With just one week to go until the 2021/22 Fantasy Bundesliga season kicks off, our series of preview articles continues with a look at the best midfielders from the German top flight.
If you’re new to the game or just need a reminder of the rules, check out our ‘how to play’ guide below.
It was recently announced that this season will have five unlimited transfers, or Wildcard periods, with the first arriving on August 29, which follows Matchday 3 and precedes the first international break of the campaign.
This means we’ll only be looking at the opening three fixtures in this article, in an attempt to maximise points from the get-go.
Alongside this, every team needs some good cheaper options across the pitch, as the substitution system means that you can sub players in and out throughout each Matchday.
So, let’s get started.
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HOW MIDFIELDERS SCORE POINTS
Midfielders can score points in many different ways in Fantasy Bundesliga.
Aside from the standard one point for playing 69 minutes and an additional two for playing 70, midfielders pick up five points per goal and four points per assist, meaning assists are more beneficial to your squad than they are in Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
There are also plenty of chances to pick up points for non-goalscoring actions.
Midfielders pick up a point for every five duels won, three points for every two shots on goal and two points for every two passes that lead to a shot.
As with players in other positions, they pick up one point if their team wins and lose a point if their team loses.
They lose a point for yellow cards, three points for yellow cards that lead to a red card and then five points for a straight red.
An own goal is a costly four points and a foul which causes a penalty costs two points.
Penalties scored are worth three points, but penalties missed also cost three points.
The substitution system, as well as having three transfers per week and five wildcards, means that you can take a lot more risks in Fantasy Bundesliga than you normally would in games like FPL. Trying to spot players who might not start every game, but produce when they do, is a real skill in this game.
THE BEST BUNDESLIGA MIDFIELDERS
A lot of wingers are classified as forwards in Fantasy Bundesliga, which means picking your midfield is not quite as easy as it might first look.
With the likes of Serge Gnabry (14.0m), Leroy Sané (14.0m) and Marco Reus (13.0m) classified as forwards, Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich (15.0m) and Leon Goretzka (14.0m) are the most expensive midfielders in the game, alongside last season’s top-scoring midfielder Filip Kostić (14.0m) and RB Leipzig duo Dani Olmo (14.0m) and Christopher Nkunku (14.0m).
Whilst having two players who predominantly play as central, or defensive midfielders as two of the most expensive players in the game may seem odd, it’s because of the sheer volume of goals Bayern score. Kimmich and Goretzka both managed more than a goal contribution every two games last season, with Kimmich getting four goals and ten assists in 24 starts and Goretzka picking up five goals and seven assists in 20 starts.
Kimmich’s 156 points in the Rückrunde (second-half) of last season put him third amongst all midfielders from Matchday 18 onwards, only behind Kostić and Nkunku, and he is also on free-kicks. If the midfield pair can continue this form under Julian Nagelsmann, they’ll be worth the price. And their opening fixtures – Borussia Mönchengladbach (a), Köln (h) and Hertha Berlin (h) – look primed for attacking points.
Meanwhile, it’s much harder to predict who is going to be starting at Nagelsmann’s former club. RB Leipzig will undoubtedly be a new-look side under Jesse Marsch, with them expected to line-up in either a 4-2-2-2 or 4-2-3-1. What this means for attacking midfield quartet Olmo, Nkunku, Dominik Szoboszlai (11.0m) and Emil Forsberg (11.0m forward) is unclear.
Olmo and Nkunku were the stars for Die Roten Bullen last season, ending the season as the third and fourth highest-scoring midfielders respectively. However, Marsch already has a strong relationship with Szoboszlai from their time at RB Salzburg and Forsberg is fresh from a summer where he was one of the best players at EURO 2020. In the early weeks, Olmo looks set to miss out, given that he’s still in Tokyo with the Spanish Olympic squad. This should mean Nkunku is nailed on the right-wing and is a much safer choice than Szoboszlai or Forsberg. Nkunku is also Leipzig’s primary set-piece taker.
Behind them, Leipzig’s penalty taker and captain is Marcel Sabitzer (13.0m). Whilst he’s a solid pick, Sabitzer is at risk of leaving before the season starts, having allegedly refused to sign a new contract.
The other 14.0m man is Kostić. Eintracht Frankfurt’s main creative force, alongside Daichi Kamada (11.0m), Kostić plundered four goals and 16 assists in the final 19 games of last season. Kostić and Kamada look set to line-up on either side of the striker in a 3-4-3, which should give them plenty of freedom to continue scoring points. After their opening game against Borussia Dortmund, their following fixtures hosting Augsburg and Arminia Bielefeld are perfect for Kostić and Kamada to run wild.
Now managed by former Frankfurt man Adi Hütter, Gladbach’s Lars Stindl (13.0m) and Jonas Hofmann (12.0m) are both strong options in midfield. Stindl managed a frankly ridiculous 14 goals and 10 assists in just 23 starts last time out and will continue to enjoy attacking freedom under Hütter. Hofmann’s record of six goals and 11 assists in 21 starts is also very impressive. Gladbach’s biggest issue from the get-go is their fixtures. Starting at home to Bayern, they then visit Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin. Playing under a new manager and still missing key players like Breel Embolo (10.0m), Alassane Pléa (13.0m) and Denis Zakaria (9.0m), it may be worth holding off on Gladbach’s assets until we’ve had time to properly assess them.
The fifth highest-scoring midfielder last season was Freiburg’s talisman Vincenzo Grifo (12.0m). Grifo takes set-pieces and penalties for Christian Streich’s side and managed nine goals and 10 assists in 28 starts last season. He’s involved in everything this Freiburg side does and will consistently get points for shots and chances created even when he’s not actually on the scoresheet. His opening fixture in Bielefeld is a great opportunity to rack up points, followed by Dortmund and Stuttgart, two sides which aren’t historically defensively solid.
Ridle Baku (11.0m) and Renato Steffen (9.0m) are two options to take advantage of VfL Wolfsburg’s kind opening fixtures. New manager Mark van Bommel doesn’t have an illustrious managerial reputation behind him but games against VfL Bochum and Hertha Berlin are a comfortable way to bed yourself in. Baku was chief creator for Wolfsburg last season, with his six goals and six assists from right midfield making him a strong choice, although his reclassification as a midfielder does take away some of his point-scoring potential. For the price, Steffen may be a better option, as he looks set to start on the left-wing and got five goals and four assists in 19 starts in 2020/21.
Bayer Leverkusen also offer some quality in midfield, with starlet Florian Wirtz (11.0m) and midfield general Kerem Demirbay (11.0m) fresh from good seasons. Demirbay is Leverkusen’s primary set-piece taker, whilst Wirtz managed five goals and six assists in 29 games as a 17-year-old. Their opening fixtures aren’t ideal, however, and for their price there looks to be better options to start the season with.
Augsburg also have a few solid midfield options. Daniel Caligiuri (9.0m) is on all set-pieces, including penalties, which saw him grab six goals and five assists in 33 appearances last season, while team-mate André Hahn (8m) scored eight goals and five assists in 29 games. However, as with Gladbach, Augsburg’s opening fixtures are unlikely to yield many points, with games against Hoffenheim, Frankfurt and Dortmund.
Köln are a side with both strong opening fixtures and cheap midfield options. Games against Hertha and Bochum bookend a tough visit to Bayern, which is great news for Ondrej Duda (9.0m), Florian Kainz (7.0m) and Jan Thielmann (4.0m). Duda was the star man for the Billy Goats last season, but Kainz and Thielmann have been the standout performers in pre-season. Kainz has three goals having returned from a long injury and Thielmann may well be starting OOP (out-of-position) alongside Mark Uth (8.0m), having grabbed two goals and two assists in Köln’s friendlies. This makes the 19-year-old the best value player in the midfield bracket.
The final options in midfield come from the newly promoted side Bochum. Gerrit Holtmann (5.0m) and Eduard Löwen (5.0m) look to be the best plays, and although the formers finishing can leave a lot to be desired, he was the quickest player in the 2. Bundesliga last season and is on some set-pieces. Löwen has looked impressive in pre-season and at the Olympics for Germany and should slot straight into the no. 10 role which former star player Robert Žulj vacated over the summer.
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