FPL Budget Picks: The Best DEF Under £6.5
The call — The most-owned cheap defender in the game is the worst pick on our list. Calafiori — £5.5m, sitting in roughly 4 in 10 squads — projects fewer points over the next six than every other name here, favourable Arsenal fixtures or not. Too many bodies fighting for Arsenal's productive defensive slots. Meanwhile Marc Guéhi, £6.0m and owned by barely 2…
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Here's the bracket, in our order of preference — and note the rare good news: every man on this list is an expected starter. No 60th-minute hooks to price in.
Guéhi (MCI, £6.0m) — starts, favourable run, Coventry at home first. Our top pick. Senesi (TOT, £6.0m) — starts every week, but the fixtures are tough, beginning at Forest. Tarkowski (EVE, £6.0m) — nailed, but a very tough run opening with United at home. Blocks in it, points maybe not. Gvardiol (MCI, £5.5m) — same City fixtures as Guéhi, 50p cheaper, projects nearly as well. The value read is obvious. Virgil (LIV, £6.5m) — the most expensive name here for a very tough run. Ipswich away is fine; what follows isn't. Maguire (MUN, £5.0m) — a proper £5.0m starter, decent points, average fixtures. Honest money. Van Hecke (TOT, £5.0m) — plays every week, tough run. Fine as a fifth defender. De Cuyper (BHA, £4.6m) — the enabler of the bracket. Starts, favourable fixtures, Leeds at home next, and hardly anyone has him. At £4.6m this is the pick that pays for your premiums. O'Reilly (MCI, £6.5m) — starts and the fixtures are lovely, but £6.5m for the third-best-projected City defender is paying more for less. White (ARS, £5.5m) — the Arsenal defender to own if you must own one, and only 1 in 20 do. Muñoz (CRY, £5.5m) — starter, but a very tough run starting at Fulham. Wait it out.
The call: buy Guéhi — he's the best points-per-pound in the bracket and City's run is as kind as it gets. If the £6.0m doesn't fit, Gvardiol at £5.5m is the best alternative — same fixtures, nearly the same output, change left over. And whatever you do, stop paying £5.5m for Calafiori when De Cuyper does more for £4.6m.