The Scout reveals the best Fantasy Premier League Draft strategies to adopt for the initial draft.
Building a squad in FPL Draft is very different to constructing one for Fantasy Premier League.
In Draft, there are no player prices or squad budgets. There is also no captain.
Crucially, a Premier League player can be owned by only one manager in a mini-league.
See: Time to get your FPL Draft started
As a result, most managers tend to focus on attack in the early rounds, seeking out those capable of big points hauls.
Indeed, among the top-ranked 100 players in Drafts currently, only seven are defenders.
While Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea supply all seven, managers still have plenty of excellent options among sides who finished in the top six last season.
The Scout highlights four defenders with strong season-long prospects who have failed to make the top 100 picks for current Draft squads.
Vladimir Coufal (WHU)
Draft ranking 211, Defender ranking 30
The West Ham United full-back is well-recognised in FPL and is the seventh most-owned defender.
But in Draft, Coufal is only the 30th most popular pick in that position.
The Czech’s all-round output was vital to his successful debut campaign in 2020/21.
He combined nine clean sheets with nine assists and 12 bonus points, claiming eleventh place among defenders on 128 points.
Coufal’s 45 key passes placed for West Ham and ranked fifth in his position in Fantasy.
Timothy Castagne (LEI)
Draft ranking 132, Defender ranking 17
The Belgian was involved in more goals than any other Leicester City defender in his debut campaign last season.
Castagne scored twice and supplied four assists, despite being limited to 27 appearances.
He is closing in on a return from a facial injury and is certainly worth benching for the first couple of Gameweeks in the event he fails to recover.
If Leicester can improve upon their 11 clean sheets from 2020/21, Castagne looks a good prospect for some double-figure returns.
Luke Shaw (MUN)
Draft ranking 123, Defender ranking 12
The contrast in the Manchester United left-back’s popularity in FPL and Draft is quite remarkable.
In FPL, Shaw is the most-owned player in the game, found in over 51 per cent of squads.
Yet he fails to even make the top 120 players, or even the top 10 defenders, in Draft squads so far.
The England star created 72 chances last term, second in his position in Fantasy and seventh among all players.
And with Raphael Varane’s imminent arrival, Man Utd should surpass their 13 shutouts from 2020/21.
Antonio Rudiger (CHE)
Draft ranking 133, Defender ranking 18
The Chelsea centre-back averaged 4.9 points per match (ppm) last term, the third best among defenders in Fantasy.
Rudiger was a key figure in their improved defensive displays under Thomas Tuchel.
Chelsea totals of 11 clean sheets and 13 goals conceded after the German was appointed head coach in Gameweek 20 were both league-leading totals.
Rudiger was named in the first XI in 15 of those 19 matches, second only to the 17 of Cesar Azpilicueta among Blues defenders.
That consistency of starts makes him a very reliable pick over the course of the season.
Also in this series
Part 2: Get Raphinha and Harrison early
Part 3: Plan ahead with Jimenez
Part 4: Tsimikas provides short-term solution
Remember, the Gameweek 1 deadline is at 18:30 BST on Friday 13 August.
