In our latest reaction to the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) relaunch, we run through the 11 players who have changed position for the 2023/24 season.
As well as explaining why they’ve been reclassified, we’ll work out what the key assets would have scored in their ‘new’ positions.
From goal threat to expected stats, you can find official Opta data on the players listed below and much more besides in our Premium Members Area.
FPL POSITION CHANGES: HOW FPL CLASSIFY PLAYERS
As a rough guide, FPL tend to classify players using the following criteria:
| Defenders | Centre-backs, full-backs, wing-backs (eg in a 3-4-3/3-5-2) |
| Midfielders | Central/defensive midfielders, number tens, wingers/wide-midfielders, players on either flank of a front three |
| Forwards | Lone strikers, both strikers who play in a two-man attack, the central striker in a three-man frontline |
FPL POSITION CHANGES: IN SUMMARY
| Player | Team | 2023/24 position | 2022/23 position |
| Kai Havertz | Arsenal | MID | FWD |
| Bryan Mbeumo | Brentford | MID | FWD |
| Yoane Wissa | Brentford | FWD | MID |
| Sergi Canós | Brentford | MID | DEF |
| Julio Enciso | Brighton | MID | FWD |
| Lewis Hall | Chelsea | DEF | MID |
| Diogo Jota | Liverpool | MID | FWD |
| Cody Gakpo | Liverpool | FWD | MID |
| Matt Ritchie | Newcastle | MID | DEF |
| Brennan Johnson | Nottm Forest | MID | FWD |
| Richarlison | Spurs | MID | FWD |
DIOGO JOTA/CODY GAKPO
- FPL position in 2022/23: Forward (Jota)/Midfielder (Gakpo)
- FPL position in 2023/24: Midfielder (Jota)/Forward (Gakpo)
Since joining in January, Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) made all but two of his 17 league starts as the Reds’ nominal centre-forward.
He may drift and drop deep, a la Roberto Firmino, but the on-paper starting position tends to be the main consideration for the FPL classifiers.
Diogo Jota (£8.0m), meanwhile, was only the central striker in two of his 12 starts last season, a campaign admittedly littered by injury.
Jurgen Klopp has instead tended to deploy him on the left flank of Liverpool’s front three, the Portugal international job-sharing with Luis Diaz (£7.5m) in the run-in.
It didn’t do Jota any harm: all seven of his Premier League goals came when lining up out wide.
| Actual points in 2022/23 | Points if they’d already changed position | |
| Gakpo | 90 | 78 |
| Jota | 80 | 89 |
Jota would only have lost three of his nine original bonus points as a midfielder, mostly because he scored a brace in each of the three games in question – so even the baseline bonus points (BBPS) deductions couldn’t damage him too much.
Gakpo, by contrast, would only have scraped together one extra bonus point as a forward but lost 13 of his total points by not benefitting from clean sheets and goals.
BRYAN MBEUMO/YOANE WISSA
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