Season so far: Review of the best FPL defenders
After 30 Gameweeks of the season, it’s time to review the best FPL defenders as we head into the final fixtures.
Top-scoring FPL defenders
Firstly, a look at the most points, goals and assists from defensive assets, alongside team clean sheets.
Points total are full of Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea assets, so a special mention must go to Conor Coady and Matty Cash for their interference. Reece James coming top for goals (5) and fourth for clean sheets is incredible considering he has only played 47% of league minutes.
As mentioned in Wednesday’s analysis of Chelsea’s defence, they would be far ahead of everyone in terms of goals and assists if it wasn’t for Liverpool duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson. A whopping 17 goals have come from there.
The tightest back lines belong to Liverpool and Man City. This is unlikely to slow down, as the title race looks set to go all the way.
Underlying stats
Looking beyond the basic data, Fantasy Football Scout’s Members Area can help tell a more detailed story.
Alexander-Arnold is scarily far out in front for both chances created (77) and expected assists (10.86). However, for having shots at goal, that’s more for Man City duo Joao Cancelo and Aymeric Laporte.
Cash shows up for goal attempts (25), expected assists (2.29) and expected goal involvement (4.38) but is up in second for touches inside the opposition penalty area. For much of the season, he was underachieving. But his three games of Gameweeks 27 and 28 brought two goals, two assists and 43 points.
Elsewhere, Brentford centre backs Pontus Jansson and Ethan Pinnock rank susprisingly high in several areas. Both get plenty of penalty area touches, usually at set pieces. Jansson is joint-fourth for expected goals, slightly behind West Ham’s Craig Dawson.
Full-backs Sergio Reguilon and Kyle Walker-Peters are attack-minded too. The former has been overshadowed by team mate Matt Doherty in recent weeks but Reguilon has regained his place in Spurs’ team in the absence of Ryan Sessegnon.
Looking forward
Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea dominate the statistics and have strong fixture runs to end the season. They are the top three for a reason, so at least two of Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Cancelo, James and Antonio Rudiger are advised.
Beyond that, relying on a north London defender could mean a lot of four-at-the-back formations amongst FPL managers. Although Reguilon can provide attacking output, Arsenal’s assets are seemingly just about clean sheets.
Finally, the fixtures of Cash and Coady are about to toughen up, including a blank in Gameweek 33. They’ve done well until now but FPL isn’t a game for loyalty.
