Who are FPL's best all-round defenders?

FPL GW32 Scout Picks - Bus Team

Lammens

van Dijk
Gabriel Magalhães
van Hecke

Ismaila Sarr
Bruno Fernandes
Gordon
Szoboszlai

Welbeck
Bowen
Haaland

Verbruggen
Mavropanos
Reinildo
Le Fée

GW32 Captain Poll

Price Change Predictions

Risers

Fallers

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Senesi	BOU	5.1m	101.0%	Very Likely
Van Hecke	BHA	4.5m	52.1%	Likely
Darlow	LEE	3.9m	77.2%	Maybe
Tavernier	BOU	5.4m	70.2%	Unlikely
Verbruggen	BHA	4.5m	55.4%	Unlikely
Mainoo	MUN	4.6m	82.6%	Unlikely
Welbeck	BHA	6.2m	36.0%	Unlikely
Wan-Bissaka	WHU	4.1m	66.6%	Unlikely
Semenyo	MCI	8.2m	44.5%	Unlikely
Gakpo	LIV	7.3m	66.4%	Unlikely
Mitchell	CRY	5.0m	64.3%	Unlikely
Anderson	NFO	5.5m	67.4%	Unlikely
Justin	LEE	3.9m	60.5%	Unlikely
Cucurella	CHE	6.0m	61.7%	Unlikely
O'Reilly	MCI	5.0m	34.2%	Unlikely
Alderete	SUN	4.1m	65.0%	Unlikely
Leno	FUL	4.9m	63.6%	Unlikely
Igor Jesus	NFO	5.8m	61.0%	Unlikely
Aït-Nouri	MCI	5.7m	60.7%	Unlikely
Groß	BHA	5.5m	47.5%	Unlikely
Sarr	CRY	6.3m	55.9%	Unlikely
Rodon	LEE	3.9m	66.0%	Unlikely
Cunha	MUN	8.0m	49.5%	Unlikely
Frimpong	LIV	5.7m	54.4%	Unlikely
Aaronson	LEE	5.4m	51.7%	Unlikely
Struijk	LEE	4.3m	39.9%	Unlikely
Gomez	BHA	4.9m	42.6%	Unlikely
Haaland	MCI	14.4m	22.8%	Unlikely
Damsgaard	BRE	5.6m	47.1%	Unlikely
A.Becker	LIV	5.4m	51.1%	Unlikely
Richards	CRY	4.4m	46.1%	Unlikely
Calvert-Lewin	LEE	5.6m	31.8%	Unlikely
Shaw	MUN	4.5m	43.9%	Unlikely
Hill	BOU	4.2m	32.3%	Unlikely
B.Fernandes	MUN	10.3m	24.6%	Unlikely
Bassey	FUL	4.4m	41.3%	Unlikely
Aina	NFO	4.7m	39.2%	Unlikely
Kelleher	BRE	4.8m	42.2%	Unlikely
Amad	MUN	6.2m	38.1%	Unlikely
Barry	EVE	5.7m	37.5%	Unlikely

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Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Mbeumo	MUN	8.6m	101.8%	Very Likely
Lucca	NFO	5.5m	96.5%	Maybe
Kevin	FUL	5.8m	83.0%	Unlikely
Lamadrid	WHU	5.0m	86.1%	Unlikely
Keane	EVE	4.6m	81.2%	Unlikely
Ekitiké	LIV	9.3m	29.8%	Unlikely
Areola	WHU	4.3m	82.4%	Unlikely
Spence	TOT	4.2m	80.9%	Unlikely
Weiss	BUR	4.3m	80.2%	Unlikely
Burrowes	AVL	4.4m	80.2%	Unlikely
Potts	WHU	4.4m	70.0%	Unlikely
Travers	EVE	4.3m	73.1%	Unlikely
Piroe	LEE	4.9m	72.2%	Unlikely
Longstaff	LEE	4.8m	73.7%	Unlikely
Emenalo	CHE	4.5m	71.5%	Unlikely
Cullen	BUR	4.9m	67.9%	Unlikely
Grealish	EVE	6.3m	67.5%	Unlikely
Slonina	CHE	3.9m	66.5%	Unlikely
Evanilson	BOU	6.8m	59.1%	Unlikely
Moore	SUN	3.9m	60.9%	Unlikely
Steele	BHA	4.2m	61.4%	Unlikely
Fabianski	WHU	4.5m	61.2%	Unlikely
Estève	BUR	3.9m	58.2%	Unlikely
Kroupi.Jr	BOU	4.7m	53.2%	Unlikely
Ballard	SUN	4.7m	55.8%	Unlikely
Andrey Santos	CHE	4.5m	58.2%	Unlikely
Mayenda	SUN	5.2m	52.8%	Unlikely
Mee	MUN	3.9m	52.8%	Unlikely
Milenković	NFO	5.1m	55.1%	Unlikely
Gallagher	TOT	5.1m	55.1%	Unlikely
Cairns	LEE	3.9m	53.0%	Unlikely
Webster	BHA	4.4m	52.0%	Unlikely
Vicario	TOT	4.7m	49.5%	Unlikely
Byfield	TOT	4.0m	51.4%	Unlikely
Thiago	BRE	7.3m	22.4%	Unlikely
John	NFO	4.0m	48.8%	Unlikely
Merrick	CHE	4.0m	49.5%	Unlikely
Milambo	BRE	5.2m	49.0%	Unlikely
Amissah	FUL	3.8m	48.7%	Unlikely
Georginio	BHA	5.6m	48.3%	Unlikely

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FPL Fixture Ticker

Watchlists

	Player	Club	Factors
Up	Donnarumma	MCI	C
Up	Verbruggen	BHA	C, Vs
Down	Raya Martin	ARS	A
Up	Darlow	LEE	B, Vs, £
Up	Petrovic	BOU	B
Up	Henderson	CRY	C
Up	Mamardashvili	LIV	C, £

Last updated: 7 Apr, 2026 3:01pm

	Player	Club	Factors
Up	O’Reilly	MCI	B
No Change	Gabriel Magalhães	ARS	A
Up	van Hecke	BHA	B, Vs
No Change	Hill	BOU	B, £
Up	Struijk	LEE	B, Vs, £
Up	Lacroix	CRY	A
Down	van Dijk	LIV	C
Down	Thiaw	NEW	C, Rest
No Change	Kayode	BRE	B
No Change	Cash	AVL	C

Last updated: 7 Apr, 2026 3:02pm

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Bruno Fernandes	MUN	A
Up	Semenyo	MCI	B
No Change	Palmer	CHE	C
Up	Tavernier	BOU	C, £
Up	Ismaila Sarr	CRY	A
No Change	Gordon	NEW	A, OoP
No Change	Rice	ARS	C
No Change	Rogers	AVL	C
No Change	Anderson	NFO	B, £
Down	Szoboszlai	LIV	B
Down	Wilson	FUL	A
No Change	Stach	LEE	C, Vs, Inj, £

Last updated: 7 Apr, 2026 2:55pm

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Haaland	MCI	C
Up	João Pedro	CHE	A
Up	Welbeck	BHA	A, Vs
Up	Calvert-Lewin	LEE	C, Vs
No Change	Bowen	WHU	B
Down	Thiago	BRE	B

Last updated: 7 Apr, 2026 3:01pm

New GW32 Wildcard Poll

FPL

Who are FPL’s best all-round defenders?

31 March 2026 17 comments

FPL Marc

Having used our Members Area stats to highlight the best all-round midfielders in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), let’s now look at defenders.

The introduction of defensive contribution (DefCon) points means managers are now looking beyond the basics of clean sheets and attacking returns.

Combining all of these, some players could be brilliant assets to own for the final stretch of 2025/26.

CLEAN SHEETS

So far, the rate of clean sheets per 10-match Gameweek (5.21) is higher than the previous couple of seasons (4.68 and 4.13).

Above: Teams with the most season-long clean sheets (left), and ones from their last eight matches (right)

Over the whole of this campaign, Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester City and Manchester United have been generally good at preventing goals, attempts, shots on target and big chances. Particularly the Gunners.

Yet only the table’s current bottom three are on fewer clean sheets than the Red Devils (five).

According to expected goals conceded (xGC) delta, West Ham United are the unluckiest side (+6.87), but three shutouts in seven suggest recent improvement.

Meanwhile, Brighton and Leeds United join Arsenal and Man City as the tightest backlines over six matches. The Seagulls have allowed the fewest goals (four) and big chances (five), also being best for xGC (5.50), with only Leeds conceding fewer shots on target.

Interestingly, although Bournemouth join Brighton in letting in just four goals, their xGC in this period is a whopping 11.21.

ATTACKING STATS

The biggest collection of goals and assists belongs to Jurrien Timber (£6.3m), Reece James (£5.6m), Matheus Nunes (£5.3m), Nico O’Reilly (£5.0m), Gabriel Magalhaes (£7.2m), Diogo Dalot (£4.6m) and Nordi Mukiele (£4.5m).

But if we look at everyone’s last six matches (minus some long-absent individuals), several players stand out.

This content is restricted to Chief Scout Members. Click here to register and get access to industry-leading stats from Opta and StatsBomb including Defensive Contributions data, the Rate My Team tool, Points Projections, 150+ Member-only articles, exclusive Team Reveals, a customisable Season Ticker, two Transfer Planners... and more!

17 Comments Login to Post a Comment

FPL Virgin
9 days, 19 hours ago
@grok please summarise the above and tell me which defenders could save my FPL season in the final 7 gameweeks.
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1. Conners
  9 days, 18 hours ago
  Just my 2p worth...
  
  If on WC, I'd go with something like Gabriel (fitness pending obv), O'Reilly, Lacroix, Van Hecke and one of Hill / Rodon.
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  1. FPL Virgin
    9 days, 18 hours ago
    Good shout. That should be the template defence on wildcard.
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2. TheFridge
  9 days, 17 hours ago
  Why not Timber among that number, Conner? I was thinking similarly except pull the Palace defender for Timber.
  
  You could do Raya in goal, but I figure BHA suffices there.
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  1. Conners
    9 days, 16 hours ago
    Yeah, he's a good option too, or just go Raya as you've suggested.
    
    I think I prefer Van Hecke to Verbruggen though, and I wouldn't want to double-up on Brighton defence.
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    1. TheFridge
      9 days, 16 hours ago
      I'm sorta thinking about doubling up on Brighton defense, to be honest, with Van Hecke and Verbruggen, if they get the double. Combine that with Burnley, and I sort of like doubling down on the risk. It's like stacking in DFS -- the correlation plays well if you're trying to catch up.
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      1. Conners
        9 days, 16 hours ago
        I suppose it's a good punt as neither are expensive and you can just bench one or both in later weeks depending on the opposition.
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        TheFridge
        9 days, 16 hours ago
        That's what I was thinking. Get another solid GK, and hope that Timber happens in to an assist or goal. Raya is, of course, good, but he's unlikely to earn any bonus points, and I'd rather my Arsenal players have that upside (especially given their price) as opposed to just the CS points.
        
        I guess the question is: who's the other keeper with Verbruggen?
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        Conners
        9 days, 14 hours ago
        If you're going with Timber over Lacroix, then perhaps Henderson if that's affordable to give you some Palace defence cover for the double(s).
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        TheFridge
        9 days, 13 hours ago
        cheers, man. good shout.
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Chinese_person
9 days, 19 hours ago
'...Manchester United have been generally good at preventing goals, attempts, shots on target and big chances... Yet only the table’s current bottom three are on fewer clean sheets than the Red Devils (five).' So actually United have been quite poor defensively. Whenever I've watched them this season they've looked suspect at the back.
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1. FPL Virgin
  9 days, 19 hours ago
  Just 5 clean sheets all season. Only one more than Burnley and Wolves.
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Jafalad
9 days, 19 hours ago
I'd be stocking up on three Leeds defenders. Great fixtures, great defence.
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1. FPL Virgin
  9 days, 19 hours ago
  They are very Fulham-ish thou. Always tend to concede exactly one goal and bust the clean sheet despite the good underlying stats.
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  1. nico05
    9 days, 17 hours ago
    This
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nico05
9 days, 17 hours ago
Does this team need WC or can I get away with delaying it a week or so.
1Ft & 1.5 ITB FH & BB still available.
Verbruggen
Gabriel Virgil O'Reilley
Bruno Mbuemo Gakpo Wilson Gordon
Haaland Thiago
(Dalot-DCL-Alderete)

Thank you
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1. Conners
  9 days, 14 hours ago
  It's hard to say without knowing who will double and when the extra games are going to be scheduled.
  
  Also, if you WC in 33 that would rule out using BB in that week for example.
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