Who To Pick From Fulham

Drafting from Fulham

Twenty-three players, and not one Englishman among the best five: Bernd Leno of Germany, Antonee Robinson of the United States, Calvin Bassey of Nigeria, Joachim Andersen of Denmark, Sander Berge of Norway. Five men, five passports. England is technically the biggest bloc in the squad at four players out of 23, and none of them are anywhere near the top of it. Fulham sit fifteenth on a power rating of 79 with the smallest squad in the game, and a spread of five says the drop past that front rank is steep.

Two players are rated 82, and they are the dilemma: Leno in goal and Robinson at left back. Take Robinson. Left back is the position drafts forget about until there is one slot left and nothing decent to put in it, and an 82 there is a rarer object than an 82 goalkeeper, where good enough really is good enough. It is also the department Fulham do best, two left backs averaging 79 being their strongest group, so you are taking their speciality rather than picking at the edges. And the American link is a lane almost nobody else on the wheel can serve you; if you want it at all, this is where you get it.

What you give up is a settled defence rather than a star. Bassey and Andersen at 80 each are two-thirds of a centre-back partnership you will never be allowed to assemble, and Berge at 79 is a sturdy midfield body you will not miss much. What Fulham cannot do for you is score: three strikers averaging 74 is the weakest department at the club. That is not the poorest group in the league, which is Hull's right-midfield group at 67, but it is low enough to matter. The only Fulham centre-forward worth a slot is Aleksandar Mitrovic at 92 on the legends board. Come here for the back line, take the full back, and shop for goals somewhere else.