Clichy

Everyone likes having defenders from the Big Four clubs, but picking the regular starters can be deceptive. Ranking defenders for minutes played last season, of the top 25 only 5 come from Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool or Arsenal. Many of the big fours' defenders get injured or rotated during the season - picking the few players who regularly start can be tough in the preseason. Last season one of the most prolific players from the Big Four was Gael Clichy of Arsenal.

Defensively, Clichy is a star for Arsenal. Last season he intercepted the most passes (134) of any player in the league, and was the fourth most prolific tackler in the game, winning 120 tackles during the season. Form like this meant Arsene Wenger had no trouble locking Clichy in as a starter, and he took the field in every Premiership match last season. Regular minutes is the first attribute any player in your Fantasy squad must have, and Clichy certainly meets that criteria.

Further, Arsenal have a great start to the season as far as fixtures are concerned. Their first six matches are against West Brom (H), Fulham (A), Newcastle (H), Blackburn (A), Bolton (A) and Hull (H). This lineup looks promising for at least a couple of clean sheets; far better than Man Utd or Chelsea's substantially tougher opening opponents.

A lot has been made of Almunia being a little leaky in goal for Arsenal, and it is not expected that they will keep as many clean sheets throughout the season as Liverpool or Chelsea. But for the opening month or two, Clichy is likely to play almost every minute in a team that is expected to challenge for the title and should pick up the odd clean sheet as well.