Emerging Midfielder’s – A few options to consider – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League
With the season pushing on and European games coming back in to the fray, the worry of rotation is a growing concern. This will undoubtedly be on the back of many a manager’s mind who have players involved in such competitions. This can be easily highlighted with Arsenal’s potential run of fixtures. Should they progress in their respective cup competitions, their fixtures would be as follows– Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Sunderland, Stoke, FA Cup QF, Swansea, Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Manchester City, UCL QF 1L, Everton, UCL QF 2L. Scary! (Be sure to check out our fixture tracker here)
Consequently, now may be the time to start looking at options who will not be struck by such unfortunate fixtures and can solely concentrate on the Premier League. A lot of fantasy teams seem to be becoming increasingly similar, with advice concentrating on the top performers and overlooking other options. This article will look to reveal a number of midfielders who have, for one reason or another, managed to elude the eye of us fantasy managers. To do this we will use statistics from the last 5 game-weeks.
Yaya Toure and Eden Hazard have without a doubt been the two main midfielders that many feel are “must-haves”, evident by their points tallies of 148 and 164 respectively, and only being outscored by Luis Suarez (204). However, although Yaya has managed to score 2 goals and attain an assist in the last 5 game-weeks he is far from being ‘busy’ about the pitch, or certainly not in an attacking sense. The same cannot be said for Hazard, with 3 goals to his name and unlucky not to have an assist also after creating a high number of chances. I feel that by comparing a number of cheaper midfielders to these two it could open the eyes of many fantasy managers, given that individual perception of performance is rife in FPL, and sometimes statistics such as these can help highlight the current form of a player. I would air caution to not solely look at statistics, rather combine them with your own interpretation from match highlights to come to a conclusion.
The creative midfielder
Steven Davis (£4.7m) of Southampton could easily be overlooked, yet only 3 players (Navas, Willian, and Sissoko) have created more chances than him in the previous 5 game-weeks. Consequently, the Southampton midfielder has provided one assist in this period. However, he has only taken 6 shots in total at goal and has the worst shot accuracy of the 5. Saying that, it is still relatively high for a midfielder with only 2 shots from within the box and it’s also worth noting that his shot accuracy of 33% is equal to that of Yaya Toure in the same period. Despite this he has still managed to chip in with a goal during this period and worth bearing in mind that Southampton have decent fixtures and do actually play in GW29!
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The long distance shooter
The negativity surrounding the name Charlie Adam (£5.8m) is high in fantasy football circles, but for what reason? Adam has had 15 shots on goal within the previous 5 game-weeks, bettering that of Eden Hazard (14). Worth noting is that only 2 have come from within the area, but with a shot accuracy of 40% they are far from miscalculated punts in the general direction of the goal. He has managed to grab 2 goals in that period (both screamers by the way!) and also managed to create a fair few chances for Stoke. With 11 chances created, only Davis of the 5 has created more chances. The quality of these could be questionable, but he has managed to pick up 2 assists and if this form continues we could have a real bargain on our hands.
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The penalty box speedster
Liverpool have been rather impressive of late! Despite playing quite well, Raheem Sterling (£5.6m) seems to have been overshadowed by the likes of Suarez, Sturridge, and Gerrard. Whilst playing a comparable amount of minutes to the aforementioned 3, only Gerrard (66%) has a better shot accuracy than Sterling (64%). This could be down to the fact that 10 of his 11 shots have come from within the area, giving him shooting opportunities from prime positions. 2 goals is impressive from the winger but he could have had more considering he has had 4 ‘big chances’ in this period and this could suggest that he needs to work on his finishing…or maybe, big returns are just around the corner?
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The ‘happy medium’
Jason Puncheon (£5.0m) has been around for a few years, but he has rarely been on our FPL radars. A good shot accuracy has been demonstrated by the above players and this is no different for Puncheon (apart from THAT penalty!) with an accuracy of 44%. For this reason, it is unsurprising that he has 2 goals to his name in the previous 5. He has created 7 chances for his teammates in the same time frame, however no assists could demonstrate the quality of these being poor or maybe it says something about his teammates (errr Chamakh!!). Having considered these factors, it is important to note that Puncheon often takes corners for Palace, and although he missed said penalty, he may still be on spot kick duty should Chamakh not be on the field.
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The newcomer
Thomas Ince (£5.5m) played 94 minutes in his first appearance for Crystal Palace and turned in a stellar performance, gathering a goal and an assist; he could be a regular from here forth. Taking both of his shots from inside the box, with 100% accuracy and converting 1 of those is a great start, whilst he also created 2 chances. He could be worth a look in the coming weeks as either a new option, or a replacement for the previously mentioned Puncheon. For a comparison of Ince’s previous achievements, he has managed 33 goals in 113 appearances with Blackpool in the Championship over 3 seasons.
The interpretation of these statistics are not without their limitations, however, we hope that they have shed some light on some of the cheaper midfield options available to you. There appears to be an acceleration in the growth of similar teams and the reliance on the big names, opting for one of these performing low cost players could provide you with that all important differential and at the same time make-or-break your season, just ensure you use this article in conjunction with personal observation before jumping in to the transfer market!
Thanks for reading Emerging Midfielder’s – A few options to consider, this article was written by Flingy
Good feature, Flingy (give or take the odd greengrocer’s)
One more in that price bracket worth thinking about is Bacuna.
Also, for a little more money, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Paulinho.
Flingy, thanks the article fella!
B-Bash, morning, how’re you looking for the upcoming weeks mate?
Morning J. I’m looking pretty much like most I think…….bad!
Its going to be difficult for all fpl managers. Still got a ft for this week. Probably hold it for now though. How about you?
3 FTs from now til doomsday is a great help. I’ve used mine: Bony ? Adebayor.
If Brighton fall to Hull, then as of now, I’ll have 8 out of 13 outfield players missing in GW 29! If not, I’ll have Collins, and will be able to field a team of 8.
With 2 FTs, probably Silva ? Lallana and Sagna ? Ivanovic, I’ll have a team of 9 or 10 barring injuries. It shall be tough indeed
Suarez or Sturridge for captain? Not sure if I have the guts to go with the latter…
It is like watching a car crash in slow motion isn’t it!!
I’ve stuck with Suarez every week since I’ve had SAS and lost out on 19 points. Suarez is still playing really well, but its Studge who seems to be in the position for fpl points!. Its a tough call
I made the decision to go with Sturridge last week and it paid off.. I was in full panic mode watching the match though and was willing Suarez not to score (which is unforgivable being an LFC fan)..
Not sure my ticker could cope with another match like that.. might run back to the safety of Suarez (c) this week..
BTW James I’ve also gone Bony –> Ade already.. And Johnson –> Nolan for -4 which I feel a bit silly about, but hey, it’s done
Haha, sure is! I know the feeling: past 3 weeks I’ve gone Suarez Mata Suarez – if I’d gone Sturridge Hazard Sturridge I’d be 32 to the good – but what can you do
All we can do is try to make the best picks from now on. Logic and form says Sturridge, but my gut feeling is Suarez’s had work will pay off FPL wise, due to his all-round class.
Demsie they look like solid moves. Johnson had to go, just a shame about Nolan, if WHU blank that is. I feel good about the early Ade move, so long as he’s ok after Thursday! Well done on the Studge captaincy
hard to say if it’s wise or not this time..
Thanks Flingy. Appreciate your effort, interesting choice for the main picture. Puncheon reacting to a missed penalty. Perhaps a hidden message? 😉
Any Saints fans on here? Whats the deal with Clyne and Chambers? I’m tempted to buy Chambers back but not sure if Clyne is likely to win his spot back.
I have Chambers, keeping him but it’s risky. I think the coach prefer Chambers, Clyne did replace him in the 2 games he was injured (dude got 2 assists) so I was afraid Chambers lost his starting spot. Seems he got right back at it though in the last game. Dunno, hope Chambers but Clyne seems to be lurking. If I was the coach I’d go with the future (Chambers) and sell Clyne next season. If he wants to sell Clyne for a decent price he does need a few more games. Ack, headache. Dude, already have a headache from all the blank gameweeks.
Sorry for reminding you Raz! Think I might jut bite the bullet and get Shaw… Or maybe Yoshida (4m) as shaw is 5m now
Go with the future? Clyne is only 22!!!
I just love it Kop when you only comment on here to correct people’s facts, followed by some explanation marks to sprinkle some ’embarrassment’ salt.
Keep up the good work
:hippo:
I’m glad you approve B!!
And I’m not trying to embarrass anyone, I’m simply pointing out an inaccuracy which I would expect anyone to do if something which I wrote was incorrect.
Haha quality
‘Harassment’ salt then?
So now you’re accusing me of harassment?!!
Well that escalated quickly
Enough with your double exclamation marks!!
You think i dont notice them?!!
I do!!
:whacky:
:popcorn: with Butters….
I’ll only use 1 in future! 😉
To be fair he does look an old 22. 😉
Aaah yes, my advise would be not to buy Chambers unless you’re certain he’ll start 9 out of the 10 games. Which is not the case right now. Need Sot coverage after activating WC, he seemed the best option at the time. >.<
ANyway, gtg. Ciao.
my team I have 2ft any changes?
Krul (Henderson)
Ivanovic Coleman fonte (Chester and mariappa)
silva hazard mata Lallana (Lucas)
j rod Suarez Sturridge
0 in the bank
Is that Liverpool’s Lucas? If so I’d suggest replacing him as you’re going to need a full compliment of players over the coming weeks.
Thanks Lucas to who
Noone’s probably best for that price
As you’ve no cash left I don’t think there’s a straight swap you can make…
Isnt Mariappa out of favour recently? If thats true then Mariappa>Olsson. He has good fixtures in GW28 and 29, and should cover well for your blanking players.
Also in GW29, are you ready to go on without a keeper?
Thanks B
What to do about Eriksen?? He has a match in GW29, and if I was sure he’d play I would keep him at least through then. But his game time has been limited since Townsend came back and he didn’t even get on the pitch last match.
My idea was to swap him for Lallana this week, which sounds like an easy solution except I’m .1 shy of a straight swap. So now I’m thinking of taking a -4 hit and bringing in someone else who will give me additional cover for GW29. Right now I’m thinking of dropping Vlaar and Eriksen for Olsson and Lallana. Does that sound like a good move? Is there a better one?
Marshall Mannone
Vlaar Coleman Koscielny Ivanovic Ward
Hazard Silva Puncheon Mata Eriksen
Suarez J Rod Sturridge
.8 in the bank
PS- thank you for the article Flingy, I love when we get to see a breakdown of some possible hidden gems!!
RedVT – those look like decent moves to me, even if it is for a hit. I have Eriksen as well, but I think I’ll just bench him for this week.