FPL Budget Picks: The Best DEF Under £6.5
The call — Budget defenders under £6.5m: who actually plays, and who's worth your money Eighty-eight defenders come in at £6.5m or under this week. Most of them are furniture. Here are the twelve who actually earn their keep — starting with the one nearly half of you already own.
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Calafiori (ARS, £5.7m) tops our list. About 5 in 10 managers have him, and for once the crowd's onto something: nailed starter, a very kind run of fixtures starting at Sunderland, and enough going forward to turn clean sheets into proper hauls. That's what £5.7m should buy.
Hall (NEW, £5.1m) is the value play. Our model has him good for 5-plus a week over the next six — the best raw return in this whole bracket — a favourable run kicks off at Leeds, and only about 1 in 10 own him. Starts every week. This is the one I'd quietly move for.
De Cuyper (BHA, £4.8m) is nearly as productive for £4.8m, starts, very kind fixtures. About 2 in 10 have already noticed. Guéhi (MCI, £6.0m) buys you City clean sheets and a starter's shirt, though £6.0m is the top of this shop. Muharemović (LEE, £5.0m) projects beautifully and starts, but he's unproven at this level — I'd want to see a few weeks of 90s before trusting him, home to Newcastle first up is no gimme either.
Tarkowski (EVE, £6.0m) is the definition of a floor: starts, never blanks, but average fixtures and full price for this band. Van Hecke (TOT, £4.9m) starts and the fixtures are decent — fine bench fodder. Ballard (SUN, £4.9m) is the sneaky one: proven, starting, favourable run, owned by hardly anyone (~3 in 100), though Arsenal at home first is grim.
Down at the bottom: Bobby Thomas and van Ewijk (both COV, £4.0m) start every week for a promoted side with kind fixtures — that's exactly what £4.0m enablers are for, romance not required. Egan (HUL, £4.1m) same story, but Chelsea away next. Gvardiol (MCI, £5.6m) starts and the fixtures are fine, but Guéhi outranks him in the same defence, which tells you which City slot to want.
The call: Calafiori is the pick if you can stretch to £5.7m — starts, scores, kind fixtures, no drama. Best alternative is Hall at £5.1m: near-identical output, 60p cheaper, and 1 in 10 ownership. Buy one of those two. If you just need a body who plays, Bobby Thomas at £4.0m is the enabler, and enablers who start are how you afford the fun stuff.