With so many budget defenders available in FPL, we thought that one article was just not enough to cover the options. Therefore, here we go with part two of our FPL budget defenders:
Craig Cathcart (Watford, £4.5m)
The Northern Irish international has become a good budget option in recent seasons. Last season the centre-back only kept six clean sheets. However, at the other end of the pitch, he scored three goals.
He also picked up five bonus points, the highest total of his four seasons in the Premier League. The Hornets have a mixed opening schedule, but look to have a favourable start with a home game against Brighton, who struggled on their travels last season. Javi Gracia’s team will be favourites to beat the Bluebirds on the opening weekend of the campaign.
Adam Smith (Bournemouth, £4.5m)
The Bournemouth full-back helped the Cherries to keep eight sheets while scoring one goal and producing one assist. However, his attacking returns were slightly down on previous seasons.
Smith will be hoping to produce more attacking points next season, as he does possess an attacking threat. The fact that Eddie Howe’s team have five games ranked at two in the difficulty ranking in the opening seven matches also adds to his attraction. If you are looking for a differential Cherries option, Smith could be it.
Lewis Dunk (Brighton, £4.5M)
The centre-back has formed a relatively solid central defensive partnership with Shane Duffy at the heart of the defence. The Irish defender scored more points than Dunk last season, but Duffy is £0.5m more than Dunk, which makes him too expensive for a Brighton defender.
Anyway, back to Dunk. He kept seven clean sheets, scored twice and produced one assist, picking up six bonus points. Brighton looks to have a favourable start to their campaign, facing just one of last seasons top six in the opening six games. While he is certainly not a no-brainer, Dunk could be a decent option as a differential next season, especially if the Seagulls keep clean sheets in those early fixtures.
Issa Diop (West Ham, £4.5m)
The young defender impressed at times last season in the heart of the Hammers defence. In fact, his performances were enough to reportedly attract interest from Manchester United. At the minute, though he is a West Ham player. Last season he picked up seven clean sheets and one goal. However, his underlying stats suggest that the French star can produce more attacking returns next season.
Matt Targett (Aston Villa, £4.5M)
The full-back arrived at the Midlands club from Southampton for a fee of around £15million. The 23-year-old struggled to get into the Saints team, as he was behind highly-rated Ryan Bertrand in the pecking order. Despite playing limited minutes last season for the south coast team, he still scored once and produced three assists. He is known for his ability to get forward, even if he is still not the best defensively.
The move to Villa should lead to more regular first-team football and defensive coaching from John Terry. All these factors together point to Targett being a very decent FPL option.
Will any of the above options be in your FPL team for the coming season?
