Tom Hadley – a one-time world number one in FPL – is the newest addition to our ever-growing team of contributors.
He’ll be providing data-driven articles regularly this season, continuing with this one on defensive contribution points (DefCon).
It’s that time of the week where we go through another defensive contributions (DefCon) update and how we can look to maximise those extra points over the coming weeks.
It’s my job to analyse any trends that are forming from the DefCon assets and the teams they face. This week, I’ve tried to combine both elements to fully understand the whole picture.
Top DefCon performers
Firstly, let’s look through the standout performers after Gameweek 7:
We’re at a point in the season where the data is slowly starting to take shape. I very much expect these names to stay at the top of this leaderboard.
Senesi remains the yardstick despite Gameweek 7 blank
Marcos Senesi (£5.0m) maintains his lead at the top of his charts despite failing to hit the threshold for the first time this season in Gameweek 7.
It’s no cause for concern in the slightest, however. Players won’t bank DefCon points every single week and, in fact, we’ve been lucky to see such inflated numbers so far this season (I’ll come back to that later).
For me, the fact that he hit seven contributions in less than 80 minutes against a Fulham side that hasn’t been amazing DefCon opponents and were playing without a recognised striker – it’s very positive reading.
Regarding Senesi in particular, he still resembles some of the best value in the game – even now at £5.0m. He is an all-action defender and will continue to get DefCon as regularly as anyone. He also has excellent attacking potential, as we saw in his last full season with four goals and five assists.
It’s simple for me: don’t bench Senesi in any game, with the possible exception of Manchester City away. Bournemouth are a solid team capable of clean sheets and, therefore, there’s always a chance of a big haul, just like we saw away at Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 3. His upcoming fixtures aren’t amazing but I still see a high floor for him and it’s always worth playing him with that frequent 3-4 point safety blanket, knowing that you’re covering a possible big haul.
Value at Palace
I’ve said it a few times but the Crystal Palace defenders are simply exceptional value. They lost to Everton two weeks ago but their overall defensive data is superb. I doubt they will concede more than one goal in many games.
They also have the best total DefCon accumulation across their whole team in the league. The defensive, low-possession approach they take should only continue to generate excellent DefCon numbers.
Gameweek 8-13 fixtures: Ranked by DefCon potential
Now, the right-hand side of the leaderboard above incorporates opponent stats and the DefCon points achieved against them.
So, I have used the full opponent DefCon study across each team and combined it with a fixture difficulty ranking for the upcoming matches:
