Football News

FPL best defender picks: Gameweek 11 Budget, differential and premium tips

By Andrew Francis

Published: 9:10, 3 November 2023

Which defenders should you pick for your back line this week? We’ve got you covered with all of the info ahead of Gameweek 11. 

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 11
Best cheap defenders for Gameweek 11
Best defenders with easy fixtures

Porro and Alexander-Arnold lead the charge

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 72% Liverpool 7.9
Pedro Porro 71% Spurs 5.2
Pervis Estupinan 70% Wigan 5.0
Kieran Trippier 62% Newcastle 7.0
Ben White 62% Arsenal 5.7
Kristoffer Ajer 59% Brentford 4.5
Nathan Ake 59% Man City 5.0
Matty Cash 58% Aston Villa 5.2
Oleksandr Zinchenko 58% Arsenal 4.9
Fabian Schar 57% Newcastle 5.2

Newcastle defenders compared

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 11, we look at Newcastle defenders Dan Burn (12.8%) and Fabian Schar (6.6%).

The Newcastle defenders have a major difference in ownership, as well as price, but is there a reason to switch from Burn to Schar

As you can see from our Comparison Matrix below, Zinchenko is leading the way in major areas in both offensive, and defensive, areas of the pitch.

White has played more minutes than his teammate but Zinchenko has only created two less chances for his side, as well having better pass accuracy, attempting more crosses and making more tackles.

Here’s how their 2023/24 stats compare on our Comparison Matrix

Ajer and Andersen the best budget options

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 10.

The best 4.5 picks for 23/24 FPL

  1. Kristoffer Ajer, Brentford (59%)
  2. Konstantinos Tsimikas, Liverpool (57%)
  3. Murillo, Nottingham Forest (56%)

The best 5.0 picks for 23/24 FPL

  1. Pervis Estupinan, Wigan (70%)
  2. Nathan Ake, Man City (59%)
  3. Oleksandar Zinchencko, Arsenal (58%)

 Plenty of value in the FDR rankings

Before submitting your defence for Gameweek 11, 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
Aston Villa Matty Cash 58% 5.2
Brentford Kristoffer Ajer 59% 4.5
Brighton Pervis Estupinan 70% 5.0
Burnley Charlie Taylor 24% 3.9
Crystal Palace Joachim Andersen 57% 5.0
Liverpool Trent Alexander-Arnold 72% 7.9
Man City Nathan Ake 59% 5.0
Man United Diogo Dalot 54% 4.9
Wolves Toti 38% 4.4

 

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