The new Premier League season kicks off on Friday night with Manchester United v Leicester City, leaving Fantasy Football fans scrambling to finalise their teams before the big kick off.
With this summer’s transfer window seemingly all about big money moves for goalkeepers, some of the attention may have slipped away from some of the creative players further up the pitch.
But, with the Premier League still being full of exciting playmakers and goalscoring winers, Squawka have prepared some Fantasy Football tips, with four ‘midfielders’ to sign and four to avoid.
Squawka’s midfielder Fantasy Football tips – the four to pick…
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Value: £7.5m
Price range: £££
2017-18 points: 112
Why? Despite making the majority of his appearances from the bench, Bernardo Silva still managed to score an impressive 112 points last season.
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images,)
With his namesake, David Silva, advancing in his years, Bernardo Silva is expected to make a lot more starts this season.
He has a strong pre-season behind him already, as well as an assist to round off a great performance in Man City’s 2-0 Community Shield win over Chelsea on Sunday.
Many are backing the Portuguese playmaker to really stamp his mark on the blue half of Manchester this season.
Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace)
Value: £6.5m
Price range: ££
Points in 2017-18: 144
Why? With the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Christian Eriksen stealing all of the headlines in midfield last season, Crystal Palace’s Luka Milivojevic is one that slipped many Fantasy Football player’s nets.
(Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
However, in terms of points, his Serbian international’s 144 last season represent great value for money – 2.88 points per £0.1m to be precise.
As Crystal Palace’s penalty and set-piece taker, Milivojevic bagged himself 10 goals in the league last season. Palace managed to hold on to Wilfried Zaha in the summer transfer window, the Ivorian international won more fouls (76) than any other player for the Eagles last season.
This means that more set-pieces should be on hand for Milivojevic. Given his success from 12 yards, as well as his part in Crystal Palace’s strong second half to the season, that is not expected to change this time around – £6.5m is a snip for a player who is this effective in the Fantasy Football world.
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Value: £9.5m
Price range: ££££
Points in 2017-18: 147
Why? Mohamed Salah quite rightly stole the show for Liverpool last season with 32 goals in 36 Premier League appearances.
(Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
However, behind every world-class player is a team of top talent to back him up. If Fantasy Football players are looking to save a little money on their midfield to strengthen elsewhere, 147-point Sadio Mane might just be their man.
The Senegalese international bagged 10 goals and seven assists in 29 Premier League appearances last season as he formed part of Liverpool’s lethal three-pronged attack of Salah, Mane and Firmino.
That trio is expected to spearhead the Liverpool attack again this season and with Mane consistently improving year-on-year since moving to England in 2014, he could have an even better season this time around.
Demarai Gray (Leicester City)
Value: £5.5m
Price range: £
Points in 2017-18: 80
Why? Demarai Gray’s career has threatened to burst into life for a couple of years now.
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
High hopes and a number of England youth caps have been the sum total of his potential so far since moving to Leicester in 2016.
However, with the departure of Riyad Mahrez to Manchester City this summer, the creative impetus for the Foxes will be further shifted to Gray’s young shoulders.
If the 22-year-old can harness his undoubted talent in the face of that pressure this season, £5.5m will be a very tidy sum that could pick up a lot of unexpected points for Fantasy Football players.
…and four to avoid
Ruben Neves (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Value: £5m
Price range: £
Points in 2017-18: 0
Why? Ruben Neves had a stellar season with Wolves in the Championship last season and there is no doubting his ability as a footballer.
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
However, there are some elements to his game that just do not translate into regular points in the Fantasy Football world;
Despite scoring six goals in the league last season, most of Neves’ shots come from outside the box. In fact, the former Porto midfielder had fewer shots inside the box (3) last season than those six goals that he managed.
If those wonder-strikes stop coming off for him this season, he will join the likes of N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic as deep-lying midfielders who can dictate the outcome of a game without troubling the scoresheet… they are a breed of footballer that you want to avoid in Fantasy Football.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Arsenal)
Value: £7m
Price range: £££
Points in 2017-18: 107
Why? Another quality midfielder in the avoid section, Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s main problem this season is about how much game time he is going to be given in the Premier League under new boss, Unai Emery.
(Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
In midfield, Arsenal already have the likes of Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey to pull the strings, as well as Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka to sit behind.
In forward areas, the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are going to be hard to dislodge. The Armenian international possesses undoubted talent but £7m might just be too big of a gamble given the competition in the Arsenal squad.
Andriy Yarmolenko
Value: £7m
Price Range: £££
Points in 2017-18: 0
Why? Yarmolenko was the prolific main-man for Dynamo Kiev during his 10-year stay with the Ukrainian club.
(Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
However, since leaving in 2017, things haven’t quite gone to plan for the winger. Just three league goals in 18 appearances for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga doesn’t represent a good performance on his step up to a bigger league.
His lack of form was so-much-so that Dortmund saw fit to sell the 77-time Ukrainian international to West Ham United after just one season – if he couldn’t rise to the demands of the Bundesliga, there is absolutely no guarantee that he can do it in the Premier League.
Xherdan Shaqiri
Value: £7.5m
Price Range: £££
Points in 2017-18: 155
Why? Xherdan Shaqiri has enjoyed a solid pre-season with Liverpool, including an impressive overhead kick in their 4-1 win over Manchester United in the International Champions Cup.
However, his talents in the English game during his spell at Stoke have been mercurial – 15 goals in 84 games is a decent return, but nothing more – and there is a very big barrier in the way of his starting XI prospects in the form of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Shaqiri may well be an ideal option for Liverpool from the bench, as well as in rotation with some of that front three. However, a lot of that rotation may come in cup and European games – £7.5m is a lot of money for a player that is not guaranteed to start, although he does have the potential to rack up points when he does.
The post Fantasy Football Tips: Four midfielders to pick, and four to avoid appeared first on Squawka News.
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