Wolves’ strong start to the season has made their defenders must-have properties in Fantasy Premier League.
The promoted side have adapted seamlessly to life in the top flight, recording three wins in their first eight games as well as drawing with both Manchester City and Manchester United.
They also have three clean sheets, with Everton on the opening day the only side to score more than once against them, meaning they can provide defensive value for your fantasy team.
City’s Ederson is the only goalkeeper with more points than Rui Patricio – and costs over £1million more – while Matt Doherty, Willy Boly and Jonny Otto all feature in the top 10 defenders.
There is more to planning your transfer strategy than simply points totals, though, including budget restrictions and the desire to steal a march on your rivals in your mini-league by finding the under-the-radar gems.
With that in mind, Press Association Sport has created a “Transfer Score” for each player based on form over the last six games, cost and ownership percentage.
It is weighted in favour of the form ranking, where Chelsea’s Eden Hazard scores a maximum 99 having averaged 11 points per game.
For the other categories, low cost and ownership is desirable and therefore translates into the highest rating – so Liverpool star Mohamed Salah’s mammoth £12.8m price tag means a score of zero.
The three ratings are then combined to produce the transfer score, where Doherty leads the way on 79.
The full-back rates at 74 in form with an average of 8.2 points per game, while his £4.8m price tag earns a mark of 89 and he is owned by 13.5 per cent of managers for a rating of 86.
Hazard is the second most-owned player in the league after Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero, scoring 50 points on that front having been selected by over 49 per cent of managers, while his £11.3m price tag scores him 16 – but the weighting towards form means an overall transfer score of 73.
Boly, Jonny and Patricio all score 70 – they have not piled up the points as heavily as Doherty but have lower ownership percentages – while Bournemouth’s Josh King is the top striker pick.
The Norway international has provided a useful 6.5 points per game at £6.4m, and crucially appears in just 5.5 per cent of teams.
Everton playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson, Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette and Manchester City pair Aymeric Laporte and Kyle Walker complete the top 10 – narrowly preventing Conor Coady adding to the Wolves defensive contingent.
