The best £4.0m defenders to sign in the FPL – including Coventry and Ipswich stars

Ever since the new Fantasy Premier League season launched last week, our resident expert has been poring over the stats and price lists to bring you a breakdown of some of the best (and worst) players to put in your team ahead of the big kick-off in August.

So far this week, he’s offered up his top five budget-friendly forwards, £5.5m midfielders and £4.5m defenders, and now he’s going to take a look at the cheapest and most underappreciated players in every squad – the inevitable £4.0m defenders you’ll be picking to make up the numbers.

Instead of making this a top five, our expert Matt is going to explain his thought process as he goes along, for reasons that will quickly become clear. Time for him to crack on…

How to pick the best £4.0m defender in FPL

While I’d be exaggerating if I said that picking the right £4.0m defender was the most important decision you’ll make ahead of Gameweek 1, getting a player in who can have a genuine impact down the line – even if it’s just improving your team value – can certainly create a substantial advantage. Just think about how good of a position everyone who signed Sunderland’s Nordi Mukiele from the start last year put themselves in.

This year, picking a £4.0m defender means picking a player from one of the three newly-promoted teams, unless you have any reason to believe that one of the handful of back-ups from more established teams will get any starting minutes. That doesn’t look likely from where I’m sat.

The first consideration, then, is which of the new boys has the best chance of keeping a healthy number of clean sheets - which remains the single most important factor in defensive scoring even in the age of defensive contributions – and while that involves some guesswork, it’s fair to say that Hull City have the most work to do in that regard.

Where Coventry City and Ipswich Town had the two best defences in the Championship last season, play-off champions Hull were miles behind, conceding 19 goals more than Ipswich and 21 more than Coventry. Perhaps they’ll make the right signings and find some inspired form, as newly-promoted sides sometimes do, but there is no solid evidence for the required improvement thus far.

As such, the only players I’m considering for the job are those from Coventry and Ipswich, who at least come up with a solid baseline of defensive pedigree. Picking the best specific player, however, is more of a challenge.

The Coventry & Ipswich stars you should consider for your FPL team

What we’re typically looking for is either an attacking full-back with significant potential for regular goal involvements or a centre-back who’s both a defensive contribution magnet and, ideally, a threat from set pieces.

A lot of FPL managers have latched onto Ipswich’s Issa Diop following his move from Fulham, but while he may be an experienced player who’s very likely to be a regular starter, I have my doubts simply because his historical defcon production isn’t very exciting.

At Craven Cottage last year, for example, he managed just 6.6 DC per 90 minutes and he isn’t an especially significant set piece threat either – he’s scored four goals in the last five years in all competitions for Fulham and West Ham. I don’t see his path to a big score.

Dara O’Shea, on the other hand, looks like a safer bet if you want to go for an Ipswich player. He played every minute of the 2025/26 Championship season (a useful and somewhat remarkable stat in its own right) and averaged 8.6 DC per game. He’s also scored 10 goals in the last five years rather than four. I don’t think any of those numbers make him elite, but he should be good for a solid number of points and has realistic paths to 4-6 points when you need to rotate him in.

One player I’ll likely pass on is Leif Davis. He was heavily hyped heading in to Ipswich’s last Premier League campaign after registering an astonishing 32 assists in the previous two seasons at Portman Road, but he was a let down in the top flight and has managed a mere six assists (and three goals) in the last 24 months. I don’t see a particular reason that he should rediscover his creative touch this time around.

Coventry, on the other hand, do have an appealing option at full-back – Milan van Ewijk. The Dutchman created eight goals in the Championship last season and is a nailed-on starter in what was the best defence in the second tier, keeping 13 clean sheets.

I don’t expect Van Ewijk to pick up too many defcon points but I do think he’s the best asset in Coventry’s back line largely because Frank Lampard’s style of play didn’t lend itself to players picking up defcons last season – not enough opportunities for clearances against crosses and high balls. If Coventry play well and keep a healthy number of clean sheets, then Van Ewijk will very probably be a good asset at £4.0m.

This comes down to a judgement call on whether Coventry or Ipswich will keep more teams at bay next season. I’m leaning towards Coventry and Van Ewijk as it stands, but I wouldn’t blame anyone for picking up O’Shea. Past that, I’m struggling to make a case for anyone, which is why I didn’t make this a top five. There just aren’t five £4.0m defenders worth considering as it stands.