There are four basic types of FPL midfielders: central, defensive, attacking, and wingers. The best FPL midfielders are the ones who play as forwards. The best FPL midfielders are also on set pieces and penalties.
The best budget midfielders are players in top teams who were expected to start from the bench. Defensive midfielders are not good fantasy football midfielders. Use in-depth stats to look behind the scores to find the best FPL midfielders.
Different types of FPL midfielders
There are four basic types of FPL midfielders: central, defensive, attacking, and wingers. Understanding the differences between each type of midfielder is essential to recognize the ones with the best potential.
Central midfielders (CM) and defensive midfielders (DM) are the players positioned in the center of the midfielder. In a famous 4-2-3-1 formation, they are the two midfielders in front of central defense. Such midfielders include Declan Rice, Rodri, Casemiro, and Enzo Fernandes.
These midfielders protect the central defenders and are often positioned very deep in the playmaking phase, making them unattractive as FPL midfielders.
A deep-lying playmaker might be the team’s most important player and give crucial passes, but the best FPL midfielders make touches in the penalty box. Of course, defensive & central midfielders score goals, too, now and then, but they are generally poor FPL midfielders. The FPL scoring system doesn’t simply give credit for blocks and tackles.
Attacking midfielders (AM) have attacking duties. They typically play in a 4-2-3-1 formation, either in the central or wide position. Examples of attacking midfielders are Bruno Fernandes, Cole Palmer, James Maddison, and Martin Odegaard. These are the guys you want in your FPL team; especially the ones with set piece duties!
Wingers (RW, LW) are the best FPL midfielders because they are often featured as forwards in a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 formation. Mohammed Salah, Heu-Ming Son, Bukayo Saka, and Marcus Rashford are some of the most famous Premier League wingers.
Best FPL midfielders play as forwards
The best FPL midfielders are the ones who play as forwards. Almost all such midfielders are wingers. Sometimes, these wingers might even play the number 9 position. There could be an argument that the FPL should make players like Salah and Son forwards instead.
These are the best FPL midfielders because they get many opportunities to score goals and give assists. Mohammed Salah has been the best goal scorer of Liverpool almost every season. The same goes for Son and many other wingers.
Such a high-scoring midfielder has a massive advantage because midfielders get 5 points from each goal while attackers only get four. Midfielders even get an extra point from a clean sheet. This means that 20 goals for an attacker is 80 points, while 100 points for a midfielder with clean sheets points.
The real gems are midfielders who play as the main attacking threat. In the 2024/2025 season, Bryan Mbeumo played this position for Brentford because they sold the number one striker, Ivan Toney. In FPL, though, Mbeumo is listed as a midfielder.
Best midfielders in FPL also take set pieces
The best FPL midfielders are also on set pieces and penalties. This is often because these players are the best goal scorers of their team. Set-piece duties give any player a massive advantage in FPL. It’s like a double bonus when a midfielder is playing as a forward who is also on set pieces.
There are types of set pieces that matter in FPL:
- Corner kicks
- Free kicks
- Penalties
Corner duties are often given to an attacking midfielder, winger, or full-back. Roughly every 10th to 15th corner kick leads to a goal. This means your player has an additional chance to get an assist.
Free kicks can lead to assists, but they are also goal-scoring opportunities. We have witnessed some fantastic free-kick goals from players like Cole Palmer. There are usually many good free-kick opportunities in each game, which is why they are essential.
Penalties are the most important set pieces from the FPL point of view because they are almost guaranteed goals (80 to 90 %, depending on the player). Penalty duties are often given to one trusted player and rarely change. In Liverpool, Mohammed Salah is on penalties.
If you find a midfielder who is also on penalties and set pieces, such a player might be essential to your FPL team.
Best budget midfielders in FPL
The best budget midfielders are players in top teams who were expected to start from the bench. Cole Palmer is quite possibly the most famous budget midfielder in FPL. He was priced just at £5.0M in the 2023/2024 season. Palmer played for Chelsea on loan from Man City and was expected to be at the bottom of the pecking order.
Eventually, Palmer became one of the highest-scoring players in FPL and even made the England squad for Euro 2024. For the following season, he was priced at £10.5 million.
Morgan Rogers is another example of the 2024/2025 season. He was expected to be a standard rotation guy in Aston Villa, but Rogers has started every match. Not only that, but he has played as a forward despite being listed as a midfielder.
Before the season starts, there is no way to know who the best FPL budget midfielders are. You must be alert in the opening rounds and react quickly when you get confirmations. However, the final two pre-season friendlies often give a good indication.
To find the best budget midfielders, follow FPL tips from our blog! We’ll give you the best ideas every week.
Defensive midfielders are not good fantasy football midfielders
Defensive midfielders are not good fantasy football midfielders. These guys might be the most critical players in their respective teams. It’s a whole different story with a game like FPL, though.
For example, N’golo Kante was a critical player for his team and country for years. Yet, he wasn’t a good fantasy football midfielder.
It’s good to know that there are different types of fantasy football games. Some games have a more complicated scoring system that tries to balance the game better. FPL doesn’t try to do this. The scoring system is kept simple, meaning tackles, blocks, and other defensive actions are not counted.
All midfielders get an extra point from a clean sheet, but it helps attacking midfielders as much as the defensive ones. You don’t get any advantage there.
Defensive midfielders of top teams can be real traps for beginners. This is because they are often relatively cheap, they start each match and are touted as essential for their teams. Don’t fall for this trap! Instead, pick an attacking midfielder from a poor team rather than a defensive midfielder from a top team.
Finding great FPL midfielders by using stats
Use in-depth stats to look behind the scores to find the best FPL midfielders. As mentioned in this article, you should focus on attacking midfielders and wingers. You can use a site like whoscored.com to find out valuable stats. What are the stats you should be looking for?
Key passes
One of the best stat to use is key passes. These passes split the opponent’s defense and create scoring chances. Below is an example.
Andreas Pereira is an excellent example of what you must be aware of. From our FPL lineups tool, you can see Pereira playing as a central/defensive midfielder in Fulham’s 4-2-3-1 formation. This means his key passes don’t happen in the penalty box. Hence, they don’t lead to FPL assists.
xG excluding penalties
xG is a prevalent and useful metric, which we also mention in our FPL tips. Using xG per 90 minutes is also essential because some players get substituted early. You should also ignore players that are not regular starters.
The second thing you should do is select “exclude penalties.” Because penalties are almost certain goals, they have a very high xG value, which will distort the rankings.
As you can see from the list, the best player of regular starters is Brentford’s Yoane Wissa. He is a prime example of a great FPL midfielder because he is a) a winger and b) playing as a forward.
Shots Per Game
Shots Per Game, or SpG, is one of the basic stats you want to examine. As the old saying goes, “Shooters shoot”. Your player will never score goals if he’s not taking shots. SpG doesn’t reveal how good the shooting chance was, but this will be shown in xG.
Antoine Semenyo is a perfect example of a budget FPL midfielder. He is a winger and attacking midfielder who plays a very attacking role for Bournemouth. He has the most shots per game after Erling Haaland and costs just £5.5M. This is the kind of FPL midfielder you want on your team.
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