With Fantasy Premier League releasing all the player prices and the ability to start picking your FPL teams, many managers are on the hunt for those cheap players enabling investment in other key areas. Below we will analyse all positions’ base price, (£4.0m = GK & DEF, £4.5m = MID & FWD) and consider whether there are any starters in this price bracket.
£4.0m Goalkeepers
In goal there is only Brighton’s Buton (360 mins) and Wolves’ Norris (1min) who played in the league last season. Norris came on in the 92nd minute for a cameo against Fulham, whilst Button only featured whilst Button only featured whilst Mathew Ryan was on international duty at the Asian Cup.
Therefore, if you want a starting goalkeeper you are going to need to spend £4.5m at a minimum, unless there are some injuries to the starting goalkeepers.
£4.0m Defenders
Martin Kelly is the most popular £4.0m defender in the game at the moment with 20.2% ownership. With the departure of Aaron Wan-Bissaka there’s optimism he may take over that role but it doesn’t seem that likely. Ward is expected to be first choice but there’s also some rumours that Palace are looking to sign Maximillian Aarons (£4.5m) from Norwich. If Palace don’t reinforce this position, then there may be a possibility he could get game time with an injury or poor performances from Ward.
Bournemouth’s Jack Simpson played 401 minutes last season. He started 4 games and came off the bench once playing at centre back and once at left back. He’s likely to be 5th choice centre back but with Francis recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury there’s a small chance he gets minutes. Another Bournemouth defender Diego Rico is priced at £4.0m. He started 5 times and came off the bench 7 times for The Cherries at left back. With Charlie Daniels currently out with a knee injury, he seems to be second choice left back behind a converted Adam Smith.
Sheffield United’s 31 year old centre back Richard Stearman started 3 times last season and came off the bench 13 times. Burnley have transfer listed Ben Gibson after making just one appearance last season. All 3 promoted clubs are apparently interested in him, so Gibson may become a solid 5th defender option.
Grant Hanley started 6 times and came off the bench 3 times for Norwich. The 27 year old centre back had 3 centre backs ahead of him last season. John Lundstram listed as a defender played 5 times and came off the bench 5 times in the middle of the park. The central/defensive midfielder has a handful of players ahead of him but he could become a potential out of position (OOP) player if injuries aries or there’s little recruitment.
£4.5m Midfielders
Isaac Hayden is currently the most popular £4.5m midfielder at 11% ownership. Last season he started 21 games, scoring once and assisting 4 times for his 69 points. With the departure of Rafa Benitez it’s up in the air whether the new manager rates him the same way.
Brighton’s Dale Stephens and Beram Kayal are priced at £4.5m. The former was rather reliable starting 29 games and came off the bench once. He scored once and also assisted once, but received 6 yellows and a red card. Kayal played 9 times and came off the bench the same amount of times in the centre of the park. Unlike Stephens he’ll probably be on the bench.
Leicester’s Mendy played 31 one times, 8 of which from the bench returning 1 assist. He played up until February before being moved to the bench and didn’t appear after April, so it doesn’t seem as if he’s in Rodgers plans. Hamza Choudhury started 7 times last season with 2 appearances from the bench. He got a run of games under Rodgers during the final weeks against 3 of the ‘big 6.’ Leicester’s promising midfielder may get more game time this season. Amartey played 9 times at right back for Leicester before picking up an injury. During that time Pereira has made that spot his own and he know looks like second choice but he can also play centre back if needed.
Southampton’s Spanish midfielder Oriol Romeu started 25 times and came off the bench on 6 occasions. He was in and out of the side at the start of the season but started most towards the end of the campaign. He scored just once and he’s a cards magnet picking up 11 in the past 3 seasons.
Dendoncker played 19 times last season for Wolves at central midfield but can also play at centre back when a back 3 is deployed. He became first choice from December till the end of the season. The Belgian also scored twice in his debut campaign.
West Ham’s central midfielder Pedro Obiang started 12 times and came off the bench 12 times as well. He managed just 2 assists and ended the season outside the starting XI. His teammate Diangana started 6 times sporadically over the season and came off the bench 11 times. The winger only assisted once in his first Premier League season.
Arsenal’s 20 year old midfielder Guendouzi played 2,140 minutes in his 23 starts and 10 appearances off the bench. The Frenchman didn’t return any attacking returns and also picked up 9 bookings. He fell out of favour towards the latter part of the campaign, but started in gameweek 38, so it’ll be interesting to see where he fits in with rumours of Torreria wanting to leave.
Promoted Aston Villa’s Bjarnason scored twice for Villa last season. He plays mainly at centre mid but also played a number of times on the left. Bjarnason started on 11 occasions and came off the bench 6 times.
Newly promoted Norwich’s Cantwell, Moritz Leitner, Tom Trybull and a familiar name Alexander Tettey are all priced at £4.5m and had significant gametime last season. Cantwell assisted twice and scored once from 24 appearances. He played mainly on the left wing but also played some from the right. Norwich’s German CDM Leitner scored twice and assisted just once during his 19 starts and 10 appearances of the bench. Tetty operated in a similar role in front of the back 4. He scored just once in his 26 starts. Their third cheap defensive midfielder Trybull started 22 times and was subbed on 9 times. He scored just once and received 8 yellow cards. Norwich have great depth in this position, so it’s unlikely to see a nailed on player from the get go.
£4.5m Forwards
Looking at the cheapest forwards there are 7 players currently priced at £4.5m. Mason Greenwood featured the most out of all of these players in the 2018/19 Premier League season, playing a total of 115 minutes picking up just 4 points. The remaining 6 players played a grand total of 220 minutes last season and it is unlikely that any of them will get significant minutes this season unless there is an injury, i.e. Janssen featuring when Kane is injured.
Similar to the positions already mentioned it is likely that £0.5 more than the base will pick up a player who may get more minutes. The likes of Shane Long and Isaac Success (both £5.0m) will have a greater chance of picking up minutes, however they themselves are still not assured starters.
Verdict
Unlike last season where there were a few base price starters, notably Wan-Bissaka, Fantasy Premier League have seemingly priced goalkeepers, defenders and forwards in a way that there are no players that will start around the base price. That said there does appear to be some options in midfield, albeit with limited fantasy point potential.
Written by FPL Junior (@FPL_Junior)
