As the season start approaches, many FPL managers will be trawling through countless varied draft teams in an attempt to feel settled on what looks like perfection. At least on paper anyway.
Iām hoping this article will help FPL managers when it comes to thinking about their forward line. Given most people will be utilizing chunks of their budget to build their teamās around the likes of Mo Salah and Kevin De Bruyne, I thought I would delve into some of the cheaper striker options.
I will be breaking up the forwards to be considered, into three different price points.
- 5.5 M ā 6 M
- 6.5 M ā 7.5 M
- 8 M ā 9 Mā
āBest Mid-priced strikers
Iāll start with some FPL striker options from the 5.5 ā 6m price bracket. The nominees for this category areā¦ underwhelming to say the least.
5.5 Mil ā 6 Mil: FPL Strikers
I suppose you could take a roll of the dice on cheap options such asĀ Patrick BamfordĀ (5.5m)Ā orĀ Aaron ConnollyĀ (5.5m). But if Iām being honest, for 5.5m I donāt feel either option offers much value.
The 20-year-old Irish international (Connolly) notched just 3 goals & 3 assists in 24 appearances for The Seagulls. Bamford, on the other hand, topped the scoring charts for Leeds Utd in the Championship with 16 goals and 2 assists, which is still fairly low scoring. I donāt anticipate any striker in the 5.5m bracket to set the Premier League alight.
If you are looking at a striker at 5.5m or below, I would suggest going for a budget 4.5m option and invest the extra 1m elsewhere. So, letās swiftly move on. For an extra 0.5m, I feel there are more options who could potentially offer some value.
Topping the list in the 6m category has to be Fulhamās talismanĀ Aleksander Mitrovic (6m). Mitrovic bagged 10 goals more than Patrick Bamford, ending the season on 26 Championship goals with 3 assists.
He was involved in 42% of Fulhamās 69 goals. His previous spell in the Premier League saw him average 10.5 goals per season. If The Cottagers are to avoid relegation this campaign, Mitrovic will surely need to hit 10-15 goals again this time around. 10-15 goals for a 6m striker, could be a shrewd addition to your team, especially if he can near the 15-goal mark.
Many people are doubting whether or not Fulham have enough quality in other areas of the team, to enable Mitrovic to thrive. It is worth noting that he can also be a bit of a ācard magnetā at times, picking up 11 yellow cards and 2 red cards during his previous two seasons in the Premier League.
CheĀ AdamsĀ (6m)Ā outscored teammate Danny Ings on the final day of the season, with a brace against former club Sheffield United. He had a turbulent time during his debut season in the Premier League, starting on just 12 occasions. He notched 4 goals in total, picking up 4 assists in the process.
If he can continue to build on his partnership with Ings, then he could find himself in the starting 11 a lot more frequently, and therefore could be one for the watchlist. Due to uncertainty over the number of starts, I would hold off getting him in from the get-go, unless we hear confirmation from Ralph HasenhĆ¼ttl that he will heavily feature this term.
Jay Rodriguez (6m)Ā andĀ Ashley Barnes (6m)Ā both come in at the 6m mark. But only one of the two is likely to partner Chris Wood as the second striker. The absence of Barnes due to injury on New Years Day meant that Rodriguez partnered Wood for the remainder of the season.
Barnes started 17 games for The Clarets, notching 6 goals, with Rodriguez starting 19 games and returning 8 goals and 2 assists. Rotation is a risk for both players with Barnes likely to be fit for the new campaign. I feel the minutes are likely to be shared again throughout the season. So perhaps steer clear of both of these options unless we hear further developments of a possible transfer out for Chris Wood.
Jordan AyewĀ (6m)Ā was arguably robbed of a nomination for goal of the season. The Eagleās striker bagged 9 goals and 3 assists last campaign and was the main source of goals for Crystal Palace. He was involved in over 38% of goals scored by Palace.
However, they only mustered up 31 goals over the course of the season, averaging less than a goal a game. He was nailed-on for starts last season, with the Ghanaian starting 37 games, which bodes well if you are considering Ayew.
Dwight GayleĀ (6m) is another name I have seen popping up in a few draft teams, but again his lack of starts could be cause for concern. He made just 10 starts for Newcastle last term, picking up 4 goals and 2 assists. It is worth noting that all 4 of his goals were scored after the league restart, so he did have a strong finish to the season
Gayle is entering his final year of contract and there is talk that Steve Bruce will be giving him the opportunity to earn himself a contract extension if he continues to perform well this season.
6.5 M ā 7.5 M: FPL Strikers
Michail AntonioĀ (6.5m)Ā won the hearts of thousands of FPL managers when the 30-year-old bagged 4 goals against a struggling Norwich side back in July, proving to be the final nail in the coffin for The Canaries.
He was in fine form after the Premier League restart, bagging 8 goals and 2 assists in his final 9 games. Having made the switch from being classified as a midfielder to a forward, he does lose some appeal slightly as he wonāt be getting those extra points for each goal scored, but it does improve his chances of bonus points, should he continue to find the back of the net.
Prior to his hot streak towards the end of the season, he only managed to muster up 2 additional goals and 2 assists, so a season total of 10 goals and 4 assists. 6.5m for a player who had 14 attacking returns last season isnāt too bad at all. If you have Mitrovic in your team and have a spare 0.5m to hand, you might be tempted to āupgradeā (if you can call it an upgrade) to Antonio.
Chris WoodĀ (6.5m) was a name mentioned a little further up in this article when discussing Ashley Barnes and Jay Rodriguez. I feel Wood is the go-to striker for Burnley and the one likely to gain most game time out of the three strikers. Wood managed 14 goals and 1 assist in 32 appearances, averaging an attacking return at a rate of 0.47 per game.
With transfer rumours still lingering and reported interest from the likes of Southampton, Newcastle and Italian giants Lazio, you might want to keep an eye on how this one plays out.
Neal MaupayĀ (6.5m). The 24-year-old Frenchman managed to hit double figures in his debut season in the Premier League and now Brighton have been tying-up some shrewd business deals over the summer, with the additions of Adam Lallana from Liverpool and Joel Veltman from Ajax.
Combined with a few exciting youngsters starting to emerge in the Brighton 11, they seem to have a good balance of youthfulness and experience to be able to build on their 15th place finish last season. Maupay scored 10 goals and made 3 assists in 37 appearances. He made 7 appearances as a substitute.
For those who fancy Carlo Ancelotti to stamp his mark on Everton this season and build on the foundations he implemented last campaign, for an extra 0.5m, you might want to consider Dominic Calvert-LewinĀ (7m).
He has jumped up an extra 1m from his 6m price tag last season, but he did manage to score his highest ever return in terms of goals with 13 goals and 1 assist in 36 appearances, improving on his 6 goals and 5 assists the season prior. Ancelotti seems to be quite fond of the Toffeeās striker and if Everton can continue to make strides in the right direction, Calvert-Lewin could look to beat his tally of 13 goals this time around.
8 Mil ā 9 Mil: FPL Strikers
What might be a little off-putting for those considering Calvert-Lewin, is the fact that teammateĀ RicharlisonĀ (8m)Ā has now been reassigned as a striker. Richarlison hit 13 goals both last season and the season previous. Chipping in with 5 assists in the last campaign, he outscored Calvert-Lewin by 39 points in total. However, he was classed as a midfielder last year, so 9 of those points were from clean sheets and an additional 1 point for each of his goals scored (13).
It may be closer than we think when comparing the two for the upcoming season, however, I do think Richarlison is a little more consistent and reliable over DCL.
With 17 goals and 7 assists last term,Ā Raul JimenezĀ (8.5m)Ā will likely be a popular pick again this year. The Mexican target man bettered his previous tally of 13 goals in his debut season. He has risen in price by 1m, but if you are looking for a nailed-on, consistent striker who will return points and tick along nicely over the course of the season, then Raul is certainly one to consider.
With no distractions of European football this year, Wolves could improve on last season. 15 of his 17 goals were scored in the 2nd half, so no need to worry if you have him in your team and he hasnāt scored by half time.
Danny IngsĀ (8.5m)Ā will likely be the biggest contender to Jimenez for the 8.5m striker slot. With a whopping 22 goals and 2 assists, the Saints talisman was involved in over 47% of Southamptonās goals. He managed to feature on 38 occasions, making 6 substitute appearances.
The former Liverpool and Burnley striker managed to remain pretty much injury free for the entire campaign, which I think is the key factor to his success. He has always been capable of scoring goals but given the number of injuries he has had in the past, he was unable to consistently perform to the level we now know he is capable of.
His previous season-best in the Premier League was 11 goals, and that is going all the way back to the 2014/15 season with Burnley. Southampton recovered fantastically well after the 9-0 drumming at Home to Leicester earlier in the season, so huge credits must go to HasenhĆ¼ttl and his team.
Southampton look like they could improve on last season too, and if they do, Danny Ings could go on to have yet another stellar season.
Alexandre LacazetteĀ (8.5m)Ā hasnāt really hit the heights we all expected when he made his move to The Gunners from former club Lyon. He scored 14 goals in his debut season in the Premier League three years ago and has failed to surpass this goal tally over the last two seasons. He scored 13 goals and 12 assists in his second season, and last year he only managed 10 goals and 7 assists. However, he did only start 22 games, so 17 attacking returns in 22 games isnāt something to be sniffed at.
If he can remain injury-free for the most part of the season, then he could be up there amongst the goals and assists, but with recent speculation of a move to Juventus, you might want to hold fire and see how that unfolds before taking a punt on the Arsenal striker.
Anthony MartialĀ (9m)Ā is one of the most popular picks I have seen so far amongst the FPL community. He currently has 29% ownership at the time of writing, outweighing the support for the likes of Raul Jimenez (22%) and Danny Ings (20%). No surprise really considering Martial is the only player mentioned so far who managed to reach the 200 points total score mark.
The United frontman notched 17 goals and 9 assists in 32 appearances. He has recently been reassigned as a striker, so no more clean sheet points for Tony. He will also score less points per goal now he is a striker as opposed to a midfielder, but the switch does make him more likely to gain more bonus points should he continue to score goals as strikers score higher on the BPS system for goals than midfielders do (24bps vs 18bps).
With Martial still developing as a player and adapting to his new role as a lone striker, he could go on to improve this season. He is another player who does tend to pick up niggles here and there, but if he can build on last season and remain fit. I think he could hit 15-20 goals again in the upcoming campaign.
