Why you should AVOID last season’s best Premier League defender

Logic tends to go straight out the window in fantasy football.

Points and bragging rights are all that matter, even if it means picking players who are a bit shaky in real life.

Nicolas Otamendi is a prime example.

---

SIGN UP NOW – It’s time to pick your fantasy football team for the new season

---

Fantasy football tips: Why you should avoid Otamendi

While the Argentine defender has a tendency to be a bit rash, he’s a Dream Team favourite and was the highest scoring defender by some distance last season with 223 points.

His combination of free-flowing clean sheets in City’s winning machine, a goal threat from set pieces and high pass completion rate means he ticks most boxes when it comes to fantasy football.

Otamendi scored five times in the Premier League last season

But this season might be a different story.

At the weekend we saw Manchester City sweep Chelsea aside in the Community Shield, but Otamendi was nowhere to be seen on the field.

Pep Guardiola opted for John Stones and Aymeric Laporte as his centre-back pairing and the young duo looked accomplished and easily contained Alvaro Morata.

Laporte and Stones had it all under control

Even when substitutes were made Guardiola elected to bring on Vincent Kompany over Otamendi, leaving the Argentine as an unused substitute.

It was only a friendly but this might give an indication into Guardiola’s centre-back pecking order, with Otamendi way down it.

City are fortunate to have arguably the best squad depth in Europe and will almost certainly rotate across all four competitions this season.

Caught off guard

But it seems you won’t be able to rely on Otamendi as much as last season if Stones and Laporte are the preferred choices.

It leaves 22.8% of Dream Team managers who have selected the Argentine so far with a decision – make a last minute alteration or call Guardiola’s bluff?

---

DREAM TEAM 2018/19 Sign up for the best fantasy football game around here