Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel had cemented a position for himself at centre back with a series of solid performances this season, but now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after injuring ligaments in his right knee.
Bad news for Liverpool, but great news for fantasy premier league managers. Liverpool defenders, long avoided because of Rafa’s rotation policy are now great bargain buys.
Managers who own Arsenal’s Gallas, Clichy, Sagna, or Toure would be crazy not to swap out one of those four high-priced (6.5M) options for Daniel Agger (5.9M). Sami Hyypia (5.3M) could steal a few of the Dane’s starts at the back, but Agger will clearly be first choice to replace Skrtel.
Agger will differentiate fantasy managers from their competitors (who are more likely to own Glen Johnson, Vincent Kompany, or even Verdan Corluka in this price range) and will bring solid returns.
Do you Agger-ee?
Related posts:
It’s important to note that Liverpool are at Chelsea and then face Portsmouth in 2 of their next 3 matches… so perhaps clean sheets will be hard to come by..
Agger’s stats this season thus far…2 starts, 1 goal scored, team conceded 1 goal. Agger and also Sami offer a goal threat in attack that Skrtel and certainly Carragher don’t.
…also, your allegiance to Pompey aside, but I’m not afraid
Arbeloa has started every game so far, and can be had for 6.0. Might be the safer choice until Agger proves he’s back. Then again, I vaguely remember a similar situation in the past when I picked him up… and he was suddenly rotated every other game. But Rotation Rafa does seem to have (finally) learned his lesson, and the lineup has been remarkably consistent so far. No guarantees, of course.
Yes Agger is an excellent fantasy player when in the team. I just think that over the next few weeks we will see that Man City defenders are the value play and more than comparable to liverpool’s and arsenal’s defenders in points hauls week in week out, so it may pay to start quietly stacking up on 2 to 3 of them and spend the change on pressing your midfield.