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            <p>Who are the best defenders in World Cup Fantasy 2022 for the group stages?</p>
<p>Four-time top 1k and six-time top 5k FPL finisher <a href="https://twitter.com/FPL_Salah">Abdul Rehman</a> identifies the six best keepers for the group stages looking at their fixtures and clean sheet chances.</p>
<p>Check out our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/world-cup-fantasy-2022-tips-the-ultimate-guide">Ultimate Guide to World Cup Fantasy Football</a>, which will feature everything you need to know under one roof, from strategy guides to expert team reveals and all our team previews as they are published.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best World Cup Fantasy defenders</h2>
<div class="mceTemp">Here are my top-six picks in the defenders position:</div>
<h3><strong>6. Benjamin Pavard ($5.0m) – France</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Fixtures: Australia, Denmark, Tunisia</strong></p>
<p>Pavard has come in at a generous price I feel. He should start at right-back, where he is fairly attacking and that coupled with his price makes him a very good pick.</p>
<p>France have a solid defence also and won their qualifying group with ease. They only conceded three goals and kept six clean sheets.</p>
<p>They look to have one of the easiest groups and will be strong favourites to qualify.</p>
<p>France have an average clean sheet probability of 51% over the three games against Australia (55%), Denmark (42%) and Tunisia (57%).</p>
<p>Pavard has 12 goals and 13 assists in his club career and two goals for his country. He looks nailed to start in that side and could well end up being one of the best-value players for the group stages.</p>
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5. Joakim Maehle ($4.5m) – Denmark</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Fixtures: Tunisia, France, Australia</strong></p>
<p>Maehle is one of the most attacking defenders in the game. He can play both left-back and right-back and is one of the most-nailed players in the team.</p>
<p>He has nine goals for his country in only 31 appearances, which is very impressive for a full-back.</p>
<p>Maehle registered three assists in the 2022 Nations League and was also Denmark’s top scorer in their qualifiers, with five goals.</p>
<p>He is by far the best $4.5m defender in the game. His fixtures aren’t bad either, as the Danes play Tunisia and Australia, who they will be strong favourites to beat and will also have a very decent chance of keeping a clean sheet also.</p>
<p>They do have a tricky fixture against France but they did manage to beat them twice in the Nations League.</p>
<p>They have  53% chance of keeping a clean sheet in their opener against Tunisia and 55% against Australia in their final group game.</p>
<div id="attachment_50444" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-50444" class="size-full wp-image-50444" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/World-Cup-Denmark-Joakim-Maehle.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="689" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-50444" class="wp-caption-text">Joakim Maehle. Picture by Getty Images.</p>
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<h3><strong>4. Nicolas Tagliafico ($5.5m) – Argentina</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Fixtures: Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland</strong></p>
<p>Argentina in general are a very settled and solid defensive team. They only conceded eight goals in their 17 matches during qualifying, keeping 10 clean sheets.</p>
<p>Tagliafico is an attacking left-back and is at a very fair price too. He has one goal and two assists for his club Lyon this season and 21 goals and 31 assists in his club career. He should be the first choice left-back for the Argentines.</p>
<p>They are the favourites to keep a clean sheet in Matchday 1, against <strong>Saudi Arabia</strong> (65%), and have a 49% chance in their second game against Mexico and also a 45% probability in their final group game versus Poland.</p>
<p>This puts them at 53% average clean sheet rate over the three matches (second), so they are definitely a defence we should investing in.</p>
<p>Tagliafico is good for both attacking and defensive returns.</p>
<p><strong> </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> <strong>Join the Hub to view Abdul's top-three defender options for the World Cup</strong></span></p>
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World Cup Fantasy 2022: Best defenders for the group stages

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