FPL Budget Picks: The Best DEF Under £5.0
The call — Budget defenders: the £5.0m-and-under shortlist Sixty-five defenders come in at £5.0m or less this season. Most of them are decoration. At this price the only question that matters is who actually plays 90 minutes, and the list below is our model's order of preference — starters first, romance nowhere.
Van Hecke (TOT, £5.0m) — the pick. Nailed starter, usually good for around 3 points a week even through a nasty run, with the odd clean sheet on top. Only about 1 in 10 own him. Fixtures are genuinely tough — BRE (A) first — but he starts, he plays 90, and that's the job.
Mitchell (CRY, £4.5m) — the value play. Fifty cheaper, projects nearly the same over six weeks. Same tough fixture story (EVE (A) next), same guaranteed minutes. Fewer than 1 in 10 own him.
Maguire (MUN, £5.0m) — starts, average fixtures, HUL (A) next. Steady, unglamorous, fine.
Colwill (CHE, £5.0m) — the trap dressed as a bargain. His six-week numbers are the best on this list, and hardly anyone owns him (~2 in 10 of 10... make that 2 in 100). But he's not an established starter yet, and I don't pay £5.0m to find out. FUL (A) first.
Ballard (SUN, £5.0m) — starts, but a brutal run. Pass for now.
Konsa (AVL, £4.5m) — the most-owned name here bar Shaw (roughly 1 in 6 have him), but the fixtures are horrid and the returns modest. BHA (A) next.
N.Williams (NFO, £5.0m) — starter, LEE (H) is nice, run after it isn't.
Thiaw (NEW, £5.0m) — sneaky numbers, almost nobody owns him (~2 in 100), but Liverpool at home first and a rough run behind it. Watchlist.
Dalot (MUN, £5.0m) — quietly decent, average fixtures, only 3 in 100 own him. Legitimate third option.
Shaw (£4.5m), Van de Ven (£5.0m), Aina (£4.5m) — all start, none project enough to jump the queue. Shaw's the template pick at about 2 in 10 owned, but the numbers say you can do better for the same money.
The call: Van Hecke is the buy at £5.0m — minutes, a proven floor, and the best blend of points and reliability on the list. If the extra £0.5m matters, Mitchell at £4.5m gets you almost everything Van Hecke does and funds your midfield. Everyone else is a watchlist entry.