goal or an assist in all but one of Newcastle’s games this season, contributing to five of his team’s seven goals. A mixed bag of fixtures awaits but the irrepressible Frenchman’s form makes him tempting at £6.8m.

Compatriot Neal Maupay has scored in back-to-back games – for the second time already this season – but Brighton’s flying start is about to run into an unappealing stretch of fixtures featuring Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool in the next four games.

The Gunners’ Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ranks third, though managers may want to see him build further on his two goals in three games before shelling out £9.9m – almost one tenth of their virtual budget.