Before the 2025/26 relaunch of Fantasy Premier League (FPL), the premium defender pool – ie those £5.5m and up – was predominantly filled with attack-minded options.
But with the advent of defensive contribution (DC) points, there are more and more centre-backs among the big-money men.
Now the old-school cloggers (that was affectionate) can compete with wing-backs with goal potential.
Indeed, were we to have these DC points last season, seven of the 10 top-scoring FPL defenders would have been centre-halves. That’s eight if you include Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m):
So, as we continue our crawl through the FPL price list, we put the magnifying glass on £5.5m and £6.0m defenders.
All 31 are assessed in this article…
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VIRGIL VAN DIJK (£6.0M)
Before FPL went live on July 21, all the talk was over which of Jeremie Frimpong (£6.0m) or Milos Kerkez (£6.0m) was most desirable from an FPL perspective.
Now, with DC points up for grabs, our attention turns to Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m).
Of all the defenders priced up at £6.0m this season, he would have gained the most defensive contribution points in 2024/25 (22). By quite some margin, too:
VAN DIJK V OTHER £6.0M DEFENDERS: DC POINTS THEY WOULD HAVE GAINED IN 2024/25
Take Kerkez as a comparison. The new Liverpool left-back delivered double the number of attacking returns (eight) as van Dijk last season (four). That was worth an extra nine points to the Hungarian.
But van Dijk was up 18 points on Kerkez in the DC stakes, wiping out that advantage – and then some.
‘DefCons’ are another weapon in the veteran Dutchman’s arsenal.
He’s got the security of starts that the rest of the Reds’ backline can’t yet boast. His only league benching last season, indeed, came after Liverpool had won the title.
With Frimpong, you have the uncertainty over minutes given that Conor Bradley (£5.0m) is lurking. Perhaps there’s less risk with Kerkez – he does seem to be first choice – but given that Kostas Tsimikas (£5.0m) and the overpriced Andrew Robertson (£6.0m) remain at the club, there’s always the nagging doubt that he’ll get the odd breather. The former Bournemouth full-back could pick up some DC points himself, mind, as a sometime hybrid centre-half.
Don’t forget that last season, van Dijk was joint-top among defenders for headed efforts (21) and joint-sixth for shots in the box (23). So there is some set-piece threat there, too.
The opening fixtures are a mixed bag but there are decent clean sheet chances in three, maybe four of the first six Gameweeks:
Speaking of clean sheets, Liverpool garnered the most in the division in 2024/25 (14).
JOSKO GVARDIOL (£6.0M)
As they’ve been lying dormant after the FIFA Club World Cup, there’s not much chatter around Manchester City at present. Pre-season training only began this week, with their one and only official friendly coming against Palermo on August 9.
Much like the Frimpong/Kerkez buzz, the excitement over Rayan Ait-Nouri (£6.0m) has maybe subsided a little since his move. The attention being showered on DC magnets since FPL relaunched has left him, and other full-backs, in the shade a bit.
Ait-Nouri was very eye-catching in the Club World Cup, delivering an assist and threatening more. Three starts in four games bode well; no Cityzen made more.
Ultimately, however, we don’t yet know for sure whether he’s going to be a nailed-on reliable starter in 2025/26.
With Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m), there is that initial added safety, if not a cast-iron guarantee. He made 36 league starts last season, featuring in every single one of City’s last 23 games. Whether it’s at centre-half or left-back, Pep Guardiola seems to trust him (cue the Joao Cancelo-style U-turn…).
There is a suggestion that Gvardiol’s goal threat evaporates at centre-back. It diminishes, for sure, as he’s no longer able to bomb forward.
But were you aware that just under 50% of his shots last season (19 of 40) came from set plays? Two of his goals did, too. That underrated threat from corners won’t go away, even if the open-play menace lessens.
FPL DEFENDERS SORTED BY ATTEMPTS FROM SET PIECES IN 2024/25
And could he benefit more from DC points, too? He was third for those among £6.0m defenders last season, despite featuring mostly at left-back.
If we look at the matches in which he would have qualified for defensive contributions, three (Gameweeks 1, 15 and 31) came when he was a starting centre-half. Another, in Gameweek 29, was when he was effectively playing as a hybrid left-back/left-sided centre-half in a ‘three’, with Rico Lewis (£5.0m) inverting into midfield from right-back.
He’s no James Tarkowski (£5.5m), for sure, but he will pick the occasional DC if he’s used at centre-half.
MATCHES IN WHICH JOSKO GVARDIOL WOULD HAVE QUALIFIED FOR DC POINTS IN 2024/25
Ait-Nouri may soon usurp Gvardiol as the go-to City defender in FPL. But it’s maybe ‘better the devil you know’ with the Croat in the early weeks.
MARC CUCURELLA (£6.0M)
