There are many factors that come into building and maintaining a successful Fantasy Premier League team. Perhaps the most important is getting the lower-priced players spot on week after week. Here are 6 recommendations of value midfielders and forwards to start the season with in gameweek 1, all costing 6.5 million or less.
Ross Barkley, Chelsea: 6 million (Midfielder)
The former Everton man got only 79 points for Chelsea last season (3 goals, 5 assists), but he’s likely to play a much more prominent role in Frank Lampard’s team this season, while the preseason suggests he’ll be incharge of penalty kicks, which in a new VAR reality seems more important than ever. Barkley isn’t new to shouldering more responsibility either: In 2016-2017 he finished with 11 goals and 12 assists. While a double-double from him would be an overreach, he is capable of providing solid numbers with more minutes.
Josh King, Bournemouth: 6.5 million (Forward)
While Callum Wilson is the Bournemouth forward most people are looking forward to bringing on their team, his price tag makes King, who scored 12 goals along with 3 assists last season (141 points overall, only 27 under Wilson), a more lucrative and affordable option. Not to mention the annoying double Wilson situation in the South of England now that Harry Wilson has joined on loan from Liverpool.
Ayoze Perez, Leicester: 6.5 million (Midfielder)
Like King, Perez delivered impressive numbers last season: 12 goals and 2 assists for Newcastle (141 points overall). It’s not just his price that’s appealing – he often plays a lot more like a second striker than a midfielder, and the Foxes are likely to be more adventurous and attacking in their approach than most of last season.
Diogo Jota, Wolves: 6 million (Forward)
We’ll start off by saying that there are warning signs regarding the Portuguese forward: He has a knack to get booked (11 times last season) and suddenly moving to forward hurts some of his value, but just by a bit. Jota creates and finishes, scoring 9 goals alongside 8 assists last season. He’s cheaper than Raul Jimenez (7.5 million), making him worth an early look in 2019-2020.
Chris Wood, Burnley: 6.5 million (Forward)
Wood has scored 10 league goals in each of the last two seasons for Burnley, and his 131 points from last season make him the 4th most productive forward (behind King, Jota and Deulofeu) in this price category. However, Wood has been on fire in the preseason, so if you’re building on momentum, few value players are starting the season hotter than him.
Callum Robinson, Sheffield United: 5.5 million (Midfielder)
It’s always risky going for a player with virtually no Premier League experience (his 50 minutes in 2013-2014 don’t really count), but the Blades have high hopes for the former Preston man, who plays wide and advanced most of the time, resulting in 12 goals last season alongside 3 assists. With a goal-laiden preseason for him, Robinson might end up being one of the finest value pickups early in the season.
With Fantasy Premier League teams due tomorrow to be locked in for the season opener (Liverpool vs Norwich), having at least two of these players on your team should be beneficial, hopefully for the long run as well.