fantasy premier league midfield player rankings – £7.0m +

Fantasy Premier League, Player Rankings

Here’s our fantasy premier league midfield player rankings article for those £7.0m and over.  There’s a range of stats plus commentary on each and their early fixtures

fantasy premier league midfield player rankings – £7.0m +

Firstly there’s a table of stats.  Then there’s a bit of brief commentary on each player.  After that there’s a list of players on a watchlist where more pre-season info is required

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Stats definitions

Fixt Ease:  The ease of the mentioned fixture range from an attacking perspective.  See our GW1 fixture ease article

Mins per FPL pt:  How long it took to earn an FPL point in 16/17.  The lower the better

Mins per G/A:  the amount of time it took to get a goal or assist in 16/17

Consistency %: The percentage of games that the player obtained a goal or assist in 16/17.  Subject to a minimum minutes threshold

SOT per 90:  The shots on target per 90 minutes from 16/17.  Info from whoscored.com

Value rating:  My assessment of their value for the points earned in 16/17 for the minutes played  for the 17/18 price.  The lower the better  1.54 is the average

The Table

I’ve ranked the players in the order that I see them.  However there’s enough info for you to make an assessment.  Remember if they’re not on the table they could well be in the monitor list below

fantasy premier league midfield player rankings




Sanchez 

In my mind still the midfielder who, barring injury, will score the most FPL points.  To gEt him though you have to accept the price and trust him with the captaincy.  Likely to be in the 2 of 3-4-2-1 behind Lacazette.  Thats better than on the left flank in 4-2-3-1 of times last season but not as good as being the striker.  The Lacazette effect is crucial.  Lacazette could well take the penalties.  Also will Sanchez score less now there’s someone else in the team capable of putting the ball in the net.  That’s putting to one side the current pouting towards Man City and PSG.  I’m a huge fan but the current low ownership of 17% dilutes his risk.  GW4 is something to be mindful of as if he gets off to a good start he could be a big captain favourite home to Bournemouth

First 6 fixtures:

Leicester (H)
Stoke (A)
Liverpool (A)
Bournemouth (H)
Chelsea (A)
West Brom (H)

Dele Alli

Incredible season in 16/17 playing what was most of the time a support striker role.  Reasonably priced too as you’ll see from the value rating.  The only thing that can stop him this time is the Wembley factor and the bigger pitch.  Also it’s whether, given that risk, you can have him as well as Harry Kane or whether you can sacrifice Kane to save the cash.  Personally I’m not sure about him for the captaincy in comparison to Kane and with some juicy home games Kane is my pick for Spurs coverage.  Not everyone agrees with me though as he currently is 38% owned compared to Kane’s 35% owned.  Spurs players are covered in Joseph Crilleys article on their prospects

First 6 fixtures:

Newcastle (A)
Chelsea (H)
Burnley (H)
Everton (A)
Swansea (H)
West Ham (A)

Coutinho

Coutinho could start on the left of a front 3 if Mane isn’t fit otherwise he could drop back in the 2 of 4-1-2-3.  That was used in limited games but of those he did play it didn’t blunt his point scoring ability.  Consistency was a bit disappointing but he’s really improved his ability to get shots in the box.  Has good set piece involvement for Liverpool.  Klopp has talked about rotation due to the Champions League but Coutinho is so crucial to their creativity it’s easy to hypothesise that he is less rotatable than others

First 6 fixtures:

Watford (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Arsenal (H)
Man City (A)
Burnley (H)
Leicester (A)

De Bruyne

With D Silva Man City’s chief creator and set piece specialist.  Will probably play in midfield 4 of 4-1-4-1 or 4-1-2-3 as David Brown describes it in his Man City FPL prospects article.  De Bruyne has also featured in my 17/18 improvers article as last season he had a way below normal shot accuracy stat.  I  think he could well improve this and score more.  Rotation is the main issue for any player in Peps team

First 6 fixtures:

Brighton (A)
Everton (H)
Bournemouth (A)
Liverpool (H)
Watford (A)
Crystal Palace (H)

Eriksen

Spurs chief creative player with pretty much all set piece responsibility.  Will get assists it’s just how many goals he can get.  Had quite a low consistency percentage which is unusual for assist based players.  Wembley again is the Spurs unknown

First 6 fixtures:

Newcastle (A)
Chelsea (H)
Burnley (H)
Everton (A)
Swansea (H)
West Ham (A)

Salah

Stats for Roma last season were nothing short of incredible.  He absolutely smashed the “double double” of 10+ goals and assists and had a minutes per goal or assist ratio that Aguero would have been pleased with.  Unfortunately there’s still an unknown factor of translating Serie A to the premier league.  His previous time with Chelsea saw 500 odd minutes with a goal or assist every 178 minutes which is more Zaha than Coutinho.  Also given he could be described as having some of the qualities that Mane has he could be first in line for Klopps rotation.  Will Mane be match fit to start the season?  If he isn’t Salah should get a free run at the right flank in a front 3.

First 6 fixtures:

Watford (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Arsenal (H)
Man City (A)
Burnley (H)
Leicester (A)

Pedro

What shocks me about Pedro are just how good his stats are.  Consistency and shots on target you’d like to be a better but his returns are excellent.  Should get an uninterrupted start to the season with Hazard injured.  Tricky fixtures are the negative

First 6 fixtures:

Burnley (H)
Spurs (A)
Everton (H)
Leicester (A)
Arsenal (H)
Stoke (A)

Sane

After being introduced in the latter part of the season he became a mainstay on the left side playing in an effective front 3.  His ability to go inside should be enhanced once LB Mendy is signed given that he will have more energy up the flank than Kolarov and Clichy did last season.  Should be improved for a season under his belt as well.  Again only constraint is Pep rotation

First 6 fixtures:

Brighton (A)
Everton (H)
Bournemouth (A)
Liverpool (H)
Watford (A)
Crystal Palace (H)

Willian

The most likely beneficiary of Hazards injury until mid September as you could argue that Pedro would have started anyway.  Should get some set piece responsibility and an outside chance of penalties.  Fixtures and a potential short shelf life are the issues.  Great value for the price which was highlighted in my best and worst value players article

First 6 fixtures:

Burnley (H)
Spurs (A)
Everton (H)
Leicester (A)
Arsenal (H)
Stoke (A)

Ozil

A really disappointing season in 16/17 with only 11 assists.  Unfortunately that’s not really reflected in the price.  Only Mahrez is worse off in my value ranking.  The positive is a good finish to the season as he too benefited from being in the 2 of 3-4-2-1.  I’m not sure how much Lacazette joining will help as his relationship with Giroud was a big source of assists.  Lacazette isn’t a similar player.

First 6 fixtures:

Leicester (H)
Stoke (A)
Liverpool (A)
Bournemouth (H)
Chelsea (A)
West Brom (H)

Sigurdsson

The perfect midfielder for FPL with an advanced position, all set pieces and penalties.  The shame is it’s for a relegation threatened team.  That may change with the Everton interest.  Price hike didn’t help and he now looks over priced.  Fixtures aren’t helpful

First 6 fixtures:

Southampton (A)
Man Utd (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Newcastle (H)
Spurs (A)
Watford (H)

Lallana

Likely to play in the 2 of 4-1 2-3 which isn’t ideal.  However his price does reflect the deeper position and he does have excellent box to box energy.  Does add alot to the team but won’t be immune from Klopp’s planned rotation

First 6 fixtures:

Watford (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Arsenal (H)
Man City (A)
Burnley (H)
Leicester (A)

Zaha

A new manager means there has to be some uncertainty over his role.  In the front 3 of 4-1-2-3 would be ideal and there has to be a reasonable prospect of that. Great fixtures in a team that should at least be more attacking than Big Sam’s bus of the 2nd part of last season.

First 6 fixtures

Huddersfield (H)
Liverpool (A)
Swansea (H)
Burnley (A)
Southampton (H)
Man City (A)

Ramsey

There’s alot of love for the box to box midfielder who in the new 3-4-2-1 formation has been given more freedom to get forward.  Flourished at the end of the season when the formation was introduced.  The only issue is whether he can finish the chances he gets.  He’s lagged behind his expected goals in all seasons apart from his breakout year.

First 6 fixtures:

Leicester (H)
Stoke (A)
Liverpool (A)
Bournemouth (H)
Chelsea (A)
West Brom (H)

Wijnaldum

Like Lallana in the 2 of 4-1-2-3 but perhaps without the energy and generally not as good stats

First 6 fixtures:

Watford (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Arsenal (H)
Man City (A)
Burnley (H)
Leicester (A)

A Ayew

I was quite shocked how good the stats were, albeit on a relative small 1400 minutes. However did play in an advanced position and impressed.  The fixtures and West Hams desire to purchase attacking midfielders is the negative.  If he got the chance to play striker that would be another matter

First 6 fixtures:

Man Utd (A)
Southampton (A)
Newcastle (A)
Huddersfield (H)
West Brom (A)
Spurs (H)

Klaassen

He had a fantastic record in Holland but translating that to the premier league is a risky business.  Add in tough fixtures, Lukaku going and it’s a difficult pick

First 6 fixtures:

Stoke (H)
Man City (A)
Chelsea (A)
Spurs (H)
Man Utd (A)
Bournemouth (H)

Mahrez

A disastrous season in 16/17 and the worst value player in this group according to my ranking.  However he should have secure gametime and things can’t get worse.  However it’s a brave man that will go there at this price.  Fixtures don’t really help

First 6 fixtures

Arsenal (A)
Brighton (H)
Man Utd (A)
Chelsea (H)
Huddersfield (A)
Liverpool (H)

Lanzini

Became West Ham’s creator and set piece man with Payet leaving. Has potential but fixtures don’t help

First 6 fixtures:

Man Utd (A)
Southampton (A)
Newcastle (A)
Huddersfield (H)
West Brom (A)
Spurs (H)




Players to monitor

Here’s a few players which need more monitoring over pre-season for gametime or positional reasons

Mkhitaryan and Martial

All have potential.  It;s just about establishing gametime security.

Pogba

Has gametime security.  I’d like to see him not be in the 2 of 4-2-3-1 as it blunt’s his attacking ability.  In the 3 of 4-2-3-1 would be ideal.  Otherwise the 2 of 4-1-2-3.  If a DM was purchased and he became more of an attacking threat that would completely change his rating

Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Fabregas

Again establishing gametime security

Injury monitors

Hazard – 16/9

Mata, Mane and Arnautovic –  29/7

 Antonio and Barkley – no return date

Son  – TBC

The player rankings will be updated over the preseason

 

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