Key Player Price Points

One thing that has always been clear in Fantasy Premier League is that some price points always carry considerably more options than others, across all positions in FPL. Whilst the theory of ‘coverage’ of a team’s assets can often be laughed off, covering certain price points, to enable jumping onto the next bandwagon, is a potentially lucrative strategy. I will examine three key price points amongst midfielders and forwards – whose points can often come in streaks – demonstrating that the plethora of interchangeable options available could make starting with at least one player from each price point a viable Gameweek 1 strategy.

8.5m-9.5m Midfielders

Players at this price often make up the top scoring players in FPL and, with 6 of last seasons top 10 midfield points scorers priced in this bracket for the 2018-19 season, this campaign promises to be no different. This bracket can be termed premium midfielders yet there are still bargains to be had in this range, with Fantasy legend Mo Salah and England’s most hated centre forward Raheem Sterling being excellent examples form last season. The Egyptian’s starting price of 9.0m last season coupled with the City man’s price of 8.0m would have rewarded you with 532 points for only 17% of your fantasy budget, fantastic value particularly if you captained Salah for the majority of the season, as this writer did not…

However, the new season means we must find new men to fill this price point as last season’s top 2 points scorers have been given predictable price hikes. There are still many fantastic options to consider, most notably from Sterling’s Manchester City teammates as well as assets from Spurs, and Salah’s fellow marauding winger Sadio Mané. None of these players will need much introduction to FPL managers given their performances last season but identifying the player(s) who will over-perform for this price should be a key strategy for all. The likes of Mané and Sane in particular could be set for breakout years and could potentially provide better value than their more expensive teammates.

Potentially creeping under the radar however, are new City asset Riyad Mahrez and resident ghost of Arsene Wenger’s past, Mesut Özil. The Algerian is no stranger to FPL glory having been the top point scorer in Leicester’s unbelievable 2016 triumph, yet he is currently found in less than 10% of FPL squads compared to 17% to Leroy Sane (9.5m). With Mahrez’s position being largely on the right wing during his days at the King Power, he looks to be in direct competition with Sterling for a starting birth, which may be off-putting for fantasy managers. The Algerian looks like he could start the season in Pep’s team however, with Sterling only just having returned form World Cup action in Russia. Özil, on the other hand, has been steadily declining as a fantasy asset for several years with point scores dwindling and minutes on the pitch suffering as well. Under new management he could yet be poised for a renaissance and he has never had a starting price lower than the 8.5m he can be picked up for this season.

With so many premium midfielders to choose from it seems paramount to select at least one or two of these assets for Gameweek 1 squads in the hopes that they can have a breakout season and perhaps reach the heights of Sterling or even Salah from the 2017/18 season.

7.0m-7.5m Midfielders

The second price bracket with numerous options to choose from is the mid-priced Midfielder bracket, and with only Paul Pogba being priced at 8.0m this season there are many potentially undervalued assets to be had. The likes of Aaron Ramsey and Gylfi Sigurdsson need little introduction but there are many players who may be going largely unnoticed by Fantasy managers. Anthony Martial, for instance, sits in only 1% of squads at the time of writing and, with Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku having taken place in the latter stages of the World Cup, he could well be in line for a starting place in Mourinho’s team for the first few weeks of the season.

Lucas Moura is another player with low ownership who could be in line for a Gameweek 1 starting berth at St James’ Park. With Heung Min Son playing in the Asian games and Dele Alli and Karry Kane having both played important roles in England’s semi-final run, there are clearly spots up for grabs in the Spurs XI. The 7.0m priced Moura could well be under the radar for now but the same cannot be said for Arsenal’s Henrick Mkhitaryan, who is currently the third most popular midfielder in the game on 21% ownership, behind the mighty Mo Salah and City’s Belgian beauty Kevin de Bruyne. Mkhitaryan could be in line for a breakout season on the wing under Emery who favoured a 4-2-3-1 formation during his three Europa League victories with Sevilla. The Armenian registered 9 FPL assists last season in only 1700 minutes of action and, with the likes of Aubameyang and Lacazette primed to meet his passes, that number looks set to rise this season.

The final few players I will mention at this price point are new West ham players Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko. Both have pedigree from their time in Europe and under new manager Manuel Pelegrini – whose Manchester City side of 2014 had held the record for premier league goals until last season – and playing alongside Marco Arnautovic these two are certainly ones to watch after West Ham’s difficult early fixtures have been negotiated.

Once again there are clearly many interesting options at this price who could prove to be fantastic value over the course of the season; having at least one of these mid-priced midfielders from the start in order to enable easy moves to the player who hits form looks like a fantastic strategy.

6.5m-7.0m Forwards

The final price bracket I will analyze is the mid-priced Forward bracket; these players could be used as a second or third striker depending on the formation you intend to use for the upcoming season. There are 5 standout options at this price point and being able to identify the one or two of these players who hit early form could be key to a good season.

Needing no introduction are newly repositioned players Wilfred Zaha and Marco Arnautovic, who had great second halfs to last season. Zaha had 16 goal involvements and Arnautovic had 18 goal involvements for their respective London clubs. It remains to be seen whether these two will stay up front for the upcoming season, but if they do there is no reason why they can’t replicate or improve upon their scores from last season. Crystal Palace have a particularly kind opening run of fixtures with only Liverpool and Arsenal from last season’s ‘Big Six’ in their opening 10 games. Zaha currently sits in 30% of teams but a player who scored one more goal than him in almost 1000 fewer minutes is currently going largely unnoticed: Chris Wood.

The New Zealand international is found in just under 3% of squads is priced 0.5m less than Zaha and Arnautovic. Additionally, there is more security that he will play as a forward this season. Burnley have a relatively kind opening run  and Wood could easily replicate the 10 goals he scored last season, and improve upon that, as he played only 1600 minutes of football due to injury.

Cenk Tosun and Josh King are two more to consider in this price range and both have goal scoring pedigree, with Tosun scoring 5 goals towards the end of last season and Josh King being an FPL legend in his own right from past seasons. Both could emerge as great value at this price, and with Everton and Bournemouth having fairly easy opening fixtures they have the potential to hit the ground running.

This final price bracket is often an awkward one for fantasy managers as mid-priced Forwards can often be scrapped for budget strikers or to make way for more premium assets in our Gameweek 1 sides. Nevertheless, I would argue that any of these players have the chance to breakout in the next FPL campaign, and having 1 or 2 of these Forwards from the start would make jumping on the form player an easy proposition.

Conclusion

These are just a few price points that jump out as having a great array of options for the new fantasy season, and having a player at these price points could give our teams a nice structure. Personally, I will be looking to select at least 1 player from each price point considered in the article, to enable relatively easy swaps to the form players who emerge.