In this article, we will look at the best defenders to pick for your Fantasy Premier League team in the Gameweek 5 of the 2025/26 season.
Let’s dive in and look at our watchlist. Here are the defenders to pick from, with our comments and ratings of each.
Read more about GW5 in our guide: FPL Gameweek 5: Tips, Captain, Transfer Targets & Team Selection
Defenders watchlist for GW5 and beyond
Pedro Porro (TOT, 5.6) — He is yet to deliver. Attacking full-back with decent involvement (expected GI/90 ≈0.24) on a defense that’s been okay (team xGA ≈4.89). Fixtures look favorable (avg diff ~2.85), but recent end-product is a bit under (xGI difference ≈-0.89). Rating: 8/10
Virgil van Dijk (LIV, 6.1) — Liverpool strong (team xGA ≈4.19) with a decent run (avg diff ~3.21). Attack threat after set pieces, and defensive contribution is very high (≈12.5/90). Rating: 8/10
Jurrien Timber (ARS, 5.7) — Elite defensive platform (team xGA ≈2.31) plus strong attacking threat (expected GI/90 ≈0.45). Fixtures tougher (avg diff ~3.72), but Arsenal remain a top clean-sheet side. Rating: 7/10
Riccardo Calafiori (ARS, 5.7) — Arsenal’s defensive shield (team xGA ≈2.31) with genuine attacking upside (expected GI/90 ≈0.45). Fixtures difficult (avg diff ~3.72), yet CS potential remains elite. Rating: 7/10
Marcos Senesi (BOU, 4.6) — Good value pick; Bournemouth solid at the back so far (team xGA ≈3.50) with a friendly run (avg diff ~2.94). Minimal attack so far (expected GI/90 ≈0.07), but very high defensive contribution (≈13.8/90). Rating: 6.5/10
Maxence Lacroix (CRY, 5.0) — Palace OK defensively (team xGA ≈4.26) with steady fixtures (avg diff ~3.27). Little attack (expected GI/90 ≈0.06), but strong defensive contribution (≈10.8/90). Rating: 6.5/10
James Tarkowski (EVE, 5.5) — Everton middling (team xGA ≈5.76) but fixtures acceptable after GW5 (avg diff ~3.48). Low attacking returns (expected GI/90 ≈0.06), offset by high defensive work (≈11.8/90). Rating: 6.5/10
Daniel Muñoz (CRY, 5.6) — Palace’s stable defense (team xGA ≈4.26) paired with attacking routes (expected GI/90 ≈0.30). Fixtures friendly (avg diff ~3.27); well-rounded option. Rating: 6.5/10
Micky van de Ven (TOT, 4.7) — Budget option. Spurs suppress decently (team xGA ≈4.89) and have a favorable short-term run (avg diff ~2.85). Some attacking involvement (expected GI/90 ≈0.19). Rating: 6/10
Kieran Trippier (NEW, 5.0) — Newcastle with lowest xGA this season so far (team xGA ≈2.02). Set-piece involvement. Fixtures reasonable (avg diff ~3.57). Rating: 5.0/10
Over/Underperformers among defenders before GW5
Tips for picking the best defenders for your FPL team
1. Always assess the fixtures
- With defenders, you always want a defender who has a very high chance of a clean sheet. You can use our Premier League Clean Sheets Odds to find defenders who are most likely to keep a clean sheet in the next gameweek of FPL.
- Check fixtures. Also, when considering defenders for your fantasy team, you always have to take a look at fixtures and assess whether a certain defender has the potential for a clean sheet. Does he have a tough or easy fixture? And as we mentioned, our clean sheet odds will help you with that.
- Check FDR to find defenders with the great fixture run that could be good for clean sheets and attacking returns as well
- But fixtures can be misleading sometimes. Good teams will keep clean sheets even in tough games.
2. Attacking defenders will score points
- Assess the attacking potential of defenders – attacking full-backs, attacking wing-backs, and center backs who are good at headers after corners can offer high points output, as you do not have to rely solely on clean sheet points
3. Defensive contributions might cause points shift towards defense again
- And from the 2025/26 season, you definitely want to consider defensive contribution points (I love this because it offers stable points output)
- I would rather go 4-4-2 (with 2 defenders good at DEFCONs) than 3-5-2 (with 1 defender and 1 mid good at DEFCONs) (or even 3-4-3), due to additional points for clean sheets.
4. Always compare players’ potential points output across positions when deciding on formation
- Compare across positions when deciding on your formation and ask yourself a question: Will my 5.5m defender get more points than a 5.5m midfielder or a 6m forward (or even 7.5m forward)? That will help you decide on your formation. I am considering playing 4 at back again in 2025/26 due to defensive contribution points.
- Some seasons, 5.5m defenders tend to score more than even 7.5m forwards, which leads to “Should I play 5 at the back” dilemma – and we could see it again this season because of points from DEFCONs
- 5 at back is only a good strategy when you have 2 cheap 4.5m playing forwards (which we do not have this season), so you could play 5-4-1. You do not want to play 5-3-2 because midfield spots are precious, midfield is the place where points are concentrated the most
- This season, I am leaning towards playing 4-4-2. In the defense, 2 premium attacking defenders (6m) and 2 defenders good at DEFCONs. 4-4-2 has an edge over 3-5-2, because your defender, good at DEFCON’s, can get 4 clean sheet points, while your midfielder, good at DEFCONs, can get only 1. But the downside is minus points for conceding 2+ goals for defenders.
5. 4m defenders belong on your bench, not starting XI
- Remember, unless you are playing 5 at the back (which I think is on the cards again after the introduction of defensive contributions), the 4m defenders are players for your bench, not your starting XI. Just pick one of them, and stick to him. You will likely need him only on your first bench boost, so make sure you know what fixture your 4m defender will have in GW when you plan your BB
6. Never ever sacrifice good defenders to achieve “dream” Rolls-Royce midfield or attack
- This is the most important point. Really.
- Usually, it is not a good idea to sacrifice good defenders to afford one more heavy hitter up front. Just never neglect good premium defenders. I know it is very tempting to have a Rolls-Royce midfield and attack, but if you need to have a defense full of 4.5m defenders who can get you a maximum of 110 points in a season, it is not worth it. You need defenders that can get over 130 points per season (over 3.43 ppm).
- Each year, we calculate the top-scoring combination of players within the budget. The top-scoring defenders are always there. So you do need the top-scoring defenders in your team (although it is hard to predict which ones). But the lessons learned? Defense is not the place to cut funds.
7. You need to have realistic expectations from your defenders and patience
- At best, the top teams can keep around 14-20 clean sheets per season. So, when you select a premium defender, expect you will get a clean sheet in every second match at the best, but every 3rd match is more realistic, which shows that you need to be patient, when you see, for example, your Arenal defenders getting 2 blanks in a row.
- Mid-table teams tend to keep around 8-13 clean sheets per season. So, with mid-priced defenders, expect a clean sheet in every fourth match
- Bottom table teams usually keep around 0-7 clean sheets per season. So when picking budget enablers from bottom-table teams, do not really expect more than a clean sheet in every 6th match.
- attacking full-backs can get around 10 attacking returns in a season – so 1 attacking return every 4th match is an excellent return from your defenders
- few center backs (who are good at headers) might get around 3-5 goals per season, so a goal every 10th match from your centre back is an excellent rate of attacking returns
- Players best at defensive contributions can get you points from defensive contribution in around 50% of matches, which is an extra 2 points every second game, which is an extra 38 points per season (equivalent of 7.6 goals for a midfielder, and 9.5 goals for forwards)
- So, usually, a top-scoring FPL defender can get around 170 points per season.
- But usually 130-160 points is the amount of points you should aim to get from your defenders during the whole FPL season – that is a more realistic goal
8. Defender’s rotation? It never worked for me. It is good on paper, but in the real world, clean sheets are not linear
- One last thought.
- Defenders’ rotation (rotating defenders between your team and bench based on fixtures) is an excellent strategy – on paper
- But in the real world, clean sheets are never linear; that’s why it is very difficult to deploy it successfully
- For some managers, the rotation might work, and for some it might not. We never really know where the clean sheets are going to be – in which fixtures. That’s why I am avoiding this strategy, because you might end up benching more points than you actually earn.
- But I am not saying it is a bad strategy, it is just not for me. I would rather have the best defenders in my squad and play them even in the bad fixtures, as you can never really predict when the points (or hauls) come.
FPL Defenders with stable points output in the previous 3 seasons
Read more in our article: Best long-term FPL picks for 2025/26 season
