FPL cheap players - 9 of the best options for the new season

FPL best players to buy - Milan van Ewijk

In this article, we explore the best cheap and cheerful FPL picks that you might need for the FPL new season, specifically if you want to afford a Haaland-Bruno-Gabriel lineup.

FPL has launched for the new season, and everyone is excited to get their first drafts in. With Haaland costing a record £15.5m, and Bruno a £12m, finding the right FPL cheap players is going to be key for success.

Starting with midfielders as they are the most popular, we will explore the best bargains and differentials in every position.

Midfielders

Illiman Ndiaye (Everton) – £6m

FPL cheap players - Illiman Ndiaye, one of FPL best players to buy

Ndiaye looks to be an extremely solid pick early on, as he was last season. He’s nailed, is on penalties, and regularly plays 90 minutes. He scored 6 goals and recorded 3 assists last year, and plays an attacking no. 10 role in David Moyes’ team. Considering he was £6.5m last year, a 0.5m price drop is extremely harsh on him, but of course a gift for FPL managers.

His fixtures are also decent, with GW5 and GW6 being the main inviting ones, against two newly promoted sides. However, he does face three of the big six, which may call for a benching or two.

If you aren’t keen on him for that reason, then Brighton’s fixtures pair nicely with Everton’s as a rotation partner.

An interesting note is that he was briefly considered by Man United, and is now on Al Hilal’s radar. Should he leave after the season starts, his owners will be in trouble.

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Enzo Le Fee (Sunderland) – £6m

Le Fee nabbed 6 goals and 5 assists last season, making him a great bargain to have at only £6m. Sunderland’s immediate fixtures are great, before GW4 and GW5 clashes with Arsenal and Manchester City. He could grab some DEFCONs there, though.

Just like Ndiaye, he’s on penalties, and he can also be on free kicks. Additionally, he will get you the occasional DEFCON return.

The Frenchman also scored a brace in a friendly, despite only playing 45 minutes (as is usual for a friendly).

Overall, he looks to be decent short-term option, but things could sour by GW4 as fixtures turn and Europe beckons. One for the early Wildcarders.

Morgan Rogers (Chelsea) – £7.5m

This one definitely doesn’t come without risk, but at £7.5m, £2m cheaper than his good friend Cole Palmer, Rogers might be a very viable option under Xabi Alonso.

Chelsea didn’t pay £117m for him to sit on the bench, so he’ll almost certainly come straight into the Chelsea starting eleven. His ability is unquestionable, just can he do it under a new manager and a new badge?

It’s important to note he is the kind of ‘patchy explosive’ FPL asset. He could score five goals in three games, go on a seven gameweek blank run, and score five goals in three weeks again. It’s just about patience and knowing when to hop on and when to hop off.

While £7.5m might seem pretty expensive, it’s a lot cheaper than Palmer, and a decent punt compared to the safe bet of Joao Pedro. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but if it does, it could be really, really rewarding.

Jack Rudoni (Coventry City) – £5m

The Coventry attacking midfielder could provide good value on a Bench Boost GW 2 strategy as Coventry face Hull at home. He scored 7 goals and got 6 assists last season, with a rate of 0.56 goal involvements per 90. This makes him a solid pick for the Hull game.

Defenders

Milan Van Ewijk (Coventry City) – £4m

Van Ewijk is already up to 9.2% ownership, having been spotted early by the community. He grabbed 8 assists last season in the Championship, more than any of his teammates, and created 46 chances, including 10 big chances. Only one outfield player had more minutes than him, as well. He could be a great budget fifth defender, and works well for a GW2 Bench Boost as well.

There’s not much more to say, but he is one of the two Coventry players in this article. Other Coventry options not in the article do include:

Brandon Thomas-Asante (£5m, FWD) – while his fellow attackers have to compete for position in a Coventry team with plenty of rotation, Thomas-Asante was the most nailed out of them last season, grabbing 13 goals and 4 assists. Despite being the most nailed, it’s important to note that no Coventry attackers are really that certain for minutes – Asante only started half of the Championship games last season. However, this was partially due to a hamstring injury in December.

Bobby Thomas (£4m, DEF) – an alternative to van Ewijk. A center-back rather than a fullback, he may be the better choice, even, if Coventry struggle to score and keep clean sheets, due to his DEFCON potential. His centre-back partner situation is unclear, with new signing Aurele Amenda and Liam Kitching competing with him for two spots. Amenda has been tipped as the favourite to start, but that’s by no means a guarantee. Thomas is the most likely to play out of the three, alongside one of the other two.

Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest) – £5m

Neco Williams has already been snapped up by 10% of FPL managers, as he looks to start the new season on a high following two goals and three assists last season. Oliver Glasner is the new Forest manager, and it was his tactics at Crystal Palace that made Daniel Munoz so popular in FPL last year, as the Colombian would play an advanced wing-back role. This appears likely to carry on into the new season, with Williams rumoured to be taking up the role.

However, his fixtures are not amazing, a mixture of three good fixtures alongside three tough ones.

Given it’s an unknown how any team will kick off their new season, let alone a team with a new manager, it’s safe to say Williams is far from a must-have, but certainly a very good option, especially when combined with a Tottenham defender. Tottenham’s fixtures fit nicely with Forest’s as a rotation pair.

Forwards

Igor Jesus (Nottingham Forest) – £6m

He’s scored 3 goals in his last 3 preseason friendlies, as of the 8th of August. With Oliver Glasner coming in, there was some doubt about his position in the XI, as we saw Glasner use Mateta as a sole forward last year, compared to previous Forest manager’s front two which allowed Jesus and Wood to play together. However, he’s played in all three pre-season friendlies, which is a strong indication that he will be favoured by Glasner.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds) – £6m

Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s inclusion needs no explanation, especially to those who played last season. At £6m, he looks to be a solid option, and he’s on penalties as well. Last season, he somewhat dropped the ‘bad finisher’ tag that haunted him and his previous owners throughout his time at Everton.

At an unexpectedly low price, and an excellent starting run of fixtures, he’ll be hoping to replicate his 14 goals in 30 starts last season.

FPL Towers have chosen to price a lot of forwards at £6m, as well. Only 9 clubs have forwards priced above £6m, which means there’s a pretty good chance at least one of the remaining 11 starting forwards has a rocketing start. Therefore, it’s best to cover that price point, if you are able to.

Goalkeepers

Last and probably least, goalkeepers. It’s mainly the £4.5m options here, with no starting £4m goalkeeper as of yet.

Antonin Kinsky (Tottenham) – £4.5m

Kinsky is the only keeper to make the list. Compared to his fellow £4.5m’ers, Verbruggen, Petrovic and Leno, he has the joint-best fixtures, and has the best backline out of the four in front of him. It makes him a solid and very popular pick in the FPL community. Between Roberto De Zerbi’s appointment and the end of last season, Spurs conceded the least xG per game out of any Premier League side. A strong indication, but a very small size sample.