The Scout continues a series of articles identifying the best players in each position in 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League, according to their price, statistics and fixtures.
Premium defenders (£5.0m and over)
Defenders who cost at least £5.0m tend to offer you more than just clean-sheet potential and can make an impact at both ends of the pitch.
Due to their all-round ability, these players are less inclined to be rotated by Fantasy managers than their budget counterparts. Instead, they are generally "set and forget" players who are picked in an FPL starting XI virtually every Gameweek.
As there tends to be more doubts surrounding each club’s form at the start of a season, managers typically focus on fixtures when picking their premium defenders.
In 2025/26 Fantasy, both Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur have great runs of opponents which can allow their key defenders the chance to get off to a fast start.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the difficulty of each fixture is ranked from one to five - with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest – both those clubs, along with Sunderland, have the joint-best run over the first six Gameweeks, with an average score of 2.67.
Forest's first six fixtures
| Gameweek | Opp. | FDR* |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brentford (H) | 3 |
| 2 | Crystal Palace (A) | 3 |
| 3 | West Ham (H) | 2 |
| 4 | Arsenal (A) | 4 |
| 5 | Burnley (A) | 2 |
| 6 | Sunderland (H) | 2 |
*1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture
For Nott’m Forest, both full-backs Neco Williams and Ola Aina are priced at £5.0m, identical to goalkeeper Matz Sels. They can provide early value in a defence that kept 13 clean sheets last season – second only to the 14 of Liverpool.
Nonetheless, it could be worth paying extra for Nikola Milenkovic or Murillo (both £5.5m).
Crucially, they would have finished first and second respectively among defenders in 2024/25 Fantasy if the new defensive contribution points had been in place.
Milenkovic clearly carries the main goal threat of the two. His five goals and 27 shots in the box were both more than TWICE Murillo’s respective totals of two and 13.
Yet the latter is far more likely to produce defensive contribution points; Murillo would have tallied 38 of them last season, compared with the 26 of Milenkovic.
Spurs, meanwhile, are very much a work in progress following the arrival of Thomas Frank as head coach.
The north London side managed a mere six clean sheets in their final campaign under Ange Postecoglou, although Frank’s more pragmatic approach, allied with the arrival of defensive midfielder Palhinha (£5.5m), will help to address those frailties.
Cristian Romero’s (£5.0m) five goals in 2023/24 underlines his aerial ability at set-pieces, while Pedro Porro (£5.5m) boasts the greatest all-round threat of any Spurs defender.
The Spaniard’s 39 shots and 57 chances created both ranked among the top four defenders last time around. Crucially, he could now be handed a greater share of free-kicks and corners due to an injury to playmaker James Maddison (£7.0m).
Elsewhere, Everton’s James Tarkowski (£5.5m), Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella (£6.0m) and Manchester City pair Josko Gvardiol and Rayan Ait-Nouri (both £6.0m) are among the premium defenders with strong early-to-mid-term schedules.
Tarkowski would have been the top-scoring player for defensive contribution points last season, racking up 44 points – the equivalent of 11 clean sheets.
While Cucurella offers the greatest upside among Chelsea defenders, centre-backs Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill (both £5.0m) are markedly cheaper if you’re seeking out value early on.
Meanwhile, Ait-Nouri’s arrival at Man City from Wolverhampton Wanderers is likely to force a reassessment of Pep Guardiola’s backline. The Algerian delivered 11 attacking returns last season – more than any defender – and now looks set to occupy the left-back berth, with Gvardiol taking up a centre-back role.
If you plan to invest in Liverpool from the outset, Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m) looks the safest pick for now due to his security of starts. The Dutchman would have collected 22 points from defensive contributions last season, 10 more than any other defender who is priced at £6.0m in 2025/26 Fantasy.
It’s perhaps better to wait and see what the impact is of Van Dijk’s new team-mates Jeremie Frimpong (£6.0m) and Milos Kerkez (£6.0m), rather than picking them from the start.
Finally, the likes of Arsenal’s Gabriel (£6.0m), Crystal Palace’s Daniel Munoz (£5.5m) and Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall (£5.5m) will also have a big say in the season as a whole - they each offer the greatest attacking potential among defenders at their respective clubs. But unlike all the players covered above in this article. all three have tough early runs of opponents.
So, who are the best premium defenders?
Investment in Nottingham Forest looks a wise move from the outset, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side producing four clean sheets over their six summer friendlies so far.
Milenkovic’s far superior goal threat gives him the edge, and his ownership of only eight per cent makes him a great differential.
There’s also an argument for Porro here, as a set-piece-taker for Frank's side. But similarly to Chelsea’s Cucurella, there are starting options who are £1.0m cheaper among his team-mates, such as Micky van de Ven (£4.5m). That saving could be crucial if you need the cash to spend in attack.
Ait-Nouri, meanwhile, is already the third most-owned defender in Fantasy, found in 23.8 per cent of squads. His potential for goals and assists can immediately reward those backers if he takes advantage of Man City’s schedule, with Guardiola’s side facing just one of last season’s top seven teams in the first eight Gameweeks.
Van Dijk is expected to be fit for Liverpool’s match against Palace this weekend in the Community Shield, after missing out against Athletic Club on Monday through illness. The addition of defensive contribution points can make him one of the most appealing premium options as a mainstay in your starting XI.
Next: Who are the best budget midfielders?