The season so far: Midfielders

International breaks are always a good time to reflect back and see what we can learn about who are the best FPL picks.

In this article we will be looking at the Midfielders in FPL over the season so far.

All data provided by the Fantasy Football Scout Members Area.

Goals Scored

Unsurprisingly Mohamed Salah has scored the most goals from the Midfielders so far this season with 10. His team mate Sadio Mane is second with 6 and Leeds’ Raphinha is third with 5.

Over the course of the last 6 Gameweeks Salah remains top with 6 goals scored, however Burnley’s Max Cornet and Emile Smith-Rowe are joint second with 4 a goals a piece. Phil Foden, Raphinha, Mane and Wilf Zaha sit tied fourth with 3 goals each in the last 6 game weeks.

Assists Provided

Salah has been just as reliable with his assists as he has with goal scoring. He has registered 7 assists so far this season, tied top with Manchester United’s Paul Pogba. Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic is third with 5 assists followed by Jarod Bowen and Abdoulaye Doucoure who have 4 each.

Over the last 6 Gameweeks Salah remains top for assists picking up 5 in that period. Bruno Fernandes has been rather the forgotten man of FPL since the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo however he is tied second for assists with Bowen with 3 in the last 6 Gameweeks.

Shots on Target

With 21 shots on target over the first 11 Gameweeks Salah also sits top in this category. Team-mate Mane and Raphinha, as well as Leandro Trossard, Mason Greenwood, Bowen and Ismaila Sarr all come joint second with 12, nearly half the total that Salah has managed so far.

10 of Salah’s shots on target have come in the last 6 Gameweeks and when sorted by this metric it is Foden and Trossard who place second with 8 shots on target each.

Shots in the Box

Of his 37 shots in the box this season Salah has registered 18 of them in the last 6 Gameweeks, thus meaning he leads the standings in both tables.

Bowen is second for shots in the last 6 Gameweeks with 15, he has managed 20 over the course of the season, highlighting the upturn in his performances over the last few Gameweeks.

Foden’s stats are even more impressive over the last 6 Gameweeks. He has registered 14 shots on target this season with 13 of them coming in the last 6 Gameweeks.

Trossard has registered 13 shots in the box over the last 6 Gameweeks, in total across the season he has registered 18. Like Foden he has found his form in recent weeks and looks highly investable.

Finally, Harvey Barnes has also managed 13 shots in the box in the last 6 Gameweeks. This is contrasting to the three that he managed in the opening five Gameweeks of the season.

Penalty Area Touches

As with all categories so far Salah is also top for penalty area touches he has managed 102, 32 more than Mane and Jack Grealish who have managed 30 each.

Whilst Salah remains top for penalty area touches in the last 6 Gameweeks it is Foden and Bowen who come in second and third respectively.

Clean Sheets

Over the last 6 Gameweeks Arsenal’s Sambi Lokonga has returned the most clean sheets and therefor clean sheet points with four. There are 8 players who have returned 3 in the same period including popular FPL picks such as Emile Smith-Rowe and Foden.

If we look back at the opening 11 Gameweeks of the season there are 7 midfielders who have registered a leading 6 clean sheets so far.

Bonus Points

Salah is top for Bonus Points across the midfielders so far this season, in fact he is top for Bonus Points across the game with 16. Conor Gallagher is second with 9 followed by 8 seven players who have registered eight:

• Said Benrahma
• Abdoulaye Doucoure
• Raphinha
• Son Hueng-Min
• Youri Tielemans
• Andros Townsend
• Leandro Trossard

Top Points Scoring

The current top points scorer in the game as a whole with 117 points is Mohamed Salah. The next highest scoring midfielder has almost half of the points that Salah has amassed with Gallagher having scored 62, followed by Mane in third with 59 and Son one behind with 58.

ICT Index

Influence

The Influence section of the ICT index evaluates the degree to which a player has made an impact on a single match or throughout the season. It takes into account events and actions that could directly or indirectly effect the outcome of the fixture. These things include actions like goals and assists, but also significant defensive actions for defenders.

Salah is over 200 points clear of his nearest competitor for influence with 563.2. Tielemans has amassed 335.8 with Bruno Fernandes managing 323.6. West Ham’s Declan Rice is fourth with 308.6

Creativity

Creativity assesses player performance in terms of producing goalscoring opportunities so it can be used to show the players who are most likely to supply assists. It monitors the frequency of passing and crossing, as well as at the players average position and the quality of the final balls they supply.

It is Fernandes who is top for creativity with 524.3 nearly two hundred points ahead of Salah who ranks at 348.5. Jack Grealish is third for 334.0 and Townsend fourth with 333.5.

Threat

The threat statistics gauge the players who are most likely to score goals. Attempts on goal are key factors but it also includes information such as the players location on the pitch meaning it considers the players who are most likely to be in a position to score goals.

The Liverpool premium midfielders top the charts for threat with Salah top with 763.0 and Mane second for 610.0/ Bowen sits third with 462 and Trossard fourth for 391.0

Ownership

With the stats showed in this article it is unsurprising that Salah has the highest ownership in the game and therefore for midfielders. Salah is currently owned by a record 71.5% of the game. Benrahma is second when it comes to percentage owned, currently 30.2% of the game own the West Ham midfielder. Smith-Rowe is the third highest owned midfielder with an ownership figure of 20.3% of the game.

Cost

Unsurprisingly, Salah given his underlying stats and performances this season Salah is the most expensive FPL asset in the game costing £13.0m. Kevin De Bruyne and Sadio Mane are the second most expensive midfielders and they both cost £11.9m FPL pounds. Fernandes is the fourth most expensive at £11.7m, with out of favour Raheem Sterling fifth at £10.6m.