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Having received plenty of positive feedback from our initial Best Budget Defenders For Euro Fantasy Football article, we have decided to extend it's scope into a Part 2. NaturalFootyFan has kept an eye on the recent friendlies, gathered injury news from reliable sources, and checked out the latest discussion points on social media. Now he returns, and is ready to highlight further budget options in defence for the official Euro 2016 Fantasy Football tournament. Enjoy!
Budget Defenders For Euro Fantasy
Part 2:
Jason Denayer (4.5m)
Group Fixtures: Italy, Republic of Ireland & Sweden
Following Nicolas Lombaerts exclusion from the Belgium squad, having picked up an untimely hamstring injury, Denayer has emerged as the prime candidate to fill the void left by the centre-half.
The Man City youngster has gained admirers, having impressed during his loan spell at Galatasaray - making 21 appearances and playing a pivotal part in last week's Turkish Cup winning performance.
One of his admirers, and an essential one at that, is Belgium's national coach Marc Wilmots. He recently stated that Denayer is the most suitable replacement for injured skipper Vincent Kompany, saying “he has the best profile to replace Vincent Kompany. He is fast and allows the team to play and press.”
With Wilmot's tendency to shunt Tottenham pairing Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld into unorthodox full-back positions, Denayer has the perfect opportunity to slot into the heart of defence, alongside Barcelona's forgotten man Thomas Vermaelen. At 4.5m, and with Belgium's stubborn defensive history, it's a total no-brainer.
Raphael Guerreiro (4m)
Group Fixtures: Iceland, Austria & Hungary
Lorient's wingman is far from being a certain starter, but did himself a massive favour in Portugal's most recent friendly - scoring and assisting in a three-nil victory over Norway. Will this be enough to challenge Eliseu for a starting role, and is he the best 4m defender worth contemplating?
Only time will tell and yes is the answer to those questions. Most people will tell you to steer clear of gambles in the opening week of Euro Fantasy, however, this seriously isn't a gamble… hear us out!
You have five slots to construct your defence from; ideally three of these will be utilised each gameweek, with the fourth space employed as a rotation alternative based on fixture difficulty etc.
So this leaves you with the fifth and final slot. A large number of competitors will spend the bare minimum to fill this gap and plant them permanently as their third sub. We agree that this is a suitable approach, but selecting someone with a chance of featuring is very important. Just imagine if Guerreiro starts the first match, and you're sitting there with some 4m randomer from Iceland instead!
For anyone looking for a defensive enabler to fill out or complete a squad, Guerreiro should be your go-to guy, with the added bonus of favourable fixtures and an attacking mindset.
Ján Ďurica (4.5m)
Group Fixtures: Wales, Russia & England
Having defeated World Champions Germany in their last friendly (3-1), Slovakia enter the tournament in high spirits and with a serious chance of progressing through, in what looks to be a very open playing field in Group B.
Durica is a nailed on starter for his country, and has formed a solid partnership with Liverpool's Martin Skrtel. The Lokomotiv defender has 78 caps and four goals for Slovakia, so experience is not an issue.
In our opinion, Slovakia are very underrated with the majority of pundits etc. favouring England and Russia heavily in this group. Remember, Slovakia scored 18 and conceded just 7 times in qualifying to finish runners up behind Spain (who they beat on home soil), and above Ukraine (who they beat away from home comforts).
Michal Pazdan (4.5m)
Group Fixtures: Northern Ireland, Germany & Ukraine
Poland are favourites to clinch second in Group C, above Northern Ireland and Ukraine - with Germany topping the bunch. With this in mind, a cheap defender from their ranks is a smart idea.
Pazdan is comfortable at centre-back or defensive midfield, but is expected to take on the former role in France. He's a consistent character for club and country, although he's no stranger to a yellow card having received 11 for Legia Warszawa this season alone.
Poland were very impressive during qualifying, scoring 33 goals (nine more than Germany), while conceding 10 times. Pazdan has played regularly in the pre-tournament friendlies, unlike his fellow 4.5m countrymen Wawrzyniak and Jedrzejczyk.
Elseid Hysaj (4.5m)
Group Fixtures: Switzerland, France & Albania
At just 23-years-old and Napoli's regular right-back, Hysaj is perhaps Albania's highest profile player in this tournament. The adventurous fullback first made a name for himself at Empoli, where he made 109 appearances to earn a move to his current club.
Like most budget options, Hysaj has some difficult fixtures on the horizon. We don't expect him to conjure up anything notable against France, however, there's potential for a sufficient output in the remaining couple of group fixtures vs. Switzerland, and more reasonably Romania.
It's a big ask for Albania, but he's 100% nailed on and they will set-up with the chief aim to secure a clean sheet.
Michal Kadlec (4.5m)
Group Fixtures: Spain, Croatia & Turkey
The main attraction point of the Czech Republic veteran is the fact he's their designated penalty taker. In the past he's found the net eight times for his country, while racking up 14 goals and 15 assists during his four-year spell at Bayer Leverkusen.
The downside is that Czech Republic are likely to struggle in their tough group that features Spain and Croatia - don't expect many clean sheets. However, they may come up trumps against Turkey, who have struggled to locate the goal in recent tournaments.
If you take yourself as a gambler, then Kadlec is a decent hit or miss differential - if Czech Republic are awarded a penalty then you're laughing!
Check Out Part 1 Here
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