Hull defender Egan is the best cheap bench enabler

Nobody drafts a cheap defender expecting miracles. You buy them to sit on the bench, keep quiet, and let your expensive attackers do the heavy lifting. Then two matches into the season, two bargain defenders from Hull sit right near the top of the defensive rankings.

The goal at this price tier is simple. You want guaranteed minutes on the pitch, a steady stream of defensive actions, and enough spare budget to pay for proper captaincy options.

£4.0mEgan price180 mins played

£4.0mMendy price16 points scored

17.0Egan DA/9034 defensive actions

Data covers the first two matches of the season.

Hull defenders are giving you free budget space

If you need a 4.0m defender who actually plays every week, Hull offer two distinct options. Egan played all 180 minutes across the first two fixtures. He has zero goals and zero expected goal involvement, but 34 defensive actions give him a rate of 17.0 per 90. That is proper work for a player sitting at the absolute price floor.

Mendy costs the same 4.0m and has racked up 16 points. He played 121 minutes across two starts, scoring once from 0.29 xG. That single finish is luck that will dry up soon, but his rate of 16.36 defensive actions per 90 shows he is not relying entirely on goal conversion to keep earning points.

TzolakisHUL GK, 4.6m

88 score

MendyHUL DEF, 4.0m

87.6 score

ThiawNEW DEF, 5.0m

87.4 score

HallNEW DEF, 5.1m

86.9 score

N.WilliamsNFO DEF, 5.0m

86.3 score

AjayiHUL DEF, 4.1m

85.7 score

DedićNEW DEF, 4.5m

85.1 score

EganHUL DEF, 4.0m

83.1 score

Master score target analysis for players priced 5.5m or under ahead of gameweek 3.

When deciding between two budget players from the same backline, security of starts beats early finishing variance every day of the week. Two matches is a tiny sample size, but Egan playing every single minute gives him the edge over Mendy if you need a reliable sub to step off your bench.

EganMendy

Price

£4.0m

£4.0m

Points

17 pts

16 pts

Minutes

180 mins

121 mins

Defensive Actions / 90

17

16.4

xGI Per 90

0

0.22

Data covers gameweeks 1 and 2. Mendy's goal came from 0.29 xG.

Newcastle cover offers fixture comfort

Stepping up into the 4.5m to 5.1m tier gives you access to teams with much better fixture runs over the next four matches. Newcastle face Bournemouth, Leeds, Hull, and Coventry in their upcoming block.

GW3GW4GW5GW6

Newcastle

BOU (H)LEE (A)HUL (H)COV (A)

Hull

AVL (H)CHE (A)NEW (A)EVE (H)

Brentford

SUN (H)BOU (A)CHE (H)AVL (A)

easierharderInternal model rating, 0 to 100. Not FPL's fixture rating.

Higher score indicates an easier fixture in our internal rating model.

Dedić at 4.5m provides the cheapest entry into that backline. If you have a bit of extra budget left in the bank, Thiaw at 5.0m and Hall at 5.1m offer solid alternatives for the weeks ahead.

If you are sorting out your bench ahead of the deadline, buy Egan to secure reliable minutes or Dedić to catch Newcastle's attractive fixture run.