The Touchline Edge
No. 009
Buy the cheap defender with a striker's numbers, and take the armband off the man two-thirds of the game owns.
The call
De Cuyper
This week’s best value appears to be among the cheap seats. One budget full-back is generating attacking numbers his price bracket has no business producing, and he is home to a promoted side. Meanwhile the most-owned forward on your teamsheet is walking into the hardest away trip on the slate, and the crowd is still buying. We are leaning, not shouting: every call below comes with its upside and the way it bites you.
Buy De Cuyper — the enabler-priced defender producing attacking numbers a midfielder would take, at home to Leeds at FDR 2.
He has the highest climb-fit in the pool at 75.96 and the softest realistic fixture available to a defender with genuine attacking threat, and the market has moved in without ownership catching up at 15.8%. The risk is stark: his floor is the worst in the whole candidate pool, defender attacking returns regress harder than any other category, and front-loaded finishing can vanish overnight.
- 15.8% owned
- 75.96 climb fit
- LEE home (FDR 2)
Risk: Medium-high — elite ceiling, zero floor. Best for Managers with a spare defensive slot who want an attacking-return defender at enabler price for a home fixture against a promoted side..