The Watchlist Updated – Midfielders

After analysing our preferred Watchlist picks for goalkeepers and defenders, we now check out the midfielders.

The Watchlist can be found in your sidebar on desktop, or via your slide-in menu on mobile or tablet.

These rankings offer a window into our current thinking on player selection for each position, listing the factors that are contributing to the given rank.

Raheem Sterling (7.9) and David Silva (8.5) claim the top two spots as relatively kindly priced routes into the swashbuckling Man City attack.

Sergio Aguero’s injury absence boosts both options but, in particular, that of Sterling. He’s the leading midfielder for goals, having netted five times in his last five league outings.

Crucially, Sterling has started each of the last four he has been available for and played 90 minutes on three of those occasions. He’s also been benched in both Champions League ties.

Over their respective last four matches, Sterling has produced more shots in the box (14) than any Man City midfielder yet boasts a mere 6.1% ownership. That makes him an intriguing differential ahead of a kind upcoming schedule (STK BUR wba ARS lei hud).

Silva appears the more secure option.

Yet to score this season, he’s still fired a reasonable nine efforts in the box (compared with Kevin De Bruyne’s two).

Silva is second only to the Belgian for key passes (23 to 24), but leads the way for big chances created, with six. As a result, he is also the number one midfielder for assists (six), earning two bonus points on four occasions already. Sterling, by comparison, has a single bonus point to his name.

The choice of the two is a classic dilemma. Sterling is clearly the more explosive with potentially, the greater upside. However, the perception is that Silva is a more studied, long-term investment. Pairing both, even without Aguero’s firepower to feed, is also a very viable tactic given their short-term fixtures.

Despite the return to action of Philippe Coutinho, Mohamed Salah remains our go-to Liverpool option.

The Egyptian is ranked as the top midfielder for both shots in the box and efforts on target – indeed, only Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku have bettered his tallies for those metrics.

Four goals and two assists have helped him to 34.1% ownership – more than any other midfielder – though back-to-back encounters with Man United and Spurs dent his short-term appeal before the schedule turns again from Gameweek 10.

Coutinho is one to monitor, though. Since returning to the teamsheet in Gameweek 5, he’s the number one midfielder for both shots and key passes, racking up 25 points over that short spell.

From Gameweek 10 onwards, the Reds face Huddersfield, West Ham, Southampton, Stoke, Brighton, Everton, West Brom and Bournemouth in eight of their next nine.

Spurs continue to supply us with a pair of big-hitters in the shape of Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen ahead of some mixed upcoming fixtures.

Arguably, though, their appeal suffers from the captaincy potential of Harry Kane and the value offered by Ben Davies at the back as alternative routes into Mauricio Pochettino’s XI.

Home clashes with Bournemouth, Palace and West Brom in the next six look very promising, yet clashes against Liverpool, Man United and Arsenal could persuade many to look elsewhere for their premium short-term midfielders.

Alli has yet to produce the expected goal returns, while Eriksen seems to gradually surrender his monopoly on set-pieces to the aforementioned Davies. Both need to impress against Bournemouth in Gameweek 8 to keep their stock and ownership levels stable.

Chelsea’s Eden Hazard is ready to step in for the Spurs pair. His return to action for the Blues coincides with a very favourable long-term schedule.

Afforded a central role behind Alvaro Morata in recent outings, the Belgian could now emerge as our go-to route into the champions’ attack as they prepare to face just two of last season’s top six in the next 14 Gameweeks.

Hazard’s spot-kick duties, allied with the uncertainty over Morata’s hamstring injury, indicates that his ownership level of 3.5% could soar over the ensuing matches.

Lower down the price brackets, Stoke City’s Eric Choupo-Moting and Watford wide man Richarlison are our clear favourites among the budget options.

Both boast the statistics to make a mockery of their price tags and are ready-made differentials, with backing around the 6% mark.

The pair are level on 18 efforts inside the box apiece – only Salah (21) has managed more – while their tallies of 24 and 23 shots on goal are among the top three midfielders.

Priced at a mere 5.6, Choupo-Moting has two goals and an assist to his name. A trip to Man City will keep him from most managers’ radars, but following that, he has six favourable matches (BOU wat LEI bha cry SWA) to boast his points output.

Coming in at 6.1, Richarlison has already served up three goals and two assists to sit fifth in the midfield standings.

Back-to-back clashes with Arsenal and Chelsea precede a kind short-term run (STO eve WHU new) that hands him the chance to maintain early-season momentum.

It will take a substantially bigger investment to buy into Alexis Sanchez’s improving form.

His eight efforts and six key passes against Brighton harvested just a single assist for, but with a goal for Chile over the international break, he’s edging back to his brilliant best. However, an 11.9 price tag remains very prohibitive – perhaps until that first double-figure score hits home.

With mixed fixtures for Arsenal (wat eve SWA mci TOT bur), Aaron Ramsey remains just ahead of the South American due to his far kinder price tag.

The Welshman, at 7.1, is second only to Salah for big chances (four to seven) among midfielders. His total of 15 efforts on goal is just one behind Alexandre Lacazette for the Gunners’ first seven fixtures.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s allure suffers a blow as Man United prepare to face Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea over the next four Gameweeks.

With just one goal – and no assists – in his last four, the Armenian’s influence seems to be on the wane.

Lower down our ladder, Brighton’s Pascal Gross remains a factor, boosted by more favourable short-term fixtures.

The German retreated into a deeper role at Arsenal in Gameweek 7, as Chris Hughton trialled a three-man attack. That could limit Gross’ attacking potential, although, in truth, a dominance of set-piece duties remains integral to his appeal. That should remain over forthcoming fixtures and could bear fruit with Everton, Southampton and Stoke the next three due at the Amex Stadium.