Having covered the best cheap midfielders in our article on Bench Boost enablers, let’s move to the next price bracket ahead of these final two Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Gameweeks.
Why are we taking a closer look at this tier?
Well, mid-priced midfielders are on the chopping block. The top four transfers out this week are all players in the £5.5m-to-£8.5m midfield bracket, namely Morgan Rogers (£7.4m), Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.5m), Antoine Semenyo (£8.1m) and Noah Okafor (£5.6m).
A little further down, Rayan Cherki (£6.6m) also appears:
Let’s have a look at a few names to consider, then.
We’ll leave out Jeremy Doku (£6.5m), as the time to buy him has arguably passed, at least in terms of Gameweek 37. City have an FA Cup final three days before the trip to Bournemouth, so there’s a little uncertainty about how Pep Guardiola will line up at the Vitality Stadium. If the league title is still on the line come Gameweek 38, Doku could re-emerge as a final-day punt.
And we won’t mention Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.2m) again, as we’ve already included him in ‘Buy, Keep or Sell’ and the Gameweek 37 Bench Boost options piece. He is, it’s worth reiterating, one of the best replacements for Rogers et al this week – and he frees up cash to be spent elsewhere.
BEST MID-PRICED FPL MIDFIELDERS
Iliman Ndiaye (£6.2m)
Everton are fighting for European qualification and have generous closing fixtures against Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur. Instead of getting Dewsbury-Hall or James Garner (£5.2m), those with an extra million to spend could buy the club’s penalty taker, Ndiaye.
The Senegalese star’s stats have tailed off since the African Cup of Nations, and he’s currently on five successive blanks, but the skill of FPL is to predict the goals, not buy them afterwards.
Indeed, Ndiaye is on our ‘Goals Imminent’ table. Plus, the non-penalty ‘Finishing Skill’ and ‘Lucky Goalscorers’ tables say that he has above-average finishing technique (+2.41) while being this season’s second-unluckiest (-3.43) player when assessing his good shot locations.
Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m)
Across Merseyside is 90-minute man Szoboszlai. Enjoying his highest-scoring FPL season, the Hungarian brings a level of consistency that could deliver more returns against Aston Villa and Brentford.
An all-rounder now that defensive contributions (DefCon) are in the game, Szoboszlai has delivered either a goal, assist or DefCon success in 10 of his 13 outings. Sometimes a couple of them.
In fact, Anton Stach (£4.8m) is the only other Fantasy midfielder to reach a minimum of five goals, five assists and 20 DefCon points.
He could also be on Liverpool’s penalties but, during an emotional Anfield final day farewell, expect Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) to step up in Gameweek 38.
Bruno Guimaraes (£6.8m)
Alongside Szoboszlai as the joint-10th best midfielder in FPL, Newcastle’s on-pitch leader is back from injury.
Although the Magpies did eventually grab a couple of wins in his two-month absence, Guimaraes’ influence on the side is clear to see. And especially at home, where seven of his initial 12 appearances ended on double-digits.
When starting at St James’ Park, he averages a huge 7.8 points, compared to 3.6 when travelling.
Having followed a home assist in Gameweek 35 with 0.82 expected goal involvement (xGI) away at Nottingham Forest, perhaps the Brazilian can produce versus West Ham United (h) and Fulham (a).
After all, he assisted and scored in autumn’s reverse fixtures.
Newcastle have little to play for, apart from trying to claw back some late-season respectability, but anyone watching Bruno’s committed performances over the years will know that he doesn’t do ‘on the beach’.
Mathys Tel (£6.2m)
Now for a big differential suggestion, a Tottenham Hotspur attacker who has started their previous two encounters on the left flank, assisting against Aston Villa before breaking the deadlock himself versus Leeds United.
On corners, he’s second among Spurs assets, behind only Richarlison (£6.4m), for xGI over the last two Gameweeks (ie when he returned to the starting XI).
The race to avoid relegation could go all the way, so Spurs don’t have time to mess about. Expect Tel to be in Roberto De Zerbi’s lineup for Chelsea – three days after the Blues’ FA Cup final – and then Everton.
Traditionally, Gameweek 38 is wild and unpredictable in FPL. Perhaps Tel is the punt who will help you overtake mini-league rivals.
Leandro Trossard (£6.5m)
Are any Arsenal midfielders worth buying, apart from the expensive Bukayo Saka (£10.0m)?
Although Declan Rice (£7.2m) takes lots of set-pieces, he’s delivered just two assists, no goals and no big chances from 16 recent appearances. Even his DefCon rewards are drying up.
Eberechi Eze (£7.3m) now looks under serious threat from Martin Odegaard (£7.8m), too.
Maybe Sunday’s match winner, Leandro Trossard (£6.5m), is the one, despite facing left-sided competition.
He’s delivered an attacking return three matches running, including in the Champions League last midweek.
Seven shots in the last two Gameweeks is an Arsenal-best, as is three big chances created.
He’s in pole position for the left-wing role at present – but he’ll have to keep delivering to stave off the competition. The visit of a sorry Burnley side at least gives him a great chance to do that.
A few other names…
Looking around, Enzo Fernandez (£6.4m) recently had a 10-game spell of one attacking return – an assist – but has emerged from that with an FA Cup semi-final winner, plus a Gameweek 36 goal. His four most recent league outings included 10 shots and 13 chances created.
Moving to west London, Dango Ouattara (£5.7m) passes the eye test but is goalless in 11. Not only that, Keith Andrews benched him away to Man City and Leeds, which could happen again at Anfield in Gameweek 38.
At his peak, 3.55 million managers owned Harry Wilson (£5.9m). But his output has dried up, allowing momentum and ownership to dwindle.
About to leave Fulham in the summer, Wilson barely reached 60 minutes in their last two matches. Could Marco Silva even bench him in Gameweek 37?
We’ll give a final mention to Jack Hinshelwood (£5.1m). Another name to feature in our ‘Bench Boost options for Gameweek 37’ article, he’s the leading midfielder for big chances (seven) and expected goal involvement (xGI, 4.69) from Gameweek 30 onwards.
