Fantasy Premier League: the best budget players for the new season - including Liverpool and Man City bargains

Yesterday, we ran the rule over some of the new signings that have been generating a bit of a buzz after making their moves to the Premier League, and took a look at how they could impact the new FPL season – today, let’s take a look at some of the quietly important players who seldom score big points but still play a key role in the best teams. The budget players.

These are the £4.0m defenders and £4.5m strikers who sit on the bench and enable us to have our Erling Haaland cake and eat Mohamed Salah at the same time. Almost every template that includes multiple premium players leans hard on these guys, and picking the right players can give you a serious edge.

In an ideal world, we want to get players who are both cheap and will actually play games. Andreas Pereira was perfect last season – a £4.5m midfielder who was nailed on to start every match as soon as he transferred to Fulham. There aren’t any such clear-cut cases this season so far, although some may emerge from the transfer market yet, but there are plenty of players who will chip in and could be worth their weight in gold.

The other approach to take – not one we endorse, and not one used often by the top-performing players – is to pick up a player who leaves the league before they’re removed from the game. This guarantees zero points but also guarantees that the player never loses value – something many owners of Neco Williams had to deal with last year. An example would be Sam Surridge, a £4.5m Nottingham Forest striker who is now out on loan for the season, but could be picked up for a day or so after he was moved on. You have to move quickly before the game updates, but if you want to play it super safe, that’s one way to keep your team’s value before you start using wildcards.

Goalkeepers

A £4.0m starting goalkeeper is the unicorn of Fantasy Premier League, and can be hugely valuable, at least as a rotation option – Danny Ward became the example last year after Kasper Schmeichel’s departure and while Leicester City’s struggles meant that he didn’t score too many points, he was still a helpful rotation option with a solid £4.5m like David Raya.

This season there are only two £4.0m stoppers that stand out as potential starters down the road – Alphonse Areola at West Ham United, a former starter at Paris Saint-Germain and Fulham who could easily supplant Łukasz Fabiański if the 38-year-old struggles; and Caoimhin Kelleher who is very much second choice at Liverpool but has been linked with a transfer away for first-team football. If that happens, he could easily become one of the best goalkeeping assets in the game.

Defenders

£4.0m defenders are another key element of most teams, and picking the right one can make a huge difference to your team’s fortunes – happily, there are an unusually large number of options this time, and some very solid templates even include two.

Several Luton Town defenders are in at £4.0m, of which Amari’i Bell – who plays left-back – is the likely standout. He doesn’t have huge returns but still gets forward to support the attack, and Luton really didn’t concede many in the Championship – they’ll find it tough to be quite so parsimonious at the back at a higher level, but are unlikely to be defensive pushovers. Other new promotees include Burnley’s Jordan Beyer, a guaranteed starting centre-back at a club who dominated the second tier last season, and Sheffield United’s George Baldock, likely to be a regular.

From the established Premier League sides, keep half an eye on Tariq Lamptey, Brighton’s marauding right-back who has struggled to re-establish himself in the side after injury but could force his way back in to proceedings. Everton’s versatile young defender Jarrad Branthwaite could also be in line for more starts this season. It’s also worth watching the progress of Manchester City’s young Spaniard Sergio Gómez – down as a defender but who starred as a forward during the European Under-21 Championships. He won’t get many minutes to start with, but with Pep Roulette, you never know…

Midfielders

This is probably one of the worst crops of £4.5m and £5.0m midfielders for many years, a fact which should push many of you towards 3-5-2 formations as a default. Few of the players at the lowest price point are going to start every game – Luton’s holding midfielder Marvelous Nakamba may be the only one, and he won’t score more than two points very often. There are a few talented youngsters who could force their way into first-team consideration, such as Amad Diallo, Steven Alzate and Naouirou Ahamada, but these are almost all ones to watch, not to start with. There’s a chance Tanguy Ndombele gets another chance at Spurs, as well, with Ange Postecoglou keen to include him in first-team duties and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg a target for Atlético Madrid.

At £5.0m things start to get a little more interesting. Tomáš Souček had a quiet 2022/23 campaign, but has form as a quality budget asset, while Liverpool’s dynamic wonderkid Harvey Elliott is due a breakout campaign and is growing into his role in Jürgen Klopp’s side. Bournemouth also provide some interesting options – under new coach Andoni Iraola they are likely to be a far more aggressive proposition and one or two of their under-the-radar midfielders could easily become strong signings. We’ve got Dango Ouattara, David Brooks and new boy Justin Kluivert down on our ones-to-watch list. If either start the season strongly, get them in. Alejandro Garnacho could also push for more minutes, especially if Manchester United fail to bring a new striker in, while Mateo Kovačić will surely feature plenty for Manchester City.

Forwards

Good luck finding a regular starter at £4.5m. Folarin Balogun is more likely to wind up in Italy than he is to remain in the Premier League, but both Chelsea and Crystal Palace have been linked, so if he does stay in England then he’ll probably wind up in practically every team in the FPL. Cameron Archer of Aston Villa has proven himself to be quite a talent while on loan duty in the Championship and with England’s Under-21s, and could be in line for more game time this year, so he’s probably the best super-cheap striker as it stands. A quick note – Luton Town’s McAtee is not Manchester City’s talented youngster James McAtee but John McAtee, a 24-year-old who struggled to make a major impact on loan at Grimsby Town last season. 4.5% ownership suggests that quite a few managers haven’t done their homework in full.

If we stretch the definition of budget forwards a little further up the price points, then it’s worth considering Wolves’ Sasa Kalajdzic, who missed all of last season through injury but could be their first-choice forward this time around, while Jean-Philippe Mateta will get some minutes and Carlos Vinícius could become Fulham’s main man if Aleksandr Mitrović successfully forces a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia. At £5.5m, we’re interested in Brighton’s record signing João Pedro and Sheffield United’s Iliman Ndiaye, although the latter well be off to France. Quality cheap forwards are few and far between, which means you either need to pick your poison or play three full-priced forwards and use one of the cheap midfielders to make a 3-4-3 happen.

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There we go then – there are few stellar choices at the cheapest price points in midfield and attack, which makes getting the call right even more important than ever. One or two of those cheap players will come good and rack up the points, or at least chip in when needed. Finding the right man could make or break your season. No pressure then…