EPL Supercoach | Best Value Midfielder Picks


<p>A couple of days ago I went through the best value defenders in the game. Today we&#8217;re staying in the bargain bin, but shifting to midfield.</p>



<p>There&#8217;s less obvious value here than in defence, so I&#8217;ve raised the ceiling to anyone under £7.5m. Here&#8217;s the full rundown, in order of how many squads they&#8217;re already in.</p>



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<p><strong>Oscar Bobb (£4.42m) &#8211; Fulham &#8211; 37.1% owned</strong></p>



<p>Harry Wilson leaving Fulham opens a genuine opportunity for Bobb. He barely got a look in since joining, outside of the final two rounds of last season where he scored 6 in weeks 37 and 38 off 79 and 72 minutes.</p>



<p>World Cup minutes were limited too, so pre-season friendlies are all we&#8217;ve got to go on. </p>



<p>Don&#8217;t expect a base stat monster here; this is an attacking upside play.</p>



<p>37% owned feels early for someone I still want to see start a few games first. Watch and wait.</p>



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<p><strong>Florian Wirtz (£6.97m) &#8211; Liverpool &#8211; 34.7% owned</strong></p>



<p>Love this pick. Wirtz averaged 9.07 whenever he played 85+ minutes last season, so if you trust the minutes, you lock him in.</p>



<p>Only 5 goals last year, sure, but that was more about inconsistent positioning than talent. Iraola has been clear he wants Wirtz playing centrally behind the striker this season, which should lift that goal tally, and he scored in the recent friendly against Monaco.</p>



<p>Liverpool&#8217;s opening 5 (Newcastle, Forest, Ipswich, Fulham, Bournemouth) is a genuinely great run. The role and the fixtures are lining up. Back him.</p>



<p><strong>James Maddison (£4.92m) &#8211; Tottenham &#8211; 24.5% owned</strong></p>



<p>Injured through pre-season and missing their recent tour. He&#8217;s not touching my squad until I&#8217;ve seen him play a few games at full fitness.</p>



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<p><strong>Martin Ødegaard (£6.62m) &#8211; Arsenal &#8211; 13.5% owned</strong></p>



<p>Averaged 11.0 in 23/24, dropped to 7.5 in 24/25 and 6.1 last season, both injury-hit campaigns. Minutes are everything in this game, and I&#8217;m not convinced he&#8217;s a guaranteed 90-minute player right now.</p>



<p>With Rice, Eze, Bruno G, Zubimendi and Lewis-Skelly all fighting for three midfield spots, extended starts are hard to come by.</p>



<p>If Arsenal picked up some injuries and Ødegaard looked sharp, I&#8217;d pick him instantly. I&#8217;m just not there yet.</p>



<p><strong>Harvey Elliott (£3.75m) &#8211; Liverpool &#8211; 12.0% owned</strong></p>



<p>Abort. I don&#8217;t think he gets near the starting XI; there&#8217;s more chance of him getting sold than starting weekly. </p>



<p>Liverpool&#8217;s fixture run (Newcastle, Forest, Ipswich, Fulham, Bournemouth) doesn&#8217;t matter if he&#8217;s not playing.</p>



<p>I get the ownership, a big name at a bargain price for a great team, but it&#8217;s a no from me.</p>



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<p><strong>Rodri (£6.12m) &#8211; Man City &#8211; 9.3% owned</strong></p>



<p>Barcelona have already had one bid knocked back for the Ballon d&#8217;Or winner, and the whispers say they&#8217;ll come again. </p>



<p>He looked incredible at the World Cup, and would be a great pick if he were guaranteed 90 minutes weekly, but there are just too many question marks right now.</p>



<p>He&#8217;s also late back from the World Cup on top of the transfer noise.</p>



<p>He&#8217;s not the type to go on a run that sends his price rocketing away from you; he&#8217;s a consistent base stat player, not a ceiling play. Wait this one out, and buy if he stays at City and is playing at his World Cup form.</p>



<p><strong>Andrey Santos (£4.04m) &#8211; Man United &#8211; 9.1% owned</strong></p>



<p>Wasn&#8217;t on my radar until writing this; now I&#8217;m interested. Only played 80+ minutes five times for Chelsea last season, scoring 12, 6, 3, 16 and 4, an average of 8.2.</p>



<p>I expect him and Tielemans anchoring the midfield, with Mainoo and Mount rotating in and out. He missed Brazil&#8217;s World Cup squad, so he&#8217;ll be hungry to justify a £50m fee.</p>



<p>I can see him averaging around 7 a game on base stats and clean sheets. Not a 10+ point merchant, but if he&#8217;s getting good minutes, he should make you money.</p>



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<p><strong>Sandro Tonali (£5.8m) &#8211; Tottenham &#8211; 8.7% owned</strong></p>



<p>Full disclosure, Spurs bias here as an Arsenal supporter. He played 21 games over 80 minutes last season for an average of 6.81, so there&#8217;s only around £1m of value in that.</p>



<p>Assuming he plays 80+ minutes weekly for Spurs, which I think he will, he&#8217;d still need a considerable jump in base or attacking stats to be worth a squad spot. </p>



<p>Spurs have great fixtures, and some of their picks will fire; I&#8217;d just rather have Porro doing the firing.</p>



<p><strong>Johan Manzambi (£4.5m) &#8211; Aston Villa &#8211; 4.8% owned</strong></p>



<p>3 goals and 2 assists for Switzerland playing up top before injury, and Young Player of the Season in the Europa League last year. He won&#8217;t play that far forward for Villa; I expect him behind Watkins.</p>



<p>If he ends up deeper, the base stats should follow. I likely won&#8217;t start him given the fitness question, but he&#8217;s high on my watchlist if he makes the squad.</p>



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<p><strong>Mamadou Sangaré (£4.5m) &#8211; Brentford &#8211; 3.5% owned</strong></p>



<p>Quick warning before you go searching: Ibrahim Sangaré plays for Forest (£6.6m), and 147 coaches already have him in their side. Hope people aren&#8217;t picking up the wrong Sangaré here.</p>



<p>I&#8217;ll admit it, I&#8217;m a bit of a bandwagon fan on this one. I’d never heard of him, woke up to see he&#8217;d signed for Brentford, saw his defensive contribution numbers from Ligue 1 last season and the Elliot Anderson comparisons, and he was in my team within minutes. One of the first 50 to make the switch.</p>



<p>Haven&#8217;t watched him play, but the numbers are wild. Per 90 in Ligue 1 last season: 3.8 tackles, 1.5 interceptions, 7.9 recoveries, 8.0 duels won, top couple of players in the league for each of those.</p>



<p>The question is how that translates. Supercoach base stats reward tackles, aerial duels won, clearances and interceptions, not recoveries the way FPL&#8217;s defensive contribution score does.</p>



<p>Leaning towards wait and watch through the first couple of rounds to see how it translates, but a great smokey.</p>



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<p><strong>Christian Nørgaard (£3.9m) &#8211; Everton &#8211; 1.4% owned</strong></p>



<p>Barely played for Arsenal last season, just 115 minutes, hence the bargain price after starting the year at £8.4m. He averaged 8.0 in 24/25, 6.7 in 23/24 and 7.2 in 22/23 across his Brentford years.</p>



<p>We saw how good Garner was at the base of Everton&#8217;s midfield last season, and Nørgaard will likely play alongside him. Everton&#8217;s opening six includes Palace, Bournemouth, Ipswich and Hull.</p>



<p>I expect his base stats to return to Brentford levels. A strong consideration for my squad.</p>



<p><strong>Jack Hinshelwood (£6.48m) &#8211; Brighton &#8211; 0.6% owned</strong></p>



<p>He finished last season on an absolute tear, reaching £10m before the campaign was out and averaging 9.33 from gameweek 30 onwards once his role changed and his minutes shot up. </p>



<p>At £6.48m now, that&#8217;s a serious discount on where he ended last year.</p>



<p>Playing behind the striker, he picked up 4 goals and 3 assists for the season. Minteh went down injured in pre-season, and Mitoma is still out, which only boosts his case further.</p>



<p>Brighton&#8217;s opening six is hit and miss, but there&#8217;s real upside against Leeds, Coventry and Sunderland. Lowest-owned player on this list and arguably the most interesting.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Verdict</strong></h3>



<p>Back Wirtz. </p>



<p>Consider Santos, Nørgaard, Hinshelwood and Sangaré. </p>



<p>Watch Bobb and Manzambi before committing. </p>



<p>Avoid Elliott, Rodri and Tonali. </p>



<p>Maddison and Ødegaard need to prove fitness and minutes before they&#8217;re worth a squad spot.</p>


EPL Supercoach | Best Value Midfielder Picks

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