The season so far: Defenders

International breaks are always a good time to reflect back and see what we can learn about who are the best FPL picks.

In this article we will be looking at the Defenders.

All data provided by the Fantasy Football Scout Members Area.

Clean sheets

Over the course of the season as a whole Joao Cancelo has kept the most clean sheets amongst defenders with 7, with Virgil Van Dijk, Reuben Dias and Antonio Rudiger each managing with 6 each.

However, things look different when we look over the last six Gameweels with a broader selection of picks performing well including non-premium picks.

Goals Conceded

Over the course of the season Norwich have conceded 26 goals, the most in the league, followed by Newcastle with 24 and Aston Villa with 20. Meanwhile Chelsea have conceded the fewest goals with 4 followed by Man City with 6 and Liverpool with 11.

However, over the last six Gameweeks Aston Villa’s defensive stats look worse having conceded 13 goals, the most in the league tied with Manchester United. Norwich and Brentford have each conceded 12 each. Brentford have conceded 5 goals in the last two Gameweeks since the injury to goalkeeper Raya which makes investment in the Bee’s defence less attractive.

Chances Conceded

Man City have conceded the fewest shots over the last six Gameweeks with 41, followed by Chelsea with 52, as well as Crystal Palace and Liverpool with 58. Man City also have conceded the fewest shots on target.

At the other end of the spectrum Aston Villa have conceded the most shots with 106, followed by Burnley and Watford with 100 each and Norwich with 91.

Goals Scored

23 defenders have registered goals in the last 6 Gameweeks. Of these they have all registered one goal each apart from Reece James and Ben Chilwell who have each registered 3 goals each.

Penalty Area Touches

Over the course of the season as a whole Matty Cash has the most touches in the penalty box with 29, Cancelo has managed 28, James 26 and Andy Robertson 25. Over the last 6 Gameweeks however Chilwell is top with 23, Ethan Pinnock second and Robertson third.

Top Points Scoring

Cancelo is the highest scoring defender in the game currently who has 67 points, with Alexander-Arnold second with 64 points and James in third with 63 points.

Alexander-Arnold is also top for Bonus Points so far with 12, followed by James with 10 and Cancelo with 9. Jan Bednarek, Aaron Cresswell and Lewis Dunk have all managed to pick up 7 Bonus Points each this season.

ICT Index

Influence

The Influence section of the ICT index evaluates the degree to which a player has made an impact on a single match or throughout the season. It takes into account events and actions that could directly or indirectly effect the outcome of the fixture. These things include actions like goals and assists, but also significant defensive actions for defenders.

Michael Keane is top for influence in the ICT index for defenders with 306.4. Alexander-Arnold is second with 294.4 and Tarkowski third with 276.6.

Creativity

Creativity assesses player performance in terms of producing goalscoring opportunities so it can be used to show the players who are most likely to supply assists. It monitors the frequency of passing and crossing, as well as at the players average position and the quality of the final balls they supply

Alexander-Arnold is top for defenders for creativity with 466.2, followed in second by Matt Ritchie with 367.1 and Luke Shaw with 361.3.

Threat

The threat statistics gauge the players who are most likely to score goals. Attempts on goal are key factors but it also includes information such as the players location on the pitch meaning it considers the players who are most likely to be in. a position to score goals.

Cancelo is the most threatening defender with 270.0, Shane Duffy is second with 195.0 and James is third with 185.0.

Ownership

Alexander-Arnold is the most popular defender in the game, at the end of Gameweek 11 he is owned by 29.2% of the game. Cancelo comes second for ownership, owned by 27.6% of the game, with Dias in third with 26.1% of the game owning him.

There are currently six defenders owned by over 20% of the game. A further 8 are owned by over 10% of the game.

Cost

The three main Liverpool defenders take up all of the top three positions for the most expensive players in the game. Alexander-Arnold is the most expensive defender in FPL right now valued at £7.7m, Robertson is the second most expensive at £7.0m with Van Dijk in third at £6.7m.

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