Fantasy Premier League Rankings: Top Defenders for 2020/21

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Updated on August 21, 2020 1:49PM EST

We continue with our positional rankings for the 2020/21, this time focusing on defenders. The index score is a bit different from the forwards and midfielders because clean sheets and goals conceded are much more relevent to defenders, though goals and assists still play a major role.

The Liverpool duo of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson were the top fantasy scoring defenders last season, and they project to keep those places thanks to their excellent attacking returns in addition to Liverpool's expectedly strong defense. Remember that goals are more valuable to defenders, so anyone who gets on the score-sheet will have a big leg up on the competition.

As mentioned in the forward and midfielder rankings, these will change as projections change, and those are updated whenever there is a transfer, injury or change in playing time situation. The rankings will not change as frequently as the projections, but be sure that we will have multiple updates leading up to the start of the season.

And, as always, if you have any questions, suggestions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below, hit me up in our subscriber Discord chat or on Twitter.

Note: all columns are sortable

Rank	Player	Team	Price	MIN	G	A	SOT	CC	GC	CS	Index
1	Trent Alexander-Arnold	LIV	£7.5	2,600	2.66	11.64	9.98	73.40	26.81	11.90	192.69
2	Andrew Robertson	LIV	£7.0	2,700	2.00	9.42	6.24	47.05	27.84	12.36	154.24
3	Lucas Digne	EVE	£6.0	3,000	0.13	6.20	3.21	64.45	52.10	7.94	131.30
4	Enda Stevens	SHU	£5.5	3,200	2.27	4.05	4.94	31.41	37.97	13.17	128.13
5	Ben Chilwell	LEI	£5.5	2,700	3.25	3.63	6.24	34.85	35.57	9.92	122.41
6	Matt Doherty	WLV	£6.0	2,750	4.32	2.61	12.51	22.14	35.60	10.22	120.74
7	Cesar Azpilicueta	CHE	£6.0	2,900	2.00	3.00	4.93	43.27	44.56	9.20	118.08
8	Serge Aurier	TOT	£5.5	3,000	1.34	5.06	4.04	34.89	40.54	10.76	117.69
9	George Baldock	SHU	£5.5	3,200	2.24	2.98	5.59	21.15	37.97	13.17	115.13
10	Marcos Alonso	CHE	£6.0	2,200	3.45	2.09	12.45	37.04	33.80	6.98	113.55
11	Virgil van Dijk	LIV	£6.5	2,900	3.19	0.84	11.06	7.42	29.90	13.27	105.30
12	Aaron Wan-Bissaka	MUN	£5.5	3,000	0.06	3.39	1.09	28.35	33.78	12.73	103.39
13	Patrick van Aanholt	CRY	£5.5	2,500	2.91	2.12	4.96	31.29	40.55	7.17	99.17
14	Nathan Ake	MCI	£5.5	2,800	2.01	1.81	8.03	8.22	29.57	12.60	95.81
15	Kieran Tierney	ARS	£5.5	2,500	1.63	4.84	3.49	24.26	36.45	8.15	95.07
16	Stuart Dallas	LEE	£4.5	3,000	2.33	1.23	9.04	18.46	49.90	8.34	91.03
17	Willy Boly	WLV	£5.5	3,320	1.21	1.04	5.22	10.65	42.98	12.33	89.40
18	Jack O'Connell	SHU	£5.0	3,200	0.28	1.08	3.40	14.37	37.97	13.17	88.70
19	Ryan Bertrand	SOU	£5.0	2,900	0.90	1.27	3.33	31.86	49.04	7.98	88.40
20	John Egan	SHU	£5.0	3,200	1.94	0.22	4.70	2.76	37.97	13.17	85.77
21	Reece James	CHE	£5.0	2,000	0.85	2.21	3.58	35.47	30.73	6.35	84.51
22	Romain Saiss	WLV	£5.0	2,760	2.07	0.73	6.43	10.30	35.73	10.25	83.84
23	Harry Maguire	MUN	£5.5	2,900	0.76	0.09	5.46	11.56	32.66	12.30	83.13
24	Fernandinho	MCI	£5.5	2,100	1.09	2.07	4.91	18.70	22.18	9.45	82.91
25	Chris Basham	SHU	£5.0	3,200	0.28	0.99	0.91	10.33	37.97	13.17	81.90
26	James Tarkowski	BUR	£5.5	3,200	1.67	1.70	4.53	11.93	52.43	9.05	81.11
27	Aymeric Laporte	MCI	£6.0	2,500	1.95	0.12	4.97	7.02	26.40	11.25	79.47
28	Aaron Cresswell	WHU	£5.0	2,700	2.24	0.31	4.38	25.75	53.21	5.92	79.43
29	Luke Ayling	LEE	£4.5	2,800	1.90	1.89	4.94	14.26	46.57	7.78	79.06
30	Jonny Evans	LEI	£5.5	3,000	0.93	0.97	6.35	6.34	39.52	11.03	77.80
31	Kyle Walker	MCI	£6.0	2,000	0.73	2.86	3.52	16.75	21.12	9.00	77.56
32	Adam Webster	BHA	£4.5	2,800	2.61	0.92	5.66	9.38	45.11	8.05	77.33
33	Toby Alderweireld	TOT	£5.5	2,900	1.32	1.22	3.29	8.42	39.19	10.40	76.97
34	Ezgjan Alioski	LEE	£4.5	2,000	2.49	1.38	6.54	19.95	33.27	5.56	76.14
35	Ben Mee	BUR	£5.0	3,200	1.13	1.13	6.68	9.14	52.43	9.05	75.52
36	Matt Targett	AVL	£4.5	2,500	0.97	1.91	3.01	27.31	47.84	5.76	75.33
37	Caglar Soyuncu	LEI	£5.5	3,000	1.01	1.05	4.83	4.16	39.52	11.03	74.82
38	Benjamin Mendy	MCI	£6.0	1,800	0.08	2.42	1.54	25.01	19.01	8.10	74.19
39	Victor Lindelof	MUN	£5.0	2,900	0.88	0.09	1.63	5.70	32.66	12.30	74.16
40	Ben Davies	TOT	£5.0	2,800	0.24	1.06	2.08	13.78	37.84	10.04	72.31
41	Ricardo Pereira	LEI	£6.0	1,800	2.02	1.66	3.11	17.53	23.71	6.62	71.72
42	Conor Coady	WLV	£5.0	3,320	0.30	0.20	1.02	4.54	42.98	12.33	71.11
43	Ahmed Elmohamady	AVL	£4.5	1,800	1.24	1.61	1.45	31.67	34.44	4.14	69.45
44	Yerry Mina	EVE	£5.5	2,400	1.87	1.13	7.80	10.74	41.68	6.36	68.59
45	Ryan Fredericks	WHU	£4.5	2,700	0.05	2.84	0.41	24.14	53.21	5.92	68.30
46	Luke Shaw	MUN	£5.0	1,700	0.07	0.74	4.10	25.22	19.14	7.21	67.88
47	Issa Diop	WHU	£4.5	3,000	2.47	0.81	6.40	5.37	59.12	6.58	67.84
48	Joe Bryan	FUL	£5.0	2,600	0.59	2.57	4.23	18.00	51.11	5.68	67.03
49	Michael Keane	EVE	£5.0	2,800	1.97	0.31	3.89	6.36	48.63	7.41	64.31
50	Federico Fernandez	NEW	£5.0	2,500	2.02	1.38	5.62	3.55	41.94	7.01	63.89
51	Joao Cancelo	MCI	£5.5	1,600	0.12	0.50	4.18	21.21	16.90	7.20	63.08
52	Semi Ajayi	WBA	£5.0	3,000	2.42	0.13	4.16	3.64	58.74	6.65	61.81
53	Joe Gomez	LIV	£5.5	2,300	0.42	0.21	1.41	5.44	23.72	10.53	61.70
54	Seamus Coleman	EVE	£5.0	2,600	0.06	1.70	4.05	13.80	45.16	6.89	61.70
55	Kyle Walker-Peters	SOU	£4.5	2,600	0.05	0.56	1.39	18.59	43.97	7.15	61.39
56	Tyrone Mings	AVL	£5.0	3,200	0.93	0.97	2.97	6.98	61.23	7.37	61.25
57	Cedric Soares	ARS	£5.0	1,800	1.00	1.27	5.08	14.79	26.25	5.87	60.66
58	Dan Burn	BHA	£4.5	2,700	0.11	0.20	0.52	15.78	43.50	7.77	59.89
59	Jan Bednarek	SOU	£4.5	3,000	0.91	1.03	1.88	3.93	50.73	8.25	59.86
60	Liam Cooper	LEE	£4.5	3,000	1.17	0.12	2.11	4.07	49.90	8.34	59.42
61	Hector Bellerin	ARS	£5.0	2,000	1.21	0.45	2.83	11.91	29.16	6.52	57.76
62	Angelo Ogbonna	WHU	£5.0	3,000	1.78	0.13	4.21	2.94	59.12	6.58	57.04
63	Kyle Bartley	WBA	£4.5	3,000	1.27	0.86	3.60	4.02	58.74	6.65	56.92
64	Jack Stephens	SOU	£5.0	2,300	0.81	2.25	2.28	7.00	38.89	6.33	55.79
65	Antonio Rudiger	CHE	£5.0	2,100	1.65	0.06	3.03	6.93	32.27	6.67	55.47
66	Ruben Vinagre	WLV	£4.5	1,800	0.33	0.35	2.13	15.85	23.30	6.69	55.27
67	Jonny	WLV	£5.5	1,550	0.97	1.25	2.50	12.50	20.07	5.76	54.07
68	James Tomkins	CRY	£4.5	2,200	1.28	1.44	3.54	3.23	35.68	6.31	53.18
69	Jamaal Lascelles	NEW	£4.5	2,500	1.44	0.14	2.78	2.60	41.94	7.01	52.90
70	Michael Hector	FUL	£4.5	2,900	0.09	1.56	2.68	7.02	57.01	6.34	52.36
71	Charlie Taylor	BUR	£4.5	2,100	0.09	1.46	0.52	13.27	34.41	5.94	51.22
72	David Luiz	ARS	£5.5	2,000	1.16	0.66	4.80	3.04	29.16	6.52	51.19
73	William Saliba	ARS	£4.5	2,400	0.30	0.24	1.12	4.57	34.99	7.83	49.53
74	Matthew Lowton	BUR	£4.5	2,000	0.04	1.35	0.57	13.31	32.77	5.66	49.14
75	Joel Ward	CRY	£4.5	2,500	0.06	0.30	1.08	7.29	40.55	7.17	48.73
76	Frederic Guilbert	AVL	£4.5	2,000	0.04	1.80	2.20	14.04	38.27	4.60	48.61
77	Erik Pieters	BUR	£4.5	1,500	0.23	2.73	2.64	13.00	24.58	4.24	48.42
78	Mason Holgate	EVE	£5.0	2,100	0.26	2.43	4.00	4.16	36.47	5.56	48.00
79	Paul Dummett	NEW	£4.5	2,000	0.50	0.35	3.20	8.92	33.56	5.61	46.94
80	Kieran Gibbs	WBA	£4.5	1,700	0.98	1.62	1.40	12.20	33.28	3.77	46.50
81	Eric Dier	TOT	£5.0	1,700	0.12	1.40	1.28	5.90	22.98	6.10	43.58
82	Mamadou Sakho	CRY	£4.5	2,400	0.16	0.34	0.85	3.18	38.93	6.89	43.57
83	Ezri Konsa	AVL	£4.5	1,800	0.85	1.36	2.66	7.06	34.44	4.14	42.96
84	Tim Ream	FUL	£4.5	2,900	0.09	0.09	0.61	3.46	57.01	6.34	42.32
85	Oleksandr Zinchenko	MCI	£5.5	1,000	0.05	0.19	2.26	15.69	10.56	4.50	40.99
86	Dara O'Shea	WBA	£4.5	1,600	1.78	0.22	3.44	4.69	31.33	3.55	40.34
87	Javier Manquillo	NEW	£4.5	1,800	0.18	1.08	0.30	6.60	30.20	5.05	38.92
88	DeAndre Yedlin	NEW	£4.5	1,300	1.27	0.26	1.14	8.57	21.81	3.65	38.13
89	James Justin	LEI	£4.5	1,000	0.53	1.13	1.36	11.03	13.17	3.68	37.85
90	Mohammed Salisu	SOU	£4.5	1,800	0.59	0.67	1.18	2.02	30.44	4.95	36.05
91	Joel Veltman	BHA	£4.5	2,000	0.30	0.19	0.80	1.48	32.22	5.75	35.98
92	Gary Cahill	CRY	£4.5	1,700	0.11	0.88	3.20	2.65	27.57	4.88	35.75
93	Tariq Lamptey	BHA	£4.5	1,200	0.02	1.44	0.40	11.14	19.33	3.45	34.78
94	Fabian Schar	NEW	£5.0	1,200	1.43	0.07	3.50	2.45	20.13	3.37	33.22
95	Joel Matip	LIV	£5.5	1,000	1.15	0.09	1.66	1.49	10.31	4.58	32.81
96	Kortney Hause	AVL	£4.5	1,600	0.93	0.17	2.35	2.24	30.61	3.68	32.07
97	Konstantinos Tsimikas	LIV	£5.0	700	0.09	1.08	1.64	10.31	7.22	3.20	31.45
98	Darnell Furlong	WBA	£4.5	1,200	0.60	0.38	2.10	8.34	23.50	2.66	30.82
99	Pablo Mari	ARS	£4.5	1,600	0.20	0.16	0.75	0.82	23.33	5.22	30.80
100	Kurt Zouma	CHE	£5.0	1,400	0.14	0.36	2.49	2.52	21.51	4.44	30.52
101	Brandon Williams	MUN	£4.5	800	0.40	0.07	1.07	8.78	9.01	3.39	29.35
102	Ciaran Clark	NEW	£4.5	1,000	1.57	0.06	2.71	0.96	16.78	2.81	28.68
103	Cyrus Christie	FUL	£4.5	1,200	0.47	0.50	2.01	6.70	23.59	2.62	28.51
104	Conor Townsend	WBA	£4.5	1,300	0.04	0.47	0.71	8.21	25.45	2.88	27.51
105	Andreas Christensen	CHE	£5.0	1,200	0.12	0.03	1.25	2.75	18.44	3.81	25.05
106	Ben White	BHA	£4.5	1,100	0.35	0.43	1.10	2.33	17.72	3.16	24.04
107	Ainsley Maitland-Niles	ARS	£5.0	800	0.07	0.89	0.63	6.23	11.66	2.61	23.72
108	Barry Douglas	LEE	£4.0	900	0.06	0.05	1.36	7.05	14.97	2.50	22.67
109	Yan Valery	SOU	£5.0	1,000	0.02	0.22	2.44	3.95	16.91	2.75	22.34
110	Davinson Sanchez	TOT	£5.5	1,000	0.07	0.06	1.06	0.97	13.51	3.59	21.16
111	Phil Bardsley	BUR	£4.5	800	0.02	0.47	1.40	4.27	13.11	2.26	19.57
112	Bjorn Engels	AVL	£4.5	1,000	0.61	0.10	0.73	1.46	19.13	2.30	19.52
113	Martin Montoya	BHA	£4.5	700	0.01	0.37	0.92	6.40	11.28	2.01	19.45
114	Christian Fuchs	LEI	£4.5	700	0.15	0.20	1.01	3.33	9.22	2.57	19.04
115	Florian Lejeune	NEW	£4.5	400	1.57	0.02	2.00	0.77	6.71	1.12	18.40
116	Nathan Ferguson	CRY	£4.0	600	0.39	0.40	1.38	3.54	9.73	1.72	17.84
117	Alfie Mawson	FUL	£4.5	1,200	0.04	0.04	0.49	0.86	23.59	2.62	17.19
118	Shkodran Mustafi	ARS	£5.0	600	0.32	0.30	1.56	1.91	8.75	1.96	16.63
119	Neil Taylor	AVL	£4.5	800	0.07	0.15	0.14	4.47	15.31	1.84	16.17
120	Eric Bailly	MUN	£5.0	700	0.06	0.02	0.25	0.49	7.88	2.97	15.96
121	Sead Kolasinac	ARS	£5.0	600	0.07	0.56	0.28	3.05	8.75	1.96	15.77
122	Ahmed Hegazi	WBA	£4.5	800	0.43	0.04	0.63	1.33	15.66	1.77	15.07
123	Fabian Balbuena	WHU	£4.5	700	0.47	0.03	1.90	0.76	13.80	1.53	14.61
124	Rob Holding	ARS	£4.5	700	0.09	0.07	0.97	0.36	10.21	2.28	14.12
125	Kevin Long	BUR	£4.5	800	0.08	0.08	0.32	0.56	13.11	2.26	13.97
126	Martin Kelly	CRY	£4.5	600	0.01	0.38	0.09	2.56	9.73	1.72	13.23
127	Arthur Masuaku	WHU	£4.5	500	0.07	0.40	0.92	4.02	9.85	1.10	13.04
128	Emil Krafth	NEW	£4.5	600	0.06	0.50	0.10	1.33	10.07	1.68	12.51
129	Japhet Tanganga	TOT	£5.0	500	0.04	0.06	0.73	1.59	6.76	1.79	11.98
130	Wes Morgan	LEI	£4.5	500	0.04	0.04	1.87	0.23	6.59	1.84	11.90
131	Jarrad Branthwaite	EVE	£4.0	600	0.08	0.07	0.28	0.35	10.42	1.59	10.18
132	Timothy Fosu-Mensah	MUN	£4.5	300	0.01	0.03	0.13	3.27	3.38	1.27	9.88
133	Maxime Le Marchand	FUL	£4.5	600	0.04	0.03	0.15	0.66	11.79	1.31	8.88
134	Steven Sessegnon	FUL	£4.5	400	0.01	0.04	0.55	0.87	7.86	0.87	6.75
135	Diogo Dalot	MUN	£5.0	200	0.00	0.05	0.03	1.45	2.25	0.85	5.86
136	Phil Jones	MUN	£5.0	200	0.02	0.01	0.48	0.63	2.25	0.85	5.49
137	Axel Tuanzebe	MUN	£4.5	200	0.01	0.02	0.09	1.04	2.25	0.85	5.48
138	Ryan Sessegnon	TOT	£5.0	100	0.15	0.13	0.38	0.92	1.35	0.36	4.45
139	Max Kilman	WLV	£4.0	200	0.02	0.01	0.06	0.11	2.59	0.74	4.11