Shortly after the relaunch of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) for 2026/27, we attempted to pick out the best £4.0m defenders in the game.
Now that every club has completed their pre-season matches, we have an even better idea of which of these bargain buys will start in Gameweek 1.
In this piece, we rank the best £4.0m defenders ahead of Friday’s deadline.
1 BOBBY THOMAS
2 AURELE AMENDA
Centre-half Bobby Thomas looks set to start the season in Coventry City’s back four.
He lined up next to Aurele Amenda in Friday’s friendly win over Monaco, with Liam Kitching benched.
The line-up used in that match is hopefully a good indicator of the Gameweek 1 starting XI, even if there is a bit more uncertainty longer-term, particularly with Kitching lurking.
Thomas should get through plenty of defensive work this season, so there is defensive contribution (DefCon) point potential.
He’s got a bit of attacking threat from set plays, too: three goals and four assists in the Championship last season, with 37 shots in total.
Amenda, meanwhile, hasn’t scored a senior competitive goal at all in his career, although he did find the net on Friday – only for Thomas to be flagged offside for interfering!
If you are a Gameweek 2 Bench Booster, when Coventry host Hull City, they are undoubtedly worth a look.
3 ISSA DIOP
Issa Diop impressed at this summer’s World Cup, and has since joined Ipswich Town from Fulham for £8.5m.
An Ipswich defender will likely appeal to those Fantasy managers on a Gameweek 1 Bench Boost, with Gary O’Neil’s men set to host Sunderland. Remember, the Black Cats scored just 17 away goals in 2025/26.
Above: Teams sorted by clean sheet odds in Gameweek 1, via our free Fixture Ticker
As for Diop, he averaged only 6.72 DefCons per 90 minutes (p90) at Fulham last season. But playing for Ipswich, you’d think he’ll have much more defensive work to get through.
Indeed, we can look back at healthier figures in previous seasons in London.
At 6ft 4in, he could pose a bit of goal threat from set plays, too.
Longer-term, Dara O’Shea could take back his centre-back spot (more on that later), but for now, Diop looks like one of the best £4.0m defenders for Gameweek 1.
4 LUKE O’NIEN
It’s almost exclusively the £4.0m defenders from the promoted clubs who offer the best chance of starts in Gameweek 1.
However, with Nordi Mukiele (£5.5m) and Omar Alderete (£5.0m) both potentially benched at Sunderland on the opening weekend, Luke O’Nien could be a decent cheap option, even if his run in the first XI will probably be brief. In all likelihood, he’s a short-term pick only – but that’s maybe all you’re after.
Certainly, if you’re after a £4.0m defender for Gameweek 1 Bench Boost duty, he looks like being one of the only options outside of the three newly-promoted clubs.
O’Nien averaged only 6.87 DefCons p90 last season, but did record four shots from set plays across his final four outings.
5 LEIF DAVIS
6 DARA O’SHEA
Leif Davis and Dara O’Shea both look set to join Diop in Ipswich’s Gameweek 1 starting XI.
O’Shea, an ever-present starter at centre-back in the Championship last season, has recently been deployed as a right-back by O’Neil, with Diop and Jacob Greaves the preferred centre-halves.
O’Shea has started the last four friendlies for Ipswich. He was among the top two Tractor Boys players for pre-season minutes, too.
He scored only once in the Championship last season, but did rack up 42 shots, including 11 from inside the opposition six-yard box.
A right-back role would naturally increase his potential for open-play attacking returns. Indeed, he scored in the friendly against Union Berlin on Saturday!
As for Davis, he’s really caught the eye going forward in pre-season. Over the summer, he’s already got four attacking returns to his name, the most of any Ipswich player.
Town’s creator-in-chief, he finished among the top 10 Championship players for key passes last season, helped by a role on set plays.
However, Davis underwhelmed in his last season in the top flight, when he scored just one goal and supplied two assists.
As a result, it’s really the more reliable DefCon options we should probably be looking at, as they’re going to arrive with more regularity than the odd goal and assist.
For that reason, Diop feels like the superior Ipswich option in the current set-up.
7 MILAN VAN EWIJK
First-choice right-back Milan van Ewijk is another cheap option to consider at the back for Coventry.
He’s currently owned by 15.0% of Fantasy squads, having caught the eye in the Championship last season with eight assists. He also created 46 chances for his teammates.
While there’s no real DefCon potential, van Ewijk has already banked an attacking return in pre-season.
He frequently wreaks havoc in the penalty box with his long throws, too, so he deserves a mention in this piece.
OTHERS
We will certainly see some other £4.0m defenders from the promoted clubs in action in Gameweek 1.
For Hull, they are in the process of a big squad overhaul, so the rotation risk is a reason to avoid them in the early weeks. They had some pretty awful defensive stats in 2025/26, too.
Centre-backs John Egan and Semi Ajayi got the nod to start Hull’s final pre-season friendly, and the former did score three times last season.
But will they start in Gameweek 2, when the fixture for the Tigers is at least playable? A substitute in Saturday’s friendly, record signing Noble Mendy will also surely threaten the starting XI soon.
Hull left-back Ryan Giles supplied eight assists in the Championship last season and is on some set plays. But he’s got competition from new arrival Matt Targett and maybe even Elliot Stroud (£5.0m midfielder) now, and it’s probably the DefCon centre-backs we should be looking at anyway.
Finally, Jacob Greaves was the Ipswich defender with the best rate of DefCons in 2025/26, but his game time currently feels a bit less secure, particularly if O’Shea reverts to the middle.
