Fantasy Premier League managers cannot rest for a moment as gameweek 17 comes crashing into view with a Tuesday night transfer deadline.

The quick turnaround is further complicated by coronavirus outbreaks at several clubs, so managers will want to hold off as long as possible and all recommendations are subject to the vagaries of the fixture list.

That is particularly pertinent given the club providing our top defensive picks this week.

Spur of the moment

Tottenham are planning for Thursday’s game at Leicester to go ahead, avoiding a repeat hit for any managers missing out after their game against Brighton was postponed due to a Covid outbreak.

Managers eyeing defensive changes may still want to wait as long as possible in the hope final confirmation comes by Tuesday evening, with the PA news agency’s Transfer Score system – which combines form, cost, ownership and upcoming fixture difficulty rating (FDR) – rating Ben Davies as this week’s top recommendation.

Priced at just £4.4million in FPL and selected by only 1.3 per cent of managers, Davies averages 7.7 points per game in the window covered by the form rating for a transfer score of 87 out of 100. The Welshman has clear potential to lift your team’s fortunes – providing Spurs’ game goes ahead and he is unaffected.

Doubling down on that, Davinson Sanchez ranks third among defenders and sixth in the league with a transfer score of 79, placing him just behind FPL’s most expensive defender Trent Alexander-Arnold.

For managers hesitant to rely on Spurs in the current climate, Liverpool provide the main alternative in defence with Alexander-Arnold’s team-mates Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk following Aston Villa bargain Ezri Konsa in the rankings.

Alisson Becker is also our second-ranked goalkeeper this week, just behind David De Gea – though Manchester United are also in discussions over their fixture against Brentford after closing their training ground due to Covid cases. Wolves’ Jose Sa is next in line.

Emmanuel is the man

Even as Watford have struggled for wins, Emmanuel Dennis has scored in four of the last five games and is now FPL’s top-scoring striker while costing just £5.8m.

His ownership has rocketed beyond a third of the league but with few serious alternatives among the out-and-out strikers, particularly at his price point, he is almost a must-have.

Ollie Watkins has climbed to second in this week’s attacking rankings, with Aston Villa rated favourably on FDR, edging him ahead of Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke.

Bank on Bernardo

Bernardo Silva continued his impressive recent form with an assist and a clean sheet in Manchester City’s win over Wolves and remains the stand-out midfield choice.

Picking attack-minded players from City has traditionally been a risky business given Pep Guardiola’s tendency to rotate his side – and that is obviously a concern going into the festive schedule – but Silva has started every game this season bar the opener against Tottenham and has completed 90 minutes on all but a further two occasions.

Five goals in his last six games have helped him become the second-highest scoring midfielder in FPL behind only Mohamed Salah – albeit by 70 points, though he is cheaper by almost £4.5m – and City have a friendly run of games in the remainder of 2021.

James Maddison ranks alongside Silva on a transfer score of 82 but the Leicester man carries the same note of caution as the Spurs contingent, as does United’s Fred. City’s resurgent Raheem Sterling is just outside the top three with Villa’s John McGinn another alternative.