22 Sep, 2025
Budgets vs Premiums, Clean Sheets vs DefCon. If only a gameweek 6 wildcard team could get the best of both worlds. Well now it has! Check this out!
Gameweek 5 provided one of the biggest swings seen this season. With only 2 out of 20 teams keeping a clean sheet, those who had prioritised clean sheets and fixtures seemed at the mercy of the new rising power of FPL, The Defcon Monster defender. As a result, these defenders have seen a strong rise up the rankings and are all the rage on FPL twitter atm. But is it time to reprioritise to DefCon? Or is DefCon overrated? The correct answer is striking the perfect balance between the 2, and that’s exactly what we’ve done with this FPL Game Week 6 Wildcard Team.
There are naturally some strong similarities with our GameWeek 5 wildcard draft which you should definitely check out. The main difference here is we’ve explored what a wildcard without Mo Salah looks like, and boy is it fun.
What’s even more important is keeping track of which players will start, and which will get 90 minutes, to maximise these metrics. Our Predicted Line-Ups hub is the perfect place to keep track of that. As mentioned before whether you’re a clean sheet and returns loyalist or a DefCon truther, we reckon we’ve found the perfectly balanced Gameweek 6 Wildcard team, so make sure you let us know what you think.
Firstly we want to start with the obvious 2nd goalkeeper. Martin Dubravka at £4m. Any starting goalkeeper for £4m is fantastic value and Dubravka is no exception especially while there are no other real alternatives.
Our main goalkeeper we’re looking to target however is Nick Pope at £5m. How often does a team who’ve kept 4 clean sheets out of a possible 5 and have by far the lowest xGA this season at a crazy 2.02 total, have a goalkeeper with only 6.3% ownership. A total of 0.4 xGA per 90.
Ideally, you’d want to avoid the Arsenal fixture this week. But if you’re on GW6 then the following fixture run is not scary in the slightest. So we would recommend still bringing him in. A great long-term option and fantastic differential at only 6.3% ownership.
This is where that fine balancing act between clean sheets and Defcon comes into play. We will get started straight away with the premium options.
The first name on the team sheet is non other than Virgil Van Dijk himself. Despite being leaky at times, Liverpool’s defence has tightened up over the past few gameweeks, keeping 2 clean sheets in their last 3. But this is only half the reason you want Big Virg in your team. He is fully nailed, a Defcon beast, Bonus point beast and occasional goal threat. Couple this with Liverpool’s fantastic fixtures in their next 10 and you’ve got another great long-term option.
The next name on the team sheet is the swashbuckling Daniel Munoz at £5.5m. Crystal Not only have Palace conceded the least goals this season, they are also 6th in lowest xGA, meaning their stellar defensive record is also no fluke. As well as benefitting from the defensive potential, Munoz also averages an xGI of 0.35 over the past 4 games, a figure which averages out to around 13/14 goal involvements a season. Crazy numbers for a defender on an already excellent defence. Also at 13.5% his ownership is not that high considering the upside.
Now with Palace’s defensive performing as one of the best this season, it’s only right we include another Palace defender in Chris Richards at £4.5m. Richards is another strong DefCon candidate, achieving above 8+ contributions in all but 1 game this season. Andersen is another solid option here but Fulham’s rough fixtures and worse overall defence than Palace’s mean Richards gets the nod here.
Now speaking of DefCon beasts who play for great defences, our next inclusion, and a man who should be in everyone’s wildcard, is Marcos Senesi at £4.7m. Bournemouth are 4th in lowest xGA allowed and have a fantastic next 10 fixtures, so he presents as another great long-term play. In every game he has recorded at least 11 Defensive contributions. Senesi is as essential as they come, and should be in everyone’s gameweek 6 wildcard team.
The final defender is non other than Micky Van De Ven at £4.7m. Spurs currently sit 3rd in lowest xGA allowed and Van De Ven has been a huge part of that. The only Spurs defender whose nailed and under £5m is a fantastic option for any gameweek 6 wildcard team. Spurs have some of the best fixtures in the league and Van De Ven provides arguably the best route into that defence.
We start things off with the man of the moment, Antoine Semenyo at £7.7m. Just when we thought the man wouldn’t return, he still managed to return in the form of Defcon points and a clean sheet. Semenyo is currently FPL’s 2nd highest points scorer after Haaland and is making a mockery of his price tag. His near 50% ownership is reflective of this. He has also now seemingly taken over penalty duties. Like Senesi he is as essential as they come, so make sure you don’t overthink it.
A wildcard team wouldn’t be complete without at least 1 premium midfielder in it, and we’ve opted for Bruno Fernandes at £9m as ours. We did think about Saka, especially considering Arsenal’s upcoming fixtures but Bruno just presented a much safer floor. Man United currently sit top of the league for xG (I know we couldn’t believe it either). With Bruno often at the heart of all chances. He’s nailed, on pens, great going forward, great for bonus points and is a fantastic DefCon candidate. United also have great fixtures in their next 10 so he is another set and forget sort of option. A great floor and great ceiling sort of player and one sometimes overlooked as an FPL asset given the team he plays for.
Next up is arguably the bargain of the year in Moises Caicedo at £5.6m. Currently the 3rd highest scoring midfielder in the entire game. If you want a safe floor he is essentially 4 points a game minimum due to his Defensive Contributions. Couple this with his propensity for bonus points, his occasional goal involvement and occasional clean sheet and you’ve got perhaps the best value FPL asset in the game.
Another great budget enabler is Tijjani Reijnders at £5.6m. Reijnders has played 90 minutes every single game this season and has been involved in a large part of what City have been doing going forward. He even tallied his first DefCon threshold last game. Couple his individual profile and price with City’s great run of immediate fixtures and you’re on to a winner.
Our final midfielder is non other than Mohammed Kudus. We mentioned in gameweek 5s wildcard article that Kudus was due a return, and there it was. In the form of 2 assists against Brighton. Spurs look electric going forward scoring the 2nd most goals this season, 2nd only to Liverpool. Kudus’s presence as a 90 minute man, for £6.6m, at the heart of Spurs attack, make him arguably the best route into the Spurs attack. Which is an attack you wouldn’t mind owning part of, especially for their next 4 against Wolves, Leeds, Villa and Everton.
An identical frontline from the Gameweek 5 wildcard. We get started straight away with the inevitable Erling Haaland at £14.3m, and like last week, we will be saying no more on this subject.
Joao Pedro at £7.8m is nextup. Despite a stifled performance against Man United, Joao Pedro remains Chelsea’s gunman-in-chief. With Chelsea sitting 2nd in xG in the league, we expect Joao Pedro to heavily feature in a lot of attacking moves. Especially once Palmer has fully returned. A great value option at £7.8m for a high-powered attack.
Viktor Gyokeres at £9m rounds out the frontline as Arsenal enters perhaps their best run of fixtures this year. With West Ham, Fulham, Burnley and Sunderland as 4 of their next 6, the stage is set for Gyokeres to get some serious hauls. His presence on pens should also provide a nice insurance policy, and the return of Saka should add some serious firepower to an already strong attack. Arteta is also under increasing pressure to play more attacking football, so if there was ever a run of fixtures to dial it up for, its these.
The total value of the team is £99.5m so this should be achievable for even those managers who have had a very unlucky start to the season. Those with extra funda can think about upgrades to the defence or midfield but the strong set and forget nature of this wildcard should provide great foundations for the next 5-10 gameweeks. Meaning those valuable transfers can be protected.
Make sure you keep up to date with our Game Week Tips page for more great advice, and best of luck with your mini-leagues 😊.
With years working in the FPL space and digital media. George now brings his knowledge and tips to the ingenuity audience through a fun and personable writing style.
