Fantasy Premier League tips 2022/23: Defenders to sign
Your complete guide to Fantasy Premier League defenders you should sign in 2022/23.
Fantasy Premier League offers a huge opportunity for defenders to steal the show in 2022/23 with a growing array of attacking superstars rising up.
Liverpool duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson are the premium-cost game-changers once again this year following multiple seasons of superb, consistent form.
They are joined by the likes of Reece James and Joao Cancelo, while Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ivan Perišić look like eye-catching options to select ahead of the new season.
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Defenders are the least expensive of the outfield positions, but the rise of the attacking full-back has seen double-figure hauls rise among defenders for great value in comparison to midfielders and forwards.
There are plenty of premium options to consider this term, as ever, but finding the bargains is essential. You will need at least two defenders under £4.5m and there's always a £4.0m fan-favourite to emerge each season. We take a stab at who that could be.
RadioTimes.com brings you our Fantasy Premier League tips, including the defenders you should sign for your FPL team in 2022/23.
- Read more Fantasy Premier League tips: FPL goalkeepers | FPL midfielders | FPL forwards | FPL bargains
Best FPL defenders 22/23
Budget FPL defender
Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest – TBC) £4.0m
Step right forward, the bargain signing everyone will want by the start of the season – Neco Williams.
The full-back is set to sign for new boys Nottingham Forest in a £17m deal, and that means he is almost certain to start every game for the play-off champions. Picking up a £4.0m bargain is essential, picking up a £4.0m bargain who plays every week is superb business.
Williams' ownership stands at just 1.9 per cent at the time of writing but expect that to fly upwards.
Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace) £4.5m
Crystal Palace enjoyed more clean sheets than any team outside of the top five last year, and Guehi was a nailed-on starter throughout that time.
At £4.5m, he costs pennies and boasts a higher ICT Rank than his Palace teammates. Two goals last season could also turn into more as he continues to grow into the role.
Marc Cucurella (Brighton) £5.0m
A second bargain 'Marc', Cucurella is a worthy asset at this price regardless of his future, but Manchester City are sniffing. If they sign the left-back, he will slot into the starting XI ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Cucurella is ranked seventh on the ICT Rank list for defenders across the entire Premier League for all price bands despite only picking up one goal and one assist last season. This shows major, major upside and that Brighton's misfiring strikers have wasted his creativity. Imagine Cucurella feeding Erling Haaland?
Mid-price FPL defender
Ivan Perisic (Tottenham) £5.5m
Perisic's inclusion as a defender has raised plenty of eyebrows but he could be one of the signings of the summer in Fantasy Premier League.
The former Inter man has been hand-picked by Antonio Conte after the pair won Serie A together in 2020/21. For anyone thinking Perisic is on the wane, he scored eight and assisted seven in Serie A last season. Conte extracted immense form from full-backs such as Matt Doherty last term and Perisic is ready to explode.
Premium FPL defender
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) £7.5m
Obviously. Alexander-Arnold is simply unstoppable. He picked up 208 points from 2,853 minutes of action last season – two points below his all-time record total with 400 fewer minutes played.
Liverpool will need their experienced players to step up in 2022/23 given the lack of Sadio Mane in the mix. Expect Trent to rise to the occasion with defensive stability and attacking ruthlessness.
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Fantasy Premier League fixtures – Week 1
- Bournemouth v Aston Villa
- Crystal Palace v Arsenal
- Everton v Chelsea
- Fulham v Liverpool
- Leeds v Wolves
- Leicester v Brentford
- Man Utd v Brighton
- Newcastle v Nottingham Forest
- Tottenham v Southampton
- West Ham v Man City
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Authors
Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.
