The Scout looks at the best players for managers’ opening squads in Fantasy Premier League, according to price and position.
Budget midfielders
The kind pricing of a host of midfield options this season has played a part in the rising popularity of a 3-5-2 formation for managers’ opening squads.
Around the £6.5m price point, in particular, there is a strong argument for having at least two slots in order to take full advantage.
Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze (£6.5m) can be the standout pick thanks to his domination of dead-ball duties.
He is on set-pieces for the Eagles and is now their first-choice penalty taker following the departure of Wilfried Zaha earlier this summer.
Eze’s prospects in Fantasy were revived last season after Roy Hodgson returned as manager in Gameweek 29.
The Palace attacker scored six of his 10 goals for the season in that run and supplied two of his five assists.
He amassed 67 points across that period, second only to the 85 of Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) among midfielders in Fantasy.
Eze has also carried that form into his side’s summer friendlies and has been involved in six goals, scoring two and assisting four.
He just makes it look too Eze 🤯 pic.twitter.com/WPtFF7Xbrc
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) July 31, 2023
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Kaoru Mitoma and Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo are also among the best options at £6.5m each.
A run of four home matches in the first six Gameweeks, combined with a Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR) of only two from four of those six fixtures, have made Mitoma a huge draw for managers.
Brighton's first six matches
| GW | Opp. | FDR | GW | Opp. | FDR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LUT (H) | 2 | 4 | NEW (H) | 4 |
| 2 | WOL (A) | 2 | 5 | MUN (A) | 4 |
| 3 | WHU (H) | 2 | 6 | BOU (H) | 2 |
Indeed, he is the third most-owned midfielder in the game, found in over 37 per cent of squads.
The Japanese averaged 6.0 points per start at the Amex Stadium in his debut Fantasy campaign last season.
Mbeumo, meanwhile, delivered 150 points in 2022/23 thanks to nine goals and nine assists.
He looks set to be on penalty duties for the opening months of the season as Ivan Toney (£8.0m) is suspended.
The Bees also enjoy a fine schedule to lift their early appeal.
According to the FDR, five of their first seven matches score only two.
Brentford's first seven fixtures
| GW | Opp. | FDR | GW | Opp. | FDR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TOT (H) | 3 | 5 | NEW (A) | 4 |
| 2 | FUL (A) | 2 | 6 | EVE (H) | 2 |
| 3 | CRY (H) | 2 | 7 | NFO (A) | 2 |
| 4 | BOU (H) | 2 | |||
Elsewhere, Aston Villa’s new signing Moussa Diaby (£6.5m) has made an immediate impact over the summer, scoring in two of his three appearances.
The winger has signed on the back of two hugely productive seasons for German side Bayer Leverkusen.
He scored 22 goals and also supplied 20 assists across 65 league appearances in that period.
Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk (£6.5m), Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister (£6.0m) and Fulham’s Andreas Pereira (£5.5m) can also thrive as huge sources of value in Fantasy this season.
All three are worth monitoring for now, with Chelsea’s kind schedule from Gameweek 3 onwards giving Mudryk the chance to shine under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
See: FPL pre-season minutes tracker
Also in this series
Part 1: Who are the best FPL goalkeepers for 2023/24?
Part 2: Who are the best FPL budget defenders for 2023/24?
Part 3: Who are the best mid-priced and premium FPL defenders?
Part 5: Who are the best mid-priced and premium FPL midfielders?
Part 6: Who are the best FPL forwards to pick alongside Haaland?
