FPL managers, rejoice! We have a new 6’6″ defender in town in a defensively compact team. What does that mean? Clean sheets and scoring threat. That’s exactly what Jake O’Brien brings to the table as Everton signed the Irish centre-back on a four-year deal for £16.4m.
He could potentially be a replacement for the unsettled Jarrad Branthwaite. But if the Englishman decides to stay put, the Toffees could have a defence to watch out for.
Both come with a price of £5m. With a favourable run of fixtures starting with Brighton home, Spurs away and Bournemouth home, there’s potential for some clean sheets.
Everton had 13 clean sheets last season with a run of 4 games without conceding between GW14 and GW17. So picking Jake O’Brien won’t be a bad call, who scored 4 goals last season in Ligue 1 (0.12 xG/90) while chipping in with 2 assists.
Some more defensive developments happened in the USA where Manchester City faced off against Barcelona.
Following a season full of drama and disappointment, the Barcelona squad gathered under their new manager, Hansi Flick, to face Pep Guardiola‘s side in a friendly match.
Despite Barca securing a victory, what stole the show was Josko Gvardiol‘s phenomenal pass which resulted in Nico O’Reilly’s goal.
In the 38th minute, Jack Grealish passed the ball to Gvardiol, who was unmarked. The Croatian then passed it through several Barca players to young O’Reilly, who ended up netting the equaliser. Gvardiol comes in the bracket of premium defenders with his £6m price tag.
The exciting thing about the Croatian is Pep’s use of him as a left-back rather than a centre-back. In 28 games last season, Gvardiol scored 4 goals and 1 assist and, with City’s clean sheet potential, he becomes a player to watch.
Another note-worthy moment for the FPL managers was Haaland‘s substitution. The Norwegian striker scored 2 in 2 before this game but was substituted at half-time. Guardiola cited a valid reason for benching the striker.
During the post-match conference, when Haaland’s topic popped up, Guardiola pulled out one of his favourite lines and said, ‘He had some niggles – so he didn’t feel good and that is why he didn’t play in the second half. He was disturbing something. He didn’t feel comfortable, and we didn’t want to take the risk.’
With just over two weeks to go for the Premier League, Haaland’s ‘niggle’ could massively alter the plans of millions of FPL managers.
The drafts are massively built around Haaland and his £15m price tag, so having him flagged yellow is the last thing anyone needs.
His 27 goals in 31 games along with 5 assists last season earned 73% Haaland owners 217 points from the hitman.
So next season, with his record-breaking price, expectations are, that he’ll be smashing some scoring records to repay the faith. City open their fixtures against Chelsea away, followed by a home game against Ipswich and West Ham away. Since it’s only a ‘niggle’, expect Haaland to start given he doesn’t pick up any further injuries during the Community Shield game next week.
