Fantasy Premier League managers (FPL) are eagerly searching for the best FPL midfielders to spearhead their fantasy squads. A successful FPL team is incomplete without a midfield that blends creativity, goal-scoring prowess, and consistent point generation.
In this comprehensive guide, we embark on a journey to identify the best FPL midfielders for Gameweek 1. From proven powerhouses to under-the-radar dark horses, our meticulous analysis is geared towards unearthing the players who can unleash an avalanche of fantasy points in the early stages of the season.
Whether you’re a seasoned FPL strategist or a newcomer looking to make an instant impact, these hand-picked selections will serve as your key to unlocking maximum potential from your midfield.
So, get ready to fortify your fantasy team with the best FPL midfielders as we delve into their attributes, form, and matchups to ensure you clinch those crucial early-season points. Let the quest for FPL glory begin!
Best FPL Midfielders
Best 10+ FPL Midfielders
Well this is a stupid price bracket isn’t it James? There’s only two players!
Yes. It is stupid. But, I’m doing it for two reasons. Firstly, because these two guys are incredible and I think they need to worshipped some more. Secondly, because at the end, I am going to rate my best picks based on price brackets and it makes my life easier if this price bracket exists…
So, Mohammed Salah. The newly deposed, former King of FPL. Easily the best FPL midfielder in the game.
In the last six seasons, Mo has scored more than 230 points per year. Even in his breakout year, he scored 303 points. In his supposed “worst year” (i.e. last year) he still got 19 goals and 13 assists.
The man is just a machine and totally justifies his pricetag. He could be great for captaincy, particularly in gameweek 2 against Bournemouth when Haaland has Newcastle.
As for Kevin De Bruyne, whilst he might not be the best FPL midfielder, he is the best IRL midfielder in the premier league.
Over the course of the season, he doesn’t get enough starts to get close to Mo’s minutes. But, if he did, he probably would also have several 200+ points seasons. As it is, he only has two of those to date.
With him coming into the season injured, we can’t include him in our teams but at least we get to bask in his former glory.
Best 8.0-10.0 FPL Midfielders
Okay and here is where it gets interesting.
Let’s start with the United boys. Rashford was superb after the world cup last year. He really made a mockery of that 6.5 price tag and made FPL towers look like fools. Yours truly (and many others) called this at the start of the season of course.
Rashford scored 17 goals and got seven assists for his best ever FPL score of 205 points. He significantly outperformed his xA but then not all fantasy assists are real assists.
This might appear like a standout season but it wasn’t. He actually got 17 goals and eight assists in the 19/20 season on fewer minutes but he got fewer points because I think he was classified as a forward back then. So, I think he’s a great pick.
On the other hand, Bruno Fernandes did not match his best ever season. Eight goals, nine assists last year meant he finished the year on 176 points.
A lot of us think of Bruno as the guy we saw in 19/20 and 20/21 seasons. He only played half a season in 19/20 but would have got 200 points had he played the whole thing. In 20/21 he got a whopping 244 points.
Back then, he was the entire focus of the United attack but that’s not the case anymore so I don’t expect him to match that again. If United get more than the two penalties they got last year then he can certainly outperform 176 points though so I still think he’s a good pick.
Regardless, if you can only have one of the two, I would take Rashford. He has more routes to points and its unclear how Mount will affect Bruno’s positioning.
If I could take anyone at this price point though, I would take Saka. 202 points off 14 goals and 12 assists last year but what does it for me is just how important he is to Arsenal’s attack. I think that makes him a better pick than most and for only 8.5 it feels like a good deal.
Odegaard doesn’t come near in my view. Whilst he outscored Saka (212 vs. 202) last year, he is less central a focus for the team. The entrance of Havertz might exacerbate this and make him a better IRL player, spreading passes, but a worse FPL player, with less returns.
Plus, the returns he got last year were a bit over the top. Many of his goals came from outside the box and these are hard to repeat. His xG was 9.75 and he finished the year with 15 goals. I expect some regression here but that doesn’t stop him from being a great pick.
I prefer Martinelli to Odegaard too. He ended the season on 198 points with far fewer minutes than the other two. He was just unplayable at times and a scoring machine. Like Odegaard though, he outperformed his xG significantly. He also has possible competition for his role from Trossard but I wouldn’t fret too much about that until the Champions League starts.
The only two left then are Jota and Son. Starting with the latter, its hard for me to see a world in which I start the season with Son. His drop off from previous years was huge last year. It looks like Spurs will be playing a more attacking style which suits his FPL output but it’s a risk to start the season with him in my opinion.
As for Jota, I think its simple. There are too many players competing for positions in that Liverpool team. Until I know who I can trust, I won’t be bringing him in. Which is a shame because I think he’s a good. Even if he did used to play for the Wolves…
Intermission: The Mo Salah, No Salah Debate
When I wrote my first piece about the price reveals I considered team structure and how many premiums we could fit in.
My first instinct was to have Haaland, Mo and Trent in my team. After all, it’s much easier to have them at the start and then get rid of them.
Traditionally, this is how I would start an FPL season – picking players across a number of different price points and including a premium midfielder and a premium striker. It ensures flexibility and allows me to extensively change my team without the need for too many -4s or a wildcard.
I’ve tried several times to build a draft like this but it always feels suboptimal.
The No Salah camp just makes so much more sense to me. We will basically perma-cap Haaland anyway and I get to own three of: Rashford, Bruno, Odegaard, Saka and Martinelli.
So, whilst it would be nice to cap Mo in gameweek 2, that gain seems insignificant to owning these other guys who all have brace potential.
The only way I can get myself to a squad I like with Mo in it is if I have a 5.5 mid. I actually wrote about this here. And, as we will see below, none of the options feel fantastic to me.
This dilemma is dominating my pre-season so I won’t say with absolute certainty that No Mo is the only way to go. But, to me, right now, I am No Mo.
Best 6.0-8.0 FPL Midfielders
Alright, strap in. This is gonna be a long ‘un.
Let’s start with an old favourite: Sterling. He wasn’t good last year and he didn’t even play 2,000 minutes. But, if Poch is gonna turn this Chelsea squad around, it seems like Raz will play a part. We know he is capable of breaking 200 points at City. And, whilst I don’t expect that this year, I don’t think he is uncapable of 180 points.
When I first saw the prices, I, like many others, put him straight in. Upon some reflection, I have cooled a little and would prefer to wait and see but I like the pick.
It’s not that dissimilar with the Spurs lot. Maddison, Kulusevski and Richarlison all fall in this bracket. Rich is not a good pick in my mind. He literally scored one goal last year and is only interesting if Kane leaves.
On the other hand, Maddison could be a pivotal part of the spurs attack feeding Kane and Son. Kulu was great in his first half season at Spurs and I’m hopeful he could get back to that. If you start the year with Maddison, I can understand that. With Kulu though, we need to see more. Both are a bit punty though.
I have seen a lot of drafts with Foden in them. The justification is always the same: ‘if he plays, he will make a mockery of this price tag.’ Yeah. IF.
Granted, his minutes look more assured with Kevin injured and Mahrez rumoured to be joining the Saudis. But I’m still not a huge fan of the risk involved in playing him every week.
And, its pretty much the same with Grealish. I really don’t like the guy so maybe that clouds my judgement but I just don’t see enough from him to be an FPL pick. I get that he is a good player but I just don’t think he has enough routes to points. Partially, like everyone else on City apart from Haaland and Kev, I’m sure that’s because he plays for the best team in the world surrounded by greats.
Whilst on the subject of rotation nightmares, I may as well deal with Luis Diaz who has to fight at least Jota for a starting spot. Similarly, Trossard at Arsenal is probably only relevant if and when Jesus and/or Martinelli are injured.
His teammate, Havertz is a big wait-and-see. I really hope this move sees him fulfil his potential we were all promised but until we see it, I think we wait.
Going back to Liverpool. MacAllister and Szoboszlai (if he becomes interesting in FPL I will have to learn how to spell his name) are 6.0 and 7.0 respectively. It’s none been common for players in these positions to show value in FPL under Klopp’s reign at Liverpool so again they are a wait-and-see.
Going back to Liverpool’s old rivals at Man United, Mount interests me. Probably because I really rate him, but I am hopeful he gets back to his form from two years ago where he got 11 goals and 11 assists. Antony and Sancho don’t interest me though. They’re just not good enough basically.
Bowen has to come back into our FPL thinking after a bit of a price drop. He can certainly justify that 7.0 price tag. I don’t expect he will ever break 200 points again, and certainly not at West Ham, but he’s a very good player for 7.0.
Dropping down a bit to the 6.5s things get very interesting. With Ivan Toney banned, Mbeumo is set to be on penalties this year for Brentford. He will also probably play striker or at least inside forward. I’m unsure how good Brentford will be without him but for the price tag and the fixtures, I am willing to find out.
As for the Brighton boys, I’m much cooler on them this year. Mitoma is clearly the standout pick if you want to go there. He’s more tricksy and has a better final ball that March or Gross. But, I’m mainly concerned that this march (forgive the pun) will come to an end. Nevertheless, Mitoma has been in and out of my team as this feels like a good price to take a risk.
Diaby is an interesting addition for Aston Villa. He’s coming from Bayern Leverkusen in the Bundesliga where he got nine goals and nine assists last year in 33 appearances, primarily off the right wing. The year before he 13 goals and 12 assists in 32 appearances. He’s certainly an intriguing prospect. But, I would wait to see if he is really worth paying for.
Almiron is just a no-go zone. Sometimes, some players go mad for eight weeks and never again. I expect Almiron will be one of those. Bruno G plays too deep and besides Newcastle have dreadful fixtures to start the campaign.
Crystal Palace’s Eze and Olise have goodish fixtures though I think Olise is unlikely to start the season due to injury. I hope Eze retains his form from the end of last year but I do wonder if it was an Almiron situation to be honest. Regardless, as I have said many times now – 6.5 is a good price to take a bit of a risk.
Rounding out this list is Gibbs-White. I think he’s good but the fixtures just completely turn me off him. Away at Arsenal, Chelsea and United in the first four. No thanks.
Best 4.5-6.0 FPL Midfielders
We are really cooking now! Onto the last lot.
Now, its quite hard to find anyone “best” down here. I think the best is probably Nkamba. Not because he is great and going to score 180 points but because he is 4.5 and likely to start every game. That’s pretty good because there aren’t many of those guys this year. It makes him an excellent pick for your midfield bench spot.
The actual exciting one is Enciso. We saw what he could do for Brighton last year when he banged in a few goals. With MacAllister gone, he has an opportunity to fight for that spot and, if he gets it, he will be on my watchlist.
I’ve seen some chatter about Rice, Rice Baby. I like the optimism. He tried to be more attacking at West Ham and had some limited success. I don’t imagine he will be given the freedom to do that at Arsenal. And, I don’t like wasting the Arsenal spot on him.
Gordon at Newcastle could benefit from Saint-Maximin moving to Saudi. Gordon arrived at Newcastle in January this year and halfway through last season after his breakout year with Everton in the 21/22 season. Even in his breakout season he only got 4 goals and 3 assists. But, to be fair to him, that Everton team was dreadful.
Last year he only played 480 mins over 16 games for Newcastle However, Newcastle spent £45mn on this young guy and they clearly think he’s a future prospect. Something that has only been reinforced by him winning the U21 Euros with England. One to watch.
Pereira featured in my 5.5 midfielder piece but I really don’t think he’s an option anymore. If Mitrovic goes, I can’t see how this Fulham team replaces him. Even if he stays, it seems like he’s not interested in playing for them anymore, instead favouring cashing in at the ripe old age of 28.
Benson, who the fuck is Benson? He is a winger who has suited Burnley’s attacking style in the championship. He picked up 15 goal involvements in the championship last year which is pretty good. But, let’s face it. Right now, we don’t know if this Burnley team is any good. We will only know that after a bit of exposure to the rest of the Premier league. Regardless, one to watch at the price.
Best FPL Midfielders at each price point
- 10+ – Salah
- 8-10 – Saka
- 6-8 – Mbeumo
- 4.5-6 – Nkamba
Oof. That was hard. I thought by cheating early on and removing Mo and Kev from the equation that it would be much easier. But picking between Rashford, Saka, Bruno, Odegaard and Martinelli is haaaaard.
The 6-8 slot is tough too. I think Maddison or Sterling could well end up being great but the safety of Mbeumo is what draws me there.
That’s it!
We hope that this piece on the best FPL midfielders for gameweek 1 helps you decide who should be in your team.
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