With the big boys firing in Fantasy Premier League this season, it is hard to accommodate as many of them as possible. Here, I take a look at the top 4 under the radar bargain buys who will go light on your budget.
1. Cuco Martina (£4.3m)
Martina has started each of the last two games at right wing-back. It looks like he has made that spot for Everton his own, at least for the time being. His competition, Seamus Coleman is out for a couple more months. The other, Mason Holgate, has started in both the Europa League and Carabao Cup. It seems like Holgate is to be their cup right-back, while Martina favored in the Premier League.
At his cheap price, the Curacao international seems like a snip. Everton’s defense may not have done very well so far. It could be said, though, it was because of their horror run of fixtures. With BOU (H), BUR (H), BHA (A), ARS (H), LEI (A), WAT (H), CRY (A) their next 6 fixtures, they are bound to improve. He was impressive last week against Man Utd too, bombing down the right flank and causing Ashley Young plenty of problems. In only 0.5% of all teams, you could be stealing a march here. At £4.3m, can you really go wrong?
2. Ben Mee (£4.5m)
Mee might be a defender, but it is his attacking threat which makes him stands out. In terms of defenders, his 7 shots so far are only beaten by Marcos Alonso, the most expensive defender in the game. Mee’s 4 shots on target are tied highest with Alonso. The Burnley centre-back’s 7 headed efforts are also the highest for a defender. Last Gameweek, he could have had a brace against Liverpool alone, as he saw two of his headed efforts cleared off the line.
With HUD (H), EVE (A), WHU (H), MCI (A), NEW (H), SOT (A), SWA (H) in the next 7 fixtures, he can muster clean sheets in the defensive department too. His stats are great there as well. With 12 blocks, he has the most blocks in the league. His 44 clearances rank 5th. This also helps his cause with the defensive bonus department. He seems the best of the £4.5m lot, and with his goal threat there’s a 15-point haul coming.
3. Robbie Brady (£5.5m)
Mee has great heading stats, but there’s a man who’s at the sending end of those crosses. Brady has been impressive so far, with 2 assists in 5 games. More impressive is, his assists have come against Spurs and Liverpool. He could have far more though. His 39 crosses so far are only beaten by Christian Eriksen and Aaron Cresswell. His cross accuracy of 39% far beats the 21% of both Eriksen and Cresswell.
Being a set-piece specialist enhances his appeal, with the Irish international being as proficient on corners as on free-kicks. He has mustered 12 key passes so far, which points into the direction of more assists. With the same HUD (H), EVE (A), WHU (H), MCI (A), NEW (H), SOT (A), SWA (H) in the next 7, his fixtures are very good too. Watch the Brady corner-Mee header combination come off some day.
4. Joselu (£5.5m)
The Spaniard may have only scored 1 goal for Newcastle so far, but there’s more to come here too. Despite having started a game less than the others, he has 17 shots in only 4 starts. For reference, that is a tally only beaten by Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, Tom Ince and Mohamed Salah and as many as Sergio Aguero and Christian Eriksen. His 10 shots on target are only beaten by Salah, Kane and Lukaku.
He could have had a hat-trick against Stoke last week, where he missed 3 1-on-1 chances. It points that Newcastle are creating chances, and the Spaniard is at the man at the end of them. Sooner or later, they’ll go in. Compare him with Tammy Abraham, the other stand out striker in his price tag, who has only 10 shots and 2 of them on target.
His fixtures aren’t the worst either. BHA (A), LIV (H), SOT (A), CRY (H), BUR (A), BOU (H), MUN (A), WAT (H) and WBA (A) give him reasonably favorable fixtures all the way over till GW15. £5.5m for a forward with these stats and fixtures is a bargain and a half.