2022/23 Fantasy Premier League: The midfielders to pick and who to avoid

The 2022/23 Premier League campaign starts in less than a week which can only mean one thing. Fantasy Premier League is back!

The top managers will probably have drafted and redrafted their team hundreds of times trying to get it right ahead of Friday’s 6:30pm BST deadline, with unlimited transfers up until the start of the season. But who’s in your team?

Midfield is an interesting position in FPL, with five points for goals scored and one for a clean sheet, giving you a couple of ways of picking your players.

So which midfield prices stand out for good and bad reasons? Who do you want to pick and who is best to avoid?

We’ve done the work for you, looking through the players released so far, so read on for our early FPL advice.

To pick: Fabio Vieira

Club: Arsenal
Price: £6.0m
2021/22 score: N/A

A signing that seems to have gone under the radar but definitely shouldn’t have, as Arsenal have one of the top young playmakers in Europe in their squad.

Despite playing just 1,327 minutes for Porto in the league, Vieira recorded the joint-most assists last season, racking up 14 in total – level with Gil Vicente’s Pedrinho who did play over 1,500 more minutes. Even if he takes some time to acclimatise to the Premier League, at £6.0m it’s not much of a risk.

First five matches: Crystal Palace (A), Leicester (H), Bournemouth (A), Fulham (H), Aston Villa (H)

To avoid: Raheem Sterling

Club: Chelsea
Price: £10.0m
2021/22 score: 163

Only one Chelsea player scored more points than Raheem Sterling’s 163 last season, but at this stage we’re thinking he may be a bit too big of a risk at £10.0m.

Chelsea’s marquee signing, Sterling will undoubtedly play but there’s the risk that he might not immediately gel in Thomas Tuchel’s system (and there are a lot of examples to be used here, so it’s not Sterling’s fault). We’re not saying Sterling will be a bad pick long term, but it may just be worth holding off for a bit to see how his future plays out – especially considering how Chelsea have been firing (or not) in pre-season.

First five matches: Everton (A), Tottenham (H), Leeds (A), Leicester (H), Southampton (A)

To pick: Luis Diaz

Club: Liverpool
Price: £8.0m
2021/22 score: 64

One of the Premier League’s arrivals in January, Luis Diaz wasted little time in getting acclimatised to the English top flight, forming part of Liverpool’s frightening attack.

In 13 appearances in the Premier League last season, Diaz scored four goals and recorded three assists and with a full pre-season under his belt you can back him to improve. There’s also the fact that he’ll be an almost guaranteed starter under Jurgen Klopp with Sadio Mane moving on and Darwin Nunez signed to be the striker.

At the time of writing Diaz has been picked by 27.5% of people so you don’t really want to miss out – he’s the second-most picked midfielder only behind teammate Mohamed Salah.

First five matches: Fulham (A), Crystal Palace (H), Man Utd (A), Bournemouth (H), Newcastle (H)

Find the latest Premier League winner odds for the 2024/2025 season here:

You have to be 18+ to gamble. All odds within this article are accurate at the time of writing (09:00, 15/07/2024). GambleAware.

To avoid: Jadon Sancho

Club: Man Utd
Price: £7.5m
2021/22 score: 91

Jadon Sancho was the fifth-highest scoring Manchester United player in 2021/22 FPL with 91 points, but that doesn’t mean you should pick him. It wasn’t hard for the Englishman to get that high given how many Man Utd players struggled and he was even beaten by Fred (93 points).

There was a lot of excitement surrounding Sancho’s move to Man Utd last summer but he had a tough first campaign, scoring just three goals and recording four assists to average 3.1 points per match. There will be better midfield options for cheaper at the start of 2022/23 EPL.

First five matches: Brighton (H), Brentford (A), Liverpool (H), Southampton (A), Leicester (A)

To pick: Harry Wilson

Club: Fulham
Price: £6.0m
2021/22 score: N/A

And now a quick look at one of the players coming from the Championship with the newly-promoted sides. Harry Wilson truly thrived in his first season at Fulham, leading the Cottagers to the Championship title at the first time of asking and he’ll be one of the main men trying to keep them up.

In 41 appearances for Fulham in the Championship last season, Wilson scored 10 goals and provided 19 assists playing on the right wing. Classed as a midfielder rather than a forward, Wilson will guarantee points even if we don’t expect him to hit the same numbers he did in the Championship.

First five matches: Liverpool (H), Wolves (A), Brenford (H), Arsenal (A), Brighton (H)

To avoid: Conor Gallagher

Club: Chelsea
Price: £6.0m
2021/22 score: 140

Conor Gallagher was wonderful for Crystal Palace last season and it transferred over to FPL, with the midfielder earning 140 points across the campaign – the 15th highest in the league but near the top when looking at points per million. He also outscored all but one Chelsea midfielder, with only Mason Mount (169) picking up more points in 2021/22.

But the big question is, will he play? If he stays at Chelsea he certainly won’t play as much as he did for Crystal Palace, nor will he be in a similar role, given the attack the Blues are trying to build. Although he’s only £6.0m, there are less risky players you can get with more assurances of playing time.

First five matches: Everton (A), Tottenham (H), Leeds (A), Leicester (H), Southampton (A)

READ MORE:

• 2022/23 Fantasy Premier League: The goalkeepers to pick and who to avoid
• 2022/23 Fantasy Premier League: The defenders to pick and who to avoid
• 2022/23 Fantasy Premier League: The forwards to pick and who to avoid