Who is the best replacement for injured Hall in FPL?

Lewis Hall’s (£5.0m) foot injury is set to shake up millions of managers’ plans in Fantasy Premier League.

Hall missed Newcastle United's FA Cup fifth-round tie against Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend due to a foot injury, and the club have now announced he will miss the rest of the season.

The left-back is currently found in 21 per cent of teams, and heavy sales are expected ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 GMT deadline for Gameweek 28.

When looking for a replacement, managers should be planning ahead for Blank Gameweek 29 (BGW29) when Liverpool, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa are all without a Premier League fixture, with their players scoring zero points in Fantasy. 

With that in mind, The Scout highlights some of the best defenders to bring in.

Who's getting the most points per match?

Hall ranks ninth for points scored by defenders this season.

He has registered 102 points and has averaged 4.1 points per start (pps).

This is the same as Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol (£5.9m), Arsenal's William Saliba (£6.2m), Crystal Palace's Daniel Munoz (£5.0m), AFC Bournemouth's Dean Huijsen (£4.5m) and Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah (£4.4m). 

Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m) has returned 5pps this season. Alexander-Arnold has registered 12 clean sheets, two goals and six assists, giving him a total of 20 returns this season – more than any other defender in the game.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest duo Neco Williams (£4.4m) and Nikola Milenkovic (£4.8m) have averaged 4.2 and 4.0pps respectively.

Williams and Huijsen are the cheapest defenders discussed in this article and have offered great value for money. Williams has returned 17.5 points for every million spent, while Huijsen has returned 15.6 points per million. 

Selected defenders for points per start

Who offers the greatest attacking threat?

Alexander-Arnold is the most creative of the defenders in Fantasy this season. The Liverpool man has created 49 chances for his team-mates. Of those, 14 have been classified as big chances - situations where the player is expected to score. That total is also more than any other defender.

However, at £7.4m he is £2.4m more expensive than Hall, and he also doesn't have a fixture in BGW29. 

Fulham’s Antonee Robinson (£5.0m) is the same price as Hall and has a fixture in BGW29, at home against Tottenham Hotspur. He is the No 1 defender for assists this season, with 10.  

Spurs' Pedro Porro (£5.3m) has also ranked highly in the attacking stats this season. The right-back has created 41 chances for his team-mates, creating a chance every 54 minutes. Of the defenders who start regularly, only Alexander-Arnold and Ipswich Town's Leif Davis (£4.3m) have created a chance more often. 

Gvardiol leads the way when it comes to getting big chances. The Croat has been supplied with 10 such opportunities this season and has converted 14.7 per cent of his 34 shots, scoring five goals. Only Porro has had more attempts on goal this season among defenders, with 35.

Munoz also ranks highly for goal threat this season. Of his 26 attempts on goal, eight have been classified as big chances. But like Alexander-Arnold, Munoz does not have a fixture in BGW29. 

Selected defenders for attacking threat

Who offers the greatest clean-sheet potential?

When targeting clean sheets, the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR) can be useful for determining which teams have the nicest, and trickiest, fixture runs. Fixtures are rated from one to five, with one being the easiest possible and five being the hardest possible.

Over the next four Gameweeks, Bournemouth have three matches ranked as two in the FDR: Brentford (H), Ipswich (H) and West Ham United (A). This could make the likes of Huijsen or Milos Kerkez (£5.0m) good investments, depending on budget implications. 

ALL of Wolverhampton Wanderers' next four fixtures score two in the FDR: Everton (H), Southampton (A), West Ham (H) and Ipswich (A).

Moving from Hall to another Newcastle defender is also an option as the Magpies face three teams ranked at two over the next four Gameweeks: West Ham (A), Brentford (H) and Leicester City (A). 

However, Newcastle don't play in BGW29, so unless you are planning to use your Free Hit chip that week, investing in the Magpies is not recommended. 

Palace's next two fixtures rank as a two in the FDR: Ipswich (H) and Southampton (A). However, in between those matches is Blank Gameweek 29 where they don't have a match, which will be off-putting for managers who aren't planning to use the Free Hit chip. 

For managers looking to play their Wildcard in Gameweek 30, investing in Everton or Spurs could be wise. This would allow managers to own the likes of James Tarkowski (£4.9m) for the matches that rank easier in the FDR against Wolves (A) and West Ham (H), and then sell him ahead of the tougher matches against Liverpool (A) and Arsenal (H). 

Selected clubs' fixtures over next four Gameweeks

So, who is the best Hall replacement?

As always with these decisions, it ultimately comes down to who's currently in your squad and your tactical approach.

If you're looking to Free-Hit in Blank Gameweek 29 then investing in a Crystal Palace defender such as Munoz makes sense. You would then have him in your team ready for Palace's Double Gameweek 32, when they play TWICE, away against Man City and Newcastle. 

However, if you intend to play through BGW29 without the Free Hit chip - just using your free transfers - then investing in the likes of Robinson, Huijsen, Kerkez, Porro or Gvardiol makes more sense. This would give managers an extra player who has a fixture in BGW29. 

For those managers who looking to play their Wildcard straight after BGW29, Tarkowski or Wolves' Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.7m) are good short-term picks for the next two weeks only.