Bargain Watch: DEF Under £5.0
The call — Five million quid buys you a starter these days. It doesn't buy you a nice fixture list. The read: sixty-seven defenders qualify at 5.0m or under, and our model's favourite is Van Hecke at 5.0m. That's not a fixture call — Spurs' run is genuinely rough, starting BRE (A) — it's a minutes-and-solidity call. He plays, he doesn't blank as…
Behind him it's the Man Utd bloc, and that's where the schedule actually helps. Maguire (5.0m, owned by under 1 in 10) has the friendliest run of anyone here, HUL (A) up first, and lands around 17 over six. Dalot (5.0m, barely 1 in 30) is the same fixtures with a bit more going forward, nudging 18. Shaw (4.5m) is the cheapest way in and already owned by 2 in 10, but our order puts him below both — same clean sheets, less of everything else. Mitchell (4.5m) is fine and starts, but Palace's fixtures are ugly from EVE (A) onwards.
The nuance, and it's a real one: two names further down the list post the biggest six-week numbers. Colwill (5.0m, roughly 1 in 50) is projected best of the lot at about 21 with an even fixture run from FUL (A), and Thiaw (5.0m, hardly anyone) is around 20 despite LIV (H) next. Our model still ranks them under Van Hecke and Maguire — Colwill isn't yet established as a nailed weekly points source, and Thiaw's ceiling is a clean sheet, nothing more. At this end of the pitch you're buying reliability, not a lottery ticket. Konsa (4.5m) and N.Williams (5.0m) start, but tough runs cap both.
FPL VERDICT — BUY Van Hecke at 5.0m. He starts, he's cheap, he's under-owned, and he's the safest floor in the bracket even through a nasty run. If you'd rather chase the clean sheets, Maguire at 5.0m is the best alternative — same money, kindest fixtures on this list, and fewer than 1 in 10 have noticed. Leave Colwill and Thiaw to the brave.