FPL Budget Picks: The Best DEF Under £5.0
The call — Budget defenders under £5.0m: who actually plays, and who's worth your money Fifty-nine defenders qualify at £5.0m or under. Most of them are traps — bench fodder, rotation risks, or lads at clubs who couldn't keep a clean sheet in a training drill. Here's the shortlist of the ones who actually start, in our order of preference.
What has not being with FFIQ cost you this season?
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.
Your name and your FPL team name. That is all it takes, and we will have your answer before you have finished reading this sentence.
↓ Start here — your name, then your team.
No FPL password, ever. We only read what FPL already publishes.
De Cuyper (BHA, £4.8m) — the pick of the lot. Nailed starter, a very kind run of fixtures ahead, and our model has him clearing the rest of this bracket comfortably over the next six weeks. About 1 in 4 managers already own him, so he's hardly a secret — but at this price, popular and reliable beats clever and benched. Arsenal at home first up is the ugly one; the run after softens nicely.
Bogle (LEE, £4.5m) — the value play. Starts every week, lovely fixtures beginning with Palace at home, and barely anyone owns him — about 1 in 3 of every ten squads. Sorry, 3 in 100. Practically nobody. That's 30p cheaper than De Cuyper for nearly the same return.
Muharemović (LEE, £5.0m) — same fixtures as Bogle, 50p dearer, less of a track record. Bogle does the job cheaper.
Vuskovic (BHA, £5.0m) — starts for Brighton, decent numbers, but De Cuyper's the Brighton defender to own and you don't need two.
Van Hecke (TOT, £4.9m) — proven and starting, but the fixtures are only average. Fine, not exciting.
Ballard (SUN, £4.9m) — starts, but City away next and middling fixtures. Pass for now.
Ajayi (HUL, £4.2m) and Egan (HUL, £4.1m) — genuinely cheap Hull starters if you need the money, but Newcastle away first is grim.
van Ewijk / Bobby Thomas (COV, £4.0m each) — the true bottom-of-the-market enablers. Both start, favourable fixtures, and £4.0m for a defender who actually plays is how you fund a premium elsewhere. Modest returns, but they won't blank on minutes.
Konsa (ARS, £4.5m) — the tempting one. Arsenal defender, lovely fixtures, 1 in 5 own him. But the model ranks him near the bottom of this list for a reason: he's the low-return body in a defence where the points go elsewhere. Don't romance the badge.
Davis (IPS, £4.0m) — starts, but a tough run of fixtures kills it.
The call: De Cuyper is the buy if your budget stretches to £4.8m — best fixtures, best returns, no minutes worry. If you're squeezing every penny, Bogle at £4.5m is the smart alternative and nobody else has him. Everyone else on this list is funding, not scoring.