Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are flush with cash in the bank after selling Haaland and are looking to reinvest the money in defence. In this blog, two of the top scoring defenders in the game Trippier and Alexander-Arnold are compared over the last ten Gameweeks using the Fix Heatmaps feature.

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As the above image from our Fix Heatmaps feature shows, Alexander-Arnold (67) has outscored Trippier (37) by 28 FPL points over the last 10 Gameweeks. Trippier played one game less due to his suspension in Gameweek 17 but Alexander-Arnold's average of 6.7 FPL points per game compared to just 4.3 for Trippier is very impressive.

The underlying numbers for goal threat are very much in Alexander-Arnold's favour, he has scored two goals compared to none for Tripiper and has taken 19 shots compared to the Newcastle man's four. However, Alexander-Arnold's total 'Expected Goals' (xG) tally across the 10 matches is 0.81, thats an average of 0.08 per match which indicates that most of these attempts are speculative anyway.

It is a bit closer when it comes to creativity, Alexander-Arnold has attempted 30 assists to Trippier's 23 and has created nearly double the number of 'big chances' (BC) (five vs nine) but Trippier has registered three assists compared to just one for the former.

Who has the better Fixtures?

As the above image from our Fixture Planner shows, Newcastle are ranked fifth for Fixture Difficulty over the next six Gameweeks with the Gameweek 18 and 19 fixtures looking promising, they then have a difficult run of three games where they play Liverpool, Man. City and Villa before the run improves again from Gameweek 23. Liverpool are ranked 12th, they play Arsenal in Gameweek 18 and 23 along with Chelsea and Newcastle in Gameweek 22 and 20 and Bournemouth in 21 does not look great for clean sheets neither. Trippier has the better fixtures on paper.

What do the Projections say?

As the above image from our Fix Algorithm shows, Alexander-Arnold (28.9) and Trippier (26.5) are projected to be the top two scoring defenders over the next six Gameweeks. If looking to buy this week, Trippier probably has a better entry point against Luton with Liverpool playing the league leaders Arsenal at Anfield.

Based on this analysis, both defenders look like excellent options but the data indicates that Alexander-Arnold could justify the extra outlay.

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