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🤝 Fulham sign midfielder Shea Charles (£5.0m) (not to be confused with the blind singer, Ray Charles) for £30m. If he’s ever a valuable FPL asset, it’ll be because of DefCon.

👀 Elliot Anderson, Marc Guéhi, Nico O'Reilly, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku, and Erling Haaland all returned to Manchester City training on Wednesday.

👋 Cristian Romero is set to join Atlético Madrid [The Athletic]. Djed Spence will likely join Inter Milan [Romano].

👌 Starting on Monday, we’ll send a daily newsletter until the season gets underway.

🤝 Fulham sign midfielder Shea Charles (not to be confused with the blind singer, Ray Charles) for £30m. If he’s ever a valuable FPL asset, it’ll be because of DefCon.

👀 Elliot Anderson, Marc Guéhi, Nico O'Reilly, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku, and Erling Haaland all returned to Manchester City training on Wednesday.

👋 Cristian Romero is set to join Atlético Madrid [The Athletic]. Djed Spence will likely join Inter Milan.

👌 Starting on Monday, we’ll send a daily newsletter until the season gets underway.

Alright?

Welcome to the jungle. There are no fun and games around here, but can we offer you some quite expensive defenders?

Premium defenders aren’t a particularly hot topic this preseason. The conversation has mostly focused on the always-alluring budget alternatives. But look at any Gameweek 1 draft, and you’ll usually see at least one defender priced at £5.5m or more.

Indeed, four of the top five most-owned defenders will set you back at least this amount. So, in this newsletter, we’ll talk about them.

You might say that we’re the people that can find whatever you may need. If you’ve got some money, honey, we’ve got your next defensive squeeze.

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You can't make transfers; there are no chips and no sweaty deadlines. You just pick your players, then move on with your life. Maybe you'll go for four defenders. Maybe you'll pick one big goalscorer, then three duds.

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£5.0m is hardly premium for a defender, but given the number of viable budget options this season, £5.0m still feels like you’re splashing out. It’s like going to a Bella Italia when you’re a regular in Wetherspoons.

Harry Maguire | Man United | 9.6% owned.

Some are calling Maguire the thinking man’s Luke Shaw. And by some, we mean us.

Maguire averaged 7.9 defensive contributions per start last season, but also notched three attacking returns in just 19 starts. That’s one more attacking return than Shaw, who started all 38 games last season.

So, for just £5.0m, we get a footballing icon with DefCon potential, attacking potential, and a first three of Hull (A), Ipswich (H) and Everton (A).

However, as the LazyFPL Premium Fixture Tracker shows below, Manchester United’s defensive fixture difficulty takes a negative turn after those opening weeks:

Jan Paul van Hecke | Spurs | 8.5% owned.

Firstly, let’s pay homage to the golden rule:

Van Hecke is a man with a van, which immediately makes him a must-own.

If, for some reason, you still need persuading, no £5.0m-or-less defender other than the injured Joachim Andersen made more defensive contributions than Van Hecke last season. He also managed six attacking contributions (three goals, three assists), which is only three less than Bryan Bloody Brobbey, and had the most points per game of any £5.0m-or-less defender to boot.

The risk for Van Hecke is that he’s just moved to Spurs, and has to compete with Marcos Senesi and Micky van de Ven (it looks like Cristian Romero is leaving). Our hunch is that he’ll start alongside his compatriot and fellow van-owner, but it’s one to monitor closely.

Brentford (A), Newcastle (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Everton (H) and Aston Villa (H) await.

Neco Williams | Nottingham Forest | 12% owned.

Williams’ popularity is bolstered by Glasner’s arrival at Nottingham Forest. There’s a narrative that Glasner, like some sort of German footballing sorcerer, can transform full-backs into virtual attackers.

The case study is Daniel Muñoz at Crystal Palace, and Williams, who had the 6th-highest expected goal involvements (xGI) amongst defenders last season, looks like he has the ingredients to be his successor.

His first five fixtures are Leeds (H), Liverpool (A), Spurs (H), Aston Villa (A) and Coventry (H). A mixed bag, if ever there was one.

Daniel Ballard | Sunderland | 4.3% owned.

Ballard’s 11 defensive contributions per start last season were complemented by four attacking returns. He had one of the highest expected goals per 90 amongst defenders, but missed nine games through injury and suspension.

According to Sunderland fans, he’s nailed to start in Gameweek 1, and if he can pick up where he left off, he’ll be a reliable source of DefCon points, with occasional clean sheets and attacking returns as well.

Also, he’s one vowel away from being called Bollard. A stalwart in every sense.

Sunderland have Ipswich (A) and Fulham (H), followed by Brentford (A), Arsenal (H) and Man City (A).

On the radar:

Chris Richards | Crystal Palace | 0.8% owned - Not to be confused with Cliff Richard, this Richards is probably better at football. Averaged 10 defensive contributions per game last season.

Malick Thiaw | Newcastle | 2.0% owned - Four goals, 33 starts and 8.8 defensive contributions per 90 in the 25/26 campaign, along with the second-highest xG amongst defenders. But he plays for a Newcastle side that have just lost their manager and three of their best players.

In this perverse fiscal hierarchy of high street chain restaurants we’ve accidentally created, the £5.5m defenders promote us from Bella Italia to something like a Wagamama.

Cristhian Mosquera | Arsenal | 14.4% owned.

Mosquera is being touted as the natural replacement for William Saliba, whose injury will likely keep him out until at least October.

He’s an affordable way into a generational Premier League defence, but if Arsenal sign a centre-back (they’re looking at Ezri Konsa), his minutes will be at risk.

After Coventry at home in Gameweek 1, Arsenal meet Aston Villa (A), Chelsea (H), Sunderland (A) and Brighton (A).

Daniel Muñoz | Crystal Palace | 11.4% owned.

As he proved in the 24/25 campaign, Muñoz is capable of double-figure attacking returns (10) if he gets enough minutes.

Whilst he only managed eight attacking returns last season (still pretty good going), he did so in 2,400 minutes - 829 fewer than the season before. All of which is to say, he’s actually getting more efficient.

It’s hard to know whether he’ll be given the attacking freedoms that he enjoyed under Glasner, but if the early signs look promising, few defenders these days offer as much going forward as he does.

Palace’s defensive fixtures really improve after his opening two:

Nathan Collins | Brentford | 2.1% owned.

Collins’ 2.1% ownership is a testament to the speed at which an FPL manager will forget about DefCon when they’re forced to cough up a little extra for a player.

No other £5.5m defender registered as many defensive contributions as Collins last season. His main issue isn’t actually anything to do with him: it’s that Sepp van den Berg happens to be injured, which means the £4.5m Kristoffer Ajer is a cheaper way into that Brentford defence.

Averaging 10 defensive contributions a game, he’ll start the season with Spurs (H), Leeds (A), Sunderland (H), Bournemouth (A) and Chelsea (H).

On the radar:

Adrien Truffert | Bournemouth | 4.9% owned - Scored more points than anyone else in this price bracket last season with a huge seven assists, but terrible fixtures to start. From Gameweek 6, he rotates beautifully with all of the newly promoted teams, which could be great if you’re planning a Wildcard during the international break:

Pedro Porro | Spurs | 23.3% owned - Hugely popular after his World Cup performance, Porro is nailed when he’s fit. Early-season minutes could be a concern given his aforementioned international exploits.

Reece James | Chelsea | 8.0% owned - A great pick when he’s fit, James could be deployed as an out-of-position midfielder by Alonso this season. Plenty of attacking potential, but an obvious injury risk.

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The final stop in this incredibly calorific tour of Britain’s city centre dining establishments is probably an Ivy, or somewhere equally as judgemental of flip-flops.

Nico O’Reilly | Man City | £6.5m | 22.3% owned.

O’Reilly is for the attacking purists. Don’t expect many defensive contributions here, but do expect attacking numbers that would put plenty of midfielders to shame.

With a massive 6.12xG (expected goals) last season, O’Reilly comfortably topped the xG charts for defenders.

It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on this weekend’s Community Shield, because his World Cup involvement means he’s an early minutes risk.

Marc Guéhi | Man City | £6.0m | 22.9% owned.

With all of O’Reilly’s attacking pomp, it’s easy to forget that Guéhi contributed an impressive three goals and five assists last season too, with the added benefit of picking up occasional DefCon points (he averaged a respectable 7.9 defensive contributions per start).

He actually beat his colleague for FPL points per 90. He’s also £0.5m cheaper. He’s also a minutes risk, so another one to look out for this weekend.

Man City have Bournemouth (H), Crystal Palace (A), Coventry (H), Man United (A) and Sunderland (H).

Gabriel | Arsenal | £8.0m | 26.8% owned.

Gabriel’s heftier-than-thou price tag is justified when you look at the data. A massive 6.5 FPL points per game last season (the highest of any defender, and the third-highest overall) comprised three goals, five assists, 18 clean sheets, and an average of 9.2 defensive contributions per start across 30 league starts.

Arsenal fans are concerned about Saliba’s absence, and it’s something worth flagging here. Their win ratio goes from 68.7% with him to 47.6% without him.

On the radar:

Maxence Lacroix | Chelsea | £6.0m | 11.3% owned - The third-highest defensive contributions tally last season, but he’s at a new club, which has a new manager, so it’s very hard to predict whether he’s good value until we’ve seen this new version of Chelsea’s backline.

Marcos Senesi | Spurs | £6.0m | 10.3% owned - Another huge defensive contributions scorer last season (the highest amongst defenders) but, similarly to Lacroix, he’s an unknown entity at his new club and may not start ahead of the Vans.

Jurriën Timber | Arsenal | £6.5m | 0.4% owned - Timber doesn’t have a return date yet, so this is very much a “wait until he’s back” situation. When he is back, he offers some of the best attacking stats amongst defenders and a more affordable route into the Arsenal defence than Gabriel.

Tom Hadley’s four-pointer chart here is a fantastic resource when you’re looking for those reliable defenders who can drip-feed points throughout the season.

Based on this, the pricing for defenders seems mostly fair. As is often the case with FPL, it’s the anomalies that deserve an extra look.

Okay, as we mentioned at the top, we’re sending a daily email Monday to Friday next week as we build up to Gameweek 1. Give us strength.

So, we’ll see you on Monday. Enjoy your last weekend of peace for a while.

Stay lazy,

The LazyFPL Team.