Brighton FPL Gameweek 21: Making the case for the Albion’s defence
The rollercoaster that is supporting Brighton & Hove Albion continued in FPL gameweek 20 when the Seagulls defence kept another clean sheet but their strikers failed to fire as Fulham escaped the Amex with a 0-0 draw.
Brighton managed 16 shots, 12 from inside the box, three big chances and had 10 corners against the Cottagers. They did everything but put the ball in the back of the net as yet again a good performance did not return three points.
Whilst Brighton fans might have been disappointed with Wednesday night’s outcome, there was a lot to like for FPL managers looking for potential assets – especially when it comes to the Albion’s defence and goalkeeper.
Defiant defending
Brighton defenders dominated the points during gameweek 20, returning a clean sheet for their FPL managers for the second match running as well as ranking highly in the Bonus Points System (BPS).
Joel Veltman (£4.4 million) and Ben White (£4.3 million) both picked up eight points against Fulham from the clean sheet and two bonus points each.
Last season’s WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Season Lewis Dunk (£4.8 million) and Robert Sanchez (£4.4 million) owners were unlucky not to see their players pick up bonus points too.
Maty Ryan (£4.2 million) moving to Arsenal has confirmed Robert Sanchez as the Albion’s number one going forward and that means that FPL managers can select Sanchez knowing he will be starting every week.
At just £4.4 million and with two clean sheets and two additional save points from his last three Premier League appearances, Sanchez looks like a great FPL option – especially for those managers rotating goalkeepers.
With two difficult fixtures to come against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in gameweeks 21 and 22, Sanchez looks likely to pick up further save points.
If he can keep out the Premier League’s most potent duo in Son Heung-min (£9.7 million) and Harry Kane (£11.3 million), then he will be high in the BPS too.
Opposition Weaknesses
Brighton host a Spurs side who will travel to the Amex without their first choice left-back in Sergio Reguilon (£5.7 million) who has picked up a muscle injury which will see him miss the next few weeks.
This could provide an opportunity for the likes of Pascal Groß (£5.8 million) and Neal Maupay (£6.1 million) to exploit a potential weakness in the usually solid Spurs defence.
FPL managers looking for a differential option could go for 3.3% owned Maupay, who has registered two goals in his last four Premier League games and could have had a hat-trick in the 0-0 draw against Fulham with a little more composure.
Captain Fantastic
There are some great options for the captain’s armband this week. A Manchester City side missing Kevin De Bruyne (£11.9 million) host Sheffield United.
Even on the back of the Blades’ victory over Manchester United, this match looks prime for a captain from City. Ilkay Gündogan (£5.7 million) has registered back-to-back double-digit hauls as well as retuning in five of his last six Premier League games.
James Rodriguez (£7.7 million) lines up for Everton against Newcastle, who have conceded in all of their last five Premier League matches.
10 goals have flown into the Toon Army net in that period and Rodriguez looks well set to exploit Newcastle’s defensive weaknesses having scored his first Premier League goal since returning from injury in Gameweek 20.
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