Mid-priced midfielders are the engine of your fantasy team. It’s where you’ll earn many of your FPL points, and picking the right one is crucial to your team’s success. Here are a few options to complete your gameweek 1 team.
MID-PRICED MIDFIELDERS
TO BUY IN FPL 2022/23
Allan Saint-Maximin (Newcastle, £6.5m)
Saint-Maximin had a bit of a hot and cold season last time, but the quality was always there. 5 goals and 5 assists across 35 appearances is a pretty decent return given Newcastle’s troubles last season. ASM courted controversy when he was quoted saying he needed better teammates to finish the chances he was creating — which, while demoralising to some teammates, was not unreasonable. However, given Eddie Howe’s new tactics of high-pressing football and several new high-profile signings coming in over the summer, expect the Frenchman to flourish in a new-look Newcastle team this season.
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton, £6.5m)
For a solid option in the middle of the park that will still get you points, look no further than JWP. Starting every game he was available for last season, he notched 10 goals and 5 assists. He was an integral part of Southampton’s survival. His dead-ball wizardry also guarantees a fair few opportunities at goal across a season. He is being looked at by several other teams in the transfer window — West Ham, Newcastle, and Manchester United chiefly. Suppose he does move away from Southampton. In that case, he’d undoubtedly command a first-team spot at any of those clubs with his ability.
Christian Eriksen (Man Utd, £6.5m)
Eriksen could be worth a punt. Recently signed with Manchester United (where he would seem to command a starting place as chief playmaker), he looks to be inexpensive and well worth the value. With the way he completely changed Brentford’s fortunes in such a short space of time, taking them from potential relegation to comfortably mid-table, it would certainly point to the fact that he can do more. In a team with more consistent goal scorers than Brentford, expect him to bag a hatful of assists this season.
Luis Diaz (Liverpool, £8.0m)
The Columbian looks set to flourish in a new-look Liverpool front three this season, and he took to his role on the left like a duck to water. No slow starts in the PL for this player, 7 goal involvements in 13 games, along with 5 involvements in the same number of CL starts. Give him an entire season alongside the proven ability of Salah (MID, £13.0m) and the unknown quantity of Nunez (FW, £9.0m), I would not be at all surprised if Diaz is bagging double figures in goals and assists this season.
Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal, £6.5m)
A player that heavily featured in Arsenal’s development last season. When Ødegaard was on song, Arsenal played well. The Norwegian scored 7 and assisted 4 in 36 PL appearances and was a crucial part in Arteta’s front-foot, possession style of play. Being chosen as team captain from Gameweek 33 onwards suggests that he has nailed down his place in the starting XI for this season too. With Gabriel Jesus up-front, we can expect many more assists from Ødegaard this season.
Andy Coates is an avid Newcastle United fan, even before they became the richest club in the world, and has regularly written opinion pieces on the club for several seasons now. To keep up with their recent articles and updates, or to view retweets of left-wing politics follow their Twitter.