With injuries to popular options such as Udogie and Botman (who has suffered a further setback), Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are on the lookout for defensive assets and in this blog some of the best options are compared.

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As the above image from our Fixture Analyser shows, Brighton have the best fixtures for defensive returns as per our Fixture Analyser and managers should keep their eye on Estupiñán's fitness with the Ecuadorian international's return not thought to be too far off. Man. Utd. have good fixtures but with their poor form, they are probably best avoided. Palace have kept four clean sheets and have cheap options available, while Liverpool, West Ham and Arsenal also have good options for managers to consider. Some of these are compared using the Fix Comparison Matrix over the last six Gameweeks as shown in the image below.

Vladimir Coufal

Despite the Hammers' lack of clean sheets, Coufal has still accumulated 35 FPL points this season with only Trippier (six) managing more assists than his four amongst defenders. The underlying numbers are promising as well, he tops the comparison for attempted assists (1.7) and is the cheapest option in the comparison. The fixtures for the Hammers are mixed, the Forest, Burnley and Palace games look good on paper, but he is best used in a rotation and not as a set and forget option.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Despite playing in midfield, Alexander-Arnold's creativity numbers are unimpressive with only 0.5 attempted assists per game, the lowest in the comparison. He is top for shots (1.8) but the fact that he has landed none of these attempts on target indicates that these are speculative attempts at best. With Tsimikas available at a cheaper price, it is difficult to justify the premium price-tag for Alexander-Arnold, with Trippier posting far better numbers in a similar price bracket. The upcoming Man. City away fixture looks challenging for Liverpool and at this price managers would want to play him every week.

Ben White

As Gabriel's benching against Sheff. Utd. showed, White and Saliba appear to be the only likely starters in the Arsenal backline and the right-back tops the comparison for FPL points per game over the last six Gameweeks (6.7). He has displayed some goal threat along with creativity, he has averaged 0.7 shots and 0.7 shots on target (SoT) per game. He is third for attempted assists (0.8), but is a more expensive option than the rest of the Arsenal backline, with his price-tag of £5.7m. The Burnley, Wolves and Luton fixtures look great for Arsenal but the visits to Newcastle, Brentford and Villa could prove difficult.

Joachim Andersen

Andersen has averaged a healthy 5.2 FPL points per game over the last six Gameweeks with his goal against Man. Utd. a big contributor. He has averaged a shot per game which is very healthy for a centre-back and also averages 0.7 attempted assists. His FPL BPS average of 23.2 indicates that he is also always in the conversation for bonus points when Palace keep a clean sheet. Four of Palace's fixtures look excellent with Burnley, Everton, Luton and Bournemouth all struggling for goals.

Konstantinos Tsimikas

Tsimikas' data is very limited as the Greek international only recently stepped into the Liverpool team in Gameweek 9 following Robertson's injury over the last international break. However, the data from the two games is promising. His 24.5 average FPL BPS is significantly superior to Alexander-Arnold (17.3) which indicates that he would beat the right-back for bonus points when Liverpool keep a clean sheet. He is also second only to Coufal for attempted assists per game (1.0).

What do the Projections say?

As the above image from the Fix Algorithm shows, Liverpool defenders account for three of the top four projections with Andersen (24.7) and Dias (24.4) also favoured. Trippier is still a good option if affordable, while Guehi and Mitchell offer cheaper alternatives to Andersen. Walker, who has played 90 minutes in every league game so far this season, is also worth considering.

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