Traditionally, defenders have always enjoyed the least attention when it comes to the Fantasy Premier League.
This is probably because goal involvement by defenders was sporadic and their only other source of major points was clean sheets, which is a team effort rather than an individual accolade.
Furthermore, defenders are liable to pick up yellow and red cards, which gets you negative points instead of the minimum 2 points received when a player plays at least 60 minutes of a match.
However, this trend changed with first, Marcos Alonso, the Spanish full-back who was a constant threat at goal in Conte’s Chelsea and a free-kick taker.
Everton full-back Leighton Baines too was a free-kick maestro but never enjoyed the “premium” treatment received by Alonso in FPL.
Following in Alonso’s footsteps have been two marauding Liverpool fullbacks Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
These two have reinvented the fullback position lately, making the position more attack-oriented than ever before. This attacking mindset has led to more assists and goals from the two.
This, coupled with Liverpool’s solidity at the back, means the two players routinely rack up clean sheet points plus some attack points plus some bonus points.
Man City full-back Joao Cancelo is another of the same mould but is less preferred as he is susceptible to being rotated out by Pep.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was the best defender last year when it came to goal involvement with 2 goals and 12 assists leading to 208 FPL points.
These stats, in fact, is better than a lot of forwards and midfielders plying their trade in the Premier League.
These stats have also led to an FPL price of £7.5M, the highest for a defender.
Spending so much on a player means the FPL managers have to make trade-offs elsewhere, settling for a sub-par midfield or forward line.
So when Trent managed only 1, 3 and 0 points in the first three games of this season, FPL managers were naturally upset and looked for a change.
As many as 495,647 FPL managers transferred out Trent in favour of a cheaper defender so they could balance the team out in other areas.
But, and to quote William Shakespeare, “How poor are they that have not patience!”, ask any FPL manager who has been playing for a few years, and they will tell you to never trade your marquee player based on a few poor performances.
A player does not forget how to play football overnight, as Trent showed this week with a points haul of 17 points! Liverpool thrashed A.F.C. Bournemouth 9-0, with Trent recording 1 goal, 1 assist, a clean sheet and 2 bonus points.
His weekly points total was only equalled by teammate Roberto Firmino (£8.0M) and rival player Haaland (£11.8M), who are both forwards.
Liverpool now faces Newcastle, Everton, Wolves, Chelsea and Brighton in the next five games and can expect to keep a clean sheet in at least 3 if not more matches, meaning more points for FPL darling Trent.
So the question we want to ask those 495,647 managers who transferred out Trent: Have you transferred him back in yet?
