The Fantasy Football Scout 2022/23 end-of-season awards are up and running, with the poll for best midfielders open for voting in this article and on the sidebar.
We’ll be assessing the key candidates in each position in four separate articles, continuing with this look at midfielders.
Overall score, points per match and value in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) were all factors we considered when compiling this shortlist – the rest we’ll leave up to you.
You’re allowed up to five votes for this poll, with the top three definitely making our Team of the Season at the very least.
2022/23 CANDIDATES
MOHAMED SALAH
- Points: 239
- Points per match: 6.29
- Start cost: £13.0m
- End cost: £13.1m
For the majority of this season, Mohamed Salah was way down the list of best midfielders. He only had six goals before the World Cup, reached just eight of them by the start of Gameweek 25 and, early on, infamously blanked in Liverpool’s 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth when many had captained him.
And yet here he is, the top-scoring FPL midfielder and one of two players to have goal and assist totals both over ten. The Liverpool star finishes third for attacking returns (32), second for double-digit hauls (10) and second for expected goal involvement (xGI, 27.31).
It’s been a spectacular end to Salah’s season, bagging 11 goals and seven assists in 15 matches – even finding time to miss two penalties! He ends with the most penalty area touches (333) and second-most penalty area shots (104) out of everybody in the game.
MARCUS RASHFORD
- Points: 205
- Points per match: 5.86
- Start cost: £6.5m
- End cost: £7.2m
Another player who showcases how long the FPL season is, Marcus Rashford was on a poor four goals and two assists before his strong showing with the England squad in Qatar. He came back possessed, scoring ten goals in his first ten matches to make a mockery out of the initial £6.5m price tag and have his best-ever FPL campaign.
Sometimes used up front, Rashford had the second-most shots inside the box of all midfielders and peaked at 6.1 million owners, ending top for post-World Cup points per start (7.53) and shots on target (36). That’s despite the goals slowing down from Gameweek 24 – just three more came in.
MARTIN ODEGAARD
- Points: 212
- Points per match: 5.73
- Start cost: £6.5m
- End cost: £6.9m
Now onto the cheap Arsenal trio that put them on top of the Premier League for 248 days, each of whom had a superb FPL season.
In theory, Martin Odegaard starts from a deeper position than the other two yet he scored 15 goals and assisted eight others, pipping them to second place amongst midfielders. Thanks to nine double-digit hauls, the Norwegian was one of a handful to reach the 200-point mark.
However, of those to net 14+ times, Odegaard had the fewest big chances by far with nine. With a big price rise likely coming for 2023/24, we’ll find out over time if he’s here to stay as a big goal scorer.
GABRIEL MARTINELLI
- Points: 198
- Points per match: 5.50
- Start cost: £6.0m
- End cost: £6.5m
It was a breakout season for Gabriel Martinelli, giving managers a £6.0m route into the long-time league leaders. A solid start ensured that he was in over five million squads for a while, with the expected rotation not happening until Gameweek 24, once he’d blanked for six successive matches.
On that day at Villa Park, the Brazilian reacted by coming off the bench, scoring and then having a run of eight goals and three assists over the next ten matches. Basically, don’t annoy Martinelli.
Also on 15 goals, he actually beat Odegaard for assists but the latter had far more bonus points. Impressively, Martinelli’s 244 penalty area touches were more than any forward (third overall), although he exceeded the expected goals (xG) tally of 9.33 by a lot.
BUKAYO SAKA
- Points: 202
- Points per match: 5.32
- Start cost: £8.0m
- End cost: £8.0m
Now onto Bukayo Saka, the other player to have at least ten goals and ten assists. He finished between Odegaard and Martinelli but brought a security of starts alongside penalty duties.
His 14 goals and 12 assists came at a steady pace, producing in 17 of his first 25 appearances, although a poor end has seen Saka fail in all but two matches since Gameweek 28.
Only Salah had more penalty area touches, whilst Haaland and Leandro Trossard (£6.6m) are the duo with more xGI overachievement (+7.75).
KEVIN DE BRUYNE
- Points: 183
- Points per match: 5.72
- Start cost: £12.0m
- End cost: £12.1m
Haaland was a regular beneficiary of Kevin De Bruyne‘s genius. In fact, eight of his many goals had been directly set up by the Belgian, whose 18 league assists was the most by far – whilst still only being his joint-third-best total.
Rotated fairly often by Pep Guardiola in the final weeks, De Bruyne’s final total of 25 goal involvements has been untouched since Gameweek 33 but he ended with the best rate of chances created (every 24.7 minutes) as well as setting up 32 big attempts.
Despite this, it often felt like he was ‘the fourth premium’ when FPL budgets only covered two or three of Haaland, Salah and Harry Kane (£11.5m).
MIGUEL ALMIRON
- Points: 158
- Points per match: 4.65
- Start cost: £5.0m
- End cost: £5.4m
The definition of a purple patch, Miguel Almiron‘s season followed an unspectacular first three-and-a-half years on Tyneside. It took almost a year until his first goal but the Paraguayan international has been symbolic of Newcastle United’s incredible rise under Eddie Howe.
Beginning in August at £5.0m, Almiron scored twice at Fulham in Gameweek 9 to start a run of eight goals and two assists in nine matches. Suddenly hot property, he shot up to £5.8m by the World Cup but things have regressed to normality since his Boxing Day strike at Leicester City – two goals and two assists in 17 matches.
A planned increase in Howe’s squad depth may end his time as a viable FPL asset but managers will never forget that autumn flash.
SOLLY MARCH
- Points: 147
- Points per match: 4.45
- Start cost: £5.0m
- End cost: £5.2m
Also starting at just £5.0m was Solly March and, similarly, he’d been a non-entity in FPL until this season, having not scored since November 2020. Yet things changed once Roberto De Zerbi arrived at Brighton and Hove Albion.
A pre-break record of four assists ended up being ten assists and six goals – with many managers arguing that he was controversially robbed of another at Leeds United.
Used as a winger by De Zerbi, the 28-year-old ranked fifth for big chances created (14) and seventh for setting up all chances following the Gameweek 17 restart (50). He’s certainly the best of Brighton’s main three FPL midfielders when it comes to creative stats.
KAORU MITOMA
- Points: 138
- Points per match: 4.18
- Start cost: £5.0m
- End cost: £5.7m
Meanwhile, Kaoru Mitoma was better for take-ons and actions inside the box such as touches (173) and shots (43). This only takes post-World Cup data into account, as that’s when £4.9m Mitoma burst onto the scene to replace the outgoing Trossard.
It’s because of that reduced game time that he wasn’t even amongst Brighton’s three top-scoring midfielders but he did his best to make amends. 115 points since Gameweek 17 ended as the seventh-best midfield tally, as a New Year’s Eve goal against Arsenal was followed by three during the next four outings.
After that, he bagged more than seven points on only one occasion, with no goals since Gameweek 29. Yet the frequency of Brighton’s Double Gameweeks meant Mitoma remained a huge part of the community’s template until the very end.
ALEXIS MAC ALLISTER
- Points: 140
- Points per match: 4.00
- Start cost: £5.5m
- End cost: £5.6m
It remains to be seen who Alexis Mac Allister will be playing for next season after a superb year has predictably sparked the rumour mill. Ten goals, the third-best midfielder for xG (11.98) and a World Cup winner’s medal in the meantime.
Of the Brighton three, he was the best for total shots (86) and an xGI (16.34) heavily influenced by six successful penalties, although also ending with the lowest FPL returns (12). That’s because 52 of his attempts came from outside the box – a number that nobody else reached.
ANDREAS PEREIRA
- Points: 123
- Points per match: 3.73
- Start cost: £4.5m
- End cost: £4.3m
Priced as a Manchester United reserve when FPL went live last July, it quickly became clear that Fulham’s capture of Andreas Pereira would be like a cheat code for managers.
This set-piece king scored four times and bagged ten assists, although the downside is that many of these likely ended up unused on benches. Then again, the feeling of an autosub coming in with a double-digit score – like he did both times versus Leeds United – would surely have been one of the season’s high points.
NOT QUITE MAKING THE CUT
Bruno Fernandes (£9.5m) sat fairly high for midfielder points but, before two goals in the final days, this was a poor season of returns, although he did lead the way for chances created and finish on more points than in 2021/22.
Right with him is the late form of Eberechi Eze (£5.7m). The return of Roy Hodgson from Gameweek 29 inspired the Crystal Palace man to deliver six goals and two 16-point hauls.
Before signing for Arsenal, Trossard’s really good season was highlighted by a hat-trick away to Liverpool. Post-transfer, minutes were limited but he did bag another hat-trick, this time a trio of assists at Fulham.
An honourable mention should also go to Leeds’ Rodrigo (£6.3m). His blistering start to the season brought 35 points by Gameweek 3, before later becoming the first in this position to reach ten goals. Injury has limited recent months but he still ended with the best minutes per goal rate (150.5) of regular midfield starters.
