FPL tips: Crystal Palace make case for the defence

Crystal Palace’s defence offers strong differential potential for the Fantasy Premier League run-in.

Joachim Andersen starred in a 3-0 win over Arsenal last time out which extended the Eagles’ unbeaten run to five games with only two goals conceded.

And the PA news agency’s Transfer Score system – combining form, cost, ownership and fixture difficulty (FDR) – sees the appeal of Patrick Vieira’s side in the coming weeks.

Palace have kept three successive clean sheets and conceded no more than once in any of their last eight games.

That is a recommendation for any of their reasonably-priced defenders – as well as keeper Vicente Guaita – especially with a reasonably favourable run-in.

Andersen’s league-high transfer score of 93 is inflated by his two assists against Arsenal last time out, which is unlikely to recur week-to-week – even if he did also achieve the feat against Burnley in gameweek 12, his only previous assists this season.

Similarly, Wolves full-back Jonny should not be counted on to keep his scoring run going – but strikes against Leeds and Aston Villa have added to an impressive comeback from his long-term injury and rank him second among defenders this week on 77, a point ahead of Liverpool’s Joel Matip. Guaita (79) is comfortably our top goalkeeper.

While Manchester United’s overall form has not markedly improved under interim manager Ralf Rangnick, one unquestioned beneficiary can be found in the engine room.

Fred, priced at £4.9million, now ranks behind only the £11.6m Bruno Fernandes among United midfielders in fantasy points this season, outscoring the likes of Jadon Sancho, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford.

The Brazilian has three of his four goals this season, three of five assists and seven of eight