The most-owned defender in Fantasy Premier League, Gabriel (£6.4m), has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a hamstring injury against Fulham in midweek.
The Arsenal centre-back is owned by almost a third of Fantasy managers, sitting in 31 per cent of squads, and is the seventh most-popular player in the game overall.
The Scout is here to help, picking out the best replacements ahead of the Gameweek 31 deadline on Saturday 5 April at 11:00 BST.
Josko Gvardiol (Man City) £6.1m
None of Manchester City's remaining matches score any higher than three in the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR).
Man City's remaining matches
| GW | Opp. | FDR* |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Man Utd (A) | 3 |
| 32 | Crystal Palace (H) | 3 |
| 33 | Everton (A) Aston Villa (H) |
3 3 |
| 34 | BLANK | N/A |
| 35 | Wolves (H) | 2 |
| 36 | Southampton (A) | 2 |
| 37 | Bournemouth (H) | 3 |
| 38 | Fulham (A) | 3 |
*Fixture Difficulty Ratings: 5= hardest possible match, 1= easiest possible match
With a Double Gameweek 33 (DGW33) coming up, Gvardiol could be a great addition - especially for those managers who can navigate Man City's lack of a Premier League fixture in Blank Gameweek 34 (BGW34), perhaps with the Free Hit chip.
Among defenders, Gvardiol is top for goals scored (five), shots in the box (28), penalty-area touches (85) and big chances (10).
William Saliba (Arsenal) £6.3m
A sideways move from Gabriel to his long-time central defensive partner could pay dividends.
Assured of minutes, Saliba similarly has a DGW33 to look forward to over the coming weeks.
Again, prospective and existing owners will have to negotiate BGW34, when Arsenal are without a Premier League match.
The Gunners have conceded the fewest Premier League goals this season, with just 25.
At the other end of the pitch, Saliba may not seem like the biggest threat, with just five shots to his name. But four of those have come on the rare occasions when Gabriel has not been on the pitch, suggesting Saliba could profit from being the main set-piece target in the Brazilian's absence.
Kieran Trippier (Newcastle) £5.6m
For Fantasy managers who do not have their Free Hit chip, a Newcastle United defender is a solid pick.
The Magpies are the only club who will have a Double Gameweek and NO Blank Gameweek in the final two months.
Eddie Howe's side play twice in Double Gameweek 32 (DGW32). Before then, they travel to a Leicester City side on Monday that haven't scored a single goal between Gameweeks 24-30.
In the absence of Lewis Hall (£4.8m) through injury, Trippier has come back into favour at Newcastle.
Trippier collected eight points in Gameweek 28 and then assisted Dan Burn's (£4.4m) header in the EFL Cup final.
Daniel Munoz (Crystal Palace) £5.1m
TWO Double Gameeks for Crystal Palace make the Colombian a must-have in Fantasy right now.
Granted, the fixtures are not ideal for clean-sheet prospects. Of the 10 top-scoring teams in the league, Palace face eight of them over Gameweeks 31-38.
But as we've seen recently, Munoz is more than capable of delivering at the other end of the pitch.
He ranks second among defenders for shots in the box (27) and big chances (nine) and is also joint-eighth for chances created, with 33.
The wing-back has delivered 53 points in his last nine starts, blanking on just two occasions.
Lucas Digne (Aston Villa) £4.5m
Aston Villa's left-back also has a DGW33 on the horizon, which is immediately preceded by a visit to Southampton.
Digne has helped Villa to back-to-back clean sheets, while also chipping in with an assist across his last four outings.
A share of set-pieces has helped the Frenchman's output this season.
Digne has created 13 big chances - situations where the player is expected to score - which places him second among defenders in Fantasy.
