Rank your top 5 defender selections and tell us why

[Oxford NZ]

My five for the first three GW's in order of rank
Walker - Just because I like his character and hope he does well City. He will be out to prove a point the first few matches. Brighton should give a clean sheet and Everton could be the same.
Bellerin - Price, fixtures and attacking potential. The gunners loss to Chelsea last week was interesting but I see them starting the season well.
Cedric - Price, ownership, fixtures and attacking potential. Most of all price and I am lazy. Loads of you have him in your teams so why not follow the heard for a defender with such great fixtures.
C Daniels - Bench man in a 3-4-3. Price two reasonable fixtures and I am a lazy soap bag.
Yedlin - Bench fodder. Price and I think he will do OK if Newcastle start the season well.

I like Valencia and may do Bellend for him before the season kicks off.
WC planned early and will see how first few games go. The defenders and nailed WB's will be key when I wild card.
Also I have a Chelski forward so do not want Alonso or another Ski until GW6 ish when fixtures improve.
Rose and Coleman will come into play at some stage in my squad I hope.
Trippier is an unknown for me. I have not watched him play that much and I will see how Spurs start the season.

[Vsz]

My back 5 currently are:

Milner - pens and I think he will play pretty much every match
Cedric - fixtures and price
Trippier - attacking full back well priced
Morgan - should still get plenty of games and rotates with...
Lescelles (may go for Yedlin).

Not the best five available at any price but they're my 5.

[Oxford NZ]

My back 5 currently are:

Milner - pens and I think he will play pretty much every match
Cedric - fixtures and price
Trippier - attacking full back well priced
Morgan - should still get plenty of games and rotates with...
Lescelles (may go for Yedlin).

Not the best five available at any price but they're my 5.

Nice choices. I have had all these in my list so far apart from Morgan. I know nothing about him yet.
Milner I agree is a great pick for all season and will be a potential wild card or FT import for me.

[Vsz]

My back 5 currently are:

Milner - pens and I think he will play pretty much every match
Cedric - fixtures and price
Trippier - attacking full back well priced
Morgan - should still get plenty of games and rotates with...
Lescelles (may go for Yedlin).

Not the best five available at any price but they're my 5.

Nice choices. I have had all these in my list so far apart from Morgan. I know nothing about him yet.
Milner I agree is a great pick for all season and will be a potential wild card or FT import for me.

Huth is out for a while so he's assured of place for a bit at least and rotates well with Newc who have mostly nice early fixtures.

[Arhaych]

Cedric not in the Southampton squad for the tour of France.

Is it starting to look like Confederations Cup duties might mean he misses GW1?

[ZeroRemorse]

Cedric not in the Southampton squad for the tour of France.

Is it starting to look like Confederations Cup duties might mean he misses GW1?

Probably the contrary, he's resting for GW 1.

With Van Djik about to be purchased by LFC, I definitely think he will start GW1.

[asm_fanz]

Van Dijk is a central defender, Cedric is a right back.

[Resonare]

1. Kieran Trippier - Walker is said to have been the best RB in the league and Trippier was arguably better. High chance of being the highest scoring defender come May imo.
2. Daley Blind - Set pieces, good crosser with Lukaku as striker, bonus magnet. Can't see Darmian or Shaw starting ahead of him.
3. Cedric Soares - High attacking underlining stats, likely to get 10+ CSs given the new manager's style.
4. Craig Dawson - Similar to above. Unlike McAuley, he actually has the underlining stats to back up him up.
5. Andrew Robertson - Better end product than Clyne and cheaper. If Van Djik does come in then he is a steal at 5.0.

Neither can I see either of them start ahead of Blind. Might be interesting if he's a certain starter. Good way to spent 1.0 somewhere else instead of Valencia!

I didn't really compare him to Valencia (imo Valencia is too high), but his stats are way better than Lindelof's whose indicate a defender capped at 6 points.

He only stared about 50-55% of Uniteds games last season despite not being injured.

Equally telling is that he started 10 Europa games.

I'm not sure Blind is a wise pick, not sure Jose trusts him.

How many games was he injured for?

[Baerardi]

Van Dijk is a central defender, Cedric is a right back.

I think his reference is more relating to the fact that without VVD, and no replacement likely to be in before GW1, the inexperience of Stephens and/or Bedrenak (sp) will put their back line into unrest. As such, they'd be highly unlikely to then play their second choice RB as well, for an even weaker back line.

[wonkypenguin]

Zouma @ Stoke could be a good shout... not sure about 5.5 though :O

[Zimmerman]

He only stared about 50-55% of Uniteds games last season despite not being injured.

Equally telling is that he started 10 Europa games.

I'm not sure Blind is a wise pick, not sure Jose trusts him.

How many games was he injured for?

United 63 games
Blind started 31
Sub 22
Injured for 10 at most... but aside from one game after going off against Rostov I'm not sure he was injured much last season (maybe a United fan can advise)?

[asm_fanz]

According to transfermarkt, Blind was in the squad 35 times, started 20 times, got subbed on 3 times and stayed on the bench in 12 games (in the PL). And no, it doesn't look like he was injured.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/daley-b ... 016/plus/0

[Skrtel]

Zouma @ Stoke could be a good shout... not sure about 5.5 though :O

Maybe not Zouma himself but another cheap Stoke defender might be interesting, whoever that might be.

[Jay P]

I think if Alonso and Milner can replicate last season they're far and away my top def picks, even at their prices.

Beyond them I like Trippier, Kompany, and Azpil. All part of strong defences and have decent attacking return potential I think.

[math!]

I haven't watched any pre season games except for Chelsea and I have to say Alonso has been in fine form so far. If Sandro or an equivalent isn't signed as competition I would strongly recommend him.

[ZeroRemorse]

1.Alonso 7.0m - Killer deadball specialist. No doubt will grow into his role even more with a year under his belt.

2.Kompany 6.0m - When fit, he's one of the best defenders in the world, scores goals, bonus point magnet too. 0.5m cheaper and way better value than Walker.

3.Trippier 5.5m - Great attacking prospect, fantastic crosser, should get a few assists and well priced for a Spurs back.

4.Charlie Daniels 5.0m - Offers a really good attacking threat, consistently score goals and assists in his 2 seasons in the EPL and racked up 130+ pts in both seasons! A very overlooked player in FPL.

5.Ben Mee 4.5m - Nailed on, plays in a defensive team, bound to get a few clean sheets and the odd set piece headed goal.

[bulgarche]

I saw a similar topic, but many ppl are writing "depending on the price.. this player is good" and so on...
All I need is points. No matter if the defender costs 7m. So which five defenders are the best option?

[Sutter Kane]

Alonso, Trippier, Milner, Kompany, Valencia/Alderweireld in that order. People have given reasons for these already except Alderweireld. Think he'll score more goals this time round and got 120pts in less than 80% of the season last year so I'm expecting 160+ from him. That backline would cripple most squads though...
Foster Myhill
That back 5
3*4.5, Hazard, Zaha
Lukaku, Jesus, Austin
Any takers? Bulgarche?

[jacksosi]

Alonso, Trippier, Milner, Kompany, Valencia/Alderweireld in that order. People have given reasons for these already except Alderweireld. Think he'll score more goals this time round and got 120pts in less than 80% of the season last year so I'm expecting 160+ from him. That backline would cripple most squads though...
Foster Myhill
That back 5
3*4.5, Hazard, Zaha
Lukaku, Jesus, Austin
Any takers? Bulgarche?

I have something similar to that...do people really think Kompany plus 0.5m is better that Walker slinging in crosses to that MC attack?

[swadd1er]

That's a very interesting team you have there Jacksosi. Never thought of having 5 "premium-ish" defenders

[Aldershot Rejects]

I have something similar to that...do people really think Kompany plus 0.5m is better that Walker slinging in crosses to that MC attack?

I prefer Kompany actually. In terms of ppg (and yes I know that it is a flawed measure), Kompany was second to Alonso amongst all defenders next year. Assuming Man City's defence is more solid this year (although to be fair when Kompany played they didn't concede many goals) I can only see that improving. Suspect he will get almost as many goals as Walker gets assists. Big issue, of course, is fitness, but I'm happy to start with him.

Nice team though!

[Mike1989]

Kieran Tripper (5.5)
The Spurs defence is usually very good and he did slot in and do a fair job when required last season. Am I convinced he will replace Walker? Not really, but at 5.5 he offers good value and is one of the better value buys at that price point.

Ryan Bertrand (5.5)
The Southampton defence is usually pretty good as well. He's got three seasons of proven production behind him (140 points, 2 GS, 3 A, 13 CS; 106 points, 1 GS, 4 A, 9 CS; 123 points, 2 GS, 5 A, 12 CS). The fixture list looks very good for the first eleven games with only one red fixture. Again at 5.5 he offers good value and will likely go up in price if Southampton's defence starts strong.

Alfie Mawson (5.0)
This lad moved to Swansea in January and managed 94 fantasy points, 4 goals, and 7 clean sheets. By no means do I expect him to double that tally, but he's a goal threat, and under Clement they did start to be a bit more solid at the back and should better their clean sheet tally from last season. Plus at 5.0 he's good value and has a decent fixture list.

Charlie Daniels (5.0)
I'm not a huge fan of the Bournemouth defence since they can be leaky at times, but Daniels has two seasons now with 130 and 134 points, 3 and 4 goals, and 5 and 3 assists. At £5.0m he offers good value and a fair fixture list to open the season, and in the weeks with red fixtures he is not that expensive to keep on the bench.

Wes Morgan (4.5)
Tough start to the season for Leicester and is bench worthy until then, but from GW7 onward he is a possible starter. If Leicester sharpen up at the back like they have been in previous seasons then he's excellent value at 4.5 especially when he's had 112 and 139 point seasons. Will he be a regular start for the entire year? No idea, but for the meantime he certainly one of the better candidates for the bench with upside at that price point.

Notable mentions
I do like the Chelsea defenders, but currently I find it hard to get one of them into my team based on how I currently have it setup. The same goes for Walker and Valencia. The two Everton fullbacks in Coleman and Baines should be productive again, but I'd avoid Baines until GW6 and Coleman until he's fit. Robertson (5.0) has potential if he starts for Liverpool and same goes for Rangel (4.0) if he gets ahead of Naughton.

[ZeroRemorse]

I have something similar to that...do people really think Kompany plus 0.5m is better that Walker slinging in crosses to that MC attack?

I prefer Kompany actually. In terms of ppg (and yes I know that it is a flawed measure), Kompany was second to Alonso amongst all defenders next year. Assuming Man City's defence is more solid this year (although to be fair when Kompany played they didn't concede many goals) I can only see that improving. Suspect he will get almost as many goals as Walker gets assists. Big issue, of course, is fitness, but I'm happy to start with him.

Nice team though!

Walkers crosses are pretty junk too. Another reason why Tottenham felt comfortable letting him go.

[From4corners]

However i feel it could be Kolasinac in which case he is similarly priced to Bellerin, who if holds down his spot ahead of Ox then as wingbacks, could prove a very good consistent source of points.

Having seen him play today, he went straight into my team. I've seen him before when he played in Germany, but playing on the left in a 3-5-2, with seemingly no competition (Monreal will probably be playing in the back 3), he's locked in my team.

[Baerardi]

Alfie Mawson (5.0)
This lad moved to Swansea in January and managed 94 fantasy points, 4 goals, and 7 clean sheets. By no means do I expect him to double that tally, but he's a goal threat, and under Clement they did start to be a bit more solid at the back and should better their clean sheet tally from last season. Plus at 5.0 he's good value and has a decent fixture list.

Mawson joined in late August.

[Mike1989]

Alfie Mawson (5.0)
This lad moved to Swansea in January and managed 94 fantasy points, 4 goals, and 7 clean sheets. By no means do I expect him to double that tally, but he's a goal threat, and under Clement they did start to be a bit more solid at the back and should better their clean sheet tally from last season. Plus at 5.0 he's good value and has a decent fixture list.

Mawson joined in late August.

So he did, my mistake. It was Clement that came in January. Still most of Mawson's points did come in the second half of the season under Clement, so I still feel that he should have a productive season because he's a goal threat and Swansea did improve at the back under Clement.

[Sutter Kane]

If Siggy leaves then the quality of the set pieces to Mawson's forehead will be severely reduced you'd think. If Siggy stays then Mawson's a good one for the WC I think.

[Owsler]

With Cedric a possible doubt to start GW1 who are we looking at as a 'cheap' Soton option?

[TheBigLewandowski]

With Cedric a possible doubt to start GW1 who are we looking at as a 'cheap' Soton option?

I now have Yoshida in my latest draft.
With Pied back on the scene after injury, Cedric could perhaps be rotated/rested from time to time?
Yoshida played very well last season.

[Oxford NZ]

With Cedric a possible doubt to start GW1 who are we looking at as a 'cheap' Soton option?

I now have Yoshida in my latest draft.
With Pied back on the scene after injury, Cedric could perhaps be rotated/rested from time to time?
Yoshida played very well last season.

Pied had a great match yesterday and came forward well