Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season

The start of the Premier League season edges closer. We are not just under 3 weeks away from the beginning of the 25/26 campaign, so it’s really time to start thinking hard about who we’d like to include in our FPL teams. The addition of ‘defensive contribution’ points makes previously unattractive CB options more appealing, but it should not be forgotten that defenders who contribute in attack remain gold dust in FPL. In this post, we’ll be taking a look at the Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season, taking into account attacking stats, CBIT, and other defensive information, pre-season/last season form, fixtures, and much more when suggesting assets.

This is the third part of our Defenders series. In case you missed them, don’t forget to check out:

Best £4.0 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season
Best £4.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season.

Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders

Daniel Munoz (£5.5m)

Munoz is perhaps the most obvious pick in the 5-5.5m price bracket, having scored a huge 142 points last season (4th overall for defenders). I hate to say I told you so – but I did tell you so. I was big on Munoz going into last season, having looked into his numbers from the 23/24 season, and watched him grow into his role at Palace under Glasner during the last part of that season. I recommended him in last year’s 5-5.5m defender post, and I’m recommending him again this time around!

On the defensive side of things, Palace don’t look great. They conceded 51 goals last time out, making them the joint 9th-best defense in the league (or the joint 11th-worst). But attacking-wise, Munoz participated in 11 clean sheets for Palace and produced 10 goal involvements across the season (4 goals, 6 assists). We can expect the Colombian wing-back to play a similar role for Palace in the coming season, as there have been no significant signings likely to threaten his position in the team or the overall style of play.

Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season — 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!

Munoz averaged 0.32xGI/90 last season, that’s a goal or assist every 3 games. According to Fantasy Football Hub, Munoz averaged 7.21 CBIT/90 last season, a total comparable to AWB (4.5m). This is lower than the 10 necessary to score 2 bonus points, but it is worth noting that Munoz has a higher CBIT/90 than Mitchell, cementing him as the better option even when taking into account the new defensive contribution points. He is well worth the 0.5m more than Lacroix and the 1.0m more than Guehi, and is, in my opinion, by far the best Palace defensive option. Palace have a fairly mixed run of games to start the season, but are by no means an ‘avoid’. As I wrote in the 4.5m defenders piece:

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

Munoz CBIT/90 Stats from Last Season:

Clearances/90- 2.62
Blocks/90 – 0.17
Interceptions/90- 1.22
Tackles/90- 3.42
CBIT/90- 7.43

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Maxence Lacroix (£5.0m)

If you are looking for a slightly cheaper alternative from Palace, Lacroix is the pick. Lacroix has good combination of Attack Threat + CBIT stats + Clean sheet Potential! Lacroix is one of the underrated Differentials in the game right now as he is only at 0.9% TSB(at the time of writing) and could be a game-changing Differential.

✅10.01 CBIT/90– 4th among current DEFs
✅5th for xG & 1st for Headed Attempts among DEFs
✅Palace- Top half of the Table for xGC, Goals Conceded & CS
❌First 3 fixtures

Only Tarkowski, Murilo and Pinnock have a Better CBIT/90 than Lacroix among Defenders from last season.

Antonee Robinson (£5.0m)

Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders - Robinson

From one attacking fullback to another, the next player on our list of the Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season is none other than Fulham fullback Antonee Robinson. The American international played a crucial role in Fulham’s European push last season, with the Cottagers falling short only in the final few weeks of the campaign. Fulham are a well-drilled side, with experience all over the pitch – I would expect them to continue on their upwards trajectory from last campaign into the coming season. They had an excellent defensive record last season, and I see no reason why they will not improve on it this time around.

Robinson himself managed to bag 10 assists last season(Highest amongst defenders). His underlying data is not great, with the American significantly overperforming his xA last year, but don’t be put off, stats aren’t everything! Robinson made consistently excellent runs into the final third last season, over and underlapping the winger on that side of the pitch and creating numerous chances for teammates.

Robinson ranks higher than Munoz for CBIT/90, but still falls short of the 9+/90 that I would expect a player to need to consistently score defensive contribution points. Admittedly, it’s not an exact science, and players may well need to average more or fewer CBIT/90 in order to consistently score DC points, but for now, I’m taking 9+ as the marker of a good pick. Robinson averaged 8.03/90 last time around, which is not a bad CBIT/90 at all, especially for a full back – his attacking stats alone make him a great pick.

Man United, Brentford, and Leeds all at home in the first 5 games make Fulham defenders attractive picks for our GW1 picks. United scored the fewest goals in the league last season after the promoted sides and Everton, while Brentford have lost their best attacker in Mbeumo and could lose Wissa too before the window shuts – I’d fancy Fulham to keep at least 2 CS in those first 5 games

Robinson CBIT/90 Stats from Last Season:

Clearances/90- 3.50
Blocks/90 – 0.26
Interceptions/90- 1.76
Tackles/90- 2.7
CBIT/90- 8.21

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

James Tarkowski (£5.5m)

Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders - Tarkowski

The Defensive Contribution King. According to the data, Tarkowski would have scored the most DC points last season. The Everton defender would have scored a massive 44 points from defensive contributions, or 1.33 points per start (according to @samwise ‘s analysis). He averaged 10.78 CBIT/90 last season, making him one of the highest ranked players for CBIT/90 in the league.

Everton conceded just 44 goals last year, the fourth fewest in the league, and kept a total of 11 clean sheets. The Toffee’s are known to be hard to beat, and I would expect that to continue into this season with Moyes still at the helm. Their move to a new stadium will be an interesting factor, but it is impossible to guess how this will affect them in either the short or the long term.

Tarkowski lacks attacking threat, only scoring 1 and assisting 1 last season, but he more than makes up for it in DC points and clean sheet potential. Fixtures-wise wise Everton have a very attractive run of games to start the season, playing Leeds, Brentford, and Wolves in their first three matches before facing Villa and Liverpool in GW4 and 5. I think it’s worth having at least one Everton defensive asset for those first three games, even if they are benched or sold for the subsequent two, and Tarkowski is by far the best choice.

Tarkowski CBIT/90 Stats from Last Season:

Clearances/90- 6.43
Blocks/90 – 1.29
Interceptions/90- 1.26
Tackles/90- 1.97
CBIT/90- 10.96 (1st amongst current defenders)

Further Read: Best Budget FPL Midfielders for the 2025/26 FPL Season

Nathan Collins (£5.0m)

Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders - Collins

Somewhat of a wildcard pick, I think Collins is a decent pick for a couple of reasons. Brentford are being tipped to go down by many, with those who expect them to stay up acknowledging that it will be a tough season nonetheless. With the manager and their two star players out of the door (Wissa looks like he’ll be going to Newcastle), Brentford may well struggle in 24/25. That being said, I still have some hope for some of their assets. Damsgaard was an FPL gem last season, Schade came good towards the end of the campaign, and Carvalho is a great player if/when given the chance.

Their defense is largely unchanged from last season, and in 23/24, they conceded 57 goals and kept 8 clean sheets. They were a mid-table defense, and their record is only likely to improve with the addition of Liverpool shot stopper Kelleher (who is, in my opinion, an upgrade on Flekken). Brentford are a well-run club, so I expect their new manager, an internal promotion, to be competent, especially defensively.

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Collins himself is a good pick for a couple of reasons. It went a bit under the radar last season that he produced 7 assists and scored 2 goals across the course of the season, and picked up 11 bonus points for his attacking contributions. He is a threat from set pieces – an attribute which is only likely to improve, as their new manager is their ex-set piece coach!

Furthermore, Collins ranks very highly for CBIT. According to the aforementioned modelling, Collins would have scored the joint 4th most DC points amongst defenders last season (only including players in FPL 24/25), averaging 9.26 CBIT/90 in the Premier League last season. Brentford have a fairly mixed bag of fixtures to start the season, meaning Collins has the chance to bag some CS in the easier fixtures and rack up some DC points in the harder games. I think he’s a decent pick, and will be massively overlooked due to Brentford’s perceived vulnerabilities.

Collins CBIT/90 Stats from Last Season:

Clearances/90- 5.79
Blocks/90 – 1.50
Interceptions/90- 0.92
Tackles/90- 1.05
CBIT/90- 9.26 (9th among Current Defenders)

Collins has also picked up a goal and an assist in three preseason games!

Further Read: Best FPL Budget Forwards (£4.5 – £6.0 Million) | 25/26 FPL Season

Murillo (£5.5m)

Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders - Murillo

Last but not least, we have Murillo. The Forest defender was one of the highest scoring defenders in the game last season, finishing the season with a total of 130 points, level with Saliba! Both he and his CB partner, Milenkovic, have been given huge price rises this year to account for their excellent season last time around, meaning that it is harder, but not impossible, to justify their inclusions in our FPL teams.

Forest have a great run of games to start the season, facing Brentford, West Ham, and Burnley all in their first 5 games. Murillo, like Tarkowski, will be one of the defenders who will benefit massively from the introduction of DC points, as Forest’s style of play lends itself to blocks, clearances, interceptions, and tackles. He ranked third among all defenders last season for defensive contributions, averaging 10.5 CBIT/90, smashing my arbitrary target of 9+. Of defenders currently in FPL, he would have scored the second most DC points (38) last season.

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!

While Milenkovic poses much more of an attacking threat, particularly from set pieces, Murillo makes up for this through his CBIT/90, and in my opinion, is a far more attractive option this year in FPL because of it. While I expect Forest to drop off from the heights of last season, I do not expect it to be as dramatic as some are suggesting, as they have a fairly deep squad, and look to be spending the Elanga money wisely. Their backline remains unchanged from last season with no significant departures, so I see no reason not to target them again, and I think Murillo is one of the best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders for FPL 24/25!

Murillo CBIT/90 Stats from Last Season:

Clearances/90- 6.83
Blocks/90 – 1.27
Interceptions/90- 1.04
Tackles/90- 1.52
CBIT/90- 10.66 (2nd among Current Defenders)

Further Read: FPL Players To Avoid in Your GW1 Drafts | 2025/26 FPL Season

Other £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders:

Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders - Ruben Dias

Dias (5.5m) – Nailed Man City defender for 5.5m. Expect City to be better this year and more solid defensively, having had time to integrate the new additions. Massive CS potential, not very high CBIT/90. Decent fixtures
Aina (£5.0m) / Williams (£5.0) – The other Forest options. Aina 2 goals and 1 assist, but could/should have come away with more attacking returns. Williams 1 goal 1 assist. Both rank lower on CBIT/90 but are good picks if you’re trying to save 0.5m.
Do note: Forest are linked with Leif Davis(LB), so Neco Williams might not be nailed. Williams can also play as a RB, which is where Aina operates. All three could be avoids if the deal is completed, and it might be safer to upgrade to Murillo/Milenkovic. Aina has also missed the last three pre-season friendlies due to an injury.

Mykolenko (£5.0m) / Branthwaite (£5.5m) – Other Everton options if looking to double up. Mykolenko is a bit cheaper and more attacking potential. Branthwaite high CBIT/90 and could be more nailed than Tarkowski if O’Brien moved to CB and or a new CB is bought.
Livramento (£5.0m) – Tough first two, but then the fixtures improve. High attacking potential. Decent CS potential. Downside is that he may be rotated with Trippier, especially when the Champions League starts up again.

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Currently studying Modern Foreign Languages at University. Liverpool/Sheffield Wednesday Fan. Interested in translation, journalism, football and data analysis.

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Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season

Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2025/26 FPL Season