Who to pick in FPL Challenge as defensive actions earn EXTRA points

This week's "Ball Winners" challenge is something I’m feeling quietly confident about. This "should" mean central defenders and defensive midfielders, who don’t usually get much Fantasy limelight, really get their chance to shine. So I’m going to need to start my selection by looking at some historical data from last season, as well as current form.

When it comes to interceptions last season, Fulham’s Antonee Robinson (£4.7m) topped the list, with 80, ahead of AFC Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook (£5.0m), Everton duo James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite (both £4.8m), along with Brentford’s Christian Norgaard (£4.8m), Declan Rice (£6.3m) of Arsenal and Spurs defender Cristian Romero (£5.1m). 

Robinson has continued those impressive numbers this season, delivering another 10 interceptions already, although he is a little way down the charts, with Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m), in Arne Slot’s new-look Liverpool side, delivering 16 so far, just ahead of Man Utd trio Lisandro Martinez (£4.5m), Kobbie Mainoo (£5.2m) and Diogo Dalot (£5.1m), with 15, 14 and 12 respectively. 

When it comes to tackles, Robinson finished eighth last season, with 93. The likes of Liverpool’s Alexis McAllister (£6.3m), Joao Gomes (£4.9m) of Wolves, Spurs' Pedro Porro (£5.5m) and Arsenal’s Rice all featured highly.

Many familiar names appear in this season's stats. Wolves duo Joao Gomes and Mario Lemina (£5.0m) have both registered 3.5 tackles per match. Robinson also features highly, with 22, as do Cook, Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell (£4.9m), Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo (£4.9m) and Wilfred Ndidi (£5.0m) of Leicester City.

The last way to earn extra points is through ball recoveries, with players earning one point for every three accrued. Unsurprisingly, this is an area that’s dominated by goalkeepers, with Everton’s Jordan Pickford (£4.8m) way out ahead on 350 for last season (an average of nine per game, equating to three extra points in this week's challenge), ahead of Bernd Leno (£5.0m), Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m), Jose Sa (£4.3m), Mark Flekken (£4.5m), Guglielmo Vicario (£5.0m) and Andre Onana (£5.0m). From an outfield perspective, Robinson, Bruno Guimaraes (£6.3m) and Cook all featured alongside William Saliba (£6.0m), Norgaard and Mitchell. 

Armed with all that data, but also bearing in mind the need to factor in "standard" points for goals, assists and clean sheets, I’ve managed to create what I believe will be a winning five-man team. The other factor that has gone into this filtering is of course the fixtures themselves - for instance, while Wolves have many players that feature prominently in my research, they have conceded lots of goals this season, and a match at home to Manchester City hardly feels the best time to go maverick with these picks!

My first selection is Robinson. The Fulham full-back features highly in all the metrics that will earn extra points this week. The fact that he offers attacking threat and has also weighed in with a couple of assists doesn’t hurt!

Everton may have started the season poorly, but after a clean sheet last time out, I’m seeing signs of a return to the form that saw their defenders top multiple charts last season, so I definitely want a representative for their trip to Ipswich. The choice for me was between Pickford, Tarkwoski and Branthwaite. Ultimately, recency bias and his position at the top of last season’s "recoveries" table pushed me towards Pickford, who will also be my captain.

Likewise, while Manchester United have not been in great attacking form this season, their defensive stats are actually pretty impressive, so Onana was a close second for my goalkeeper spot. But in the end, I’ve gone for Dalot. The Portuguese full-back not only features well for interceptions and tackles, but he is currently one of the top five scoring defenders in FPL and capable of assists and bonus points, too. Palace's Mitchell just misses out on a place in my team.

My midfield position was the hardest to pick. For the main FPL game, I’d really want the likes of Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) or Cole Palmer (£10.8m) this week but, in the spirit of this week's challenge, I’m actually going to go for a more defensive asset. I considered both Rice and Thomas Partey (£5.0m) from Arsenal and Bournemouth’s Cook, while had Rodri (£6.3m) been fit, he may have made the line-up. But ultimately, I’m opting for Bruno Guimaraes. The Newcastle talisman features well in my research for tackles, clearances and interceptions, plus can also weigh in with the odd goal and assist, and I fancy the match against Brighton to be open and attacking.

For the final selection, I have reminded myself that regular points are also still on offer, so while I am tempted by Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye (£5.4m), who does wade in with more tackles than most forwards. But ultimately, I can’t look beyond Man City’s Erling Haaland (£15.4m) up front this week against a Wolves defence that has conceded 21 goals this season, more than any other side.