Here’s our fantasy premier league tips midfielders GW31 article in our player rankings series. There’s a table of stats to help you make your transfer choice.
fantasy premier league tips midfielders GW31 – player rankings
This is the 2nd article in our player rankings series. See the defender and GK player rankings
Methodology
I’ve generally started with a selection of midfielders who have fixtures and I think will start in GW31 and have some longevity in the team.
I’ve then looked at their expected goals and assists data in 18/19 so far as well as how it relates to their historical numbers. After that I’ve then adjusted it for their ability to over/underperform, their bonus potential, their fixtures over the next 6 and any specific 18/19 factors and numbers.
I’ve adjusted their position based on an assessment of the fixtures to the end of the season
Stats definitions
PP90 mins adjusted: I’ve taken their Points per 90 and adjusted them for average minutes played in the last 10 games.
FFG Proj PPG: The PPG going forward using the above methodology adjusted for minutes played
Consistency: the % of starts where the player has scored a goal or assist. Only appearance of 45 mins or more count
Average mins last 10: The average minutes played when starting in the last 10 gameweeks
ATGS odds – 1 bookies anytime goalscoring odds for the player. It assumes they start and doesn’t include assist potential.
Player values are as of 13 March 2019.
A quick word on doubles and blanks and it’s affect on the rankings
See my most recent blanks and doubles article
As different managers will have different strategies and chips left it is impossible to cater for every possibility in a fixture adjustment. So I’ve adjusted their ranking dependent on fixtures to the end of the season. You can still use the stats and the fixtures below to make an assessment on which player suits your future strategy best.
The schedule
The players are ranked on their ongoing FFGeek points per game assessment with the ranking adjusted for fixtures to the end of the season. Only players with a fixture in GW31 are in the schedule
Salah
Liverpool have guaranteed games in the blank weeks of GW31 and GW33 but no DGWs
1 goal and 1 assist in his last 7 games is not the returns you expect from a £13.4m FPL player. However while he isn’t bossing everyone in the underlying stats department if you look at my form tables over the last 10 he was still 4th for midfielders. That gives some comfort that he hasn’t fallen off a cliff and there are still good volumes but there has been a downturn.
GW31 Fulham (A)
GW32 Spurs (H)
GW33 Southampton (A)
GW34 Chelsea (H)
GW35 Cardiff (A)
GW36 Huddersfield (H)
Mane
Liverpool have guaranteed games in the blank weeks of GW31 and GW33 but no DGWs
Mane has been having an excellent season with 16 goals and 2 assists in his 27 starts. This has been no fluke and is backed up by up very good underlying stats. He’s also shaken off the bonus hoodoo having gained 18 as opposed to 8 in all last season. In % terms they now make up roughly 10% of his total points as opposed to 5% last season.
He’s also on an is on an excellent run of form with 8 goals in his last 8 games and returning in 6 of those 8 games. Add to that a massive Champions League performance with 2 goals at Bayern.
GW31 Fulham (A)
GW32 Spurs (H)
GW33 Southampton (A)
GW34 Chelsea (H)
GW35 Cardiff (A)
GW36 Huddersfield (H)
Hazard
Chelsea have guaranteed games in the blank weeks of GW31 and GW33. They also have a postponed game yet to be played v Brighton (H). That is likely to be GW32.
Unlike Salah though Hazard has less excuse for some sub par performances. Over the last 10 game weeks he’s scored 49 points which in itself is pretty ordinary for the price. To make it even worse it’s been propped up by 2 performances of 15 points and 10 points meaning the remaining 8 games saw a mere 24 points at 3 points per game.
The underlying stats do not paint a pretty picture over the last 10 games where I’ve ranked him 20th out of all the midfielders.
Faith in Hazard is due to history or because of immediate fixture attractiveness with a likely double in 32 plus a guaranteed fixture in GW33.
The fixtures don’t reflect the likely DGW32 for Chelsea mentioned above
GW31 Everton (A)
GW32 Cardiff (A)
GW33 West Ham (H)
GW34 Liverpool (A)
GW35 Burnley (H)
GW36 Man Utd (A)
Fraser
Bournemouth have a guaranteed fixture in GW31 and GW33 but won’t have any DGWs
The attractiveness of Fraser is all about the return of Callum Wilson from injury. The assist to goal partnership with 5 is the most in the premier league.
When Wilson has been out for 7 of the last of the 8 games prior to GW30 Fraser went through a spell of no returns at all in those 8 games. Wilson returns and it’s a goal and assist and 13 points in GW30 for Fraser.
That’s what you need to believe in rather than recent form to get him
A very good set of fixtures to come
GW31 Newcastle (H)
GW32 Leicester (A)
GW33 Burnley (H)
GW34 Brighton (A)
GW35 Fulham (H)
GW36 Southampton (A)
Brooks
Bournemouth have a guaranteed fixture in GW31 and GW33 but won’t have any DGWs
Brooks is far more of a goal threat than Fraser and for that reason a different type of midfielder. He’s blanked in his last 2 since coming back from injury but before that went through a good spell of 3 goals and 3 assists in 7 games. I think though that he is more likely to be rotated than Fraser and has less chance of getting to 90 minutes.
A very good set of fixtures to come
GW31 Newcastle (H)
GW32 Leicester (A)
GW33 Burnley (H)
GW34 Brighton (A)
GW35 Fulham (H)
GW36 Southampton (A)
Sigurdsson
Everton have a guaranteed fixture in GW31 and GW33 but won’t have any DGWs
Despite having penalty duties and a decent share of set pieces it’s all gone wrong for Everton and Sigurdsson with only 2 returning games in his last 11 backed up by some awful underlying stats. The fixtures don’t look like they will help either
GW31 Chelsea (H)
GW32 West Ham (A)
GW33 Arsenal (H)
GW34 Fulham (A)
GW35 Man Utd (H)
GW36 Crystal Palace (A)
Pedro
Chelsea have guaranteed games in the blank weeks of GW31 and GW33. They also have a postponed game yet to be played v Brighton (H). That is likely to be GW32.
The problem with Pedro is rotation and then minutes when on the pitch as he will inevitably be subbed for Willian.
His underlying stats suggest that when on the pitch he could be quite effective and for a Chelsea player he is fairly cheap. However the last 12 gameweeks have seen 2 returning games and have been punctuated by sub appearances and no shows.
It’s likely the Europa League on Thursday won’t help as I imagine both him and Willian will start with Hazard rested.
The fixtures don’t reflect the likely DGW32 for Chelsea mentioned above
GW31 Everton (A)
GW32 Cardiff (A)
GW33 West Ham (H)
GW34 Liverpool (A)
GW35 Burnley (H)
GW36 Man Utd (A)
Harvey Barnes
Leicester have a guaranteed fixture in GW31 and GW33 but won’t have any DGWs
Since coming to Leicester his performances haven’t quite got the returns he’s deserved and I think there’s more on the way than the 3 assists in 8 games show. He does suffer competition not only for his starting place but for minutes when he does start. Having said that, in the last 6 he’s played 84 minutes plus in 5 of those games. Under Rodgers he’s played 90 minutes in 2 of the 3 games.
GW31 Burnley (A)
GW32 Bournemouth (H)
GW33 Huddersfield (A)
GW34 Newcastle (H)
GW35 West Ham (A)
GW36 Arsenal (H)
Anderson
West Ham have a guaranteed fixture in GW31 and GW33 but won’t have any DGWs
A great fixture in GW31 but with 1 assist in his last 11 his form is terrible. This isn’t bad luck either his underlying stats over that period have also been terrible. The guy doesn’t shoot or provide enough key passes by a long way so he’s short on quality and volume.
He’s a punt on a great fixture in GW31
GW31 Huddersfield (H)
GW32 Everton (H)
GW33 Chelsea (A)
GW34 Man Utd (A)
GW35 Leicester (H)
GW36 Spurs (A)
Richarlison
Everton have a guaranteed fixture in GW31 and GW33 but won’t have any DGWs
A similar story to Anderson with 2 goals in his last 11 games backed up by a pretty appalling bunch of underlying stats. He’s also been benched twice in that run of games. Doesn’t have the shooting volume problem that Anderson does but has no assist potential
GW31 Chelsea (H)
GW32 West Ham (A)
GW33 Arsenal (H)
GW34 Fulham (A)
GW35 Man Utd (H)
GW36 Crystal Palace (A)
Maddison
Leicester have a guaranteed fixture in GW31 and GW33 but won’t have any DGWs
Alot has been made of the fact that Maddison has created more chances than anyone in Europes top 5 leagues. However quality wise he’s certainly not up there even in the premier league when you compare him on a like for like time on the pitch.
However he has started very well under Rodgers with 2 excellent performances in 3 games which have seen 2 assists. Rodgers pressing style seen so far may actually make it easier to provide opportunities similar to the one Vardy scored v Fulham. It is a bit of a leap of faith though on a short amount of games.
GW31 Burnley (A)
GW32 Bournemouth (H)
GW33 Huddersfield (A)
GW34 Newcastle (H)
GW35 West Ham (A)
GW36 Arsenal (H)
See also current 4k OR Jordan Sadler’s free hit team and Rob Reids free hit teams article
There’s our FPL form article and our best underlying stats from GW30 only
See also our 10 top FPL managers article and the early FFGeek team articles and last season’s 715 OR finisher Andrew Ferguson’s team
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