Best 4.5 Defenders to Start the FPL 23/24 Season

4.5 defenders in FPL are a staple of the game every year.

With so little money to spend on your winning Fantasy Premier League team, it’s useful to have a player that cheap in your team that you can rely on. Particularly if you have big premiums to pay for.

Every year some of these guys will emerge as underpriced gems or even just budget enablers. This piece is all about targeting the best guys and avoiding FPL traps.

But this piece is also a retro throwback to the past. For any of you who have been playing FPL long enough, you remember rotating 4.5 defenders each week to get the best fixtures (home and against bad opposition).

The FPL scout himself wrote about rotation this week. But he foolishly considers rotation solely from a home/away fixtures standpoint. And, he includes some of the top teams in his rotation strategy which just isn’t a sensible move. Why pay so much money to rotate a player!?

So, this piece will look at why 4.5 defenders are valuable and look at some of the best guys available. It will finish with some good defensive pairings for you to rotate at the start of the 23/24 FPL season.

Why Are 4.5 Defenders Valuable in FPL?

Glad you asked! Here are the 4 reasons we all love cheap defenders (ideally I would have gotten to 4.5 reasons, obviously).

4.5 Defenders are Budget-Friendly

4.5 defenders are affordable options that allow managers to allocate their budget more effectively. With a limited budget, investing in cheaper defenders frees up funds to be spent on premium attackers or midfielders. Premiums tend to generate more points through goals, assists, and bonus points.

4.5 Defenders can Offer Stability to your Starting XI

Many 4.5 defenders offer a high probability of regular starting appearances for their respective teams. While they may not be the highest-scoring defenders in FPL, their consistent game time provides opportunities for accumulating clean sheets. That’s a valuable contribution to our teams.

4.5 Defenders help your Squad Balance

Opting for 4.5 defenders allows for a more balanced squad composition. By saving on defence, managers can invest in higher-priced attackers or midfielders, who are more likely to contribute directly to goals and assists. This balance across positions ensures a well-rounded team and enhances the overall performance potential.

4.5 Defenders are Good for Fixture Rotation

4.5 defenders are often part of a rotation strategy, where managers select defenders from different teams who have favorable fixtures in different gameweeks. This approach helps maximize the potential for clean sheets while minimizing the risk of multiple defenders facing tough opponents simultaneously. By rotating their defensive options, managers can optimize points returns and reduce the impact of challenging fixtures.

Overall, 4.5 defenders provide a combination of affordability, consistent game time, squad balance, and rotation potential.

The importance of fixtures for 4.5 defenders in FPL

Before we get into it, it’s important to talk about fixtures and how this affects 4.5 defenders in FPL.

These players are cheap. That means they are likely not season keepers because they won’t consistently score points.

They are FAR more likely to score points based on their fixtures. So, the key to this price point usually is, picking them when they have easy fixtures.

Top 4.5 defenders in FPL

Here are the 4.5 defenders which have caught my eye in particular, as we head into the 2023/24 FPL season.

1) Sven Botman – Newcastle

Newcastle ended the season on 14 clean sheets. That was the second best defence in the league and equal with Arsenal and Liverpool.

Most of these clean sheets were at the start of the season. A lot of us just held on to our Newcastle defenders because their xGA was still good even though clean sheets dried up in the latter half of the year.

Botman is currently almost 30% owned because he scored 129 points over the course of last season This made him the second best 4.5 defender in FPL last year. Dan Burn, also of Newcastle, was joint second best and is only on 3.3% of teams.

The problem with Botman is fixtures. Playing Man City and Liverpool back to back in gameweeks 2 and 3 is bad enough. But, they also play Villa and Brighton in gameweeks 1 and 4. These two teams are certainly less of a threat but its not great.

Botman is heavily reliant on clean sheets to get points. He didn’t get any goals last year, only picked up 6 bonus points and two assists.

2) Tyrone Mings – Aston Villa

The other highly owned (15%) 4.5 defender in FPL is Tyrone Mings.

Mings finished last year on 130 points from 12 clean sheets, 1 goal, 3 assists and 17 bonus points.

Aston Villa rapidly improved in the second half of last season under Emery and Mings was one of those who benefited from the Spaniards management.

His fixtures are a little better than Botman’s. Gameweek 4 Villa play against Liverpool which will be tough but apart from that they are reasonably good. Playing against Newcastle in gameweek one isn’t ideal but they were hardly attacking last year so a 0-0 isn’t entirely off the cards. And, playing at home to Everton, Palace and away Burnley are all good.

3) Matty Cash – Aston Villa

Far more interesting to me from an FPL perspective is Matty Cash.

We saw two seasons ago what he is capable of as he finished the season on 147 points off 13 clean sheets, 4 goals and 3 assists.

If we can get on board with the fixtures then this is who I would take over Mings. His score last year isn’t so good because he had injury problems all year. When you look past that, you see that he has far more routes to points.

4) Rico Henry – Brentford

112 points off 11 clean sheets, 3 assists and 4 bonus points last year. This 4.5 defender plays as a wing back with attacking intent.

Brentford are clearly a worse defence than Newcastle but its not that much of a difference between them and Villa.

The fixtures also look very good after the first game against Spurs. Fulham away, Crystal Palace at Home and Bournemouth at home are great fiuxtures.

5) Veltman/Webster – Brighton

There’s lots of focus on Pervis Estupinian on Brighton from an FPL point of view. He’s currently over 50% owned. But that means Veltman and Webster are being ignored.

Estupinian is a good asset. He got 7 assists of 31 appearances last year. But you can cover his defensive scores with Veltman and Webster.

In general though, I don’t like attempting to cover attacking players. After all, you can’t cover the actual attacking output. But, if you want to hedge against Estupinians big scores (if he gets a clean and an assist) then this is one way to do it.

Why is defensive rotation in FPL a viable strategy?

Defensive rotations might sound like a massive pain in the arse. They can actually be extremely valuable strategies, however, as you’ll soon see.

Fixture Management

Defensive rotation allows managers to optimise their team’s potential for clean sheets. Selecting defenders from different teams who have favorable fixtures in different gameweeks is a good way to score points. By rotating defenders strategically, managers can capitalise on more favorable matchups. They can also minimise the risk of multiple defenders facing tough opponents simultaneously.

Maximising Clean Sheet Potential

Different teams have varying defensive strengths and face opponents with different attacking capabilities. By rotating defenders from teams known for their solid defence, managers can increase the likelihood of earning clean sheet points. This strategy helps mitigate the impact of potential defensive lapses and boosts the chances of accruing valuable points from clean sheets.

Injury and Suspension Mitigation

Injuries and suspensions are inevitable throughout the season. Having a rotation strategy in place ensures that managers have sufficient backup options to replace injured or suspended defenders. This reduces the risk of fielding a weakened defence and potential point deductions for hits.

Flexibility and Adaptability

FPL is a dynamic game. Teams’ performances can vary over the course of a season. Defensive rotation provides managers with the flexibility to adapt their strategy based on changing circumstances. By monitoring teams’ form, fixture difficulty, and defensive performances, managers can make informed decisions regarding their rotational selections to maximise points returns.

Why defensive rotation isn’t the supreme strategy

Bearing my prevous points in mind…

If we look at the top five teams with the best defensive fixtures at the start of the season we see a pattern emerge:

Yeah. They are all top teams. Only Spurs has 4.5 defenders available to us and three of their five fixtures are away from home. Add on top that we don’t know who will start or how they will perform under the new manager and they become a hard avoid for me.

Regardless, this suggests to me that you want at least one and maybe two of the defensive assets on offer from these teams. Particularly as you can make your way in for 5.0 into the second best defence in the league with the best fixtures – that’s Arsenal. You probably also want Trent Alexander-Arnold given his attacking potential.

So, when considering a defensive rotation. We are really only thinking about our third or maybe fourth defenders.

Good 4.5 defensive rotations for FPL 23/24 season

With that caveat, lets look at some possible fixture rotations. The good thing about this is that we don’t need five good gameweeks in a row. We can mix and match two or maybe three teams to find good fixtures.

Newcastle/Brentford

This is a great rotation strategy. Not only do we get good fixtures, including four home fixtures. We also get the opportunity to play some of the best 4.5 defenders from last year.

Newcastle/Villa

Similarly to the above, a solid rotation strategy. Newcastle allowed the fewest goals in the league last season. And, Villa were significantly improved under Emery.

Brighton/Palace

I like this strategy but its risky. But, if you’re willing to take a little risk, it could pay off.

If you want Estupinan: Few people will double up on Brighton defence at the start of the season because, frankly, that’s not super advisable at this point in the year. But the fixtures look pretty decent.

If you don’t want Estupinian: You can try to cover his defensive returns with Webster or Veltman and rotate them out when the fixtures don’t look good.

Fulham/Brentford

Fulham weren’t exactly the best defence in the league last year but in this rotation they play two bad attacks and one missing their talisman striker. Brentford get two home fixtures against lacklustre opposition.

Fulham/Everton

As above, Fulham weren’t great last year. Neither were Everton, though maybe we can expect more with a full off-season learning how to play defensive Dyche ball. The key to this rotation is that you get four home fixtures against bad attacks and one away fixture against a newly promoted side.

That’s it

Hopefully you know now how important 4.5 defenders can be and how to effectively play 4.5 defenders and how to rotate them.

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