As the highly anticipated Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season kicks off with Gameweek 1, FPL managers are urgently seeking to assemble a winning squad, and we are starting our picks guide by looking at the best FPL defenders and best FPL goalkeepers.
Reliable goalkeepers and steadfast defenders are among the essential components of a successful FPL team.
In this comprehensive guide, we have scoured the depths of FPL data to present you with the crème de la crème of goalkeepers and defenders for Gameweek 1. Our hand-picked selections are poised to deliver both defensive stability and some might even have the potential for lucrative point hauls.
Whether you are a seasoned FPL veteran or a rookie manager aiming to make an impact from the get-go, these carefully analysed recommendations will serve as your compass to navigate the turbulent waters of the FPL landscape during the crucial opening fixtures.
Join us as we reveal the hidden gems and tried-and-tested stalwarts that are primed to be the linchpin of your FPL team in Gameweek 1. Gear up for an insightful journey through the defensive maze, and let’s gain that early advantage by choosing the best goalkeepers and defenders who can turn clean sheets into precious fantasy points. So, buckle up and get ready to take the FPL world by storm!
P.s. if you really haven’t a clue what you are doing, check out our beginners guide to FPL. And also check out our top 5 tips!
Best FPL Goalkeepers
Starting with the best FPL goalkeepers for the 23/24 season then.
And, a little disclaimer up top. I am going to talk about fixtures in this section. Fixtures are not something we normally think too deeply about for goalkeepers in FPL.
We don’t make transfers back here so we really want someone for longer than the five fixture window we tend to look at.
However, it is pretty likely that you will wildcard in the first 4-10 gameweeks. So, at this point in the season, its actually worth thinking about fixtures for keepers. Because you can always get a different one on wildcard. Not that I would encourage you to wildcard because you have a bad keeper mind.
Best 5.5 FPL Goalkeepers
The three most expensive goalkeepers are Ederson, Alisson and Pope – all at 5.5. General consensus tells us to avoid these guys. FPL managers tend to favour not spending 5.5 on a goalkeeper in FPL. This is mainly a budget saving tactic.
But also, we generally favour saving a million here because there is usually a good 4.5 goalkeeper that emerges during the season that will get within 30 points of these top guys.
With all that being said, I don’t think that Ederson is a bad pick. But he has to be seen in the context of the Man City team. If, like me, you have no idea who is going to start at the back for Man City, then you can cover Man City’s clean sheets by having Ederson because he is nailed on to start.
Ederson and Man City have excellent defensive fixtures to start the season with. They play Burnley, Newcastle, Sheffield United, Fulham and West Ham in their first five games. Admittedly, Newcastle isn’t a great fixture, particularly away from home, but the rest are solid.
Ederson underperformed last year but it was an exceptional year. According to xGc, they shouldn’t have conceded as many times as they did. I think we will see them return to the mean this year and keep at least 16 clean sheets.
Alisson worries me more than Ederson because I think Liverpool’s defence is just worse. They actually overperformed towards the end of last year.
Plus, he takes up what might be a valuable Liverpool spot in your team (remember you can only have three players from one team). It’s not impossible that we might want Trent, Salah and Nunez for example. If you have Alisson that’s an extra transfer you need to make.
Pope is just way too expensive considering you can have Botman for 4.5 who is a nailed on defender.
Best 5.0 FPL Goalkeepers
There’s a lot of options here.
Ramsdale is probably my favourite pick at this price. Yes, he’s the same cost as the defenders and no, you don’t get the attacking potential. But, Arsenal have great defensive fixtures for the first seven games too.
As with Alisson, the trouble is that at some point soon we might want three Arsenal attackers and there is just no easy way to get to that if you have Rambo.
Onana could cover Man United defence. He is supposed to be good on the ball too so he could sneak bonus points through pass completion.
What makes me worried is that De Gea was actually really good last year for United. He saved more than he should have and I don’t trust the defence. This particularly concerns me if they are going to start a new system of playing out from the back which the purchase of Onana suggests.
I don’t hate the pick but I don’t love it.
Arrizabalaga was good last year and if Poch can make Chelsea play better then I think he’s an interesting pick at the price. On the other hand, they start the season with a game against Liverpool and it looks like at least one of their starting defenders will be 4.5.
Raya is supposed to be leaving Brentford. Regardless he is just too expensive given you can have a defender for 4.5. Similarly, for Martinez.
Jose Sa may be leaving Wolves but even if he stays I think they will really struggle this year so I have no interest in going anywhere near them.
Best 4.5 FPL Goalkeepers
This is the key price point we will be looking at for the best FPL goalkeepers for gameweek 1 this year.
Pickford is currently the most selected 4.5 goalkeeper in FPL. The reasons are obvious, if a little hopeful. Firstly, they have four good fixtures to start the season with. Secondly, we all think that Sean Dyche will improve the Everton defence in the off-season.
The trouble is that Everton were truly dreadful last year so we are clutching a little here. I think he’s still my favourite at this tier though.
Leno was the best 4.5 FPL goalkeeper last year and he is currently the second most-owned. He made 20 more saves than Pickford and got another seven bonus points. But, his fixtures aren’t so nice as they play Arsenal and City in gameweeks 3 and 4.
Henderson might be on his way to Notts Forest again. But they are awful defensively and I don’t want him. With him, you are essentially reliant on him saving a penalty – which he is incredibly good at, but it doesn’t happen very often.
With these next guys, there is a lack of clarity who starts…
Flekken could replace Raya at Brentford. If he does, he immediately becomes my favourite pick at this price point. I’m just not sure he will. They have nice-ish fixtures and he could be an excellent long-term hol.
Steele looked to have nailed down the starting position at Brighton at the end of last year. But, Sanchez is still on the books and could be the number one again. Besides this, 50% of players have Estupinian and I don’t think I would want to double up on Brighton defence.
Johnstone at Palace seems to be the logical pick for Roy Hodgson. But again, they have Guaita who is an experienced keeper. Their defence is solid enough and their fixtures are okay.
Fabianski has poor fixtures and possibly will be replaced as first choice. Areola is heavily rumoured to be
I currently have Areola as my bench keeper and its very possible he doesn’t play from the start of the season. As I am already taking that risk, I don’t have any interest in these guys. If they don’t play and Areola doesn’t play, I don’t get any points.
Best FPL Goalkeeper picks at each price point
5.5 – Ederson
5.0 – Ramsdale
4.5 – Pickford (Flekken placeholder)
So, there you have it, my shouts for the best FPL Goalkeeper for Gameweek 1.
Best FPL Defenders
We are gonna do this section a little differently. There are far too many defenders to choose from and lots of price points so I will look a little at teams and the others.
Best 5.5+ FPL Defenders
Liverpool
There used to be a debate about who was better: Alexander-Arnold or Robertson. This used to be a debate. Trent is just much better of an asset.
Robbo has been less attacking the last few years. The new system also doesn’t allow him to attack as much. I don’t even think Robbo is worth picking for his price, regardless of whether you have Trent.
I would actually rather have Virgil. He’s 0.5 cheaper than Robbo and will probably finish the season with the same number of points. This is because he gets attacking returns by way of headers from set pieces.
Trent, on the other hand, has been in every draft I have done to date. He’s the only one on this list of FPL defenders that is genuinely capable of getting more than 200 points – he’s done so twice.
He is obviously super expensive but I tend to think it is better to have him and get rid of him than be scrambling to get him in after three gameweeks.
Man City
City have great fixtures and could get 5 clean sheets in the first 7 games. Stones and Ruben are probably most likely to play most games.
But that’s the problem, we don’t know whether they actually will play. Guardiola loves to rotate and piss us all off.
That being said, if you are going to have City defence, this is probably the time to do it – before Champions League fixtures encourage pep roulette.
Cancelo is still listed as an asset but it looks like he is leaving.
The others
Trippier has had a BIG price hike. If you read my team of the year piece last year then you know I love him. But even with his attacking output and bonus domination the fixtures are just too bad for me to be interested. I can see myself going to him later in the year.
Ben White is needlessly expensive. He didn’t outscore Gabriel or Saliba significantly enough last year, to justify paying 0.5 more for him this year.
As for Chilwell and James, I think they are a wait and see. I like Poch. I think he will probably sort this mess out. But, the team is such a massive mess.
The first two fixtures aren’t great for cleans but then they play Luton and Forest. I’ll wait until after gameweek 2 to re-assess but I’m not holding my breath. I expect Chelsea to play four at the back and James is just no good as an FPL asset in that set up.
With Shaw, as I said in the keepers bit, I don’t trust the defence. De Gea was hugely important to the number of cleans United kept last year. With Onana now in, United are going to be playing pressing defence – this new system has me worried.
Shaw at least has the attacking intent that might bring in returns and I think we know he should have some freedom to pursue this. I certainly prefer Shaw to Chilwell or James but, I’d rather have any of the 5.0s at Arsenal than all of them.
Best 5.0 FPL Defenders
Arsenal
With one of the best defences in the league last year, all these guys should be 0.5 more expensive. Personally, I prefer Gabriel and Saliba to Zinchenko because of their attacking output last year.
I’m unsure about Timber but assume he is backup to White and Saliba as he can play in both positions. That makes Gabriel the best FPL defender on Arsenal for my money. Plus, his attacking returns are repeatable, whereas Saliba had a couple of screamers from outside the box which is harder.
Man City
Where do you even start?
Akanji, Ake, Laporte and Walker are all 5.0. Whilst it seems like Walker is leaving, that doesn’t do much to help the dilemma that is Pep Roulette.
I’ll inevitably fall into this trap at some point in the year but I don’t want to start with it.
Man Utd
Probably Martinez is my favourite FPL defender from United at this price. We know he is nailed to start each week. But, Varane and Dalot are also 5.0. As above, I’m not that keen on the defence and why would you not have Gabriel instead?
The others
Konate and Matip both come in at 5.0 for Liverpool. I think Konate pretty much has that spot nailed down but there is still a chance of rotation and he doesn’t seem to have any attacking output.
Estupinian is currently the most popular FPL defender in the game right now. With good reason too. Brighton have nice fixtures to start the season and he has a high ceiling thanks to his crossing ability. All this means that Dunk is just too expensive, even with his occasional attacking returns.
I’m really excited to see what Postecoglu does at Spurs. Sadly though, it doesn’t look like the defence is that solid. Porro and Perisic can still offer value as attacking assets but I’m not sure how good they will be if they play four at the back. So, they’re a wait and see for me.
The only two left are Schar and Mee. Both play for pretty good defences but both Newcastle and Brentford have options at 4.5 so why would I pay more for these guys?
Best 4.5 FPL Defenders
In case you haven’t read it, I did a piece on the value of 4.5 defenders and defensive rotations already.
There is basically a hundred to choose from. I won’t go into detail here as you can read the other piece.
Suffice to say, the following have my attention for the start of the season:
- Botman
- Burn
- Mings
- Cash
- Henry
- Veltman
- Webster
They all play on good defences but none of them have five solid fixtures in a row which is why picking two that fit together is super helpful. My current draft has Botman and Henry in it as I get four home fixtures out of the first five and all five are cleanable – even though I hate going up against Emery’s Villa in the first game of the year.
Best 4.0 FPL Defenders
Word of warning before we look at these guys. None of them are nailed on. None.
Don’t come back to me and complain when they don’t play alright?
But, we do think that Beyer at Burnley and Bell at Luton could be starters. Beyer recently started a pre-season friendly and played 30/46 games last year in the Championship. Bell plays as a left back for Luton Town and made 44 appearances for the team last year.
Gusto might also be an option at Chelsea. Theoretically, he is Reece James’ backup. And James is always injured.
Best FPL Defender picks at each price point
- 5+ – Alexander-Arnold
- 5.0 – Gabriel
- 4.5 – Botman/Henry Rotation
That’s it
Hopefully you now have a good indication of who the best FPL goalkeepers and defenders are to start gameweek 1. Keep watching the site for our best midfielders and best forwards piece.
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