If you’ve had a first go at assembling a Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 1 team you will have noticed that the midfield position is absolutely stacked full of high-potential players for the 2023-24 season.
Taking into account the sheer variety of options to choose from and FPL’s especially competitive pricing in that area of the pitch, it looks like the sort of campaign to build your side around a five-man midfield. In other words, it’s a 3-5-2 season.
There have been significant price drops across the board. There are only two players valued at £10m or more in Mo Salah (£12.5m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m) and even they have both had their price tags slashed since last August.
Other midfielders with significant FPL pedigree who will cost less than usual include Son Heung-min (£9m), Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) and Raheem Sterling (£7m). All three are well capable of bouncing back with a bang.
Even those whose values have risen rather than dipped offer good value for money. Martin Odegaard, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli all featured in the top five highest-scoring midfielders in 2022-23 and yet none of them will set you back more than £9m.
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With such great strength in depth, selecting five midfielders is likely to pose the biggest headache for managers ahead of the big Gameweek 1 deadline on Friday 11 August.
The premium pick
Mo Salah (Liverpool)
The 75 per cent of FPL managers currently without Mo Salah in their Gameweek 1 squads may wish to consider ripping up their team in order to squeeze him in, as he tends to spring out of the blocks at the start of a Premier League season.
Since joining Liverpool in 2017, Salah has scored on the opening round in six consecutive seasons, registering eight goals, five assists and five double-digit returns in total. He’ll be motivated to continue that streak when the Reds travel to west London to face his former club Chelsea.
Price: £12.5m Points in 2022-23: 239
Mid-priced options
Marcus Rashford (Man Utd)
A significant price rise for Marcus Rashford was inevitable considering he enjoyed the most fruitful campaign of his career and was valued at just £6.5m last August. However, he is still generously priced at £9m and is bound to feature in plenty of teams from the start as a result.
Rashford surpassed the double-century mark for FPL points for the first time last term, combining 17 goals with seven assists and with United looking increasingly unlikely to sign a top-class centre-forward this summer, he looks set to remain Erik ten Hag’s principal attacking weapon.
Price: £9m Points in 2022-23: 205
Son Heung-min (Spurs)
Son Heung-min had a campaign to forget, as reflected by his FPL points tally: a final total of 152 points was his lowest return since 70 in his debut year in English football back in 2015-16. It was a monumental drop-off considering he managed 258 points the season before last.
It remains to be seen whether the 31-year-old’s diminishing returns are a sign of things to come or just a blip, but at just £9m there will be plenty of managers willing to take the gamble on it being the latter.
Price: £9m Points in 2022-23: 152
Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd)
The half-a-million pound difference between Bruno Fernandes and Rashford is fair considering the former ended up with 29 fewer FPL points in 2022-23. Don’t be too surprised if the two trade places in 2023-24, however, as Fernandes has exceptional FPL pedigree.
The newly-appointed United skipper was the highest-scoring player in the game back in 2020-21 when his 18 goals and 14 assists yielded a grand total of 244 points. If Fernandes can rediscover that sort of form – and keep Rashford away from penalties – he will be an absolute snip at £8.5m.
Price: £8.5m Points in 2022-23: 176
Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal)
Arsenal’s three midfield musketeers all offer absurdly good value, but at £0.5m less than Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka (both £8.5m), perhaps Gabriel Martinelli is the pick of the bunch.
The Brazilian was outscored by his two team-mates last season, but not by much: Odegaard topped the charts (with 212 points), followed by Saka (202) and Martinelli (198). With precious little to separate them, opting for the cheaper Martinelli could be the sensible play for Arsenal’s promising early set of fixtures.
Price: £8m Points in 2022-23: 198
Phil Foden (Man City)
The winter World Cup seemed to knock Phil Foden off his stride as he struggled to build on an impressive start. Even though his campaign fizzled out somewhat, Foden still enjoyed his most productive FPL campaign yet with 11 goals and seven assists across 32 appearances (of which 22 were starts).
If (and it’s a medium-sized if) Foden can force his way into Pep Guardiola’s starting line-up on a consistent basis, he will make a mockery of that £7.5m valuation. With Riyad Mahrez set to join the Premier League exodus to Saudi Arabia, Foden’s chances of securing more regular minutes should increase.
Price: £7.5m Points in 2022-23: 142
James Maddison (Spurs)
Harry Kane and Son have been by far the most popular Spurs players in FPL in recent seasons, but James Maddison is currently selected by more FPL managers than either of them at this admittedly early stage.
It is easy to see why Maddison is proving popular. Despite scoring 10 goals and providing nine assists in a relegated, Maddison’s price tag has actually dipped from £8m at the start of last season to £7.5m this time around. With Spurs expected to play in a more entertaining manner under Ange Postecoglou, Maddison could prove to be a steal.
Price: £7.5m Points in 2022-23: 135
Raheem Sterling (Chelsea)
Like Son, Raheem Sterling’s price tag has been reduced by £3m after a desperately disappointing year. At just £7m, this is the cheapest that Sterling has been at the start of an FPL season since 2013-14 when he was £5.5m during his Liverpool days.
Nobody quite knows what to expect from Chelsea under Mauricio Pochettino, but they surely can’t be any worse than they were in 2022-23. But if the Argentine can get the Blues firing, Sterling has as much potential to deliver the FPL goods as anyone else in blue.
Price: £7m Points in 2022-23: 101
Bargain buys
Julio Enciso (Brighton)
Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) is by far the most selected Brighton midfielder at the time of writing with an ownership of just under 40 per cent. The Japanese livewire is an enticing pick for the Seagulls’ opening game against Luton Town, but the same applies to Julio Enciso who costs £1m less and had a more productive end to 2022-23.
With Alexis Mac Allister now at Liverpool, Enciso looks primed to make the No 10 position his own. The Paraguayan teenager played his part as Roberto De Zerbi’s secured a historic 6th place top-flight finish, chipping in with three goals and two assists in his final 10 appearances.
Price: £5.5m Points in 2022-23: 57
Dango Ouattara (Bournemouth)
Incredibly harsh as Gary O’Neil’s sacking was, Bournemouth could spring a surprise under their new head coach Andoni Iraola given his burgeoning reputation as one of Europe’s most astute up-and-coming managers.
Iraola will be looking to the exciting Dango Ouattara to build upon a promising start on the south coast. After joining the Cherries from FC Lorient in January, the Burkina Faso winger contributed three assists and one goal – a 95th-minute winner against Spurs – in 15 matches.
Price: £5m Points in 2022-23: 49
A bench fodder bonus!
Marvelous Nakamba (Luton)
We’re feeling charitable so here’s a Brucie bonus! Depending on your team structure you may need to squeeze in a £4.5m midfielder into your squad and of all the players in that price bracket, Luton’s Marvelous Nakamba looks to be the most assured starter. His ceiling is likely to be two points in most matches but even that could be a bonus in weeks when you’re down to the bare bones.
Price: £4.5m Points in 2022-23: N/A
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