The best FPL defenders to begin 2023/24
The 2023/24 game has launched and all player prices are now known, allowing managers to determine the best FPL defenders.
After many hours of hitting the F5 refresh button, Fantasy Premier League finally relaunched at around 5pm BST on Wednesday. Many prices had already been revealed over the previous two days but a few interesting ones were very quickly discovered.
Biggest rises and falls
Kieran Trippier (£6.5m) is the sole £1.5m riser, having been last season’s highest-scoring defender by far. The only £1.0m hike belongs to Arsenal’s Ben White (£5.5m).
Alternatively, both Aymeric Laporte (£5.0m) and Joel Matip (£5.0m) drop £1.0m after quiet campaigns.
Best FPL defenders
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.0m)
Amidst all the surprisingly cheap FPL assets is the increase for Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold. He’s the first defender to be priced at £8.0m since 2011/12 pair Leighton Baines and Nemanja Vidic.
Not that it’s putting managers off, as he’s already passed 35% ownership. The 25th-best defender by the World Cup break, his new instructions to invert into central midfield inspired an eight-match streak of returns between Gameweeks 30 and 36.
His 11 assists and 25 big chances created bettered all other defenders. Despite Liverpool being the third-worst team for conceding big attempts, Alexander-Arnold ended second behind Trippier with 156 points.
Gabriel (£5.0m)
It was a shock to see White as Arsenal’s only defender above £5.0m, especially when Gabriel is more nailed-on and has a huge goal threat. The Brazilian began all 38 league matches, scored three times and had the highest expected goals (xG) tally in his position (5.08).
Looking ahead, Arsenal have a brilliant set of early fixtures. Nottingham Forest (h), Crystal Palace (a) and Fulham (h) are the opening trio of opponents, offering lots of FPL potential.
Luke Shaw (£5.5m)
Manchester United’s 17 clean sheets were a league-high, conceding just ten goals at Old Trafford. Although low on shots (14) and expected goal involvement (xGI, 3.98), Shaw was a bonus points magnet by collecting 20 of them.
Since the Gameweek 17 restart, he ranked sixth for FPL defender points and is about to face Wolves and Nottingham Forest in early home games.
Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m)
With May’s 17-point haul at Arsenal still fresh in the memory, Brighton’s attacking left-back has been generously priced.
Estupinan exploded onto the FPL scene from Gameweek 20 thanks to half a dozen successive returns of at least six points. No defender recorded more penalty area touches (56) or clean sheets (9) in that time. As the Seagulls begin with Luton (h), Wolves (a) and West Ham (h), coverage of their back line feels needed.
Reece James (£5.5m)
By now, we know the situation with James. Incredibly tempting due to his advanced positioning and 14 attacking returns of 2021/22, FPL managers usually commit to him at various points during the season, only to immediately get burnt by injury. Last year involved just 14 league starts and it never exceeded four in a row.
Yet he’s dropped in price, has a superb new manager and has good fixtures from Gameweek 3. It’s just a question of whether he makes it that far. Similarly, Ben Chilwell is also £5.5m.
Pedro Porro (£5.0m)
Another under new management is Spurs’ Porro. This January arrival quickly became a revelation, thanks to three goals and three assists from just 13 starts and 1,127 minutes. No defender netted more throughout the whole campaign!
From Gameweek 26 until the end, he tallied the most attempts and shots on target of all FPL defenders, alongside a rate of 2.08 efforts per 90. After a tough couple of opening matches, Spurs face Bournemouth (a), Burnley (a) and Sheffield United (h) in consecutive outings.
John Stones (£5.5m)
Champions Man City conceded the fewest goals (33), attempts (294) and shots on target (92) but their defenders frustrated FPL managers. A goal was often conceded when under little threat from the opposition and then there’s the infamous ‘Pep Roulette’. No defender started more than 24 times.
Therefore John Stones comes with caution. A rotation worry always lingers but he was so good at his late-season push into midfield that he’s probably their standout candidate.
The fixture list pits them against two of the promoted trio by Gameweek 3, soon followed by Fulham (h) and Nottingham Forest (h).
Best £4.5m options
Managers will inevitably need one or two £4.5m defenders and some names instantly stand out. For example, why explore this price bracket at mid-table or lower-half sides when Sven Botman gives you a route into Newcastle’s clean sheets?
As for Tyrone Mings, a rejuvenated Aston Villa had a spell of seven shut-outs from ten matches under Unai Emery. From Gameweek 25 onwards, they conceded the fewest goals (8) and kept the joint-most clean sheets (7). There’s just a slight question of whether the potential Pau Torres arrival could affect his place.
Meanwhile, Rico Henry and James Tarkowski have good early fixtures, plus Chelsea centre-backs Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana all have a chance to nail down their starting spot.
Best £4.0m options
We believe at least three starters have been handed this bench-friendly budget price. They all belong to newly-promoted sides.
Sheffield United’s George Baldock and Luton’s Amari’i Bell seem to be important players, whilst Jordan Beyer started for Burnley when available. His loan has been made permanent.
