In recent years football has completely transformed, VAR, Goal Line technology, you name it, but the way the game is being played is probably the main one. A full-backs main duty used to be to defend the goal and no more. For example, Gary Neville scored 5 times and assisted a further 37 in 400 league appearances for Manchester United. Trent Alexander-Arnold already has 8 goals and 34 assists in 129 league appearances. If Trent was to continue at his current rate, by his 400th league appearance, he would have 136 goal contributions. The role has completely evolved. Much to the enjoyment of fans, and Fantasy Premier League fans in particular.
With that being said, I am going to run through some of the reasons why I think going ‘big at the back’ could be a wise strategy going into the 2021/22 Fantasy Premier League Season.
Before that do check out our FPL Team Structure Guide series where we make a case for each of the structures including big at the back ~ A Guide to FPL Team Structure | 21/22 FPL Season (Pre Wildcard)
Premium Defenders
At £7.5m, Trent remains the most expensive defender in FPL history, and for good reason too. Trent Alexander Arnold has been arguably the best defensive asset to own over the last three seasons in FPL, scoring 185 points in 2018/19, followed by 210 in 2019/20 and 160 points in 2020/21. Alongside him is the Scottish Andy Robertson, who actually trumped Trent’s 210 points in 2019/20 with his very own 213 points the season before.
Liverpool are probably the ideal team to own defenders from, as they tend to keep clean sheets whilst allowing their flying fullbacks to rampage forward and feed one of the deadliest attacks in world football. Also, in no other title contender’s side could you find several players that will score more or less a guaranteed 150+ points at <£7.5m, whilst being assured of a start every week.
Only Aaron Cresswell has interfered with the Liverpool trident of Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, and Van Dijk finishing as the top 3 defenders in the last 3 seasons, with Van Dijk being the man to miss out. He was rather unlucky to lose his podium finish, however, with a horror injury ruining his season just a month in.
| Position | Price | Avg Points |
| DEF | £6.0m – £7.5m | 142 |
| DEF | £5.5m – £7.5m | 126 |
| MID | £6.0m – £8.0m | 110 |
| MID | £5.5m – £7.5m | 103 |
Even when you factor in mid-range midfielders, only last season has one been close to entering the top 3 for points scored, with Jack Harrison tieing Trent on 160 points. This brings me to my next point, are we better off selecting premium defenders, playing five at the back, and simply ignoring all mid-range midfielders?
If we have a look at the average points scored by premium defenders last season and compare them to the average points scored by mid-range midfielders, we can see that owning premium defenders does look like the way forward (ironically).
Based on the table above, it would make sense to kit out your backline with premium defenders, as they can not only match but outperform mid-priced midfielders.
Another positive to opting for this strategy is that it is generally low maintenance. It’s quite seldom that you will have premium defenders rotated, compared to the risk that comes with mid-priced midfielders. You can pretty much set and forget 8 players; 1 goalkeeper, 5 defenders, 2 premium midfielders/forwards.
Also, we have found that some of our premium defenders are on set pieces too, which just adds to their potential for points. Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Shaw, Digne, and Cresswell all take corners and free kicks for their respective sides.
I would say spending around a third of your budget on defenders would be more than enough to fully benefit from going ‘big at the back’. In theory, we could fit our defence out with a 1x £7.5m, 1x £7.0m, 2x £5.5m, and 1x £5.0m and be left with £69.5m left to fill our remaining 10 spaces. However, 4 of these will be bench players, which should cost no more than £19.5m at the very most. Once you have got this, you then have around £50m to fill 6 positions which is quite generous.
Here’s a potential 2021/22 Fantasy Premier League team that adopts the ‘big at the back’ strategy.
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2021/22 FPL Season ALLABOUTFPL Mini League:
Thanks for reading the Big at the back analysis blog. Keep checking allaboutfpl.com for regular blogs. Also, follow our 20000+community on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to stay updated on regular Posts and FPL updates. Link to all our 2021/22 FPL pre-season blogs. Check out our Rules and Basics Guide, FPL Team Structure Guide, FPL Goalkeepers, FPL Budget Strikers, FPL Midfielders, FPL position-wise player analysis, FPL Strikers, FPL Defenders, FPL Team Analysis, and FPL Player Analysis.
Further Reads from ALLABOUTFPL Ahead of the 2021/22 Season:
Nine Players That Haven’t Left My 2021/22 Fantasy Premier League Draft
FPL Budget Midfielders (£5 – £6.5Mil) Analysis For 2021/22 Season
Making the Case to be an FPL Asset This Season ~ Diogo Jota
Kane & Son: A Stats-Based Look At The Prospects If Kane Stays Or Gets The Move
FPL Budget Defenders (£4.5) Analysis Ahead Of 2021/22 Season
Best FPL Assets to Consider From Promoted Teams for 21/22 FPL Season
Hunt For The Next Martinez: Ideal FPL Goalkeeper 2021/22 season
AllAboutFPL Mini League For 2021/22 FPL Season | Free Entry with some amazing prizes
Best Mid-Priced Defenders To Target For The 2021/2022 FPL Season
Bruno vs Salah FPL Comparison Ahead of 2021/22 Season
Budget Picks/Enablers To Consider Ahead of the 2021/22 FPL Season
FPL Premium Forwards Analysis Ahead Of 2021/22 Season
FPL Mid-Priced Strikers (£7.0 – £8.5 Mil) Analysis For 21/22 Season
2021/22 FPL Season Set Piece & Penalty Takers List and Analysis of 3 Season Data
Mid-Priced FPL Midfielders (£7 – £9.5 Mil) Analysis and Comparison Ahead Of 2021/22 Season
FPL 2021-22: Best 4.5M FPL Defenders Rotation Combinations
Man City FPL Preview | Fixture Analysis, Pep Rotation, and Key FPL Assets
Making the Case to be an FPL Asset This Season ~ Edinson Cavani
Team to Target for Initial Few GW’s – Brighton & Hove Albion | FPL 21/22 Season
2021/22 FPL Team Structure | One premium Mid and Forward with Drafts
2021/22 FPL Team Structure | Two Premium Midfielders with Drafts
FPL GoalKeepers for 2021/22 FPL season
FPL Budget Strikers (£4.5 – £6.5 Mil) Analysis Ahead Of 2021/22 Season
Official FPL- Making Your First GW1 Draft |Top Picks For 21/22 Season
FPL 2021-22: Best Rotational Pairs of Teams for Alternate Easy Fixtures
Best Premium Defenders To Target For The 2021/22 FPL Season
FPL Season Review – How I became a Top 500 FPL Manager! | FPL Tips
FPL Scouting Report: Jadon Sancho | Is It Worth Getting Sancho in FPL?
Team to Target for Initial Few GW’s – Everton | FPL 21/22 Season
An In-Depth Look at Team Structure 1: Three Premium Assets
2021/22 FPL Season: FPL Price Changes Explained | FPL Guide
2021/22 Fantasy Premier League Season Rules, Tips | The Ultimate Guide
What is Effective Ownership(EO) in FPL? | FPL Guide
A Guide to FPL Team Structure | 21/22 FPL Season (Pre Wildcard)
How Structure and Approach can Shape your 2021/22 FPL Season
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