EPL Supercoach | Cheap Defenders Guide


<p>Like all Supercoach formats, cheap players are the key to any winning squad. Gaining value as quickly as possible so you can afford a team of premiums is the aim of the game.</p>



<p>23rd overall last year. One of my best results ever, and I&#8217;m already building the squad to back it up, which is more than I can say for my AFL side right now, an absolute mess with no trades left to fix it.</p>



<p>This is going to be a preseason series looking at every position, starting with defenders under 5m, the position where I&#8217;m currently picking up the most cheap players. Here&#8217;s what I&#8217;m looking for:</p>



<ul>
<li>Nailed role &#8211; a must</li>



<li>Good fixtures</li>



<li>Good defence</li>



<li>Base stat monster</li>
</ul>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Promoted Sides</strong></h3>



<p>All three promoted teams have a stack of cheap options, but they&#8217;re not created equal.</p>



<p>Hull City are the avoid. Their Championship defence was genuinely poor: 66 goals conceded, 21st for actual goals against and 23rd for expected goals conceded. </p>



<p>Of the promoted trio, they were miles the worst defensively, conceding a load more than Ipswich (47 conceded, 46.6 xGC) and Coventry (45 conceded, 50.2 xGC), who both kept 17 clean sheets to Hull&#8217;s 11.</p>



<p>The only recently promoted side to concede as many as Hull&#8217;s 66 was Southampton in 2023/24 with 63, and the Saints went on to ship 86 the following Premier League season. Target Hull, don&#8217;t own them.</p>



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<p><strong>Charlie Hughes (Hull, 3.9m)</strong> still gets a mention on raw output. </p>



<p>He averaged the highest base stats of any promoted defender in the Championship at 5.6 per 90, with 1.6 blocks and 7.6 clearances per 90, and doesn&#8217;t mind popping up for a header either (29 shots last season). </p>



<p>Those defensive underlying numbers should climb in a tougher league, but so will the negative points given Hull&#8217;s defensive record.</p>



<p><strong>Milan van Ewijk (Coventry, 4.2m)</strong> was a Coventry lock last season, posting 4.3 base stats per 90 and 1.52 attacking stats per 90. </p>



<p>His 0.19 assists per 90 was a genuinely elite number for a defender, finishing as the team&#8217;s top assister with 8. He&#8217;s an attacking full-back who still tackles and racks up the defensive numbers, though the fixtures bite early with Arsenal and City in the first three games.</p>



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<p><strong>Bobby Thomas (Coventry, 4.2m)</strong> is the attacking upside play at 2.36 attacking stats per 90, backed by 3 goals and 4 assists last season on 2.89 xG. </p>



<p>He played fewer minutes than van Ewijk (2900 versus 3800), but he&#8217;s a genuine heading threat with 29 headed shots, the third-highest shots per 90 of any Championship centre back, and racks up more clearances than his teammate.</p>



<p><strong>Dara O&#8217;Shea (Ipswich, 4.5m)</strong> rounds out the promoted group at 4.0 base stats per 90. </p>



<p>He&#8217;s another heading machine (28 headed shots) who fills up the stat sheet across the board without dominating any one category. United and Liverpool in the first three weeks is a tough start.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Non-Promoted Sides</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Luka Vuskovic (Brighton, 3.5m)</strong> is sitting at 43.4% ownership, and managers are onto a good one. He&#8217;s only 19, cost Brighton £46 million, stands 6ft4 and scored 6 goals at Hamburg last season. </p>



<p>He&#8217;s a base stat monster, posting similar clearance and interception numbers to Hughes last year, but for a far better side.</p>



<p>Brighton&#8217;s first 7 fixtures look decent outside of Chelsea and Arsenal. He reminds me of the Rodon pick from last year, but for a genuinely stronger team. He&#8217;s in my squad.</p>



<p><strong>Cristhian Mosquera (Arsenal, 4.43m)</strong> was one of my first picks this preseason, and he&#8217;s in my squad now. The hope is he nails the spot with Saliba out for a stretch. </p>



<p>Of his six games at 80+ minutes last season, only one scored below 6 points.</p>



<p>Arsenal are running around 40% clean sheet odds most weeks, so if Mosquera is playing, he&#8217;s a must-have. Just keep an eye on the transfer window and have an exit plan if he loses the spot.</p>



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<p><strong>Levi Colwill (Chelsea, 4.03m)</strong> averaged 6.9 points in 2024/25 but only managed 3 games last season coming back from an ACL. </p>



<p>Chelsea have added Lacroix, and I don&#8217;t expect them anywhere near the bottom 7 for clean sheets again this season if the squad stays healthy. </p>



<p>This is exactly the type of pick I love in Supercoach: cheap purely because of injury history. He&#8217;s in my squad, provided he looks healthy and has the spot nailed down.</p>



<p><strong>Jeremie Frimpong (Liverpool, 4.17m)</strong> had a disappointing debut campaign: 3 double-digit hauls and only 5 games at 80+ minutes. </p>



<p>I&#8217;m not convinced his minutes rise much this season, but he&#8217;s a preseason watch given the attacking upside on offer at that price for a Liverpool defender.</p>



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<p><strong>Tarik Muharemovic (Leeds, 4.2m)</strong> sits at just 2.8% ownership, which is criminal. He was a base stat monster in Serie A last season and showed it at the World Cup too, picking up 11 points for Bosnia against Canada in a game they conceded, with zero attacking numbers to his name. </p>



<p>Leeds conceded the 7th fewest expected goals against last season with a shaky keeper, and now with James Trafford between the sticks I expect an even stronger defensive campaign. </p>



<p>Do yourself a favour and get him in; I already have. His first 5 weeks of fixtures are about as good as you could ask for.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Avoid These Despite the Ownership</strong></h3>



<p>Not every popular pick deserves the price tag.</p>



<p><strong>Leny Yoro (Man United, 3.9m)</strong> doesn&#8217;t look like a starter to me. We need guaranteed minutes at this price point, not hope.</p>



<p><strong>Matai Akinmboni (Bournemouth, 3.5m) </strong>is sitting at 22.4% ownership, and I genuinely cannot tell you why. He&#8217;s not even playing in friendlies. </p>



<p>Unless there&#8217;s information out there I&#8217;m completely missing, get him out of your squad.</p>



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<p><strong>Jérémy Jacquet (Liverpool, 3.75m)</strong> is still injured. Avoid for now, but he&#8217;s a decent watch later in the season if he can force his way into the squad.</p>



<p><strong>Destiny Udogie (Spurs, 3.9m)</strong> should benefit from an improved Spurs season overall, but I can&#8217;t see him starting week in, week out. Porro, Van Hecke or Kinsky do the job better.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>My Plan</strong></h3>



<p>Mosquera, Colwill, Muharemovic and Vuskovic are all in my squad right now. </p>



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<p>Mosquera is a cheap entry point into Arsenal&#8217;s defence, provided he&#8217;s starting and healthy, while Colwill is the punt on Chelsea&#8217;s defence improving now Lacroix has arrived. </p>



<p>Muharemovic at 2.8% ownership is the differential I&#8217;m backing hardest; the fixtures and underlying numbers stack up too well to ignore. </p>



<p>Vuskovic stays regardless of his 43.4% ownership, because the player is simply that good.</p>



<p>Avoid Hull. Avoid the ownership traps in Yoro, Akinmboni, Jacquet and Udogie. </p>



<p>Cheap defenders only work if you pick the right cheap defenders, not just the popular ones.</p>


EPL Supercoach | Cheap Defenders Guide

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