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            <p>Wondering who the best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) premium defenders are for 2024/25? FPL expert <a href="https://twitter.com/FPL_Salah">FPL Salah</a> has it covered.</p>
<p>We’ll be keeping this list of defenders, priced at £6.0m and above, regularly updated ahead of the Gameweek 1 deadline, so make sure to bookmark this page.</p>
<p>And check out our <strong><a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fantasy-premier-league-ultimate-guide-fpl-tips">Ultimate Guide to FPL</a> </strong>for all our best player articles and much more.</p>
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<h2><strong>The best premium defenders in FPL</strong></h2>
<p>We have eight premium defenders in FPL compared to five last season.</p>
<p>The premium price range is £6.0m and above and the names on the list are pretty well known.</p>
<p>This premium defender spot is one that you don’t want to change in FPL.</p>
<p>Having a solid ‘glue’ pick who you can play pretty much every game is the ideal scenario. A glue pick is a player you select for all, or most, of the entire season.</p>
<p>It’s not a position where you typically want to chop and change, so here are some of the best options to consider:</p>
<h3><strong>Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m) - Liverpool</strong></h3>
<p>Alexander-Arnold has had a £1.0m price drop from last season, which makes him a very interesting option.</p>
<p>Last season, he had his lowest-scoring campaign since 2017/18 (122 points). The right-back only managed three goals and five assists in 25 starts but this could well have just been a one-off. If it was, then he has been grossly underpriced.</p>
<p>In his career, Alexander-Arnold has 23 goals and 85 assists, which is simply incredible for a defender.</p>
<p>His underlying stats have been elite for years, although they did take a dip last season.</p>
<p>It is worth noting though that he was injured for large parts of the year and interchanged positions a lot in midfield.</p>
<p>If he is fit and firing come the start of the season, he should be one of the highest-owned players in the game, especially looking at Liverpool's early fixtures.</p>
<p>Arne Slot's side play Ipswich (a), Brentford (H), Manchester United (a), Nottingham Forest (H), Bournemouth (H), Wolves (a) and Crystal Palace (a) in the first seven - which is mouth-watering.</p>
<p>These are all games in which Alexander-Arnold can pick up both attacking and defensive returns.</p>
<div id="attachment_65188" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-65188" class="size-full wp-image-65188" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FFStuffImage-15.jpg" alt="Trent Alexander-Arnold" width="798" height="650" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-65188" class="wp-caption-text">Trent Alexander-Arnold</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>William Saliba (£6.0m) - Arsenal </strong></h3>
<p>Arsenal had the best defence in the league by far last season. They kept the most clean sheets (18) - five more than second placed Manchester City and Everton. They also conceded the least goals (29) and had the best expected goals conceded (xGC) too.</p>
<p>They are truly an elite defence and they will surely only improve with the return of <strong>Jurrien Timber (£5.5m) </strong>and the imminent signing of <strong>Riccardo Calafiori</strong>.</p>
<p>This does make <strong>Gabriel's (£6.0m)</strong> expected minutes a slight worry however and I think Saliba is the only truly nailed-on defender for Mikel Arteta's side now.</p>
<p>He started every game in the league last season and also grabbed two goals and one assist, identical attacking returns to the 2022/23 season.</p>
<p>The Frenchman has decent attacking threat, even if it's not quite on the level of Gabriel.</p>
<p>Saliba looks great value - a super-nailed defender for the best defence in the league for £6.0m is a shrewd investment - and with the <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-changes-announced-24-25">change to the bonus points system (BPS) rules</a> for defenders, clean sheets are more valuable than ever.</p>
<p>Arsenal have a mixed bag of fixtures early on. they play Aston Villa (a), Spurs (a), City (a), Liverpool (H) and Newcastle (a) in their first 10.</p>
<p>But they also have games against Wolves (H), Brighton (H), Leicester (H), Southampton (H) and Bournemouth (a).</p>
<p>I would say the Arsenal defence is fixture-proof. The only games I would be wary playing them in would be against City and Liverpool.</p>
<p>Saliba is a great set-and-forget option.</p>
<div id="attachment_65189" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-65189" class="size-full wp-image-65189" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FFStuffImage-16.jpg" alt="William Saliba" width="798" height="650" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-65189" class="wp-caption-text">William Saliba</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) - Manchester City</strong></h3>
<p>Gvardiol had an insane run of form at the tail end of last season.</p>
<p>The Croatian scored four goals and two assists, which all came from Gameweek 33 onwards. The underlying numbers were also really impressive, with an expected goals (xG) tally of 3.14 and expected assists (xA) of 5.23.</p>
<p>City have been among the best defences in the league for years now and this season will be no different.</p>
<p>Last season they finished second for both goals conceded (34) and xGC (34.6) and will likely be a top two defence again this campaign.</p>
<p>Additionally, Gvardiol is a fixture-proof player. Not only will City keep plenty of clean sheets, they are likely to be in the top three at least for goals scored.</p>
<p>Pep Guardiola's team scored the most goals last season (96) and had the second best xG (82.42).</p>
<p>There is no reason why they don't do similar again - and Gvardiol will surely profit from this as well as from their defensive solidity.</p>
<p>City play Ipswich (H), West Ham (a), Brentford (H), Fulham (H), Wolves (H), Southampton (H) and Bournemouth (a) during their first 10 games, so there is plenty of opportunity for Gvardiol to profit at both ends of the pitch here.</p>
<div id="attachment_65190" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-65190" class="size-full wp-image-65190" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FFStuffImage-17.jpg" alt="Josko Gvardiol" width="798" height="650" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-65190" class="wp-caption-text">Josko Gvardiol</p>
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<h2><strong>FPL premium defenders: The best of the rest</strong></h2>
<p><strong>Ben White (£6.5m)</strong> finished as the highest-scoring defender in the game last season and should do well again.</p>
<p>White contributed four goals and five assists and is the most attacking Arsenal defender. However with Saliba, Gabriel, and Gvardiol all £0.5m cheaper, I don't think he is essential.</p>
<p>I am a bit unsure with Gabriel now, given the defensive reinforcements Arsenal are likely to have going into the new season.</p>
<p>He won't be as nailed as last season and with Saliba the same price, there is probably no need to take the risk.</p>
<div id="attachment_65191" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-65191" class="size-full wp-image-65191" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FFStuffImage-18.jpg" alt="Gabriel vs White" width="800" height="650" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-65191" class="wp-caption-text">Gabriel vs White</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Andrew Robertson (£6.0m)</strong> and <strong>Virgil Van Dijk (£6.0m)</strong> are and always have been great value.</p>
<p>But with Alexander-Arnold only £1.0m more this season, it makes them somewhat less attractive. If you can't stretch to Alexander-Arnold though, they are still very much viable options.</p>
<div id="attachment_65192" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-65192" class="size-full wp-image-65192" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FFStuffImage-19.jpg" alt="Van Dijk vs Robertson" width="800" height="650" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-65192" class="wp-caption-text">Van Dijk vs Robertson</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Kieran Trippier (£6.0m)</strong> is good value and Newcastle have some good fixtures in the first five.</p>
<p>Trippier registered a goal and 10 assists last season and with him on set-pieces, he has many avenues to points.</p>
<p>I will be seriously considering him around Gameweek 11 when he has a great fixture run against Nottingham Forest (a), West Ham (H), Crystal Palace (a), Liverpool (H), Brentford (a), Leicester (H) and Ipswich (a).</p>
<div id="attachment_65214" style="width: 804px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-65214" class="size-full wp-image-65214" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Screenshot-2024-07-23-at-14.05.14.jpg" alt="" width="794" height="646" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-65214" class="wp-caption-text">Kieran Trippier</p>
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<h2><strong>Best premium defenders: Power rankings and AI predicted points</strong></h2>
<p>I will now rank these options exclusively for Hub <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/join">members</a> and reveal how well they are expected to score in the first five gameweeks, according to the Hub’s powerful <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/predictions">predicted points AI</a>.</p>
<p>Remember to check the tool closer to the Gameweek 1 deadline for an up-to-date picture.</p>
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Best FPL premium defenders 2024/25

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