Fantasy Football Scout: Which Arsenal midfielder is best?
During their ultimately unsuccessful quest to deny Manchester City the domestic title, three Arsenal players finished amongst Fantasy Premier League’s (FPL) five top-scoring midfielders.
As a result, Bukayo Saka (£8.5m), Martin Odegaard (£8.5m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£8.0m) have all inevitably received a price rise.
On the other hand, new £65m signing Kai Havertz (£7.5m) begins at his lowest-ever value.
Fantasy Football Scout uses their Comparison Tool to assess which of these four will be the best Arsenal midfielder pick for their strong opening run of fixtures.
BEST FPL ARSENAL MIDFIELDER
GOAL THREAT
| STARTS (SUB) | GOALS | FPL PTS | MINS PER GOAL | MINS PER SHOT | MINS PER BOX SHOT | MINS PER ON TARGET | MINS PER XG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAKA | 37 (1) | 14 | 202 | 226.6 | 35.6 | 47.3 | 102.3 | 277.3 |
| ODEGAARD | 37 (0) | 15 | 212 | 207.2 | 33.4 | 66.1 | 100.3 | 310.8 |
| MARTINELLI | 34 (2) | 15 | 198 | 185.5 | 35.2 | 44.9 | 92.8 | 298.3 |
Above: 2022/23 stats for Arsenal midfielders, where xG stands for expected goals
The trio were only separated by one goal and 14 points, as the Gunners scored on the second-highest number of occasions (88).
No team outperformed their expected goals (xG) tally by more (+15.91) and it was the same for Saka (+2.56), Odegaard (+5.00) and Martinelli (+5.67). Whether this means they overachieved or are just elite-level finishers will be seen over time.
Furthermore, to make the 2023/24 decision even tougher, each had one strength over the others. Odegaard was most likely to bring in big scores, bagging a double-digit haul in nine outings compared to Martinelli’s six. Saka only had four but it meant he was more regular at returning by delivering in 20 of his 38 appearances.
Of every Premier League player to net 11+ times, nobody had fewer big chances than Odegaard. He ended on nine, with Saka having 10 and Martinelli much better with 16.
The Brazilian also bettered them for minutes per goal, minutes per shot on target and minutes per penalty area shot.
