Ipswich Town FPL: Who To Own, Captain And Avoid

Ipswich's £4.0m defenders: the template has picked the wrong one

About 2 in 10 managers have already bought Leif Davis's team-mate Diop at £4.0m. Our model says they've backed the wrong horse — Davis sits ahead of him on our numbers, projected for around 10 points over the first six gameweeks to Diop's 9-10, at exactly the same price, and only about 1 in 20 have him.

Now for the cold water, because there's plenty. Ipswich's defence ranks among the league's leakiest — 18th of 20 on our prediction — and the opening fixtures do them no favours whatsoever. SUN (H) is winnable, but then it's MUN (A), LIV (H), CRY (A) and EVE (A) before FUL (H) offers some relief. That's a very tough run for clean sheets, and it shows in the projections: no Ipswich defender clears double figures by much across six weeks. These are not players you buy to start. They're players you buy so your bench costs £4.0m and occasionally coughs up two points and an assist.

On that basis, Davis is the pick of them. Same price as Diop and O'Shea, better output on our numbers, and a fraction of the ownership — if your fifth defender ever comes good, you'd rather it wasn't the one everyone owns anyway.

Two other names worth a line. Emersonn at £5.5m is actually the best-projected Ipswich asset over the window — roughly 13-14 points across six — and almost nobody has him (about 1 in 100). Ipswich's attack is mid-table on our numbers and the fixtures are average rather than kind, so he's a punt, not a plan. If you're hunting a cheap forward who plays, he's on the list; just don't expect hauls. Scherpen at £4.5m projects about 12 points, but a £4.5m keeper behind the league's third-worst defence with Liverpool and United in the first three weeks is a save-points lottery. There are calmer lives available.

The call: if you want an Ipswich body — and at £4.0m you might — buy Davis, not Diop, and park him on your bench. Don't start any Ipswich defender until the Fulham game at the earliest. Emersonn is a defensible cheap forward if the budget forces your hand; everyone else here is a pass.