Sponsored by Sorare
Sorare is a global sports game where you can buy, sell and trade digital player cards, and use them in free-to-play games to win prizes. The Premier League teamed up with Sorare at the start of the year, meaning you can now flex your FPL knowledge on Sorare.
As you’d expect, some of the top-performing players on Sorare are also the ones that will be in many template FPL teams – names like Bukayo Saka, Mohamed Salah and Marcus Rashford. But are there any Premier League players who are a much better pick on Sorare than FPL?
Let’s take a look…
Rodri – Manchester City
If we told you that the current highest-scoring Premier League player on Sorare was a Manchester City player, you probably wouldn’t be too surprised. You might expect it to be goal-machine Erling Haaland or the ever-reliable Kevin De Bruyne in midfield. You probably wouldn’t think of Rodri.
As a defensive midfielder, the FPL scoring matrix isn’t all that kind to him, but the Sorare scoring matrix suits him pretty well as it rewards his all-around play for the team, not just goal threat. Just think of those 2,000+ passes since the start of the season – it all adds up.
His average score over the last 15 games is an impressive 68 points and he’s racked up six scores over 70 since Christmas, showing he can hit the peak scores you need to win big, as well as being very consistent overall.
Just note that if you’re looking for him on Sorare, he’s been given his full name ‘Rodrigo’. But he’s not too hard to find – just look near the top of the scoring charts as you’ll likely find him there.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – Tottenham Hotspur
Continuing the defensive midfielder theme, Højbjerg is another consistently high scorer on Sorare, even with Spurs’ recent wobbles. Like Rodri, the matrix rewards him for his involvement all over the pitch.
Over the last year, the majority of his scores have been 60+ which is generally considered a good benchmark for a player. Add in a goal or assist and his score is likely to be even higher still, and he’s averaging a goal involvement every 3.5 games this season so there is plenty of potential for that.
He’s also got some tasty fixtures coming up (Forest, Southampton, and then Everton after the break) where he should see plenty of the ball and potentially benefit from the 10-point bonus for a clean sheet.
Armel Bella-Kotchap – Southampton
Southampton players are unlikely to feature in many FPL defences this year, considering how many goals they’ve shipped. The lack of clean sheets is also an issue on Sorare but, despite that, there is one defender who is starting to look like he could be worth considering as a value pick.
Bella-Kotchap has been in and out of the squad this season due to injury but when he has been fit, his inclusion in the first XI has been pretty secure. He works hard in defence and even in tough games, he tends to build up points for possession won, duels, interceptions and passes.
He might not hit the high scores of some other defenders in the game but as he’s still only 21, he could be a good addition to your team for the longer term (particularly as the Championship is also covered by Sorare!). And you can pick him up for only 51 points if you’re playing the free-to-enter Premier League Amateur game, as his scoring hasn’t quite caught up from him being used as a substitute for a few games.
Dwight McNeil – Everton
Sticking with relegation battlers, Dwight McNeil is another potential value pick on Sorare after putting in two big performances in his last two games.
One of these was the 4-0 defeat to Arsenal, in which he scored 76.5 points despite only managing one shot on target. Compare that to his score of two points in the same fixture in FPL. No one worked harder on the pitch for Everton in that game, and that was fairly reflected in his all-around score of 41.5, which was really quite unusual for a forward player on Sorare.
That game was perhaps a bit of an outlier but his all-around scoring has definitely improved under Dyche and, with the continued absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, we should expect McNeil to be creating and taking chances for this new-look Everton team.
Ready to set your team for the Premier League games this weekend? Remember that Sorare is completely free-to-play but if you use our link below to join you’ll win a free digital player card if you eventually buy five cards from the Sorare auctions.
(written by @Football_MDJ)
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