FPL best defender picks: Two Villa full backs square off in our differential battle
You need to have the right defensive line to succeed in FPL. We’ve got you covered with all of the info ahead of Gameweek 7.
Ideally, you are looking to include defenders that are expected to keep clean sheets, but the best defensive assets will also provide an attacking threat at the other end of the field.
Using our new FPL tool — Squawka Score — we can provide you with the best options to consider, comparing a player’s output per 90 minutes against the best attacking defenders in the game.
What is the Squawka Score? You can learn more about how we devised our fantasy football ranking system here.
Best FPL defenders
Top defender pick for Gameweek 7
Best cheap defenders for Gameweek 7
Best defenders with easy fixtures
Alexander-Arnold and Estupinan still the top choice
Here are the top 10 Premier League defenders based on their FPL Squawka Score from the 2023 calendar year.
| Player | FPL Squawka Score | 23/24 Team | 23/24 FPL Price |
| Trent Alexander-Arnold | 78% | Liverpool | 7.9 |
| Pervis Estupinan | 78% | Brighton | 5.3 |
| Ben Chilwell | 77% | Chelsea | 5.6 |
| Pedro Porro | 76% | Spurs | 5.0 |
| Andy Robertson | 72% | Liverpool | 6.6 |
| Ben White | 63% | Arsenal | 5.5 |
| Kieran Trippier | 61% | Newcastle | 6.6 |
| Nathan Ake | 60% | Man City | 5.1 |
| Lewis Hall | 58% | Newcastle | 4.4 |
| Willy Boly | 57% | Nottingham Forest | 4.5 |
Battle of the Villa full backs
Every week, we will bring you a Differential Duel to shine a light on a player who both ranks well according to our Squawka Score system and could be being overlooked by the majority of FPL players.
We will do the numbers and pit them against each other but, ultimately, the power is in your hands.
Ahead of Gameweek 7, we take a closer look at Aston Villa’s full backs, Matty Cash (18.2%) and Lucas Digne (4.5%).
Cash has been a firm FPL favourite so far this season, grabbing 28 points but, as you can see on the Squakwa Comparison Matrix below, the underlying stats tell a different story.
Digne has been the standout performer of Villa, when it comes to the full back positions and, with both players costing about the same amount and picking up similar FPL points so far (Digne has 25), could this be the right time to follow the stats and bring the Frenchman into your side?
Here’s how their 2022/23 stats compare on our Comparison Matrix.
Porro still the best value option
With the £100million budget to adhere to, FPL managers need to be a bit tactical with their selections.
Using our Squawka Score super computer, we have found some budget defenders for you to consider ahead of Gameweek 7.
The best 4.5 picks for 23/24 FPL
- Lewis Hall, Newcastle (58%)
- Willy Boly, Nottingham Forest (57%)
- Emerson Royal, Spurs (57%)
The best 5.0 picks for 23/24 FPL
- Pedro Porro, Spurs (76%)
- Fabian Schar, Newcastle (57%)
- Oleksandr Zinchenko (57%)
Chilwell to restore some FPL faith
Before submitting your defence for Gameweek 7, it is worth doing one final check to accommodate one other factor.
Here, we have crunched the numbers on the FPL’s official Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR) and used our Squawka Score ranking system to determine the best pick from each club with an ‘easy’ fixture this Gameweek.
| Team | Top pick | FPL Squawka Score | 23/24 FPL Price |
| Arsenal | Ben White | 63% | 5.5 |
| Brentford | Ben Mee | 50% | 4.9 |
| Burnley | Hannes Delcroix | 35% | 4.0 |
| Chelsea | Ben Chilwell | 77% | 5.6 |
| Everton | James Tarkowski | 49% | 4.4 |
| Luton | Issa Kabore | 46% | 4.0 |
| Man City | Nathan Ake | 60% | 5.1 |
| Man United | Diogo Dalot | 53% | 4.9 |
| Newcastle | Kieran Trippier | 61% | 6.6 |
| West Ham | Kurt Zouma | 41% | 4.5 |
