Fantasy Premier League

FPL positions: De Bruyne and Son to challenge Salah's No 1 spot

By The Scout 9 Jun 2022

The Scout says Liverpool star’s spot as go-to premium midfielder could be under threat this season

The Scout reviews each position after 2021/22 Fantasy Premier League to highlight lessons from the season and players to consider next term.

Midfielders

Midfield was once again the dominant position in Fantasy, claiming three of the top four players overall for the second successive campaign.

Mohamed Salah led the way on 265 points and has now produced 230+ points in each of his five seasons at Liverpool.

The Egyptian also boasted the greatest goal threat of any player last term. Indeed, his 139 shots, 113 shots in the box, 37 big chances and 55 shots on target were all league-leading totals.

However, Salah’s appeal as the go-to premium midfielder could be under threat this season, with Son Heung-min and Kevin De Bruyne his main challengers.

Tottenham Hotspur's Son delivered his career-high 258 points last term, stepping up his output under Antonio Conte.

The South Korean produced 201 points after Conte arrived as head coach arrived in Gameweek 11, more than any other player in Fantasy.

De Bruyne, meanwhile, enjoyed an outstanding second half of 2021/22 after being restricted to only five starts in the first 16 Gameweeks for Manchester City due to injury.

His total of 165 points from Gameweek 17 onwards placed second only to the 177 of Son among all players.

Best-scoring positions in 2021/22

Points	200+	170+	150+
GKP	0	1	2
DEF	2	3	2
MID	3	5	6
FWD	0	1	1

A further look at the overall breakdown of points per position shows how reliable the midfielders were.

Indeed, 14 of the 26 players to produce 150+ points were midfielders.

By contrast, forwards were the worst performers of any position, supplying only two players.

For example, Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse, the 11th top-scoring midfielder, produced 159 points, the same as the second top-scoring forward, Cristiano Ronaldo.