FPL Tips: Tottenham Hotspur star Mohammed Kudus wins battle of £6.5m midfielders in GW1 of Fantasy Premier League
Midfield options were plentiful as nearly 10,000,000 players selected their Fantasy Premier League squads ahead of GW1’s opener as Liverpool took on Bournemouth at Anfield.
One area that attracted attention was mid-budget midfielders, priced at around £6.5million.
Many players decided to pick the likes of Tottenham Hotspur’s Mohammed Kudus, Iliman Ndiaye of Everton, or Manchester City new boy Rayan Cherki.
While some prepare for GW2 with a smile on their faces, many have been left disappointed.
Here, Transfer News Blitz’s resident FPL expert Joe Matthews looks at how the most popular midfield options got on in the opening weekend of the Premier League.
Mohammed Kudus impresses
All eyes were on Thomas Frank’s Spurs, who took on newly promoted Burnley at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Lilywhite cruised to a 3-0 victory, with Brazilian forward Richarlison at the double and Brennan Johnson sealing all three points.
For 27% of FPL players, though, it was an exciting game as they watched Kudus stride to a ten-pointer, with two assists on debut.
That being said, next up for Tottenham is a formidable-looking Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Many players will have to weigh up whether to bench their Spurs assets or trust the quality they saw against a side favoured for the drop this season.
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Everton and Iliman Ndiaye disappoint
Whilst the red half of Liverpool celebrated an opening weekend win, Everton travelled to Yorkshire, where they faced off against Leeds United, who many had tipped for relegation.
The Toffees struggled to get going, ultimately falling to an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at Elland Road.
Lukas Nmecha converted a controversial penalty in the 84th minute, which proved decisive.
The 10% of players who put their faith in the Blues’ star boy, Ndiaye, were handed a boring two-point score to round out GW1.
Everton managed just one shot on target against Leeds, with Ndiaye’s effectiveness held to 0.02 expected assists.
As Brighton & Hove Albion travel to Goodison Park this weekend, David Moyes’ side have a chance to hit back, and the Senegalese winger will hope to play a big part.
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Cheaper alternatives shine
While many were left choosing between £6.5million midfielders, it seemed as though it was the cheaper alternatives who did the heaviest lifting.
Virtually all other midfielders priced at £6.5million failed to return, including the likes of Ismaila Sarr, Kaoru Mitoma and Enzo Fernandez.
However, the lower-priced Elliot Anderson, Tijjani Reijnders and Moises Caicedo all returned with decent points.
Manchester City summer signing Reijnders was arguably the standout player of the entire weekend, scoring and assisting in a 4-0 rout of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
On the other hand, Anderson, who was selected by just under 7% of players, got an assist in Nottingham Forest’s win over Brentford.
The 22-year-old was also one defensive contribution away from the DEFCON bonus, which would have taken him to an eight-point score.
Finally, Chelsea’s Caicedo, despite having no attacking returns, scored five points thanks to a clean sheet and 12 defensive contributions required for two extra points.
It could be said that £5.5million picks are safer going forward, but Kudus stands as the perfect example that risk can equal reward.
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