Best FPL GW17 Defenders to Target from Each Price Range

“What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer” – Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

But certainly, this Christmas does not fit the above-mentioned bill, especially for football fans. We were treated with some magnificent moments during the World Cup – moments which had each one of the 12 core emotions which humans face – Interest, Joy, Surprise, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Contempt, Self-Hostility, Fear, Shame, Shyness, and Guilt. But what is more mesmerizing is the fact that for FPL players, the mundane yet magical Premier League action is back…and so are we with our first analysis on FPL defenders who are worth looking into for the next few gameweeks starting FPL GW17. So, without further ado, let’s deep dive right away.

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Best Premium FPL Defenders to Consider for FPL GW17

Premium Tier (>£6 m)

João Cancelo (Manchester City) – £7.4 m

Manchester City face Leeds (A), Everton (H) in December before entering a tricky schedule where they face Chelsea (GW19), Man Utd, and Spurs (DGW 20). Cancelo provides a guaranteed entry into the backline of juggernauts Man City having played 1116 mins of football this season, the second highest among Man City defenders is Ruben Dias with 871 mins.

Cancelo is relatively fresh having been benched for the last two World Cup games for Portugal. Amongst defenders, he ranks 1^st for goals scored and successful take-ons and 3^rd for goal attempts. No wonder he is the 4^th highest scorer both amongst defenders and also Man City players. The only factor which might dissuade you against Cancelo is his price. He is the highest-priced defender currently. But then, good things in life don’t come cheap, do they?

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) – £7.2 m

There is no denying that the electric TAA has been a shadow of himself this season evident by a £0.3 m drop in price. However, that is more because of the lofty benchmark he only has set over the last few years. If one looks at this year only, amongst defenders TAA is ranked 1^st for big chances created, 3^rd for chances created, 2^nd for successful corners, 2^nd for crosses, 2^nd for successful crosses and 5^th for goal attempts. Some staggering underlying numbers those are. With both him and Salah having minimal playtime during the World Cup and with the imminent returns of Jota, the returns for Trent maybe just around the corner. 

Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) – £6.8 m

Very similar to his partner-in-crime Trent, Robertson, has not hit the expected heights so far this season. Despite that fact, Robbo has the highest number of assists so far. Amongst defenders, Robertson is 4^th for big chances created, 4^th for chances created, 3^rd for successful corners, 5^th for crosses and 3^rd for successful crosses. One can only guess what would have been if he were remotely close to what was expected of him. Liverpool does not have a fixture with FDR above 3 till GW 29. So, it might be prudent not to write off Robertson this early, especially given he has been fully rested as Scotland failed to qualify for the World Cup. The only thing which might be a dampener for Robertson’s appeal is the rotation risk with Tsimikas.

Best Mid-Priced FPL Defenders to Consider for FPL GW17

Affordable Tier (£5-£6 m)

Kieran Trippier (Newcastle) – £5.9 m

Trippier made a mockery of his £5.0 m price tag set at the beginning of the season. He is the highest-scoring defender sitting comfortably ahead of his peers in almost every metric possible – bonus, BPS, assists, clean sheets, big chances created, chances created, successful corners, crosses and successful crosses. Incredibly this season, he has blanked only twice (against Liverpool and Spurs). Till GW23, Newcastle has only one fixture with an FDR>3 (against Arsenal in GW19). So not owning Trippier might send you down a slippery slope especially if he hauls – something he is quite capable of having scored a total of 30 points in his last 3 matches. 

William Saliba & Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal) – £5.3 m & £5.2 m

There is hardly anything to choose between the dynamic duo. Both are guaranteed starters for a watertight Arsenal defence. Both are rocking every parameter and have started every match for Arsenal. In fact, points scored by some of the more popular Arsenal assets like Martinelli and Jesus are only slightly more than these two who come much cheaper.

Just to give an illustration of how deadly the duo have been:-

Rank amongst Defenders	William Saliba	Gabriel Magalhães
Fantasy Points	2nd	3rd
Goals	1st	1st
Clean Sheets	3rd	3rd
Bonus	2nd	4th
BPS	2nd	3rd

It’s hard to choose between the two of them. The only factor which might tilt the balance is the teams selected by%. While Saliba is the 3rd most owned defender sitting in 35.2% teams, Gabriel is own by only 13.6% of managers and he is £0.1 m cheaper as well. So, if you are looking for a differential, Gabriel might be your man. However, a double-up of these two might be a good punt as well which might be a differential in itself.

Reece James & Ben Chilwell* (Chelsea) – £5.8 m

According to Chelsea sources, Reece James and Ben Chilwell are progressing well with their injuries and should be back to face Bournemouth on December 27^th. This might be music to the ears of not only Chelsea fans but also FPL managers who have been frustrated with the duo. The lack of game-time for Ben Chilwell and Reece James this season has been a sour point for Chelsea fans. Chilwell amassed 139 points playing 2286 mins in 2020/21 and James racked up 141 points from 1863 mins last season.

The expectation was the duo will light up EPL (and FPL) this season. Unfortunately, injuries got the better of them so far. Still, in the limited game time, Chilwell especially has delighted his managers with 1 goal, 2 assists and 2 clean sheets in 415 mins of action. But James has lost his appeal as he was deployed as RCB before getting injured. But with a new manager, all that might change as 4 out of 5 of Chelsea’s next fixtures have an FDR of only 2 with a DGW in GW 19. So, injury news on these two might be worth monitoring before GW 17 deadline.

Best Budget FPL Defenders to Consider for FPL GW17

Budget Tier (<£5 m)

Ben White (Arsenal) – £4.7 m

Arsenal has conceded the joint fewest goals so far this season (along with Newcastle) and White has started in every match. But the most appealing factor about White is not his starts which he was anyways assured of. White was supposed to be a boring but safe route to Arsenal’s defence. However, this season, Tomiyasu’s injury gave an unexpected opportunity for White to start as right back. And White has stepped up to the task quite brilliantly registering 2 assists already along with the 8 clean sheets. In fact, White is ranked 2^nd amongst defenders in terms of value this season. Coming at such a cheap price, he can unlock the much-needed fund to feature the big guns up front. Arsenal’s defence has thrived this season with White at right-back, Saliba partnering Gabriel in the middle and all three men are relatively fresh having seen very little to no action in Qatar.

Fabian Schär (Newcastle) – £4.9 m

As mentioned above, Newcastle has conceded the joint fewest goals and kept the joint highest clean sheets along with Arsenal. While Trippier and Pope have taken all the limelight from a defensive point of view (not to forget Almiron up top), Schär has managed to fly below the radar having started all but 1 game this season. He would have the highest clean sheets as a defender if not for Southampton’s Perraud’s 89^th min goal which came after Trippier was subbed off while Schär was still on the pitch. Newcastle has an extremely appealing fixture list right until mid-February, so keep an eye on the Swiss.

Diogo Dalot (Manchester United) – £4.8 m

How times change. In 2020-21, Dalot was shipped to AC Milan on loan where he did decently to be honest. But the doubts in Old Trafford were not put to rest as Wan-Bissaka was preferred by Solskjaer. During the summer of 2021, Manchester United were interested in signing another right-back. Meanwhile, Milan and Dortmund, were interested to sign Dalot on a permanent basis and loan deal respectively. Dalot chose to stay and fight for his position.

Cut to the present day and Dalot has started the last 3 games for Portugal at the World Cup pushing the mighty Cancelo out of the team, while Wan-Bissaka failed to make the England squad for the Qatar event. Dalot has started every game for Man Utd except the last match(Suspension) and has registered 1 assist and 5 clean sheets in the process while also amassing 12 bonus points (joint 2^nd highest amongst defenders). Man Utd has an enviable fixture in the medium to long term with Dalot rotating very well with Schär in GWs 20 and 21.

Other notable FPL Defenders to Consider Ahead of FPL GW17 from each tier: 

Premium Tier: 

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – £6.5 m – A differential beast on his day, VVD has matched his more popular defensive teammates in terms of points scored in every season except the one where he was injured.

Affordable Tier: 

Ivan Perišić (Spurs) – £5.5 m – Perisic surpassed Davor Suker as Croatia’s leading scorer in major tournaments. So, he can certainly score a goal or an assist in addition to keeping clean sheets, provided he is fit.

Budget Tier: 

Romain Perraud (Southampton) – £4.4 m – The Southampton man has started each of Southampton’s last 7 games in which he scored 30 points. This streak included games against Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool. Now, with the fixture swing, the Saints don’t have an FDR of greater than 3 in the next 7 games.

Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL GW17

Drafts and Fixture Analysis/Players to Target

Best FPL GW17 Drafts with Fixture Analysis & Players to Target
FPL Players and Teams to Target from FPL Gameweek 17
A Guide To FPL GW17 Team Structure With Drafts | FPL Restart
Five Must-Own Players to Have in your FPL GW17 Team
Best FPL GW17 Upside Picks from Teams Outside the ‘Top 7’
Dissecting The Twitter FPL GW17 Wildcard Template Team

Hot topics & Must-Read Content for FPL GW17

Latest Injury news and Press Conference Updates for all 20 teams at one place
FPL GW17 Scout Picks based on Stats and Matchups
FPL GW17 Differential Picks To Consider(<10% TSB)
Fantasy Premier League- Expected Goals Allowed(xGA) Table GW17-23
Top FPL Gameweek 17 Captain Picks Based on Analysis & Metrics
Fantasy Premier League- Expected Goals(XG) Table GW17-GW23
FPL GW17 Tips- Preview And Dilemmas Answered

Position Wise Analysis

Best FPL Goalkeepers to Consider From FPL GW17 | GK Analysis
Best 8 Million FPL Midfielders Comparison ahead of FPL GW17
Best Forwards To Consider For FPL GW17 | Price Point Wise
Best Midfielders To Consider For FPL GW17 | Price Point Wise
Best FPL GW17 Defenders to Target from Each Price Range

Team Previews

Man City GW1-16 Review & Best Man City FPL assets from GW17
Best Newcastle Players to Consider from FPL GW17

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General FPL GW17 News and Updates

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