David Raya, Arsenal, keeper, £5.6m – home to Southampton
This is the second of Arsenal’s plum home games in a row and, despite last week’s disappointment, they are the team most likely to keep a clean sheet in gameweek seven.
Taking Raya is a hefty investment, but he has been worth it this season with three clean sheets and also six bonus points.
Riccardo Calafiori, Arsenal, defender, £5.8m – home to Southampton
Doubling up on Arsenal’s defence feels like a safe bet.
It’s a small sample size, but in Calafiori’s two starts for Arsenal, he has a higher expected goals number (xG) than goal machine Gabriel (0.26 to 0.21).
The Italian scored a cracker at Manchester City and is averaging a couple of shots per game he starts. He’s also had more touches in the box than any other Gunners defender in the past two games.
Rico Lewis, Manchester City, defender, £4.7m – home to Fulham
Speaking of touches in the box, Lewis leads that statistic for City and for just £4.7m he feels like an FPL cheat code, with a decent chance of an attacking return.
The flip side is you never know who Pep Guardiola is going to play on any given week in defence, but Rodri’s absence makes Lewis’ involvement against Fulham feel a bit more likely.
At the price, Lewis owners can make sure they have a decent fourth defender in case he stays on the bench.
Max Kilman, West Ham, defender, £4.5m – home to Ipswich
A budget defender at home to the team with the lowest xG so far this season – makes sense, right?
Kilman is a threat from corners – he scored twice last season for Wolves and has had two headers on target so far this term.
Team-mate Konstantinos Mavropanos has been more threatening from set-pieces this season, but he didn’t start the last game.
New signing Jean-Clair Todibo should eventually become Kilman’s defensive partner and he will make West Ham’s defence better.