Fantasy Premier League 2021 – The Top 4 Preview
Chelsea
Fixtures
Attack 34%
Defence 57%
Chelsea could be amazing or terrible this year. A lot of new signings to fix the problems they don’t have, while an ageing centre back is the answer to the problem they do have. Maybe get one of them early days but those fixtures would suggest more of a watch and wait, rather than a pile in.
Main Pick
Timo Werner (FWD, 9.5m)
Last year Chelsea had a free swing under Lampard as he took control under difficult circumstances with the transfer ban. They made it to the Champions League despite recording negative xG delta (expected goals versus actual goals), showing just how good they would be if they had a decent striker to put away those opportunities!
Enter Timo Werner. The German striker scored 28 goals in the Bundesliga and is hotly anticipated to do similar work in the Premier League. It does depend on how well he gels with other newbies Ziyech (and possibly Havertz as well), but signs in preseason are looking good.
Differential Pick
Christian Pulisic (MID, 8.5m)
It must just be that there are shiny, new options at Chelsea. Why else would everybody be ignoring the young American who was SO influential at the end of last season? He got 9 goals and 8 assists in approximately half a season.
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When he came on against Liverpool he literally turned the game around for Chelsea and, as demonstrated by his returns last year, he is a dual-threat capable of scoring and creating goals. We don’t know how Ziyech will adapt, but we know Pulisic has already!
Defensive Pick
Reece James (DEF, 5.0m)
It’s hard to pick a Chelsea defender because they are so bad! In my fixture analysis, they came out as the 3rd easiest fixture when playing away from home!
That is ridiculous for a team in the top 4. It might be something to do with the fact that Kepa has the worst record of any goalkeeper in the league. If you look at the difference between Chelsea’s expected goals conceded versus their actual, they conceded 15 more goals than the expected figure. Even Norwich was only 7.2!
Anyway, if you fancy a defender from Chelsea, Reece James is cheap and occasionally gets an assist. That’s all you’re going to get unless they buy a new keeper.
Must Read. Man United could submit first Sancho bid. light
Steer Clear
Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK, 5.0m)
It says a lot about Kepa that he is a goalkeeper in a top 4 side priced at just 5.0m. As I said above, he has the worst record of any no. 1 goalkeeper in the league, saving just 55.6% of shots (Lloris is top with 82% and the average is around 70%).
Really you should just avoid the whole Chelsea defence, but at least James and Azpi have a chance of an attacking return.