FPL budget picks with many pre-season minutes

Each Premier League side has played numerous friendlies, allowing some interesting FPL budget picks to get lots of game time.

Following on from our look at burner slots – defined as the cheapest players in each position, selected to mostly sit on the bench – it’s time to analyse which on these enablers are most likely to deliver appearance points, if called upon.

Fantasy Football Scout’s very useful Pre-Season Minutes Tracker is able to help here. More importance gets placed on later friendlies, as real-life managers start thinking towards Gameweek 1 rather than simply giving 22 players a runout.

Game time of FPL budget picks

£4.0m goalkeepers

Looking over the spreadsheet and well-owned options in this price bracket, the only real candidate is West Ham’s Alphonse Areola. And we don’t yet know if David Moyes plans to install him as number one.

£4.0m defenders

Whilst popular Luton duo Amari’i Bell and Issa Kabore have played a lot of available time, it’s team-mate Mads Andersen who has played the most minutes. 315 of them, which is 87.5% of 360.

As expected, newly-promoted names dominate here. George Baldock played 78.5% of time, allowing him to score a goal. Many of Burnley’s £4.0m defenders are being utilised, such as Charlie Taylor and Jordan Beyer – also with a goal.

Elsewhere, Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke is getting game time, just like Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and Tottenham’s Japhet Tanganga. Yet it’s unlikely that any of this trio expects to start in Gameweek 1.

There was initial hope that the cheap Malo Gusto could cover Chelsea’s opening fixtures but Reece James is already back.

£4.5m midfielders

The dislocated shoulder of Fulham’s Joao Palhinha is handing plenty of pre-season action to Sasa Lukic and Harrison Reed. Below them on 71.9% and 71.4% of available game time are Wolves and Aston Villa youngsters Joe Hodge and Jaden Philogene-Bidace.

Over at Selhurst Park, Michael Olise’s injury means that January arrival Naouirou Ahamada is one of Crystal Palace’s most-used players of the summer. Roy Hodgson seems to be a fan.

Meanwhile, Elliot Anderson has shone for Newcastle, bagging four goals and three assists from five appearances. Is it enough to wrestle a starting spot from some of the club’s bigger stars?

Luton have made Marvelous Nakamba‘s successful loan permanent and he’ll be safe for appearance points. Curiously, Carney Chukwuemeka has played at least half of four Chelsea friendlies. He started against Dortmund, where Mauricio Pochettino spoke about this being with the opening weekend in mind.

£5.0m midfielders

It’s an awkward price and not quite the cheapest bench-warming price but names like Matheus Nunes (87.0%), Sander Berge (71.1%) and Pablo Fornals (67.6%) have played a lot of pre-season.

Bournemouth have several interesting £5.0m midfielders under attack-minded new manager Andoni Iraola. For example, Ryan Christie has numerous goal involvements, with David Brooks on two goals. Dango Ouattara scored once, alongside two Justin Kluivert assists.

Also worth considering are Anass Zaroury, Ryan Yates and Anthony Elanga. Should Giovani Lo Celso become part of Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs plans, he could become one of the season’s great bargains.

£4.5m to £5.5m forwards

Finally, the cheap names up front.

£5.5m Odsonne Edouard has played two-thirds of Crystal Palace’s minutes and Wolves’ Matheus Cunha is marginally less on 66.3%.

£5.0m Neal Maupay may have already lost his chance to deputise for Dominic Calvert-Lewin in Gameweek 1, with Fulham’s Carlos Vinicius and Raul Jimenez possibly blocking each other’s route to regular action.

Hwang Ui-jo‘s 59.3% of game time felt like he was a placeholder but £4.5m West Ham youngster Divin Mubama made the most of his opportunity by netting on three occasions. Perhaps he now overtakes rarely-seen Cameron Archer as the preferred £4.5m forward.

At Luton, Carlton Morris is nailed-on for minutes and is on penalty duty. Next to him will be the slightly cheaper Elijah Adebayo. As for Brighton’s £30m signing Joao Pedro, both his head coach and fellow striker have specifically said that players the squad will rotate once the season is underway.