FPL Budget Picks: The Best DEF Under £6.5
The call — Budget defenders: who under £6.5m actually earns his keep Eighty-two defenders qualify under £6.5m this week. Most of them will cost you points through blanks, benchings or both. Here's the dozen worth your time, in our order of preference — and the order matters.
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De Cuyper (BHA, £5.0m) tops the list, and it's not close. Our model has him good for about 31 points over the next six — the most of anyone in this bracket — with a very kind run starting at SUN (A). About 2-3 in 10 already own him. At £5.0m that's the whole job description filled.
Gvardiol (MCI, £5.7m) is next, roughly 27 points over six despite opening at LIV (A). City clean sheets do the heavy lifting after that. Calafiori (ARS, £5.8m) is the template pick — 5 in 10 own him — but our model projects him below the two above, so if you don't already have him, don't chase the crowd.
Hall (NEW, £5.3m) is quietly excellent value: about 29 points over six, opens at COV (A), and only 1-2 in 10 own him. Guéhi (MCI, £6.0m) sits similar on points but costs 70k more than Gvardiol for the same defence — pay less for the same clean sheets. Tarkowski (EVE, £6.1m) is fine, HUL (A) up first, but he's the priciest way to get roughly what Hall gives you cheaper.
Further down: Bogle (LEE, £4.6m) projects around 26 points on a very kind run once ARS (A) is out of the way — proper enabler money. Van Hecke (TOT, £4.9m) and Virgil (LIV, £6.5m) are solid but unspectacular for the price.
Now the caution flags. Davis (IPS, £4.0m), Muharemović (LEE, £5.0m) and Bobby Thomas (COV, £4.0m) are all unproven — nobody's shown us they're nailed yet, and at this price minutes are the entire game. Davis also has a tough run. A £4.0m defender who might not start is worth exactly £0.0m to your XI. If you need a bench body, Thomas's kind fixtures make him the least bad gamble, but that's a bench slot, not a plan.
The call: De Cuyper is the buy — cheapest route to the biggest points in the bracket, plays every week, lovely fixtures. Best alternative is Gvardiol if you want City's clean sheets under £6m. Skip Calafiori unless you already own him, and don't touch the unproven £4.0m names for your starting eleven.