Sponsored by FanTeam

Having already assessed the best goalkeepers on offer, we take a look at the stand-out defender picks in FanTeam’s £1m season-long Premier League Fantasy game.

FanTeam is essentially paid-entry FPL with huge cash prizes, with a guaranteed prize pool of £1m and £200,000 going to the winner.

There is no catch here, only a €20 entry fee – a payment you’ll make up just by finishing in the top 5,000.

To learn more about the rules of the game, click here.

HOW DEFENDERS SCORE POINTS

Before we delve into the player pool, here’s how defenders can accrue points in FanTeam and how the scoring system differs from FPL:

There are, of course, other ways to lose points such as own-goals, yellow cards and sendings off (we’ll refer you to our ‘How To…’ for more details) but the above table is a good indicator of the main sources.

Here is a selection of the highest-scoring defenders from FanTeam (including the now reclassified Stuart Dallas) last season and their respective points in FPL:

Unlike the case with goalkeepers, FanTeam defenders are generally worse off for points than in FPL.

In fact, not one defender finished inside the top 20 top-scoring FanTeam assets of last season; ignoring Dallas, in 22nd, we have to go all the way down to 34th to find Andrew Robertson (£7.0m).

The pair were 10th and 13th respectively in the leading FPL points table, by comparison.

With FPL’s Bonus Points System stripped away and winning/losing “impact points” in place, it’s no surprise that defenders from the more successful clubs shine in FanTeam.

The two Manchester clubs lost only six games apiece, so the likes of Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.5m), Harry Maguire (£5.5m) and Ruben Dias (£6.0m) were big winners.

Contrast that with the FanTeam incarnation of Lewis Dunk (£5.0m), who not only didn’t benefit from his 17 FPL bonus points but also suffered a net loss of four impact points, putting him instantly 21 points short of his FPL total.

With impact points reduced to +0.3/-0.3 next season, however, there’ll be less of an advantage for those defenders playing for the high-flying teams.

Maguire made a net gain of +16 through impact points last season; that will fall to +4.8 if he repeats the exact same win/lose ratio in 2021/22.

BEST FANTEAM DEFENDERS

PREMIUM AND MID-PRICE DEFENDERS

With the change to the impact points rules meaning that defenders are set to score even fewer points than before, there are some tough decisions to be made – particularly among the heavy hitters.

As we pointed out in our goalkeepers piece, Alisson (£6.0m) – who benefits from every save he makes, rather than multiples of three – outscored Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) by over 20 points in FanTeam, which represented a huge swing from the gap in FPL:

The Liverpool right-back gained 26 points on FPL’s Bonus Points System last season, which accounts for the drop.

Of course, Alexander-Arnold had a relatively poor season by his standards in 2020/21.

He ended the campaign in the form we know he is capable of, averaging 7.6 FanTeam points per match in his last 10 appearances; even accounting for the 30% drop in impact points this season, that’s still eye-catching.

And with Liverpool’s mostly favourable start in Gameweeks 1-6, there’ll surely be plenty of takers.

The appeal of Manchester City’s defenders is even more up for debate, with impact points down on last season.

Among the top teams for clean sheets in each of the last four campaigns, we know what we’ll get with Pep Guardiola’s ball-hogging side.

But with attacking returns thin on the ground, FPL bonus points not a factor in FanTeam and goalkeepers earning rewards for every save, the mostly nailed Ederson (£6.0m) outscored the next-best City defender – Ruben Dias (£6.0m) – by over 50 points in 2020/21.

Dias was a relatively secure starter, at least, for those intent on going with a budget shotstopper and spending big in defence.

Luke Shaw (£6.0m) is priced higher than he is in FPL but the other three defenders in the top five for key passes and big chances created in 2020/21 – Lucas Digne (£5.5m), Aaron Cresswell (£5.5m) and Vladimir Coufal (£5.0m) – are available at the same cost.

Digne’s excellent opening fixture run and Rafael Benitez’s reputation as being a quick starter and savvy organiser sees the French left-back near the top of our watchlist.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.5m) is one to consider instead of Shaw: not only has he the benefit of a full pre-season, he averaged considerably more FanTeam points per match than the United left-back last year (4.4 v 3.6).

Bar Ben Chilwell (£6.0m), most of Chelsea’s backline can be snapped up for £5.5m.

While the opening fixture run is iffy, the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.5m) should be under consideration given that the Blues kept more clean sheets than any other club once Thomas Tuchel took over.

MOST PREMIER LEAGUE STARTS UNDER TUCHEL:

BUDGET FANTEAM DEFENDERS

There is little to get excited about in the £4.0m bracket, with the 18 defenders at this price point all very much back-ups.

Keep an eye on the team news ahead of Gameweek 1, however, for any updates that may see the likes of Andrew Omobamidele (£4.0m) turn their pre-season minutes into meaningful game-time.

As in FPL, the listing of Kostas Tsimikas at £4.0m is worth noting should any injury misery befall Robertson.

Going up a rung to £4.5m sees a lot defenders come into play.

Nelson Semedo‘s (£4.5m) eye-catching pre-season appearances as a very advanced right-back/wing-back sees the Portugal international appear firmly on our radar, even if Wolves look somewhat uncertain at the back.

Seamus Coleman at £4.5m is also an eyebrow-raiser, given Everton’s favourable start, although rumours suggesting the Toffees are in the market for a new right-back may kill that bandwagon.

Arsenal’s solid defensive numbers in 2020/21 and the arrival of Ben White (£4.5m) could be a good match, meanwhile, with the Gameweek 4 fixture swing looking like a good time to board that train.

The team White left behind, Brighton, also quietly impressed at the back last season and sit near the top of our Season Ticker in the opening two months: the likes of Joel Veltman (£4.5m) and Adam Webster (£4.5m) are cheaper routes than Lewis Dunk (£5.0m) into the Albion backline.

The set-piece-taking Matt Ritchie (£4.5m), with five assists from Gameweek 30 onwards, offers attacking threat if not much clean sheet potential, which is the opposite of Luke Ayling (£4.5m) on paper – but those zeroes in the goal/assist columns mask the fact that the Leeds right-back was among the biggest underachievers in front of goal in 2020/21.

Players at the awkward £5.0m price point are often neglected but goal threats (Dunk) and assist merchants (Coufal) can still be found at this rung.

New Leeds signing Junior Firpo (£5.0m) also looks a menace, while Kieran Tierney (£5.0m) is yet to deliver on the undoubted potential that saw him rack up 25 assists in 97 Celtic appearances; if he can stay clear of injury and run-outs at centre-half, then this may finally be his breakthrough Premier League season, particularly with Arsenal free from European distraction.

All of Villa’s key defenders are available at £5.0m but the fact that the save-accumulating Emiliano Martinez (£5.5m) outscored any of them by an incredible 69 FanTeam points last season is a black mark against them.

CLICK HERE TO HEAD TO FANTEAM’S €1M PREMIER LEAGUE FANTASY GAME

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