FPL Budget Picks: The Best DEF Under £5.0
The call — Budget defenders: what £5.0m or less actually buys you Sixty-two defenders qualify at £5.0m and under, and most of them are the FPL equivalent of a chocolate teapot — cheap, decorative, doesn't play. Here's who actually starts, and who's worth your money.
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One squad, picked before a ball was kicked and run for six gameweeks on three transfers — no hits taken. Scored on FPL’s own results.
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De Cuyper (BHA, £4.7m) tops our list and it isn't close for value. Nailed starter, a very kind run of fixtures starting with Leeds at home, and our model has him good for around 5-6 points a week over the next six — the sort of return that shames defenders a full million dearer. About 1 in 10 have him already. That number should be higher.
Egan (HUL, £4.0m) is the pick of the true bottom-feeders. Starts every week, average fixtures (Villa at home first up), and he's unproven at this level — but at £4.0m you're buying minutes, and he delivers those. Hardly anyone owns him.
Davis (IPS, £4.0m) starts too, but Liverpool at home kicks off a very tough run. A playing £4.0m body for your bench, nothing more.
Thiaw (NEW, £5.0m) is the quiet one — a proven starter, a very kind run beginning with Bournemouth at home, and owned by barely anyone (about 1 in 50). If you've the full £5.0m, he's serious.
Kayode (BRE, £4.6m) and Ajer (BRE, £4.5m) both start behind favourable Brentford fixtures — Sunderland at home next. Solid, unspectacular. Ballard (SUN, £5.0m) likewise, though Brentford away isn't a gift.
Muharemović (LEE, £5.0m) starts but the fixtures are tough and he's unproven — pass. Ajayi (HUL, £4.1m) is Egan's cheaper-by-a-tick teammate; take Egan. Wieffer (BHA, £5.0m) is intriguing — proven, starting, same lovely Brighton run, owned by almost literally nobody — but De Cuyper is the same fixtures for £0.3m less. O'Shea (IPS, £4.0m) shares Davis's problem: Liverpool first, misery after.
Maguire (MUN, £5.0m) is the trap. Most-owned of the lot at roughly 1.5 in 10, tough fixtures starting at Everton away, and the lowest projected return on this list. That's the template being lazy.
The call: De Cuyper is the buy — best points, best fixtures, sensible price. If your bench needs a £4.0m body that actually plays, Egan is the honest alternative. Ignore Maguire; popularity isn't points.