Defender Options for Fantasy Football

Posted by Rob Shepherd on Saturday, July 29, 2017

We all love tough tackling defenders, sadly it is an art that is slowly being removed from the game as tackling is all but banned in the sport, I bet Norman Hunter is sadly shaking his head at the state of the modern game. Anyway, I digress. Let’s see which defenders are worth considering.

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What Are My Defender Options?

There is a bit more variance in the price of defenders compared to goalkeepers. The cheapest you can get a defender for is £4 million but the maximum is £7 million. The majority of the top players are valued at £6.5m.

What Difference Can a Defender Make to My Score?

If we look at last year’s results as a comparison;

The best performing defender was Alonso (£7m) who is at Chelsea. Alonso gained 177 points. If you take the number of players who scored at least 1 point last season (125) the average score for a defender was 68 pts, I would be looking for players around the 100 mark.

Which Defenders Did Well Last Year?

Which Defenders Didn’t do Well Last Year?

Who are the Ones to Look Out For?

I think Nathan Aké is one to keep an eye on at Bournemouth. His move from Chelsea will likely see him play more games and at £5m I believe he should top 100 pts this season.

Mendy at Manchester City is likely to be a popular choice. At £49 million, Mendy became England’s most expensive defender. If you are tempted to buy Mendy, I would be tempted to buy him after week 1 as a thigh strain is likely to keep out of action for the start of the season.

Anything Else I Need to Consider?

I may well be wrong but I don’t think defenders play that big a part compared to the “sexier” midfield and striker options. For me, it’s an area which I try and spend wisely to free up cash for other areas of the team.

The five defenders I have picked are as follows;

Steve Cook (£5m) for Bournemouth may seem a strange selection and has only been picked in 2% of teams but in the last two season has scored 112 and 114 points so someone reliable and the first team Bournemouth face is West Brom.

Next up is Valencia at Manchester United. At £6.5m he is not cheap and I admit that this is one of my riskier signings. Last season, Valencia had a cracking season scoring 120 points. The trouble with Valencia is he is highly unpredictable, scoring 140 in the 2011 season but just 59 in the 2015 season. I may yet change my mind on this one.

Nathan Aké is next on my list, no surprise as I mention him in my players to watch.

Fuchs from Leicester is a £5million pick. Last year was a pretty disappointing one for Fuchs with only 104 points, I am hoping he replicates his form from the 2015/16 season, in that season he scored 150 points.

The last player on my list is Chelsea’s Alonso, his score of 177 last year was too much to resist. The Spanish left-back should be a point magnet.

Full List of Defenders (As of 27.7.2017)