With the Premier League season on the horizon, star defenders including Virgil van Dijk and Ruben Dias will feature prominently in a large number of Fantasy Premier League squads.
Considering Virgil and Ruben are rather good at scoring goals with their head, as well as keeping clean sheets- imperative to achieving FPL success - that comes as no surprise, either.
Before Brentford take on Arsenal in the first game of the season on Friday, managers will be in the process of nipping and tucking their back line for the opening gameweek, but which defenders provide the most value?
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The initial price list for defenders in FPL makes it hard to see where you might spend your money if you are trying to use as little of your £100m budget as possible.
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And looking at those cheap enablers who can supplement guaranteed points for your team is easier said than done.
Fear not, though, as SPORTbible takes a look at five budget-friendly defensive stalwarts - all valued at £5.0m or below - who are worthy of consideration as Gameweek 1 approaches.
Conor Coady (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Wolverhampton Wanderers defenders have seen their prices slashed this year, probably due to their poor performances during the 2020-21 season - finishing 13th in the Premier League.
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With that said, though, club captain Conor Coady is a guaranteed starter and will be a great value option for fantasy managers come the start of the season.
When delving into the statistics, Coady played more minutes than any other Wolves defender last term - 3,303 to be exact.
Price: £4.5m
Tariq Lamptey (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Tariq Lamptey broke into the Brighton & Hove Albion starting line-up near the end of the 2019-20 season and really impressed from a real-life and fantasy perspective.
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His 2020-21 season, however, was tarnished with a long-term injury where he only managed to play 11 games.
Now back to full fitness, managers can expect the 20-year-old right-back to attack and whip in crosses for attackers to get their heads on. Nailed on points, right?
Price: £4.5m
Luke Ayling (Leeds United)
After a long wait of 16 years, Leeds United returned to the Premier League last season and, under Marcelo Bielsa, they are one of the exciting teams to watch.
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All of their defenders are priced at £4.5m, but Luke Ayling has the best-attacking stats and is nailed.
At his cheap price, managers will find it hard to find a better value defender than Ayling, especially at the start of the season with some winnable games.
Price: £4.5m
Ben White (Arsenal)
A guaranteed Arsenal defender at £4.5m is nothing to turn your nose up at.
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The Gunners have somewhat of an unfair reputation in defence, however, in reality they kept 12 clean sheets last season - tying for 5th in the Premier League.
And their new £50m signing in Ben White could easily find himself in the top three most picked defenders in FPL when the season starts.
Price: £4.5m
Matt Targett (Aston Villa)
Matt Targett is the pick of the pick budget defenders, especially after his stellar performances last term for Aston Villa.
For a price tag of just £5m, he was the top-scoring defender of the Premier League last season with 138 points in his price range.
Targett played every game in the league last season and played 3404 minutes, kept 16 clean sheets and assisted four. Talk about being underpriced.
Price: 5.0m
Featured Image Credit: PA ImagesTopics: Premier League, Fantasy Premier League