EPL Grind Down: Matchweek 21
Happy New Year! Teams are gearing up for two games separated by just 2 days and with a run of 8 games in just 22 odd days, the players are all tired and managers are relying heavily on their deep rotations. That makes understanding the team’s strategies doubly important. That said, this week the Grind Down should get you set for the Saturday contests and help you navigate the often-confusing squad rotations that show up this time of year.
We’ll start with the odds, then I’ll provide a match-by-match breakdown. Finally, I’ll include tables that help me focus my attention on players to select in cash games and tournaments as well as tables that help identify defenders for cash and tournament purposes.
The Odds
Home | Odds | Away | Odds | ||||
Bournemouth | 142 | Everton | 231 | ||||
Chelsea | -550 | Stoke | 1906 | ||||
Huddersfield | 133 | Burnley | 265 | ||||
Liverpool | -304 | Leicester | 862 | ||||
Newcastle United | 112 | Brighton | 319 | ||||
Watford | -136 | Swansea | 459 | ||||
Manchester United | -273 | Southampton | 873 | ||||
Crystal Palace | 1196 | Manchester City | -387 | ||||
West Brom | 439 | Arsenal | -143 |
Matchup Breakdown
There are a number of interesting matchups this week starting with Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United hosting Stoke, Leicester and Southampton respectively. We also have three other matchups that feature rising teams in various positions that could impact our roster builds in Everton, Burnley and Watford. We’ll examine each of these games one by one and I’ll try to give my recommendations for squad rotation and areas to focus.
Chelsea vs Stoke
Stoke are going to be severely short handed on the defensive side. They will be missing Ryan Shawcross for at least a couple of weeks. Kurt Zouma is ineligible to face Chelsea as they are his parent club. Mark Hughes (Stoke Manager) has an outside chance of getting Erik Pieters back at left back, if he fails to prove fit then Josh Tymon will get the start. American Geoff Cameron will likely start at center back alongside Kevin Wimmer. These two are going to be somewhat problematic as the last time Wimmer started at center back was against West Ham, where Stoke conceded 3 goals. And on the season, Wimmer has played 856 minutes at center back and in that time he commits a high number of fouls, is not a very good tackler, and has a whoscored rating of 6.34 which is almost a point lower than his rating when he plays on the wing. He will be the weaker of the two central defenders, and while Cameron isn’t a natural at the spot, he is better at clearances and overall positioning. Chelsea will be looking to take advantage of the Stoke weakened defenses.
Stoke are coming off a couple of matches where they’ve gotten results. With four points in their last two matches they are now sitting in 13th place but are just 3 points ahead of the relegation zone. If they can buckle up and manage to come away with some points against the Defending Champs, they’ll be elated. However, the more realistic option is to hold Chelsea to two goals or less and hope that a defensive lapse on a counter attack gives them a goal or two in return.
Chelsea came alive in the second half against Brighton after looking lifeless in the first half. The second half saw them get more attempts on target with two goals to show for it. They managed better play on the wings from their full backs and from their attacking mids. Specifically, Victor Moses, and Marcos Alonso were difference makers in the second half. I can see the Conte sitting Moses this match to give Zappacosta a start.
Chelsea’s attacking options are all in play here, with the likely targets being Hazard and Morata as the key ones to target. If Conte goes with a 3-5-1-1 then the wing backs (Moses/Zappacosta and Alonso) are in play. If he starts Willian and/or Pedro then they will likely line up in a 3-4-2-1 and then that lowers the wing backs effectivity and spreads the touches among five or six attacking players.
Fabregas is still a key player to target. He had seven key passes against Brighton and that resulted in an assist. Chelsea completely dominated the last match with 25 shots to 8 from Brighton. And almost two thirds possession. That domination was in large part because of the roles that Kante and Fabregas play in the midfield where Kante’s excellence allows for Cesc to venture forward and orchestrate the attacks. Fabregas is priced at just $7,600 on DraftKings, but is an expensive $10,000 on FanDuel making him harder to take on FD but easy to consider on DK.
For tournaments I would consider Morata and Hazard for my teams. Especially Hazard as he has been rather hungry to score goals lately with no scoring or assists in five matches despite being very active and despite Chelsea getting close several times.
For Stoke, it’s hard to consider anybody from this team since they will struggle with possession and will not be able to break down Chelsea as easy. Shaqiri is a potential for a breakaway goal, but otherwise, I would steer clear from Stoke, especially with them being on the road.
Liverpool vs Leicester
After a solid run that saw Leicester get four wins in a row through the middle of December, the tight schedule finally got the best of them as they have now dropped points in three straight matches including a humiliating loss 3-0 to Crystal Palace at home two weeks ago. Liverpool meanwhile have continued to up their offensive juggernaut status with scoring three goals or more in three of their last six matches including a 5-0 win against Swansea at home.
Liverpool are predictably heavily favored in this match as they are coming off a run of good matches and are arguably the second best offense in the Premier League. That fact is backed up by their goal scoring total which is second after Manchester City. Liverpool will look to push forward as much as possible to give themselves a win against a team that should be tougher than the odds makers are seemingly predicting.
Leicester has had some solid results against the top six teams since their new manager took over in beating Tottenham, snagging a late equalizer against Manchester United and losing in penalties to Manchester City in the Carabao cup. I expect that the match will be close with chances taken by both sides.
For Liverpool, the front three of Salah, Coutinho, and Firmino should be in consideration in any GPP team you build as any of the front three can carry the offensive load. Liverpool has also been rotating the full backs and any one who starts can get in on any scoring. The team does not have a specific set piece taker that can be targeted for cash contests every week. If Mane does get the start then he is a good cheap option to exposure to this squad’s offense.
For Leicester, the cash game option is Marc Albrighton as he will take the set pieces and corners for this team. He’s also a good open play crosser. The only problem with him is that he’s not going to get a lot of opportunities in this matchup where Leicester aren’t expected to get a lot of possession so that takes him away as a cash game option.
For Tournaments, Mahrez and Vardy are the duo to consider. I think Liverpool have shown a weakness on defense this season (as evidenced by their record breaking acquisition of Van Dijk that will go through in January), so you can expect that Mahrez and Vardy could break through here and score a goal to make this matchup interesting.
Manchester United vs Southampton
The Saints have a run of two matches in a row on the road against top six teams culminating in this trip to Old Trafford. Their last match was against a Tottenham side that saw Kane score a hat-trick against them. The team has struggled defensively this season having not kept a clean sheet in 11 weeks with just a single win in that span. In the meantime, they have no wins in their last seven getting outscored 15-7 and only scoring more than a single goal once and that was on boxing day against Tottenham.
This match will feature some Manchester United goals. United will be looking to reverse their fortunes that have left them dropping points in three of their last five matches and bowing out of the League Cup to Bristol City.
Mourinho will likely start in an attacking 4-3-3 with Lukaku flanked by Mata and Rashford. There are other options in attack in Mkhitaryan and Lingard as well as Ibrahimovic. So the choices are tough to narrow down. However, I would expect that Lukaku is the best tournament option from this squad given his price compared to other strikers on the other two top six teams in play this week.
Southampton on the other hand are a terrible offensive team as they average just a goal a game and they are not reliable, their offensive display will be hampered even further this week as they go against a top defensive team in Manchester United who have conceded the third least goals of any team in the EPL.
This of course puts De Gea as a potential DFS option as a clean sheet and win. He’s also going to be useful as a late game hammer to setup for the dramatic come from behind victory.
Southampton continue to be a black hole offensively and on my black list. Don’t take anybody from them. #DeadtoMe
Watford vs Swansea
I like this game for one reason and one reason alone. Richarlison. It’s been a while since the Brazilian has graced us with a goal, specifically since gameweek 12. In that span however, he’s been firing shots like crazy. With a defense like Swansea, he’s bound to break that drought against this Swans team.
If you want other options from Watford, then you should definitely consider either Cleverly or Holebas as they have been splitting corners and open play crosses. If Holebas is not starting then definitely getting Cleverly in your squads makes sense for cash games as he’s cheap enough and allows you to spend up elsewhere.
For offense, Doucoure, Carrillo and the two full backs (Janmaat and Zeegelaar) get plenty of touches in the final third with Doucoure being the most likely to score a goal in this setup.
I don’t trust Watford to get a clean sheet here, so looking to their goalkeeper isn’t a good option for clean sheets.
If we’re not expecting a clean sheet from Watford, then we expect that Swansea will at least threaten the goal on the other side. In this case, Tammy Abraham should be getting the start again without Bony (out with a hamstring) and with spot starter McBurnie proving unable to get much going against a superior Liverpool squad. Abraham is a talented youngster that I’ve hung my hat on several times and expect him to come through this week. He’s priced pretty cheap on both DK and FD ($4.6K on DK and $7K on FD).
Also for Swansea, you could consider Jordan Ayew who scored a goal against Crystal Palace in matchday 19. Also worth consideration is Martin Olsson who can produce crosses and gets plenty of touches in the final third in the right situation.
Bournemouth vs Everton
Bournemouth come into this home matchup with Everton on a bit of a lull as they have failed to get a win in any of their contests since mid November. The team is looking to close 2017 on a high note as they host the Toffees. Oddsmakers also believe this will be a close matchup with the home team as a slight favorite to get the win.
Examining the schedule shows us that Bournemouth just went through their toughest stretch of their schedule with four straight matches against top six teams they were outscored 11-1 before coming back two days ago against West Ham and getting a point in a 3-3 decision with a point rescued by Callum Wilson in the 92nd minute. While Bournemouth were helped with a last minute decision that preserved their equalizer, the team did give up two goals after getting ahead 2-1 showing that they can be a good offensive team and a lousy defensive team at the same time.
Ryan Fraser and Jordan Ibe are the most reliable crossers on the team, but the team isn’t generally a good crossing team as they tend to rely on a slow buildup for their attacks. I wouldn’t really target anybody from Bournemouth for cash games.
As for Everton, they recently completed a move that will be finalized in January for the addition of Tosun, a striker from Turkey who should give the team some forceful goal scoring and to give Rooney and Sigurdsson a striker to get the ball to as Everton has had trouble in that department as they currently sit at a -6 goal differential on the season and their top goal scorer is 32 year old Wayne Rooney.
This match is likely to remain a low scoring affair as both these teams tend to teeter in and out of solid performances. Everton is currently sitting at 9th place and is looking to push into the top 7 as they are just six points behind Arsenal who are in sixth place. Bournemouth need a win here as they are sitting in the relegation zone, but just a point outside of safety.
For cash games, there aren’t a lot of good options here. Sigurdsson is decent for Everton but he hasn’t really provided a lot of goals or assists for the team this season. Rooney takes penalties so that takes away Siggy’s upside.
For tournaments on both sides, targeting the strikers might work out, for Everton, Calvert-Lewin and Rooney are pickable and likely to be underowned. For Bournemouth, Wilson or Defoe (whichever of the pair starts) should get a look from a few fantasy players considering their recent goal scoring of the team.
Huddersfield vs Burnley
After a tough run of dropping points in three straight matches, Burnley will be looking to get back to winning as they visit Huddersfield this week in the last match of 2017. Burnley are a solid defensive team that is top five in the Premier League. They are even better on the road as they have allowed the third least goals of any team in the league. A Matchup with Huddersfield should further cement their position as right behind Arsenal for a top six slot.
Burnley’s defensive prowess certainly eliminates any Huddersfield options from the table when it comes to fantasy production. The exception may be the defense and goalkeeping, but Burnley doesn’t do a lot of attacking in their own right to really warrant a goalkeeper selection.
As mentioned, Burnley don’t attack much either, as they enjoy keeping the ball in the midfield and slowly building up and striking at the opponent through precision rather than a barrage of shots. That limits the upside of almost all the Burnley players. And on a slate with seven matches and at least four of them expected to feature plenty of goals, I wouldn’t really spend a lot of salary on a player from this matchup.
Newcastle vs Brighton
This matchup is between a team that has scored just six goals at home all season hosting a team that has scored five goals on the road all season. The odds for this one being a fire cracker are very slim. Indeed, the oddsmakers put the over/under on this one set at just 2, which is very low for soccer. Nevertheless, there are actually some options from the home team here. Specifically Dwight Gayle who takes a lot of shots, even though he’s not able to put them on target. We can also look to Matt Ritchie who can deliver crosses and isn’t priced terribly high for his position.
Brighton on the other hand aren’t consistent enough to warrant a regular selection. Pascal Gross provides some fantasy options as he is a good crosser of the ball and is on set pieces for the seagulls. The team does not have a solid goal scorer on the books, and that is evidenced by their overall goal scoring prowess throughout the season.
Overall, this is a match that I can skip rostering any player from completely and not feel guilty about it.
High Floor Players
Player Name | Team | Opponent | Crosses | Corners | Chances Created | Open Play Crosses | Shots | ||||||||
Ritchie | NEW | BHA | 130 | 65 | 32 | 55 | 38 | ||||||||
Mooy | HUD | BUR | 127 | 63 | 30 | 51 | 19 | ||||||||
Brady | BUR | HUD | 123 | 67 | 26 | 45 | 24 | ||||||||
De Bruyne | MCI | CPL | 119 | 65 | 59 | 60 | 49 | ||||||||
Groß | BHA | NEW | 117 | 54 | 40 | 52 | 15 | ||||||||
Shaqiri | STK | CHE | 117 | 55 | 44 | 43 | 44 | ||||||||
Cresswell | WHU | #N/A | 116 | 37 | 23 | 62 | 7 | ||||||||
Holebas | WAT | SWA | 113 | 45 | 21 | 51 | 9 | ||||||||
Albrighton | LEI | LIV | 109 | 35 | 26 | 71 | 10 | ||||||||
Eriksen | TOT | #N/A | 106 | 57 | 47 | 46 | 48 | ||||||||
Townsend | CPL | MCI | 101 | 27 | 35 | 63 | 35 | ||||||||
Sigurdsson | EVE | BOU | 96 | 41 | 28 | 22 | 29 | ||||||||
Cabaye | CPL | MCI | 90 | 62 | 29 | 10 | 25 | ||||||||
Olsson | SWA | WAT | 88 | 1 | 9 | 88 | 8 | ||||||||
Fabregas | CHE | STK | 87 | 96 | 55 | 20 | 25 | ||||||||
Carroll (Thomas) | SWA | WAT | 85 | 40 | 25 | 27 | 14 | ||||||||
Davies (Ben) | TOT | #N/A | 79 | 30 | 29 | 55 | 13 | ||||||||
Trippier | TOT | #N/A | 78 | 24 | 25 | 53 | 4 | ||||||||
Ward-Prowse | SOT | MUN | 73 | 43 | 17 | 20 | 9 | ||||||||
Young | MUN | SOT | 72 | 16 | 16 | 56 | 14 | ||||||||
Phillips (Matthew) | WBA | ARS | 72 | 21 | 12 | 45 | 13 | ||||||||
Cleverley | WAT | SWA | 71 | 42 | 28 | 26 | 14 | ||||||||
Gudmundsson | BUR | HUD | 71 | 19 | 23 | 47 | 27 | ||||||||
Ozil | ARS | WBA | 70 | 55 | 59 | 16 | 28 | ||||||||
Cedric | SOT | MUN | 69 | 0 | 12 | 68 | 13 | ||||||||
Bertrand | SOT | MUN | 68 | 24 | 20 | 46 | 13 | ||||||||
Mahrez | LEI | LIV | 67 | 39 | 30 | 22 | 44 | ||||||||
Knockaert | BHA | NEW | 65 | 21 | 20 | 34 | 20 | ||||||||
Daniels | BOU | EVE | 63 | 11 | 14 | 59 | 10 | ||||||||
Nyom | WBA | ARS | 63 | 0 | 9 | 63 | 2 | ||||||||
Mata | MUN | SOT | 62 | 26 | 26 | 34 | 14 | ||||||||
Solly March | BHA | NEW | 61 | 7 | 10 | 55 | 13 | ||||||||
Rashford | MUN | SOT | 61 | 24 | 18 | 35 | 41 | ||||||||
Alonso | CHE | STK | 60 | 0 | 20 | 60 | 40 | ||||||||
Masuaku | WHU | #N/A | 60 | 0 | 9 | 60 | 7 | ||||||||
Tadic | SOT | MUN | 59 | 9 | 31 | 51 | 23 | ||||||||
Ibe | BOU | EVE | 59 | 28 | 21 | 31 | 22 | ||||||||
Brunt | WBA | ARS | 57 | 37 | 21 | 15 | 6 | ||||||||
Silva | MCI | CPL | 56 | 29 | 41 | 29 | 36 | ||||||||
Oxlade-Chamberlain | LIV | LEI | 56 | 14 | 17 | 41 | 26 | ||||||||
Lanzini | WHU | #N/A | 56 | 38 | 24 | 9 | 19 | ||||||||
Milner | LIV | LEI | 53 | 24 | 16 | 35 | 14 | ||||||||
Smith (Tommy) | HUD | BUR | 53 | 0 | 13 | 53 | 6 | ||||||||
Valencia | MUN | SOT | 52 | 0 | 7 | 52 | 11 | ||||||||
Coutinho | LIV | LEI | 51 | 46 | 38 | 13 | 50 | ||||||||
Ward (Stephen) | BUR | HUD | 50 | 0 | 10 | 50 | 4 | ||||||||
Fraser | BOU | EVE | 50 | 16 | 12 | 31 | 12 | ||||||||
Gray (Demarai) | LEI | LIV | 50 | 20 | 13 | 32 | 21 |
High Ceiling Players
Player Name | Team | Opponent | Shots | Shots On Target | Goals | Dribbles | Take Ons | Assists | |||||||||
Kane | TOT | #N/A | 116 | 43 | 18 | 68 | 59 | 1 | |||||||||
Salah | LIV | LEI | 75 | 39 | 15 | 86 | 77 | 5 | |||||||||
Richarlison | WAT | SWA | 65 | 12 | 5 | 68 | 62 | 4 | |||||||||
Lukaku | MUN | SOT | 60 | 27 | 10 | 39 | 37 | 4 | |||||||||
Sanchez | ARS | WBA | 59 | 24 | 7 | 59 | 58 | 3 | |||||||||
Aguero | MCI | CPL | 59 | 24 | 12 | 45 | 43 | 4 | |||||||||
Morata | CHE | STK | 53 | 23 | 10 | 41 | 35 | 4 | |||||||||
Coutinho | LIV | LEI | 50 | 15 | 7 | 62 | 57 | 6 | |||||||||
De Bruyne | MCI | CPL | 49 | 23 | 6 | 44 | 42 | 9 | |||||||||
Ince (Thomas) | HUD | BUR | 49 | 15 | 1 | 39 | 37 | 0 | |||||||||
Sterling (Raheem) | MCI | CPL | 49 | 19 | 13 | 66 | 57 | 4 | |||||||||
Eriksen | TOT | #N/A | 48 | 20 | 5 | 27 | 25 | 5 | |||||||||
Choupo-Moting | STK | CHE | 44 | 13 | 4 | 78 | 68 | 4 | |||||||||
Lacazette | ARS | WBA | 44 | 21 | 8 | 34 | 33 | 3 | |||||||||
Shaqiri | STK | CHE | 44 | 17 | 4 | 37 | 33 | 5 | |||||||||
Firmino | LIV | LEI | 44 | 18 | 9 | 40 | 39 | 4 | |||||||||
Mahrez | LEI | LIV | 44 | 19 | 6 | 95 | 88 | 5 | |||||||||
Xhaka | ARS | WBA | 42 | 10 | 1 | 14 | 14 | 3 | |||||||||
Rashford | MUN | SOT | 41 | 12 | 4 | 70 | 59 | 5 | |||||||||
Ramsey | ARS | WBA | 40 | 17 | 3 | 25 | 22 | 6 | |||||||||
Rodriguez | WBA | ARS | 40 | 14 | 2 | 37 | 30 | 0 | |||||||||
Alonso | CHE | STK | 40 | 14 | 5 | 18 | 16 | 1 | |||||||||
Ritchie | NEW | BHA | 38 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 15 | 5 | |||||||||
Zaha | CPL | MCI | 37 | 14 | 4 | 120 | 98 | 1 | |||||||||
Alli | TOT | #N/A | 37 | 8 | 4 | 69 | 51 | 6 | |||||||||
Silva | MCI | CPL | 36 | 12 | 5 | 33 | 32 | 8 | |||||||||
Son | TOT | #N/A | 36 | 15 | 6 | 55 | 48 | 3 | |||||||||
Calvert-Lewin | EVE | BOU | 36 | 14 | 3 | 32 | 29 | 4 | |||||||||
Jesus | MCI | CPL | 36 | 21 | 8 | 22 | 19 | 2 | |||||||||
Townsend | CPL | MCI | 35 | 8 | 1 | 91 | 78 | 3 | |||||||||
Joselu | NEW | BHA | 35 | 15 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 1 | |||||||||
Hazard | CHE | STK | 34 | 20 | 5 | 101 | 95 | 2 | |||||||||
Pogba | MUN | SOT | 33 | 10 | 3 | 38 | 35 | 5 | |||||||||
Rondón | WBA | ARS | 32 | 11 | 3 | 40 | 36 | 0 | |||||||||
Diouf | STK | CHE | 32 | 8 | 4 | 23 | 16 | 1 | |||||||||
Vardy | LEI | LIV | 32 | 15 | 8 | 42 | 38 | 1 | |||||||||
Pedro | CHE | STK | 31 | 14 | 3 | 25 | 24 | 2 | |||||||||
Jordan Ayew | SWA | WAT | 31 | 9 | 2 | 57 | 51 | 2 | |||||||||
Arnautovic | WHU | #N/A | 30 | 12 | 5 | 32 | 30 | 0 | |||||||||
King (Joshua) | BOU | EVE | 30 | 9 | 2 | 86 | 76 | 2 | |||||||||
Redmond | SOT | MUN | 30 | 9 | 0 | 46 | 43 | 3 | |||||||||
Sane | MCI | CPL | 30 | 12 | 6 | 65 | 62 | 8 | |||||||||
Sigurdsson | EVE | BOU | 29 | 10 | 3 | 20 | 19 | 2 | |||||||||
Abraham | SWA | WAT | 29 | 9 | 4 | 42 | 37 | 1 | |||||||||
Ozil | ARS | WBA | 28 | 9 | 4 | 30 | 29 | 5 | |||||||||
Benteke (Christian) | CPL | MCI | 28 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 12 | 1 | |||||||||
Rooney | EVE | BOU | 27 | 14 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 2 | |||||||||
Gudmundsson | BUR | HUD | 27 | 8 | 0 | 33 | 30 | 5 |
High floor defenders
Player Name | Team | Opponent | Headed shots | shots | interceptions | clearances | tackles | Final 3rd Touches | |||||||||
Bellerín | ARS | WBA | 0 | 21 | 15 | 46 | 43 | 570 | |||||||||
Alonso | CHE | STK | 9 | 40 | 28 | 55 | 46 | 504 | |||||||||
Valencia | MUN | SOT | 0 | 11 | 21 | 56 | 44 | 459 | |||||||||
Bertrand | SOT | MUN | 2 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 30 | 436 | |||||||||
Walker | MCI | CPL | 0 | 7 | 14 | 38 | 33 | 434 | |||||||||
Kolasinac | ARS | WBA | 4 | 15 | 15 | 34 | 40 | 411 | |||||||||
Daniels | BOU | EVE | 0 | 10 | 24 | 65 | 44 | 400 | |||||||||
Trippier | TOT | WHU | 0 | 4 | 8 | 32 | 46 | 382 | |||||||||
Cedric | SOT | MUN | 0 | 13 | 12 | 54 | 34 | 343 | |||||||||
Davies (Ben) | TOT | WHU | 0 | 13 | 9 | 38 | 29 | 331 | |||||||||
Holebas | WAT | SWA | 0 | 9 | 19 | 47 | 40 | 327 | |||||||||
Olsson | SWA | WAT | 0 | 8 | 16 | 54 | 30 | 325 | |||||||||
Moses | CHE | STK | 1 | 15 | 9 | 17 | 25 | 319 | |||||||||
Naughton | SWA | WAT | 0 | 6 | 40 | 87 | 83 | 312 | |||||||||
Cresswell | WHU | TOT | 0 | 7 | 21 | 62 | 24 | 298 | |||||||||
Smith (Tommy) | HUD | BUR | 0 | 6 | 23 | 50 | 31 | 294 | |||||||||
Gibbs | WBA | ARS | 2 | 8 | 18 | 60 | 29 | 287 | |||||||||
Femenía | WAT | SWA | 0 | 4 | 25 | 25 | 35 | 285 | |||||||||
Masuaku | WHU | TOT | 0 | 7 | 15 | 20 | 51 | 278 | |||||||||
Milner | LIV | LEI | 0 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 42 | 270 | |||||||||
Azpilicueta | CHE | STK | 1 | 7 | 26 | 70 | 58 | 261 | |||||||||
Zabaleta | WHU | TOT | 0 | 0 | 37 | 83 | 86 | 255 | |||||||||
Schlupp | CPL | MCI | 2 | 14 | 20 | 64 | 64 | 249 | |||||||||
Robertson | LIV | LEI | 0 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 13 | 244 | |||||||||
Pieters | STK | CHE | 0 | 0 | 38 | 51 | 56 | 241 |
High Ceiling central defenders
Player Name | Team | Opponent | Headed shots | shots | interceptions | clearances | tackles | Final 3rd Touches | |||||||||
Duffy | BHA | NEW | 12 | 14 | 28 | 161 | 21 | 51 | |||||||||
Mee | BUR | HUD | 12 | 14 | 24 | 140 | 32 | 37 | |||||||||
Dann | CPL | MCI | 11 | 19 | 24 | 98 | 21 | 57 | |||||||||
Otamendi | MCI | CPL | 10 | 23 | 31 | 64 | 44 | 140 | |||||||||
Tarkowski | BUR | HUD | 10 | 12 | 30 | 146 | 41 | 43 | |||||||||
Shawcross | STK | CHE | 10 | 15 | 17 | 121 | 23 | 33 | |||||||||
Alonso | CHE | STK | 9 | 40 | 28 | 55 | 46 | 504 | |||||||||
van Dijk | SOT | MUN | 8 | 11 | 29 | 81 | 12 | 53 | |||||||||
Yoshida | SOT | MUN | 8 | 18 | 31 | 91 | 22 | 48 | |||||||||
Clark | NEW | BHA | 8 | 9 | 10 | 104 | 20 | 39 | |||||||||
Williams (Ashley) | EVE | BOU | 8 | 10 | 30 | 136 | 27 | 22 | |||||||||
Dunk | BHA | NEW | 7 | 15 | 37 | 116 | 36 | 52 | |||||||||
Hegazi | WBA | ARS | 7 | 9 | 33 | 147 | 44 | 46 | |||||||||
Aké | BOU | EVE | 7 | 9 | 27 | 138 | 38 | 38 | |||||||||
Lascelles | NEW | BHA | 7 | 8 | 11 | 89 | 15 | 30 | |||||||||
Mawson | SWA | WAT | 7 | 10 | 12 | 136 | 22 | 29 | |||||||||
Kabasele | WAT | SWA | 6 | 7 | 27 | 123 | 41 | 34 | |||||||||
Evans | WBA | ARS | 6 | 7 | 31 | 74 | 36 | 29 | |||||||||
Christensen | CHE | STK | 6 | 7 | 18 | 56 | 18 | 23 | |||||||||
Matip | LIV | LEI | 5 | 9 | 24 | 62 | 27 | 45 | |||||||||
Morgan | LEI | LIV | 5 | 7 | 14 | 100 | 27 | 35 | |||||||||
Schindler | HUD | BUR | 5 | 6 | 41 | 134 | 63 | 32 | |||||||||
Fonte | WHU | #N/A | 5 | 8 | 14 | 37 | 15 | 32 | |||||||||
DSanchez | TOT | #N/A | 5 | 7 | 11 | 76 | 28 | 25 | |||||||||
Tomkins | CPL | MCI | 5 | 9 | 27 | 54 | 31 | 23 |