The recent emphasis on ‘going big at the back’ may prevent managers from looking too closely at budget defenders, but picking the right combination of budget players across all positions is key to Fantasy Premier League (FPL) success.

Budget players not only enable the funding of mid-range and premium options, they can also provide an unexpected source of points, as owners of Conor Coady (138) and Eric Dier (132) discovered last season.

An effective way of distributing budget away from defence is to target a pair of budget defenders and rotate them according to fixture difficulty, ensuring that the defender with the most favourable fixture makes the starting XI while the other is benched.

Rotation Planner

The best way to select a rotating defensive pair is to look specifically at the fixture difficulty. This is where the Rotation Planner can reliably inform your player choices. This feature is powered by the Algorithm, which assesses recent performance – both home and away – and assigns each team a corresponding difficulty rating for defensive and attacking ability.

There are a multitude of options to help you tailor your rotation strategy search, such as time period, number of bench positions to be considered and the ability to exclude certain teams from the search.

Setting the Rotation Planner to look at the first eight Gameweeks, and excluding the teams whose defensive assets will not fall under the budget price bracket, the following pairings are revealed:

Leicester and Brighton

Leicester and Brighton plan taken from the Rotation Planner tool.

If Leicester can work on their defensive issues ahead of the new season, then a pairing with Brighton & Hove Albion could be an interesting proposition. Rotating defenders from this pair allows managers to avoid any teams which finished in the top half of the table last season – except when the teams play one another in Gameweek 6. Newly promoted sides are faced twice in this period, although both fixtures are away.

Lewis Dunk (£4.5m) could offer tremendous value playing for the sixth best defence from the 2021/22 season. He can be paired with Wesley Fofana (£4.5m) or James Justin (£4.5m)

Leeds and Nottingham Forest

Leeds and Nottingham Forest plan taken from the Rotation Planner tool.

Pairing a Leeds budget defender, such as Robin Koch (£4.5m), with one from Nottingham Forest, for example Joe Worrall (£4.5m), means the rotating pair will not face any top six opposition (from last season) in the first eight Gameweeks and, in that same period, will face newly promoted sides on three occasions. This is handy to know, as many managers are likely to forego Nottingham Forest assets based on their difficult opening run.

Newcastle and Bournemouth

Newcastle and Bournemouth plan taken from the Rotation Planner tool.

Another good pairing is Newcastle and Bournemouth. A combination of budget defenders from these teams would enable managers to avoid facing top six opposition in all but one match (Gameweek 3) where the choice between Manchester City and Arsenal is not exactly optimal. As before, newly promoted sides are played on three out of the eight matches with this combination.

Fabian Schär (£4.5m) and Lloyd Kelly (£4.5m) could offer a reliable way into this rotating partnership, with the former playing in a back line recently strengthened under Eddie Howe.

Summary

If you are looking to distribute funds to your midfield and forward line, then targeting two budget defenders who rotate well could be key to your strategy.

The Rotation Planner is a great place to start before the season kicks off and should be used to refresh the pairings when fixture swings occur throughout the season, ensuring you are always getting the most out of your budget defenders and keeping one step ahead of your mini-league rivals.