Premium defenders have become crucial to a successful FPL team in the last few seasons with the emergence of attacking fullbacks. They consistently offer the best points value for money, so it’s vital to choose well.
We have looked closely at the upper price bracket to help you pick the best defenders for FPL for your gameweek 1 team.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (TAA) (Liverpool, £7.5m)
Perhaps the most surprising pricing decision this season is that TAA did not increase in price. He remains at £7.5m even after a season in which he scored over 200 points for the second time in three seasons. He is a must in every team for gameweek 1, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his ownership over 70%.
TAA scored only 2 goals last season, but he assisted an impressive 12 times. He also kept 18 clean sheets and was pivotal to how Liverpool play, with both fullbacks playing high up the pitch. In addition, TAA got involved in plenty of set pieces last season which will continue in 2022 and further add to high points scoring potential.
TAA started 32 games last season, and Klopp’s lack of rotation makes him extremely attractive compared to the Manchester City defenders. Discipline was also good last season picking up 2 yellow cards. I fully expect TAA to score over 200 points again this season.
Liverpool’s early fixtures include Fulham, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth & Everton, some great attacking fixtures for TAA and Liverpool. Plenty of opportunity for clean sheets but also attacking returns. Easily the cream of the crop of the best defenders for FPL this season.
Andrew Robertson (Liverpool, £7.0m)
Robertson’s price also remained the same despite scoring 186 points last season. He will be battling it out with TAA and Matip in FPL manager’s teams, as most experienced managers will fit in at least one Liverpool asset in defence.
Robertson started only 29 games last season and for this reason, TAA may be more popular for the majority of players. However, at £0.5m cheaper, I believe he will offer a good alternative if you don’t have the budget to fit both in your FPL team.
Robertson scored a career-best of 3 goals last season as he begins to enter his prime at 28 years old. He will lose some gametime to Tsimikas but I highly doubt he will lose his first choice tag with Jurgen Klopp. At only 10% owned compared to TAA 50+% at this early stage he may offer differential potential at a later stage.
Liverpool’s early fixtures include Fulham, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth & Everton, some great attacking fixtures for Robertson and Liverpool. Plenty of opportunity for clean sheets but also attacking returns.
Check out our full guide to FPL-players:
Premium players in FPL 2022/23
Mid-Priced players in FPL 2022/23
Reece James (Chelsea, £6.0m)
Last season was a good season for Reece James despite being out injured for large potions of the season. I believe he is the FPL defender that has the highest ceiling for FPL points. He scored 141 points in 26 games, including 5 goals and 9 assists!
James’s highest score last season was 21 points against Newcastle. In that game he scored 2 goals with a couple of great strikes. He will again have weeks when he is the highest-scoring player and at £6.0m can you take the risk to not have him in your team? If he can stay fit and add consistency to his game, he will be among the top FPL defenders come the end of the season and maybe the top FPL points scorers.
Early indications are there could be a lot of change in the Chelsea defence this season, with Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Alonso and Christensen all potentially leaving or already left. So some FPL managers may want to hold on having too many Chelsea assets in their team, but I think they will finish in the top 4 again and for this to happen they will have to be solid and keep clean sheets.
With early fixtures against Everton, Leeds and Southampton, and no Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR) above 3 for the first 7 gameweeks, it could mean a Chelsea defender is a must. Some managers might want to wait and see who else signs for Chelsea and if Chilwell is a better option long-term.
Joao Cancelo (Manchester City, £7.0m)
Cancelo was a standout performer for Man City last season as they won the Premier League for the fourth time in five seasons. He excelled at both left-back and right-back. However, I expect him to be rotated far more this season with the return of Zinchenko and potentially the recruitment of Cucurella from Brighton.
His performances last season meant he scored an impressive 201 points. He scored one goal and managed 11 assists. City’s defence was terrific last season, and he was a large part of why they kept 19 clean sheets in his 36 matches. If he plays a similar number of minutes this season, he will be close to breaking 200 points again.
Early fixtures against Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa could mean easy clean sheet points. However, some managers might want to wait and see if Cancelo can become a regular starter before tying up £7.0m in funds on a defender.
Ben Chilwell (Chelsea, £6.0m)
Ben Chilwell could be an asset that slips under the radar for many FPL managers as he was injured for most of last season. However, he did manage an impressive 3 goals and 4 clean sheets in the 6 games he played at the start of the season.
In Chilwell’s previous two seasons before the injury, he scored 3 goals in each season, underlining that he is indeed a very successful attacking fullback. I expect him to pick up plenty of bonus points if Chelsea struggles with finding goals upfront.
With early fixtures against Everton, Leeds & Southampton, and no Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR) above 3 for the first 7 gameweeks, it could mean a Chelsea defender is a must. Some managers might prefer James due to his performance last season, but Chilwell will also have a good season as he tries to impress Southgate to get in the England squad for Qatar in November.
Jack Howcroft is from Leeds, England and has played FPL for 10 years. He has 3 top 100k rank finishes in that time. His highest finish coming in 20/21 where he finished 11,359 in the world.
Away from FPL Jack is a Hull City fan and tries to get to as many games as he can, having previously been a season ticket holder for 10 years as they moved up through the leagues to the Premier League.