The Scout takes a close look at the players ranked highly over the last four Gameweeks in the ICT Index.
The Index helps Fantasy Premier League managers look beyond points to determine players' values as FPL assets through their Influence, Creativity and Threat.
Patrick van Aanholt (£5.4m)
The Crystal Palace left-back has been one of the standout creators from defence in recent matches.
Top defenders for ICT Creativity (GW23-26)
| Player | ICT creativity | Chances created | Big chances created | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trippier | 139 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Van Aanholt | 135 | 10 | 4 | 0 |
| Young | 126 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Pereira | 121 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| Rose | 103 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
Leading chance-maker
Van Aanholt has created 10 goalscoring chances for team-mates, more than any other defender.
He also leads the way for big chances created, with four.
A big chance is regarded as a situation where the player receiving the pass is expected to score.
This suggests that the Dutchman has been very unfortunate not to earn any assists over Gameweeks 23 to 26.
Goal threat
His underlying statistics also impress when assessed against his previous performances.
Van Aanholt created a chance every 36 minutes in those recent matches, compared with an average of 102 minutes over Gameweeks 1-22.
He has also boasted a decent goal threat, too.
Indeed, only three other defenders have bettered his five shots on goal.
Van Aanholt has the upcoming schedule to make the most of his attacking potential.
Palace's next seven GW opponents
| GW | Opp | FDR | GW | Opp | FDR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | LEI (A) | 3 | 31 | TOT (A) | 5 |
| 28 | MUN (H) | 4 | 32 | HUD (H) | 2 |
| 29 | BUR (A) | 2 | 33 | NEW (A) | 2 |
| 30 | BHA (H) | 2 | |||
According to the Fixture Difficulty Rankings (FDR), five of his next seven opponents score no more than three.
Owned by only 4.7 per cent of managers, he could be a big differential in defence for the run-in.
Also in this series
Part 1: ICT Analysis: Unbeatable value given by Etheridge
Part 3: ICT Analysis: Chambers offers cut-price solution
Part 4: ICT Analysis: Gross can profit from run-in
Part 5: ICT Analysis: Mane goal threat growing
Part 6: ICT Analysis: Zaha's influence on the rise
Part 7: ICT Analysis: Barnes rivalling Aguero
