First Look: Top 55 FPL Defenders

An attacking cadre at the top sit comfortably ahead of the pack

The best at the back are headlined by some of the greatest attacking fullbacks in the history of English football. Also, for some reason, 26 year old American Antonee Robinson. Robinson’s inclusion inside the Top 10 defenders is a testament to two important rules when valuing defenders: first, even limited attacking returns can have outsized value. Robinson (six assists) had nearly as many assists as he did clean sheets (9) last season. The second is that a defender doesn’t need to play for a top side (or even a top defensive side) to ensure returns.

Five of last season’s top seven defenders by total points recorded fewer than 10 clean sheets en route to 340+ total points and a minimum of 9 PPM. With that in mind, it’s important to identify that only centre backs Virgil van Dijk (2) and James Tarkowski (1) had fewer than five assists in that group. I won’t rehash my Alpha center back theory which is more than a decade old at this point, but the rule holds true: draft attacking wingbacks regardless of defensive frailties; failing that draft the alpha centre backs.

They score four, we score five

No defender generated more expected assists last season that 32 year old Kieran Trippier who pocketed 11 assists on 7.5 xA, his first 10+ assist total in a top flight and first since he turned the trick in back-to-back Championship seasons with Burnley back in 2012-14. Just behind him was Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold (7.2 xA, 4 assists) who is “linked” with a “move” to “Real Madrid” because, you know, he had dinner with his friend Jude. While Trippier looked old during the Euro 24 campaign, Alexander-Arnold was relegated to bench duty leaving the the 25 year old Liverpool man ready for his first campaign under new boss Arne Slot. Y’all are free to ignore my ranks, but TA-A posted 0.0.30 xA/90’ last season in line with his career average though admittedly down from his peak years. At age 25 he has plenty of peak ahead of him and willing be lacing ‘em up for a manager who just delivered huge returns from his Feyenoord fullbacks. The counting stats were a fluke, he’s going to fill his boots again this season.

This column will, eventually, talk about something else but last season’s Feyenoord squad was led by right back Lutsharel Geertruida and left back Dávid Hancko. The duo each had 34 league starts with the Dutchman Geertruida nipping his Slovakian counterpart by just four minutes. Eight goals, five assists for Geertruida and another five goals with two helpers from Hancko underline how involved the fullbacks were under Slot’s system. There is simply no reason to discount either Trent or Andrew Robertson because the new manager is at the helm.

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You know the best, let’s meet the rest

Diogo Dalot treads a fine line between being well known, putting up the underlying stats that suggest fantasy premier league support and still somehow under-performing when it comes to final-third returns. His two goals and three assists in 2023/24 were both career marks and his 38 key passes were 8th amoung all defenders. After posting 10.5 PPM in 2022/23, he regressed back to 9 PPM last season, despite recording more g+a. He’s a point machine with minimal downside and a high degree of match-over-match scoring consistency; ranked as the 7th best defender, it would not be a surprise if he fell outside the top 10 in total scoring at season’s end but it won’t be by much.

On the other end of the name recognition spectrum is the 12th rated defender, Crystal Palace’s Colombian wingback Daniel Muñoz who posted four assists in 16 matches (all starts) after joining from Genk. The defender’s shot creating actions understandably declined on a /90’ basis following the massive jump in league quality, but his 2.88 SCA/90’ in England demonstrated clear ability and he recorded 21 key passes in his half-season, a pace that would have placed him 5th over a full year. Muñoz sits just ahead of Ipswich Town’s Leif Davis, the second highest rated defender on the promoted sides (Leicester’s Ricardo Pereira is two spots, and one tier, ahead of him).

Davis’ 18 assists in the Tractor Boys promotion campaign are eye-popping and doesn’t have much precedent. 11.2 xA and 209 SCA (5/90’) are too much to ignore and we know the rules: take the offense, ignore the defense, bank the points.

Position battles

Aston Villa have moved for Ian Maatsen, securing the former Chelsea man as the heir apparent to 31 year old Lucas Digne who celebrated his birthday with countless Villans online.

I still have Digne ahead of Maatsen in the pecking order and my ranks, as the elder fullback was level-6th with Dalot last season on 38 key passes. But this is one where Maatsen needs to be drafted, not just as a handcuff for Digne but as a valuable FPL asset in his own right. 2,395’ for Digne last year and a sub-8 PPM scoring average leaves open plenty of opportunity for points which jumps exponentially if he wins a starting job.

There are also position battles primed at Chelsea. We will cover the Blues’ many questions/rumors surrounding their midfield, but the backline is not immune from speculation. Thiago Silva is gone, opening minutes in the middle, but my primary focus is watching Malo Gusto as the French international battles with Reece James and (and maybe Moisés Caicedo depending on how Enzo Maresca sets his tactics). It’s not ideal that in the first match we’ve seen, Maresca’s Blues were handled by Celtic and Reece James looked flummoxed by his deployment.

But last season Gusto had six assists (4.3 xA) across 1,751’ for an elite 0.31 xG/90’. The man is still a kid at age 21 but he’s got 80 top flight, first team appearances on his CV already in which he’s posted numbers. Numbers, fam

Scouting Report via FB Ref, real and spectacular

The final spot I’m watching closely this summer and until the transfer window closes, is with Arsenal where there are some clear favorites on the sides (Ben White, Oleksandr Zinchenko) but the center of the back four is open next to William Saliba with Gabriel, Jakub Kiwior, and Takehiro Tomiyasu all earning minutes there while Ben White has unfortunately been shifted inside too neutering some of his attacking value. Saliba is the CB that I want to draft but which ever of those players partners him the most this season will have streaming value and maybe even enough consistency on PPM to merit a bench spot as a bench streamer DEF 3/4.

To a lesser extent I’m watching West Ham, where former Wolves defender Max Kilman has landed following a reported £40M move. He made all 38 starts with Wolves last season, but the primary problem with Kilman and former teammate Nelson Semedo is that they struggle to do enough for FPL managers to trust them. Neither player cracked 6 PPM (they’re in a tier with Nottingham Forest’s Murillo, a tier no one wants to be in). My rank of Emerson (25th) is based on large part that adding Kilman will afford the 29 year old the security of becoming a true alpha centre back. If he can add a full point to his PPM average, he’ll not only justify the DEF3 tag but out-perform his likely draft day cost.

A final note: I do not want to end my draft with any of the defenders ranked below Matt Doherty (No. 41) on my roster. That isn’t to say they can’t/won’t produce value, but as friend of the Stack Mike Gottlieb would tell you - drafting defenders is a crapshoot. I’d rather wait to see if someone like Harry Toffolo is going to win the starting job on the left side of Forest’s defense where he posted 7.5 PPM last season in limited time (23 appearances, 15 starts), then fill my valuable bench spots with a bunch of low-end defenders.

Up next: Top 75 Fantasy Premier League Midfielders