Best Budget Defenders to Consider for Fantasy Premier League 2024/25

After reviewing the best budget forwards and midfielder picks, in this blog post we will deep-dive into the best £4.5m Fantasy Premier League defensive options to invest in for your FPL team.

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Who are the best budget defenders for FPL 2024/25?

As the above image from our Stats Sandbox feature shows, Andersen (155.29) was top amongst the defenders currently priced at £4.5m or under for xFPL last season. Robinson (135.74) who comes in second is the only fullback in the top six with Kilman (131.24), Burn (130.64) and Dunk (129.36) rounding off the top-five. Andersen (121) was also top for FPL points (121) with the Fulham fullbacks Castagne (105) and Robinson (104) trailing him. Mykolenko (101) is fourth, despite only featuring for 2471 minutes.

Mykolenko is currently featured in the latest draft of Walter Randazzo, a manager with seven top 10k finishes. In fact, he's included in 42.9% of teams managed by our Elite XI: Team Reveal group, who collectively boast over 80 top 10k finishes.

Who had the most Goal Threat?

Last season, Cash was top amongst the budget defenders for shots (33), shots on target (SoT) (33), 'big chances' (BC) (seven) and 'Expected Goals' (xG) (3.78) while only Dunk (27) attempted more shots in the box (SiB) than his 24. However, a large chunk of these numbers were in the first half of the campaign where Emery used him as a winger, his gametime was sporadic in the latter half with the manager preferring to use Konsa at right-back.

Mykolenko's goal threat stands out with 26 shots, however, only 12 of these were in the box and only two were classified as BC. Ait-Nouri (24) took a similar number of shots but was afforded six BC and had much better xG numbers (2.80 vs 1.46). Burn was second for xG (3.59) with the big centre-back a major target for Newcastle's set pieces.

Who created the most chances?

Fullbacks naturally dominate the creativity numbers with Digne (38) top for chances created. Villa have recruited Maatsen which will likely see reduced gametime for the Frenchman. Coufal was top for assists (seven) and BC created, however, West Ham have a difficult start to the season. Robinson created 32 chances compared to just 18 for Castagne. Reguilón's numbers are impressive from his short stint at Brentford but his role at Spurs is currently unknown.

Which teams offer the Best Rotation?

As the above image from AI Rotation Optimiser feature shows, rotating Mykolenko and Robinson offers FPL managers a perfect home/away rotation for the first six Gameweeks with no games against last season's top six sides. As the aforementioned data from our Stats Sandbox feature illustrates, both fullbacks offer significant goal threat to back up their clean sheet potential on home turf.

What do the Points Projections Say?

As the above image from our Player Points Projections feature shows, Fulham players are backed to do well with Robinson (19.3), Castagne (17.8) and Bassey (17.8) making the top five. The signing of Sessegnon could affect gametime for Fulham’s fullbacks from last season - something to monitor. Pau (19.1) and Dunk (18.6) also make the top five with both centre-backs offering a mix of goal threat and clean sheet potential.

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