[THREAD]
Budget Midfielders

Following my thread on budget (£4.0m-£4.5m) defenders, I have put together a thread on the best budget (£4.5m) midfielders. I feel they have been overlooked in the Twitter community, despite most teams having one to two in this category, depending on formation.

Underlying statistics aren’t necessarily that important for £4.5m MIDs, as they are mostly similar. The most important thing is minutes. These players shouldn’t be in your FPL XI, they should be a 2nd or 3rd bench option that can come on with 2pts when required.

Ordered by starts in 19/20:
1.Anguissa FUL
2.Stephens BHA
3.Bissouma BHA
4.Romeu SOU
5.Nakamba AVL
6.McCarthy CRY
7.Gordon EVE
8.Jones LIV
9.Leko WBA

Zambo Anguissa MID FUL
Playing position: CDM / CM
Appearances (starts): 36 (28)
Minutes per game: 72
2 goals 0 assists
Per game: 0.7 shots 0.5 KPs
0 big chances created
* statistics from Villarreal in La Liga

Anguissa signed for Fulham from Marseille for £23m in Aug ‘18. This made him their 2nd most expensive signing, with only Jean-Micheal Seri costing them more, at £27m. Anguissa only started 16/38 games in the PL 18/19 due to injury, and was then loaned out to Villarreal for 19/20.

Dale Stephens MID BHA
Playing position: CM / CDM
Appearances (starts): 33 (28)
Minutes per game: 77
0 goals 1 assist
Per game: 0.4 shots 0.6 KPs
2 big chances created

Stephens has been a regular starter for Brighton over the past three seasons in the PL. He even captained the team in their GW19 fixture v TOT, as Dunk was out injured. Stephens is the most owned £4.5m MID, with ~15% TSB. However, he now faces competition from Bissouma.

Oriol Romeu MID SOU
Playing position: CDM
Appearances (starts): 30 (20)
Minutes per game: 62
0 goals 0 assists
Per game: 0.1 shots 0.6 KPs
4 big chances created

Romeu was a regular starter for Southampton at the beginning of 19/20, starting all of their first 12 games. He then only started one game between GW 13-31. Romeu finished well, starting all of the Saints’ last 7 games. Romeu is the second most owned £4.5m MID, with ~4% TSB.

Marvelous Nakamba MID AVL
Playing position: CDM / CM
Appearances (starts): 29 (19)
Minutes per game: 63
0 goals 0 assists
Per game: 0.2 shots 0.4 KPs
0 big chances created

Nakamba went through runs of starting games for Aston Villa in 19/20. He started all matches between GW 5-12 and 15-19. However, Nakamba only started 1/10 of their last PL games.

James McCarthy MID CRY
Playing position: CM
Appearances (starts): 30 (16)
Minutes per game: 51
0 goals 0 assists
Per game: 0.3 shots 0.5 KPs
1 big chance created

McCarthy didn’t start any of Crystal Palace’s first 7 games in 19/20. In fact, he only started one between GW 1-17. McCarthy became a regular in mid-season, starting every game between GW 20-29. He also started all of the Eagles’ last 3 games.

Yves Bissouma MID BHA
Playing position: CM
Appearances (starts): 22 (15)
Minutes per game: 58
1 goal 0 assists
Per game: 0.6 shots 0.2 KPs
0 big chances created

Bissouma signed for Brighton in July ‘18 from Lille for £15m. He started 17 games in his debut season, and 15 in 19/20. He is competing with Stephens for a regular starting place.

Anthony Gordon MID EVE
Playing position: LW / RW / CAM
Appearances (starts): 11 (4)
Minutes per game: 41
0 goals 1 assist
Per game: 0.4 shots 0.5 KPs
0 big chances created

Gordon started 4 games for Everton, between GW 30-35. He is one of the more attacking £4.5m MIDs, but he may not be a regular from the start of the season. Gordon started their friendly v Blackpool on 22 Aug, and could be worth checking if he starts the replay on 1 Sep.

Curtis Jones MID LIV
Playing position: CM
Appearances (starts): 6 (1)
Minutes per game: 23
1 goal 0 assists
Per game: 0.8 shots 0.0 KPs
0 big chances created

Jones only starting 1 PL game (GW35 v BUR) in 19/20. He started the friendly v Stuttgart on Sat 22 Aug. However, Klopp fielded different squads in each half. Jones may have played in the first half to allow Milner & Wijnaldum to lead the young, inexperienced team in the 2nd half.

Jonathan Leko MID WBA
Playing position: RW / ST
Appearances (starts): 21 (19)
Minutes per game: 72
5 goals 4 assists
Per game: 0.7 shots 0.6 KPs
3 big chances created
* statistics from Charlton Athletic in Championship

Leko spent the first half of 19/20 on loan at Charlton. There, he started all 19 games he was available for, and recorded 9 goal contributions, mostly playing ST. Leko was injured for the second half of the season, so wasn’t available for any of the Baggies’ games.

Jordan Stevens (LEE) is also worth a mention, as he is the 3rd most owned £4.5m MID, with >2% TSB. However, he didn’t start a single game for Leeds in 19/20, and only played a total of 53mins across his 4 sub appearances. He’s very unlikely to get regular starts in 20/21.

Thanks for taking the time to read my thread. Retweets and feedback are appreciated. As always, thanks to @AllAboutFPL, @FPLGOAT7, @FPL_Elite and @FPLFanatix for their continued support in growing my audience.

I will be posting a thread on the best low-priced (£5.0m-£6.0m) midfielders tomorrow.