Budget Midfielders/Forwards for FPL 2020/21: Fantasy Premier league is here and so is the excitement and confusion over fantasy premier League Midfielders and Forwards.
We talked about budget defenders in the last article. Let’s complete it by discussing budget options in midfield and forward.
Mitrovic (6.0m): After scoring 26 goals in Championship and 11 goals in Premier League before that, getting Mitrovic for 6m is an absolute bargain. Unlike Leeds United, Fulham mainly rely on Mitrovic to get scoreboard going. So if you want to go heavy in midfields, Mitrovic is a safe and cheap option upfront.
Greenwood (7.5m): He can be the bargain of this FPL season. There, I said it! $7.5m Manchester United attacker, scored 10 goals in nearly 1300 minutes, who doesn’t have a weak foot and whose finishing ability is arguably better than Martial and Rashford, he is a player to own for the entire season, if Jadon Sancho doesn’t arrive at Old Trafford. Although he has not shown same attacking involvement as Martial or Rashford, his confidence is growing by each match and he is likely to be more involved in front of goals than the last season. Owning two players from Bruno, Martial and Rashford would be quite difficult. You can pair one of them with Greenwood if you want to cover two United attacking assets.
Foden (6.5m): In Pep’s own words, Foden is a direct replacement of Silva. But he has shown a lot more potential than Silva in attacking returns post lockdown. He has started all of the home fixtures after GW30 last season, scored 5 goals with an assist. Expect similar kind of rotation for the upcoming season as well. But 6.5m City midfielder who will likely to return decent attacking points whenever he starts, he can be a 2nd City pick alongside KDB or Sterling to cover up City’s attacking returns.
Saint-Maximin (5.5m): He is one of the finest players to watch in the Premier League. Newcastle pretty much depend upon his performance on the day to get results in their favor. Even though his first season didn’t turn up well in terms of FPL points, I am backing him for 10+ Goal/Assist for this season.
Adams (6.0m): Do you know who had better expected and overall goal involvement per 90 minutes than Danny Ings post lockdown? Che Adams! That’s true. You can read it again if you want. But Adams was more threat in front of the goal than Ings. The only reason Ings has more goals than Adams from GW30 to GW38 is that he played almost twice as much as Adams. So if you can’t afford 8.5m Ings, you are not losing much by getting Adam at 6.0m. Just be wary whether he is starting the friendly matches or not.
Armstrong (5.5m): Another Saints player which hit the form after lockdown is Armstrong. Having 2 goals and 3 assists within a few gameweeks makes him an in-form player and a budget option at $5.5m.
Soucek (5.0m): You must have remember Moyes-Fellaini at Everton. Consider Soucek as the Moyes’ West Ham version of Fellaini. Even though he plays as a CDM, he constantly pushes into the penalty box to score for the crosses, corners and set pieces. He had scored 3 goals after GW30 last season, and I don’t see any better player at 5m than this guy!
Antonio (6.5m): He is a forward this season, so no extra point for a goal and a clean sheet, but if Antonio starts as the main striker, he can put the same numbers he did last season. He had better stats than KDB, Salah, Sterling, Kane, Vardy and everyone! The only concern is if Haller starts as a striker, then Antonio would be pushed to LW, which can be a bit detrimental in attacking threat perspective. Nonetheless, he is still one of the best enablers this season.
Jota (6.5m): Jota is listed as a midfielder, so a couple of more points for goal and clean sheet. But he is still the 2nd striker for Wolves. He hasn’t been able to replicate the form of Championship in PL yet, but he has potential to do it this season and if you plan not to get Jimenez, Jota can be his replacement from Wolves assets.
Werner (9.5m): 78 goals and 28 assists in last 4 BundesLiga season. If he were to be in Premier League for these seasons, he would have been priced for at least 11m. Lampard has to make sure to that his team score loads of goals in order to win games due to Chelsea’s weak leaky defense. So, surrounded by Pulisic, Ziyech, Mount, Jorginho and probably Havertz, Werner is bound to get wonderful support and he can lit up his first season in PL and FPL as well!
Pulisic (8.5m): Pulisic was the best Chelsea attacker (9G, 8A, 1717 minutes played) whenever he used to play last season. The arrival of Werner will take some of his goal involvement, but optimistically they both can help each other to get better returns as well. Since, Ziyech will be more of a playmaker, if you want to save space for another heavy hitters in forwards, 8.5m Pulisic is definitely the best option as compared to other options within the same range. The only downside of Pulisic is that he is injury prone and if Werner can put up a decent partnership with Giroud, then Pulisic can be a bench warmer as well.
Mahrez (8.5m): Even though playing just under 2000 minutes last season, Mahrez scored 11 goals and assisted 14. That’s insane even if someone plays the entire season. If Pep would stick with 4-3-3 formation, then Mahrez will be the first choice LW. Since, KDB and Sterling both are 11.5m and if you like to invest heavy somewhere else, then Mahrez would be a perfect choice for you. But be ready for the games where he comes off the bench or doesn’t at all.
Aguero (10.5m): Even though he is 10.5m player, this is the cheapest he has been since his debut season 2011/12. I know that’s not a convincing point. 180 goals and 64 assists in 9 seasons. 174 points/FPL season, considering he has played 4 seasons with less than 2000 inutes. If anyone deserved to be called God of FPL, Aguero is certainly on the top of the pyramid. Everyone is aware that City lost 12 games last season. Not only defensive errors, but the poor conversion in front of goal also cost them important games. So if Aguero becomes a regular starter, he can be lethal as this price for those who don’t own him!
I haven’t mentioned those players, which can give you 2 points per each match and hardly get any return. You will find those players by yourself. But this list can give you an edge over others because most of the managers don’t read or research before finalizing teams. So you are already ahead of them in terms of preparation. First Draft will be available soon.
