Menu
Greetings all, and welcome to our 26/27 FPL preseason preview on the very best defenders money can buy*.
(*While fitting in alongside other players in your squad, admittedly).
Since Defensive Contributions were brought into being by FPL Towers last season, defenders have found a new lease of life. By which I mean you don’t literally just have to get attacking full-backs any more, which was the situation for basically the rest of FPL history.
Unfortunately, after last season’s cheapo-DefCon merchant free for all, FPL Towers have also made things much harder this season.
Basically, everyone who was good at DefCons last season is now much more expensive.
On the one hand, this obviously makes it harder to build a good defence – especially when you’re trying to fit it in alongside Haaland, Bruno, Joao Pedro, et al.
On the other, these kinds of constraints are also fun!
They force us to make tough decisions, and – better still – not only is there no ‘template’ defence this year, but I’d say there are exactly zero ‘must have’ defenders.
I’m fascinated to see what everyone ends up with, and who the best defenders – and best value defenders – turn out to be this year.
I’m also going to try and work out the answers to the latter two questions in this very piece!
Join me, then, as we explore the wonderful and mysterious world of the best defenders in FPL, heading into the 26/27 season.
Part of me feels as if they went a bit far with the Gabriel pricing this season… although he was also the top defender by a ridiculous 30pts last season (despite only playing 2.75k minutes), so I guess they didn’t have a choice.
Regardless, we are where we are – and where we are is a bank-breaking 8.0.
We can certainly expect him to be near the top for clean sheets once more this season (he got 18 last year).
He also hit 277 DC’s, which is very good for his minutes, and had 8 attacking returns, which is outstanding for a centre-back.
James expects his DC’s to come down this season, and given that he only got 159 in 24/25, albeit playing 400 fewer minutes, I’d probably agree.
We probably have to expect his attacking returns to drop too. He’s got 3 goals in each of the last 4 seasons, but he massively overperformed on assists last season – 5, on an xGA of 1.75. That’s not happening again – most likely, he’ll be back to his usual 1 or 2.
All told, unfortunately I just think he’s overpriced. He’ll almost certainly finish as one of the best defenders once again. But his actual value will probably be more in the 6.5-7.0 range, while you’re paying 1.0-1.5 more than that.
If he was 7.0, I’d probably just pull the trigger. As it is, I’d much rather have another Arsenal defender for far less money. Who that will be remains to be seen – as we’ll discover shortly!
As noted in my Best Goalkeepers piece, regarding Donnarumma, City’s defence was excellent last season. 2nd for goals conceded, xGA, and clean sheets, behind only Arsenal (admittedly significantly behind, in all 3 categories.
I see no reason why they won’t be just as good this year, making their keeper/defenders very tempting indeed.
Guehi is a very tempting pick. He finished 2nd among defenders last season, with 278 DC’s and 14 cleans (across 2 clubs obviously). Like Gabriel he got 3 goals and 5 assists, but these came on a far better xGI ov 6.42 vs 4.69. He’s also fairly priced, at 6.0.
I guess you could argue about rotation, but I think he’s top of the pecking order out of the 4 CB’s they have (if you include CB/LB Gvardiol). I’d be pretty shocked if he didn’t finish among the top 3-5 defenders this season.
O’Reilly is the more exciting pick, I suppose. You get lower DefCon potential, balanced out by higher attacking potential. He racked up 9 attacking returns in only 2.6k minutes last season, including an excellent 5 goals. Better yet, these were backed up by the numbers – he actually underperformed his xG of 6.12, and slightly overperformed his xA (4 vs 2.67).
Long-term, I’d be slightly more worried about rotation with him. I’d expect him to start the season, but they do also have Ait Nouri as a natural LB, plus Gvardiol who can play there too.
If you’re wildcarding early, I’d be tempted by O’Reilly and hope for a goal or two, then you can move him before the European rotation becomes a bigger factor. If you’re looking for the slightly safer or longer-term pick, or obviously want to save money, I still think Guehi is excellent.
All hail the DefCon Emperor himself, James Tarkowski.
He hit 376 last season (2nd in the league), after getting 356 the year before, and when FPL looked back on their historical data before bringing in DefCons, they famously found that he would’ve led the league for every season ever.
Those DefCons give you basically the highest, most dependable floor of any defender in FPL. Everton’s defence is middling, but – like Elliot Anderson in midfield last year – you can start him every week and expect to get at least 4pts regardless.
I love him, James loves him even more, and he’s currently in both of our GW1 drafts.
In a vacuum, I think VVD is obviously good, but I’d rather have Tarko.
He somehow got 6 goals last season, but this was vastly better than his usual 3-per-season average. His 1 assist was very much on form. He only got 10 cleans, despite starting all 38 games, and I wouldn’t bet on Liverpool’s defence suddenly being amazing this season.
He’s very good for DefCons, finishing 4th last season with 352. This was 52 more than he got the season before though, so who knows what the real number is.
Basically, he’ll probably be really good again, but I don’t think he’s worth 6.5 when you could have Tarko or Guehi at 6.0 instead.
The argument in favour of Big Virg is his fixtures.
After Newcastle away he gets Forest home, Ipswich, then Fulham home back to back. Surely even Liverpool will clean a couple of those. From GW5 onwards things get much tougher, and I’d want to ship him out by then however well he’s done in the first 4 weeks.
If you’re happy to just go aggressive early, then bin him early via either transfer or wildcard, he’s a good pick. If you’re looking longer-term, I’d rather have Tarko or Guehi for less money.
He had an amazing season for a not-very-good defence.
Top of the league for DC’s by miles, with his 419 being 43 ahead of Tarko in 2nd place. He also got 6 assists, which both the numbers (4.72 xA) and eye test (he’s a brilliant passer) suggest wasn’t a fluke.
I’m actually optimistic about Spurs’ defence this season, based both on their underlying stats last year, and their many, many defensively-oriented signings.
With Senesi specifically though, it’s so hard to know whether his DC’s – which drove so much of his value – will be as incredible as they were last year.
Personally, I’d probably stay away to start with (especially since you can get Porro for 5.5), and look again after a few weeks, when we can see how many DC’s he’s getting.
Nah. He was heavily DC-based last season, and we’ve got no idea how that’ll translate at Chelsea.
We also don’t know whether they’ll actually be better defensively. I assume they will be, but even then I’d rather buy into them more cheaply to start the season (see below), or – as with Senesi – wait to see if Lacroix is actually still putting up DC’s at his new team.
Ugh – tough one!
Frankly – and annoyingly – I’d stay away from this whole situation at least until the Community Shield. As of now, we haven’t got a clue who’s starting.
Timber will probably be RB if he’s fit… but could also play RCB. White’s relevance depends on either of those things.
Calafiori is a very popular pick (17.7% ownership right now), which is insane to me. He wasn’t always the nailed starter even when he was fit last season. Hincapie could easily start at LB, and then you’ve just got a 5.5 defender sitting on your bench/coming on for 1pt. There’s no way I’d take that gamble.
If I had to bet my life on it (which I hopefully won’t), I’d assume Mosquera starts as the RCB in place of Saliba. Especially if he plays there in the Community Shield.
So – after that game – if you really want to gamble on this, he’d seem the safest option.
Much as it pains me to say this, since they’re the best defence in the league, I think you do either have to gamble on Mosquera, shell out for Raya/Gabriel, or just stay away from Arsenal for at least the first few games.
Villa away then Chelsea at home in GW’s 2 and 3 aren’t great fixtures anyway. So, I’ll probably be leaving it until the fixtures turn massively from GW 4 onwards, by which point I’ll have far more information.
Again, I quite like Spurs’ defence in general this season, and their opening fixtures are fine. There are also a couple of cheaper, still good ways to buy in than Senesi.
The more expensive one is Porro, at 5.5.
He didn’t have a great 25/26, with only 1 goal and 3 assists. These were significantly down on the prior two seasons though, especially on the assists, and I’d assume he’ll bounce back somewhat. He’s middling for DefCons, so you’re basically just getting him and hoping for attacking returns.
The cheaper option is Van Hecke, and I’d lean towards him. He was good for DC’s last season (317), and got 6 attacking returns on a solid 4.87 xGI. I think he’s a rare bit of good value among defenders this season, at only 5.0, and am strongly tempted to have him in my GW1 team.
Basically the poster boys for defender price increases this year.
Truffert came in last season at 4.5, and proceeded to get 301 DC’s, 6 assists, and finish 6th among all defenders for points.
Hill was basically the best value player in the game for the second half of last season, coming in at 4.0 and seeming to hit on DefCons every single week when he started playing.
Well, now they’re both 5.5, so that’s our fun over with.
I don’t have particularly high hopes for Bournemouth’s defence this season, but assume both will be fine regardless.
If I had to pick one, I’d take Hill. He was far better for DC’s – 260 vs 301, despite 1,200 fewer minutes (!). Truffert basically doubled his xGA of 3.07.
I’d be far more interested if they were 5.0. As it is, they’re just stuck in the 5.5 morass with a ton of other defenders.
Meh. Again, if he was 5.0, I’d be interested. Unfortunately – like the pair above – he’s 5.5.
He was good for DefCons last season, putting up 319 in around 3k minutes, putting him 6th in the league. He offers basically no attacking threat though, and I doubt Brentford’s defence will be anything special.
In short, there’s no reason to take him over anyone else. If you’re getting a 5.5 defender, I’d just take Hill.
In typical Chelsea fashion, they currently have an incredible 13 defenders listed in FPL. Arsenal have 7, for context, and even keen squad builders Man City only have 10.
Apart from Lacroix it’s hard to know who’s actually going to start. I’m assuming they’ll play 3 at the back… but will that be 3 actual CB’s, or with Reece James on the right? Who knows!
I was initially tempted by James, but have gone off him a bit. He’ll get attacking returns when he plays, but will obviously get injured at some point, and will probably get subbed every game even when he starts.
I assume Palestra will start, as he did in the recent friendly against Milan… but again, I don’t actually know, nor do I know if he’s any good.
I’m hoping Colwill will start, both because I like him as a player and because he’s only 5.0.
Overall though – similarly to Arsenal – this feels like a situation we should stay away from to start the season, and see how it all plays out.
Mmm, Munoz. One of my favourite players in the real-life Prem and Fantasy Premier League, and currently stationed squarely in my GW 1 team.
You know the drill. He’s an ultra-attacking maniac, who will get you 8-10 attacking returns across a season. He’s decent on DefCons for a full-back, and I assume Palace will tick along at around 10 clean sheets for the season.
I like his fixtures too – City in GW 2 aside, all the rest of their opening 8 or so defensive matchups are fine.
At a reasonable 5.5, and with those fixtures, I’m pretty sure he’ll end up in my team.
I’m including them because they’re obviously a big team, but aside from VVD I think they’re another stay-away to start the season.
I would absolutely love to get a fully fit Frimpong. He put up a ludicrous 5 assists in only 1k minutes last season, and somehow blagged his way into 5 of their 10 clean sheets. Like Munoz, he’s also just a fun player to own and root for.
Unfortunately, we’ve got no idea if he’ll stay fit or not.
Kerkez did basically nothing in FPL last season, and I’d want to see if Liverpool’s defence was actually any good now before thinking about Araujo at 5.5.
Behind O’Reilly and Guehi (and Nunes) we’ve got a big old clump of 5.5 defenders – Dias, Khusanov, Gvardiol, and Ait Nouri.
I’d stay away from all of them. We don’t really know who’ll start alongside Guehi, out of Dias and Gvardiol, and Khusanov and Ait Nouri will surely start the season as backups.
Meh.
Mileknovic has hit 310 and 311 DC’s the past 2 seasons, but that’s basically because he always plays – around 3.3k minutes in both seasons. In 24/25 Forest’s defence was very good, cleaning 13 times. In 25/26 it was not, only cleaning 9 times, and his points total dropped from 145 to 119.
I don’t particularly want any part of Forest’s defence until we see whether they’re good again or not. If they are (or if you want to gamble on them now), I’d just take Neco Williams at 5.0, rather than spending 5.5 on any of the other lads.
Hmm.
Plenty of people are interested in Man U defenders due to their excellent opening fixtures – out of the first 5, all of them (with Man City excluded) could reasonably be clean sheets. Even after that, their fixtures through GW’s 6-8 aren’t bad either.
There’s a bit of a logjam at CB, with Yoro, Maguire, and Martinez presumably all in the mix for only 2 spots. Through some combination of injures/not being picked, none of them started more than 19 games last season.
I’d assume Martinez starts if he’s fit, and I’d slightly less confidently assume Maguire starts alongside him.
The latter is a little more interesting in FPL, since he got 151 DC’s in 1,600 mins last season. If he’d played starter minutes, and hit around 300 DC’s, he’d have been just outside the top 10.
Dalot is obviously an option too, also at 5.0. He’s the only one with attacking potential (6 assists last season), but offers little else. I’d still just take Maguire, and hope for DefCons.
Ultimately, you’re only picking any of these guys for the fixtures + good defence (probably) combo, and hoping for clean sheets to reward you.
If you’re taking the Man U route, I’d be pretty tempted to just go for Shaw. He’s only 4.5, compared to the rest of them who are all 5.0.
To clarify, he is ‘good’ at absolutely nothing. He got all of 2 attacking returns last season, and got a middling 224 DC’s despite starting every single game.
But, if you simply want to buy into these fixtures for their clean sheet potential, he’s your cheapest route.
Like Shaw, he’s a 4.5 defender who played a ton last season. Like Shaw, he also brought very little to the table apart from minutes.
He did do better for both attacking returns (4) and DC’s (245), but neither of those numbers are particularly good for 36 starts.
He’s been nailed for basically 4 seasons in a row now, and I’d assume he starts the season again. They’ve got Tomiyasu now, who can also play on the left, but he’s constantly injured, so they’ll presumably manage him carefully.
Like Shaw, Mitchell is a very, very boring player. But he is also a starting 4.5, for a team with solid defensive fixtures, if you’re looking to save money.
FPL definitely have a type, when it comes to these 4.5 defenders. In Kayode we have yet another player who started a ton of games (37), and was bang average for attacking returns, DC’s, and clean sheets.
I see no reason to pick him over Shaw or Mitchell, probably in that order.
It’s quite bemusing that Villa finished 4th in the league last season, and all their defenders are priced at 4.5.
They absolutely should be though – they’re rubbish!
Villa’s highest scoring defender last season was Cash. He finished 25th in total scoring.
They don’t keep cleans, don’t get DefCon’s, and don’t get attacking returns. Apart from that, they’re great.
FPL has priced every single promoted defender at 4.0, which I actually think is a really cool decision.
If you really, really want to cheap out, you can get one of them in and just cross your fingers, while probably actually getting 1-2pts per week. They’re also very handy for setting up an early season bench boost, which James is currently planning.
Finally, even though – realistically – they’re all stay-aways to start the season, we might actually find some value here going forward.
If one of these guys starts hitting DC’s most weeks, and he’s only valued in the 4.0-4.2 range – and/or if one of these teams turns out to actually be good, like Sunderland last year – you can bet your bottom dollar that everyone will be piling on board to free up money elsewhere.
Well well well – who knew defenders could be so much fun!
Personally, just researching and writing this preview of the best FPL defenders for 26/27 has actually changed my own thinking a lot.
I went into this intending to start three at the back – Tarkowski, Munoz, and Reece James – with budget promoted defenders on the bench.
I’m now looking at Tarko, Munoz, Guehi, and Van Hecke – all as starters, obviously – heading into an early wildcard around GW 5 or 6.
In turn, this is making me lean towards No Bruno, which I wasn’t expecting.
But with those four at the back – three of them good for DefCons, one for attacking returns, and all with decent shots at clean sheets – it should give me a solid, high floor foundation. I can then pair the upside of Saka + Semenyo, for example, and hope that – plus said foundation – equals more than 1 Bruno.
Will I be proved right? Stranger things have happened… I think.
Thanks for reading, everybody, and be sure to check out all our equally absolutely amazing preview content right here!
The best free website for FPL tips to beat your friends and win your mini-leagues
Follow us on Twitter for our latest analysis @Full90FPL
© 2025 Full 90 FPL
