Here are three defenders who could be wise transfers for FPL Gameweek 9 as fantasy players look to steal a march on their opponents.
Three Defenders to Transfer in for FPL Gameweek 9
Virgil Van Dijk – Liverpool (vs Arsenal) – £6.0 Million
Surprisingly cheap for a player of his quality, Virgil Van Dijk continues to prove just how important he is to Liverpool. The Reds enter Gameweek 9 still as the best defensive team in the league with three goals conceded, the next best record held by Nottingham Forest with six.
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With Van Dijk the leader of Arne Slot’s backline and arguably the best defender in the league currently, it would be silly not to see him in FPL teams if he isn’t in the majority already, and at just £6.0 million, the “unbelievably good” Dutchman has to be in the conversation as one of FPL’s biggest steals this season.
Cristian Romero – Tottenham (vs Crystal Palace) – £5.1 Million
Tottenham’s Argentinian bruiser Cristian Romero is this weekend’s mid-cost option, with the North London side looking to heap more misery on Crystal Palace who remain without a win after eight matches this campaign.
The Eagles are the lowest scorers in the top-flight with five goals and, with three other teams around them also winless (including newly promoted Southampton and Ipswich), that is the only thing keeping them out of relegation conversations.
If those stats are anything to go by, transferring in Romero this weekend could be one of the smarter choices to make as Palace continue to surprise people with their lack of threat going forward.
Murillo – Nottingham Forest (vs Leicester City) – £4.5 Million
While Nottingham Forest remain one of the toughest teams to crack defensively this season, it is very hard to keep members of their backline out of FPL picks each weekend. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side managed to get their first home win of the campaign on Monday against Crystal Palace, winning 1-0 as they continue to prove to the rest of the league that they’re more than capable of challenging for Europe.
With just six goals conceded after eight games in 2024/25 – conceding more than one goal a game just once so far – Nuno has worked miracles with the players at his disposal and Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic have been key to Forest’s successes, and the former is this week’s cheap option.
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Murillo has proved himself as one of the Premier League’s most underrated defenders, his talents recognised as he won Forest’s Player of the Season Award in 2023/24 and he is certainly putting himself in the running to take home the accolade for the second consecutive year, This feat would create history, with no player at the club winning the award in consecutive seasons in its 48-year history.
With Murillo and Forest coming up against Leicester this weekend, they certainly won’t be giving the Foxes as many chances as Southampton did last Saturday, with many expecting Forest to continue their stellar defensive run against Steve Cooper’s men this weekend.
