Best Defenders to Buy for Gameweek 21 and Onwards in FPL

In this article we take a look at the best defenders to buy for Gameweek 21 and onwards. To help us do this we head over to the Fantasy Football Scout members area to utilise the fixture difficulty and underlying stats.

Defenders have been frustrating FPL managers for the majority of the season and it’s a position that we shouldn’t have to use so many transfers on. Because of this picking out the best defenders to buy for Gameweek 21 and onwards could be hugely beneficial.

Fixtures

The fixture ticker below can help us decide which defenders we could target for the coming weeks.

The teams at the top have the easiest fixtures and the teams at the bottom have the toughest fixtures.

Pervis Estupinan

Brighton sit top of the fixture for the period ahead. The Seagulls come up against teams like Wolves, Luton, Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Sheffield United and Everton.

Although Brighton rank as one of the worst sides in the division in terms of clean sheets, they are actually maintaining mostly mid-table to very good underlying metrics. This suggests that they have potential, with their fixtures, to keep clean sheets moving forward.

Pervis Esupinan (£4.9m) has started just seven games due to injury. However, even with little gametime the full-back has still produced two goals and three assists. Estupinan evidently has attacking threat and combined with clean sheets he could be a fantastic asset for the run ahead.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool rank sixth on the ticker above with meetings against Bournemouth, Chelsea, Arsenal, Burnley, Brentford and Luton.

The Reds have maintained one of the best defences in the division this season. In fact, so far they rank the best for goals conceded and joint best for clean sheets kept.

Liverpool have a strong enough defence to keep clean sheets against most teams according to the data. This makes Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m) extremely appealing but most of his appeal comes from his attacking threat.

As we can see below, when compared to every other defender in the last six matches Trent ranks first for non-penalty expected goal involvement. He also sits top for chances and big chances created in the same period.

In terms of actual output Trent has managed to return at least once in the last 10 matches. His returns came from five clean sheets, four assists and two goals. Trent has multiple routes to points and so could have huge potential in the run ahead.

Kyle Walker

Manchester City have been nowhere near their best defensively this season. The champions are usually one of the best defensive units in the league and have been over recent years. In fact they kept 19 clean sheets in their 20/21 season and a huge 21 clean sheets in their 21/22 campaign. This season so far they sit joint second for clean sheets with five.

Although not up to their usual high standard when it comes to clean sheets they are maintaining some excellent defensive metrics. When compared to all teams they sit the best for shots in the box conceded, the best for total attempts conceded, second best for shots on target conceded and second best for big chances conceded.

The above suggests it may be just a matter of time before Manchester City pick up lots of clean sheets. With that in mind their standout defender could be Kyle Walker (£5.4m). As we can see below, Walker has made more appearances than any of his teammates this season as well as playing more minutes. This suggests that he is the safest pick in terms of gametime moving forward.

Pedro Porro

Tottenham sit around mid-table on the fixture ticker above. They come up against teams including Manchester United, Brentford , Everton, Brighton, Wolves and Chelsea.

Tottenham have been quite impressive in terms of clean sheets so far this season – ranking joint third for clean sheets kept. Although defensively depleted they seem to be picking up clean sheets which although bodes well for our next pick, isn’t the main reason we should select him.

Pedro Porro (£5.7m) continues to be a fantastic asset this season. The Portuguese full-back has racked up six returns in his last 10 matches – five of those were assists. His creativity is clearly there but he is also a goal threat. We can see this below as he ranks first amongst all defenders in the game for total attempts on goal.

Other great defender picks

Aston Villa rank highly on the fixture ticker and they have some great budget options like centre-backs Pau Torres (£4.7m) and Eze Konsa (£4.6m).

Arsenal have also been excellent defensively this season – ranking joint first for clean sheets. With that in mind William Saliba (£5.6m) could be a great pick. Alternatively teammate and fellow centre-back Gabriel (£5m) comes in slightly cheaper.

If he can return to his previous form in terms of distribution then Newcastle set piece taker Kieran Trippier (£6.8m) could have potential.

For those looking to go different then Luton wing-back Alfie Doughty (£4.4m) has registered more assists than any other side in the last six matches.