Differential midfielders to help with forward planning

Cheaper midfielders are the focus of our Spot the Differential article ahead of Gameweek 28.

There is a selection of players in this position offering potential for the next few matches, all priced well under £7.0m.

Read on and discover which options owned by less than 5% can help propel you up the rankings…

Isaac Hayden

Price: £4.4m

Ownership: 1.7%

A new candidate for the fifth midfielder spot has arisen in recent weeks as Newcastle’s Isaac Hayden (£4.4m) continues a decent run of form.

The 23-year-old has benefited from recent time out of the side for Jonjo Shelvey (£5.3m) and Ki Sung-yeung (£4.7m) to start the last nine Gameweeks in a row.

It is in the last five that Hayden has found form, recording three assists and a goal in that time.

That has come from seven chances created in the last four Gameweeks, combined with six efforts on goal.

No midfielder priced at £4.5m or under can do better in that selected time-frame.

The fixtures still look good for Newcastle over the coming weeks with Burnley (home), West Ham (away) and Everton (home) their next three opponents.

Crucially, the Magpies have a fixture in Blank Gameweek 31, against Bournemouth (away), and might have one in Gameweek 33 against Crystal Palace (home), which could make Hayden an important player to own long-term too.

Pascal Groß

Price: £6.7m

Ownership: 1.7%

With Blank Gameweek 27 out of the way, Brighton options come back into consideration ahead of a trip to Leicester City on Tuesday night.

Despite playing in just three matches across the last four Gameweeks, Pascal Groß (£6.7m) is joint-top for key passes played in that time.

He has supplemented that with eight efforts on goal and could inspire Brighton to a decent showing at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester are without a clean sheet at home since Gameweek 14 and the effect of going into this match without a manager is hard to quantify.

This could be a serious opportunity for Brighton to secure their first away win since Gameweek 14.

James Maddison

Price: £6.6m

Ownership: 4.4%

Despite Puel’s departure from Leicester City, there is still plenty of promise surrounding central midfielder James Maddison (£6.6m).

This is not the first time we’ve tipped the former Norwich City man as a differential option of late as the Foxes fixtures continue to appeal.

A home game against Brighton this week is another one of those favourable fixtures, and it comes after a strong statistical performance from Maddison last time out.

That means in the last four Gameweeks, no player has created more chances than him, while only two Fantasy assets in the whole division have shot more often.

With reports of Brendan Rodgers coming to the King Power Stadium, we could still see Leicester able to capitalise on their appealing schedule, and Maddison could be a big part of that.

With reports of Brendan Rodgers coming to the King Power Stadium, we could still see Leicester able to capitalise on their appealing schedule, and Maddison could be a big part of that.