5 Replacements for Ben Chilwell on Fantasy Premier League

4) Ruben Dias (6.0, Manchester City)
Next 5 fixtures: WHU, AVL, WAT, WOL, LEE

The Portuguese centre back is lower down on my list than he would’ve been a few weeks ago. An unexpected benching last time out against Everton suggests that with 4 fit centre backs available to Pep, Dias isn’t as secure in his start spot as was previously expected and picking Joao Cancelo ahead of him as City defender of choice should be a straightforward decision.

Nonetheless, Dias could be expected to play 3 in every 4 City games; City are still the best defensive team in the league in terms of their underlying metrics and they have a decent fixture run over their next 8.

Managers going big at the back might consider doubling up on City’s defence with Dias, in the knowledge that he might see some rotation and has minimal offensive threat. But City will always be near the top of the clean sheet odds and he does decently well on bonus points.

He’s not an “exciting” pick but he remains good value. Speculatively, I did think that the magnetic ability of Jack Grealish to draw free kicks might benefit the centre backs and if that proves to be the case, Dias might be one to prosper.