Best DEFCON & Non-DEFCON Defenders

FPL decided their scoring wasn’t controversial enough, so they decided to award points for defensive contributions. Does that mean I get points for defending all my terrible decisions and citing negative variance?

Defenders whose main source of points comes from those lovely +2s earned for 10+ (inclusive) clearances, blocks, interceptions, or tackles.

The poster boy for defensive contributions. A footballer so good he was called up by both the Italian and Argentinian national teams before siding with Argentina—and becoming the greatest player to come out of the country. Lionel Senesi.

Senesi is averaging 13.16 DEFCONs per start, meaning he clears the threshold comfortably. This essentially gives him a floor of 4 points, and since Bournemouth have sort of become defensive monsters, he’s not likely to suffer from those pesky -1s for conceding 2+ goals.

So, considering the fact that Senesi essentially starts the game on 4 points and plays for a team sitting third in the league for xGA this season, I think he’s one of the best defenders in the game. Again. Lionel Senesi.

I think Andersen is sort of the best £4.5m DEF in the game, and he’s even better than the likes of Senesi ducks for cover. Andersen’s averaging 11 DEFCONs a game, so he clears the threshold quite comfortably.

While Fulham’s defence isn’t anywhere near as good as Bournemouth’s, Andersen’s attacking threat has been slightly absurd this season (an npxG+xAG/90 of 0.19). Fulham also have really good fixtures from GW10–12 and 15–19. Plus, since they rely on Andersen in build-up play, he does reasonably well on the BPS system.

All in all, I think the £0.4m saved over Senesi is definitely worth it and should come in handy when trying to cram in another premium (Haaland + Salah, for example).

I still vividly remember pre-season and the dreams Tarkowski sold us about his DEFCON potential and all those bullet headers. I guess you could say we got DEFConned ahahaha.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though, because Tarkowski has hit 10+ CBITs in 4 of 6 games, averaging 9.67 per 90. Everton also conceded the fourth-least xGA in the league last season (how…?), and while they haven’t looked as solid this year, they’ve had to cope without arguably their best defender in Jarrad Branthwaite.

While I don’t expect Tarkowski to live up to the pre-season hype (especially offensively), there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with him as a pick—even if he’s teetering on the edge of being overpriced.

Van Dijk sort of finds himself at the intersection of DEFCON and non-DEFCON defenders. On one hand, he’s averaging 11.34 DEFCONs per 90, so he reliably clears the threshold. On the other, he’s playing for one of the league’s historically best defences.

A lot has been made of Liverpool’s defence this season, but honestly, I don’t think it’s as bad as people say. You need some time to bed in the new signings and adjust to a Kerkez–Frimpong full-back pairing, but even then I think Liverpool still have, at minimum, a top-five defence in the league.

And their fixtures are about to turn for the better. Over the next ten weeks, they play MUN, bre, AVL, NFO, whu, SUN, lee, BHA, and I think that looks excellent from an xCS point of view.

I really like Van Dijk as an option. It’s hard to say whether DEFCONs are a bonus to Liverpool’s defensive strength, or whether Liverpool’s defensive strength is a bonus to DEFCONs—but either way, that’s a pretty good issue to have.

That’s not to say these two defenders don’t get DEFCONs—it’s just that they play for really strong defensive teams that usually dominate, which makes them less likely to hit the DEFCON threshold as often.

Gabriel’s averaging 7.67 DEFCONs per 90, but also plays in a defence that’s as solid as Arsenal’s hopes of bottling another title race.

Arsenal are currently first for xGA in the league, and last season they finished a full 4.4 xGA clear of second place, conceding less than a goal per game. To put it bluntly, this is the best defence the world has seen since Mourinho’s Chelsea, or Amorim fans, when it comes to defending whatever’s going on at United.

Plus, Arsenal’s fixtures are really, really good. WHU, ful, CRY, bur, sun, TOT is an incredible run, with five of those six opponents sitting in the bottom half of this season’s xG table.

Gabriel’s truly gigantic head also means he’s always going to be a nagging goal threat from corners, and his xG has been borderline psychotic these past few years. At £6.2m, he’s absolutely worth it and remains a steady option to have.

If you want to play Russian Roulette without a gun, just try picking a City player in FPL.

That out of the way, we’ve actually reached a point where a few starters in City’s XI feel reliable—one of whom is Joško Gvardiol. Ever since coming back from injury, Gvardiol has played as City’s CB, which means his attacking numbers are waaaaay down, but his DEFCONs are alright, averaging 7 per 90 minutes.

City’s defence also looks pretty solid, sitting 4th in xGA for the season after a relative downer saw them drop to seventh last year. Their fixtures are favourable from a defensive standpoint as well, with bre, EVL, avl, and BOU in their next four. 

I also think City’s defence is a differential among most active managers, so picking a reliable defender like Gvardiol should be a safe and stable way to leapfrog your worst enemies (best friends) in that one free (heavily money-influenced) mini-league.