FPL Q&A: Best mid-price midfielders, Foden/Bernardo double-up + non-template picks

Given the short turnaround this Gameweek, I thought it would be a good idea to do a Q&A session to address some of the burning questions in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) community.

Q: Who is the best £6.5m midfielder? It easily seems like the most volatile position in the game. What is the best approach to covering this position in our teams? (@MacsFootball)

A: Thanks Danny for your question. From the midfielders in FPL priced £7.0m or under, there are two names that are quite comfortably my favourites at the moment: Jarrod Bowen (£6.5m) and Conor Gallagher (£6.1m).

Firstly, when sorting the fixture ticker for the next six Gameweeks, both West Ham United and Crystal Palace are in the top four.

After the Arsenal game, West Ham have such a great run of fixtures. In fact, I don’t even mind the Gunners for Bowen because he’s a great asset on the counterattack for West Ham. Bowen’s underlying numbers have been spoken about at large. This season, only the three Liverpool midfielders have a higher expected goal involvement (xGI) than him amongst all midfielders. He’s just 24 years of age and is on an upward trajectory, having found a new level.

Even when you watch the West Ham games, whether relying on counter-attacks against tougher opposition like Chelsea or facing teams like Burnley who sit a bit deeper, Bowen tends to find himself in the centre of the box in goalscoring positions. He’s also very trigger-happy and takes a ton of shots from distance. He also has a fair share of set-piece duties in the absence of Aaron Cresswell (£5.4m), who is currently injured.

Gallagher, on the other hand, dwindled a little after a bright start to the season. His fixtures look really good as he plays Southampton (H), Watford (A) and Norwich City (H) in his next four games. The reason for Gallagher’s inconsistency was Patrick Vieira changing his role based on the other midfielders in the team. Gallagher tends to sit a little deeper when Jeffrey Schlupp (£5.4m) plays and he doesn’t tend to do well alongside Luka Milivojevic (£5.3m), who also takes away a chunk of set pieces away from him.

That said, against Everton this week, he was highly involved in the attack. His total of seven shots was the most of any player this Gameweek and he created three chances too. The main reason for this was Will Hughes (£4.7m) sitting deep, allowing the Chelsea loanee to fly forward and be heavily involved. The other good news is that James McArthur (£4.4m) should soon be back: he, just like Hughes, enabled Gallagher to succeed at the start of the season.

I also like it when Palace play without Christian Benteke (£6.4m), as they keep the ball on the floor rather than hoofing it up to the Belgian. Their performance against Everton was very encouraging and I’m hoping this leads to Vieira giving Conor a similar license to get forward in these upcoming games. Given the reasons above, these two are my midfielders of choice in the price bracket you mention.

Q: What’s your take on a Phil Foden (£8.0m) and Bernardo Silva (£7.7m) double-up? (@FPLParabo1)

A: Thanks for the question. My simple answer is: I absolutely love it. Manchester City are facing Leeds United, Newcastle United and Brentford in their next four games, who are all in the wrong half of the table for expected goals conceded (xGC) during the last six Gameweeks. Man City on the other hand are behind just Liverpool for expected goals (xG). My policy since Pep Guardiola arrived has always been that you need to buy a ticket to win the lottery.

“Gundogan is struggling a lot with his back and he has not performed well in the last two games. We must reflect what to do to recover him.” – Pep Guardiola

Ilkay Gundogan’s (£7.3m) back problems do indicate that Bernardo’s position should be even more secure and, in the game against Wolves, we saw him make a lot of driving runs into the box and play in a fairly advanced role. He still looks the most likely to get minutes and is a really good pick at his price.

Phil Foden looked really good in his cameo and almost scored on two occasions. I have always felt that Foden is the most direct of the Man City midfielders and for me (there might be some bias), he is their best midfielder to get. It is worth noting that Guardiola mentioned that he’s dealing with some niggles but he looked comfortable on the pitch to me, which is why I don’t have any issues with him as a pick.

I also feel that the size of City’s squad compared to their opposition in the next few weeks means that they will be a lot fresher and we could potentially see some big scorelines for them. While that brings a rotation issue, I feel like the two midfielders you mentioned should play the majority of the minutes and look good for points in this period. I’ll repeat, you have to buy a ticket to win the lottery.  

Q: It feels quite difficult at the moment to move rank. Any teams to target that could break the template? (@FPL_Mikey)

A: Hi Mikey, hope you are well. First off, thanks for the question. In this section, I won’t be talking about West Ham, Man City and Crystal Palace because the assets I like from those have been covered above. In addition, Manchester United is definitely one to target for their fixture run. One team I really like that isn’t quite template at the moment, however, is Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa.

They sit third on the season ticker until Gameweek 21. Ever since Gerrard’s appointment, they are the eighth-best team in the league for xGC despite facing Manchester City and Liverpool. They have tightened up as a unit and, given their fixtures, I really like Matthew Cash (£5.0m) – only Andrew Robertson (£7.0m) has more penalty area touches than him since Gerrard’s appointment. Cash has also had five shots in the box.

In attack, I really like Ollie Watkins (£7.6m) in this December fixture crunch because he’s such a fitness monster. His underlying numbers don’t look especially great at the moment but I think that is down to those recent difficult fixtures.

That is it from me this week. The only piece of advice I want to give is – given the Covid situation – don’t make early transfers. Although we did make an early pod for The FPL Wire, where you can find our thoughts below: