Best £4.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season

It’s that time again! With pre-season underway and the new campaign just around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the best £4.5 million FPL Defenders on the market for FPL managers. The game only launched earlier this week, but we have wasted no time compiling a list of assets for you to target for GW1.

Read, re-read, and read again. This is a piece you’ll surely come back to, as a good 4.5m defender is priceless! Let’s take a look at the Best £4.5 million FPL Defenders to target in FPL GW1.

This is the second part of our Defenders series. In case you missed it, don’t forget to check out – Best £4.0 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season

Link to all our 2025/26 Pre-Season articles including all team pre-season friendly updates, team previews, fixture analysis, position-wise analysis, differentials, players to target, budget enablers and more. Completely free to access as well!

Best £4.5 Million FPL Defenders to Target for FPL GW1

Marc Guehi

Let’s start off with the safer options before moving on to some more exciting, albeit riskier picks. Guehi is a solid centre back, playing for a team coming off the back of an FA Cup win and about to embark on their first ever European campaign. He has been the subject of much speculation in the media so far this summer, with journalists and fans alike suggesting he may be off to join Arne Slot’s free-spending Reds before the transfer window slams shut, making other palace options arguably safer picks… While the prospect of a 4.5m Liverpool defender is mouthwatering, he’s a great pick even if he stays at Palace – here’s why.

Palace conceded the 9th fewest goals in the league last season, and have proved themselves to be a solid defense since Glasner took charge over a year ago. Muñoz will be a popular pick due to his attacking potential, but Guehi is a solid option for those looking at the slightly cheaper price points.

guehi stats fpl — Data from FFHUB – **Subscribe now for the 2025/26 season with an exclusive 50% off discount** and with a win your mini-league or money-back guarantee!

The addition of ‘Defensive contribution’ points means that defensive actions such as clearances, tackles, blocks, and interceptions will be valued more than ever before this season in FPL. This makes more conservative assets like the palace CB, far more appealing for the upcoming season…

Guehi averaged 7.94 CBIT (clearances, blocks, interceptions, tackles) per 90 last season. 10 are needed in a single game to score the 2 Defensive contribution points available. Clearances are the largest percentage of CBIT points, with clearances making up over 50% of projected defensive contribution points from last season. Guehi ranked 3rd for clearances amongst the crop of 4.5m defenders in the game this year, setting him up well for this season from a DC point of view.

Palace have a tough opening 3 fixtures, with kinder opponents from GW4 onwards. Palace defenders are likely to be set and forget assets.

Guehi’s CBIT/90 Stats from Last Season:

Clearances/90- 4.59
Blocks/90- 0.68
Interceptions/90- 0.85
Tackles/90- 1.82
CBIT/90- 7.94 (16th among current 4.5 million defenders)

Alternatively, Richards is a good alternative to Guehi, who is linked with a move away from Palace and has only one year left in his contract. Richards is also priced at 4.5 million and is a nailed starter, he’s also better than Guehi in terms of defensive actions, Richards had 0.73 defensive actions points per start last season. Guehi managed only 0.41 defensive actions per start last season.

Richards vs Guehi- Stats from Last Season:

CBIT/90- 9.07 vs 7.94
xGI/90- 0.09 vs 0.12
Shots inside the box/90- 0.51 vs 0.38

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Ezri Konsa

Konsa was one of our 4.5m defender picks this time last year, but did he deliver? Well, Konsa was Villa’s highest scoring defender, and was Villa’s fifth highest points scorer overall. The majority of his points came from CS (though there was the odd attacking contribution), and that is likely to continue, as he ranks fairly poorly for CBIT/90 and is therefore unlikely to consistently score DC points.

Villa kept 8 clean sheets last season, a solid total, but by no means out of this world, so why should you pick Konsa?

Villa really picked up the pace towards the end of the season, and had an astonishing run of form between the end of February and the start of May, putting them in contention for a Champions League spot, which for the majority of the season had looked well out of reach. Konsa played a decisive role in this success, and is Villa’s most nailed defensive asset (other than Martinez). What he lacks in attacking output, he makes up for in reliability of minutes!

He, like Guehi, is a fairly ‘boring’ pick, but he will pick up upwards of 100 points across the course of the season, so if you can own him when fixtures and form crossover, he could be a gem at 4.5m! His first two games are tough, but in the medium term, he looks like an excellent option. Furthermore, he rotates well with a number of other attractive defensive assets(as seen above), so do not overlook him just because of the first two matches! He should certainly be on your list of £4.5 Million FPL Defenders to target…

Konsa’s CBIT/90 Stats from Last Season:

Clearances/90- 3.28
Blocks/90- 0.34
Interceptions/90- 0.74
Tackles/90- 1.04
CBIT/90- 5.39

Further Read: Best £4.0 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season

Destiny Udogie

In my mind, Udogie is ever so slightly riskier than Guehi and Konsa but has a far greater upside. We saw in his first season in the prem what a great player this man is, but last season was unfortunately derailed by injuries and uncertainty, both his own and those of the team.

His attacking stats pale in comparison to those of his teammate Porro, but I have hope that these will tick up under a new manager. Compared to other Spurs defensive assets, particularly those at a similar price point, Udogie comes out on top with regards to defensive contribution points, making him (at least in my mind) the best option if you’re targeting a Tottenham defensive asset. Some may try to suggest that Udogie is far from a nailed asset, and that therefore Van De Ven (4.5m) is the safer/better choice, citing Spence’s excellent showings in Udogie’s position towards the back end of the season, I don’t think this is likely – but it’s something to keep an eye on as pre-season rumbles on.

It is still unclear how Tottenham will lineup/play next season, as their new manager’s style of play is very flexible, but will likely differ from the entertaining, albeit not very effective, style of Ange. Against Reading, in their only game of pre-season thus far, Tottenham lined up in a back 4, with the fullbacks given ample opportunity to get forwards and help the team with chance creation. In that game, both Porro and Udogie created 2 chances, despite both only playing for the first 45 minutes.

There are many unknowns with this pick (his numbers from last season are bad on paper, the impact of a new manager, his position in the starting XI, etc.), but I still think that overall, he is worth looking at. Tottenham have a fairly kind run of games to start the season, with the City game in GW2 the only real challenge on paper in their first 7 or 8 fixtures (they also face two promoted sides in that time!). I know Spurs finished 17th last season and weren’t very good generally, but hear me out: Udogie is a decently offensive fullback playing for a big 6 team with decent fixtures to start the season and a new (defensive-minded) manager – therefore, I think he’s worth a mention.

Udogie’s CBIT/90 Stats from Last Season(Rank among current £4.5 Defenders):

Clearances/90- 1.40
Blocks/90- 0.28
Interceptions/90- 1.03
Tackles/90- 3.50 (1st)
CBIT/90- 6.20

Stats from FFHUB – Subscribe now for the 2025/26 season with an exclusive 50% off discount and with a win your mini-league or money-back guarantee!

Note: Destiny Udogie did not travel with the rest of the squad for their Asia pre-season tour due to an injury issue. He remained at Hotspur Way for treatment, alongside Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, and Bryan Gil, who will be continuing their rehabilitation. Watchout for more updates if you are planning to pick him in GW1.

Van De Ven

If Udogie is not fully fit before the start of the season, Van De Ven is the best 4.5 million Defender pick from Spurs. He is back from injury and has had a good pre-season so far. Under Frank’s system the center backs are very likely to get lots of Defensive Contribution points as seen with Collins & Pinnock last season. Both Collins & Pinnock featured in Top 15 for CBIT/90 from last season.

Further Read: FPL Rotational Pairs & Combinations for the 2025/26 FPL Season

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Best £4.5 Million FPL Defenders- Wan Bissaka

While the summer signing of Walker Peters has ruffled a few feathers, the FPL community seems to be in agreement that AWB is an underpriced option at 4.5m – here’s why.

2 goals and 6 assists are the headline figures for last season, but his appeal runs much deeper than just an attacking purple patch! He is well known for his crunching tackles and ranks highly for almost all CBIT stats. The English fullback averages 10.41 CBIT per 90 last season, similar to pricier assets such as Palace’s Lacroix (5m) and Forest’s Milenkovic, both of whom will be popular FPL picks this season!

Aaron Wan-Bissaka stats — Data from FFHUB – **Subscribe now for the 2025/26 season with an exclusive 50% off discount** and with a win your mini-league or money-back guarantee!

When Potter joined the Hammers mid-way through last season, he immediately improved their defensive prospects. He’ll be looking to build on this with a full pre-season. If their CS record can be improved, then AWB will become a very popular asset indeed.

West Ham’s initial run of fixtures is fairly mixed, so AWB, should you choose him, could be another set-and-forget. His position in the starting XI looked fairly nailed towards the end of last season, but, as mentioned, we should keep an eye on the impact KWP’s signing has on AWB’s minutes…

Wan-Bissaka’s CBIT/90 Stats from Last Season:

Clearances/90- 3.17
Blocks/90- 0.31
Interceptions/90- 1.88(2nd among current 4.5 Defenders)
Tackles/90- 2.00
CBIT/90- 7.36

El Hadji Malick Diouf

Diouf is the differential alternative to Wan Bissaka from West Ham, Diouf operates in the LWB role and was sensational in their last friendly, picking up an assist, and his cross led to the first goal. Last season, he had 10 attacking contributions.

Further Read: Initial FPL GW1 Drafts for the 25/26 FPL Season with Pros & Cons

Other 4.5m Defenders to consider:

Agbadou (Wolves) – Starting CB for Wolves. Rotates well with Spurs. Excellent CBIT numbers averaging 9.18 CBIT/90. Threat from set pieces. Wolves were excellent towards the end of the season.

**Spurs and Wolves good rotation till GW9- Van De Ven and Agbadou**

De Kuyper (Brighton) – Popular FPL pick. Most likely the starting LB/LWB for Brighton with Estupinan leaving for AC Milan. Very attacking, 75 attacking returns across 220 club career appearances. Not great starting fixtures.
Andersen (Fulham) – Andersen has been a consistent FPL pick over the years, and now with DC points on offer, his stocks have gone up. Andersen had 9.57 CBIT/start last season and achieved DC points in 43% of his starts. Fulham’s fixtures are decent too, so he could be a good option.
Truffert (Bournemouth) – Starting LB for Bournemouth (very attacking full back). Kerkez replacement. Good underlying attacking data. 21 Goal Contributions(5 Goals, 16 Assist) over the last 3 seasons. Already 2 goals in pre-season friendly vs Bristol. New signing so risky. Liverpool in GW1.

Best £4.5 Million FPL Defenders- Truffert

Struijk (Leeds) – Penalty taking CB. He may or may not be the first choice. Bijol and Rodon may be first-choice CBs. Leeds are not expected to be good defensively, and will probably go down. Bad fixtures.

Top £4.5 Million Defenders for Defensive Contribution Stats from Last Season:

Includes only the current season £4.5 million defenders & has played a minimum of 1000 minutes.

All Stats below are from FFHUB. For more Stats, Player Comparison, Points Prediction, Rate My Team AI Tool, AI Recommended Transfers, FPL Planners and much more to improve your FPL Game – Subscribe now for the 2025/26 season with an exclusive 50% off discount and with a win your mini-league or money-back guarantee!

Top £4.5 Million Defenders for Clearances/90:

Pinnock- 6.54
Andersen- 6.52
Agbadou- 5.68
Kilman- 5.64
Keane- 5.59
Mavrapanos- 5.43
Davies- 5.35
Richards- 5.29
Tosin- 5.13
Toti- 5.06

Top £4.5 Million Defenders for Blocks/90:

Van Den Berg- 1.32
Davies- 1.29
Dragusin- 1.15
Bueno- 1.12
Kilman- 1.07
Andersen- 0.95
Coufal- 0.93
Mings- 0.88
Keane- 0.86
Pinnock- 0.85

Top £4.5 Million Defenders for Interceptions/90:

Maguire- 2.05
Wan-Bissaka- 1.88
Mavrapanos- 1.77
Tete- 1.62
Yoro- 1.39
Keane- 1.38
Todibo- 1.33
Dalot- 1.22
Tuanzebe- 1.21
Castagne- 1.21

Top £4.5 Million Defenders for Tackles/90:

Udogie- 3.50
Senesi- 3.17
Young- 2.84
Tete- 2.83
Emerson- 2.54
Castagne- 2.52
Digne- 2.48
Spence- 2.46
Cash- 2.43
Maatsen, Todibo- 2.31

Top £4.5 Million Defenders for CBIT Total/90:

Pinnock- 10.17
Senesi- 9.59
Andersen- 9.57
Mavrapanos- 9.55
Agbadou- 9.18
Richards- 9.08
Keane- 8.95
Kilman- 8.82
Toti- 8.60
Davies- 8.59

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Best £4.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season

Best £4.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season