What to do with our Wolves defenders
Wolves have kept 11 clean sheets this season. They are the only team outside of the top five to have returned more than 10 clean sheets. However, with Rayan Ait Nouri seeming to have lost his place in the starting XI and mixed fixtures for the run-in should FPL managers buy, hold or sell Wolves defenders?
Rayan Ait Nouri has only started twice in the last seven matches for Wolves in the Premier League. This will be disappointing for the FPL managers who thought he was a greta cheap option between Gameweeks 22 and 26 where he started all six fixtures. With Ait Nouri now not guaranteed to start and the Wolves defence not keeping clean sheets as regularly as they were what should FPL managers do with the Wolves defenders?
Rayan Ait Nouri
With Ait Nouri seemingly having lost his place he is an easy sell for FPL managers. At £4.3m FPL managers have a number of other options that they could look at in the same price tag. The Fantasy Football Scout fixture ticker can be sorted by defence and this gives an insight in to the best defences to invest in.
Chelsea defensive options will cost substantially more than Ait Nouri. However, Leicester sit second in the ticker. Daniel Amartey is cheaper than Wolves’ Ait Nouri, however for managers who have more budget to spent players like James Justin could be a good differential.
Conor Coady
Conor Coady is a different proposition to Ait Nouri. As captain Coady is not a rotation headache like his teammate. He also has some goal threat as we saw in Gameweek 29 when he returned a 14 point haul for a clean sheet, a goal and all three bonus points.
In Gameweek 34 Coady plays Burnley. Wolves kept a clean sheet in the reverse of this fixture earlier on in the season. Burnley have also failed to score in five of their last six Premier League matches which suggests that Wolves could return clean sheet points.
After Burnley Coady and Wolves face Brighton. Coady registered eight points in the reverse of this fixture earlier on this season.
For FPL managers who own Coady, holding him for the next two Gameweeks seems a wise decision.
Jose Sa
Like Coady, Jose Sa is one of the first on the Wolves team sheets every week. This means that he is also likely to keep clean sheets over the next two Gameweeks.
Sa has made 108 saves so far this season, the third best for goalkeepers across the League. Meaning that he is likely to pick up additional save points over the course of the run-in. With 137 points so far this season only one goalkeeper, Alisson, has more points than the Wolves shot stopper.
Jose Sa is a player to hold, at least for Gameweeks 34 and 35.
The other Wolves defenders
LiveFPL gives us an insight in to the ownership stats for players by managers in the top 10k.
Only two Wolves defenders and goalkeeper Sa are owned by over 10% of managers in the top 10k. Holding Coady and Sa for the next two Gameweeks is wise. However what should managers do with the likes of Roman Saiss, Max Kilman, Jonny and Semedo?
Managers invested in Ki-Jana Hoever and Nelson Semedo likely should sell ahead of the run in. However is injured and with Semedo having not played since Gameweek 26 as a result of injury they could be exchanged for FPL assets who are starting for their sides.
Roman Saiss dropped in price in FPL last week as a result of his failure to start the last two matches. Sadly he now appears to be a rotation risk and therefore a problem for his FPL owners. For £4.9m there are plenty of reliable starters who FPL managers could invest in instead.
Max Kilman has only missed two games all season and since his return from injury Jonny has returned to being an integral part of the Wolves defence. Jonny’s four returns in his last five games make him an easy hold, especially with back-to-back goals in Gameweeks 30 and 31.
Overall
Wolves have been a good defensive unit to invest in this season, even if they haven’t kept as many clean sheets as FPL managers would have liked in recent weeks. The next two games look promising for the Wolves defence so what should FPL managers do?
Buy – If FPL managers want to invest in Wolves over the next two Gameweeks Jonny and Sa seem the best investments to ensure maximum potential FPL points.
Hold – Managers who own Jonny, Coady, Sa and Kilman should look to hold their investments ahead of nice fixtures against Burnley and Brighton in Gameweeks 34 and 35. .
Sell – Ait Nouri and Saiss are now proving themselves to be a rotation worry for FPL managers. Meanwhile Semedo and Hoever can be sold as a result of injury worries and lack of fitness. As a result these players could be moved sideways to Jonny or managers could look to teams such as Leicester, Aston Villa and Palace who offer cheaper options with good defensive fixtures for the run-in.
Wondering what to expect from the Gameweek 34 fixtures? Check out our recent article.
