Best FPL Midfielders to pick in Gameweek 16

best fpl midfielders

In this article, we will look at the best midfielders to pick for your Fantasy Premier League team in Gameweek 16 of 2023/24 season. Which FPL midfielders to buy, hold, or sell this week?

Let’s look at our watchlist.

If you are aiming to use a wildcard in GW16, here are the FPL midfielders to pick from, with our comments and ratings of each.

Read more about GW16 in our guide: FPL Gameweek 16: Tips, Captain, Transfer Targets & Team Selection

Best midfielders for FPL 2023/24 Gameweek 16: Our Watchlist

Budget enablers for Gameweek 16 (4.5m – 5.5m)

 

Souček (4.9m, West Ham) – 3/10

Verdict: Hold. Potential differential that allows you to squeeze multiple heavy hitter into your FPL squad

  • Only in 2% of teams
  • Long term differential pick
  • 4G + 1A from 4.2 xGI this season
  • The very attractive price which can allow you to go for Haaland and Salah
  • He is a constant threat from set pieces and with JWP delivery, he will get chances to score
  • You can never time his output, so the fixture does not matter

 

Palmer (5.4m, Chelsea) – 5/10

Verdict: Buy, perfect budget enabler with great upcoming fixtures

  • Great budget enabler
  • on penalties, however, Chelsea will not get a penalty every week – 4 of his 5 goals were from penalties
  • nevertheless, his underlying stats are OK, he is second for xG among Chelsea players (after Jackson)

 

Doucouré (5.5m, Everton) – 4.5/10

Verdict: Buy

  • 5G + 2A this season from 6.4 xGI
  • He is overlooked by the FPL community as he is not an explosive fantasy asset
  • But he is the player that has already had two 120+ points seasons before
  • He can slowly rack up points for goals and assists, but do not expect double-digit hauls
  • Top for xGI among Everon players
  • But Everton will not score many goals
  • It seems he will not go to AFCON 2024
  • Mix of fixtures on the horizon

 

Gordon (6.1m, Newcastle) – 8.5/10

Verdict: Buy

  • Newcastle attacking number are very good – 3rd highest xG after City and Liverpool, you definitely should consider their attacking players
  • Gordon is the second top-scoring Newcastle player this season – while Wilson and Isak will be rotated (when both fit), Gordon is more nailed
  • If you want Newcastle midfielder in your team, Gordon is your pick

 

Gibbs-White (5.7m, Nottingham) – 2/10

Verdict: Hold, give him few more gameweek before you sell

  • In less than 2% of teams
  • fixtures are improving for Nottingham, good run up to GW18
  • A differential midfielder to consider
  • A key man for Nottingham, on penalties
  • But do not expect many goals from Nottingham

 

Ward-Prowse (6.1m, West Ham) – 4/10

Verdict: Hold

  • Second highest xGI among West Ham players after Bowen
  • On set pieces
  • Proven FPL asset
  • we can never time his points, so fixtures do not matter that much

 

Other budget options:

  • Douglas Luiz (5.6m, Aston Villa), 2.5/10 – exceptionally good previous season. But can he do it again? On penalties. If you own him, you must be patient with him – fixtures do not matter.

 

Mid-priced FPL midfielders for Gameweek 16 (6.5m – 8.5m)

There are plenty of good 6.5m midfielders to pick in FPL in 2023/24.

Kudus (6.6m, West Ham) – 5/10

Verdict: Buy

  • West Ham still with the good fixtures on the horizon
  • But overperforming his underlying stats, 5 attacking returns from just 2.3 xGI
  • owned by 2.5% of managers
  • showing good signs of form
  • he can be very explosive fantasy asset – he showed it while playing for Ajax in UCL Fantasy and for Ghana in World Cup Fantasy
  • Is expected to go to AFCON 2023, which starts in GW21

 

Mitoma (6.5m, Brighton) – 3/10

Verdict: Hold

  • Exceptionally good fixtures for Brighton up to GW16
  • Second highest xGI (5.6) among Brighton players
  • Brighton players were an amazing source of points last season
  • Expect some rotation now when Brighton plays in Europa League, but Mitoma can deliver off the bench as well
  • Points could be spread among multiple Brighton midfielders

 

Mbeumo (7.1m, Brentford) – 1/10

Verdict: Sell – Mbeumo is out for weeks. Read more: Best Mbeumo Replacements for Gameweek 16

  • With Toney absent until January, he will be Brentford’s key man
  • Third for xGI (12.3) from all players this season so far, he could be a season holder (or at least until Toney is back)
  • Reclassification to midfielder made him a more appealing fantasy option
  • On Penalties
  • Need a lot of chances to score, can be unpredictable FPL asset
  • Is expected to go to AFCON 2024 in January, which starts in GW21 (see our FPL calendar)

 

Bowen (7.4m, West Ham) – 8/10

Verdict: Buy

  • highest xGI among West Ham players this season
  • Amazing fixture run for West Ham up to GW17
  • with Antonio out, could play as a centre-forward

 

Sterling (7m, Chelsea), 4/10

Verdict: Hold, fixtures are now improving for Chelsea, if you have him, keep him

  • We know how good can he be when in form, he showed it in GW3 against Luton and in GW8 against Burnley
  • It is not the same Sterling we saw in Manchester City kit that was able to score 200+ points in an FPL season
  • Tough run of fixtures up to GW16 for Chelsea

 

Foden (7.5m, Manchester City) – 3/10

Verdict: Hold, fixtures are now improving for City, but sell after GW17 before the blank in GW18

  • 3rd highest xGI among Man.City players
  • A relatively cheap route into Manchester City’s midfield
  • Offers reliable points output when play
  • Great fixtures for City in the next few gameweeks
  • You must accept that he will be rotated eventually
  • A busy schedule is coming for City, expect he will be benched sometimes

 

Saka (8.9m, Arsenal) – 9.5/10

Verdict: Buy.

  • Saka is our preferred Arsenal midfielder, however, all three – Saka, Martinelli, and Odegaard could end up the season on a similar amount of points as they did in the previous season. Just pick (at least) one of them and stick with him.
  • Blanked only twice this season, 5th for xGI among all players
  • Reliable FPL asset
  • Sharing penalties with Odegaard
  • Set and forget pick for the majority of the season
  • Captaincy candidate in some fixtures
  • Points could be shared among multiple Arsenal players

 

Fernandes (8.3m, Manchester United) – 4/10

Verdict: Hold, if you kept him so long, give him the Bournemouth fixture

  • Fernandes still offers a safe route to FPL points, key man for Manchester United
  • Still good fixtures ahead for Man United. If you have him, keep him.
  • 4th best for xGI among midfielders this season.
  • He is becoming a differential with so many FPL managers offloading Man. United players
  • On penalties
  • 8.3m price tag is very appealing
  • He can deliver FPL points on a regular basis
  • Manchester United was not convincing so far

 

Premium FPL midfielders for Gameweek 16 (9.0m – 12.5m)

Son (9.7m, Tottenham) – 9/10

Verdict: Hold while he is playing as a striker. But if we start seeing him on the wing again, he is likely sell. You want him to play central, that is when he is capable of delivering the most FPL points.

  • Top for xGI among Spurs players this season
  • we know, how explosive he can be, and once he starts firing, he can get double digits hauls in 3-4 gameweeks in a row
  • Played too wide in GW1, GW2, moved more central after that and started delivering FPL points
  • Poorer performances the previous season

 

Salah (13.1m, Liverpool) – 9.5/10

Verdict: Buy

  • Back to his best, second for xGI among all players
  • Blanked only twice this season
  • On penalties
  • Very reliable FPL asset, long-term pick
  • Beat 230 points in each of the last 6 seasons
  • Was not in convincing form in the previous season, although he finished the season strong
  • It is hard to fit him in next to Haaland in your PFL team, sacrifices elsewhere are needed
  • Is expected to go to AFCON 2024 in January, which starts in GW21 (see our FPL calendar)

 

Tips for picking the best midfielders for your FPL team

  • If you pick a premium midfielder, make sure he is also a good captaincy option.
  • Also, consider midfielders that are talismans for their teams
  • Form and fixtures are also important parts of your decision-making process
  • Consider probabilities when picking midfielders in FPL. Let bookies any time goalscorer odds to help you with that. You can find them here: Premier League Goalscoring Odds.

FPL midfielders with stable points output in the previous 4 seasons

best midfielders fpl 2023 24
Best midfielders for FPL 2023/24

Read more in our article: Best long-term FPL picks for 2023/24 season

How many points should you expect from your midfielder in Fantasy Premier League?

Do not have unrealistic expectations from your FPL midfielders.

  • Usually, the top-scoring midfielders can get around 200-240 points per season (on some occasions even more, but this is the realistic expectation from premium FPL midfielders like Salah or De Bruyne) – that is 5.2 – 6.3 points per match
  • Good mid-priced FPL midfielders (usually 7.5m – 9m range) can get approximately 160-190 points per season, so expect around 4.2 – 5 points per match on average
  • Good cheaper midfielders (6m – 7.5m range) can get around 130-160 points per season = 3.4 – 5 points per match
  • Budget midfielders can get around 115-130 points per season = 3 – 3.4 points per match
  • The points of midfielders and forwards usually came in waves or in clusters – so the run of “form” can be followed with a run of blanks.

How are midfielders awarded points in FPL?

The majority of FPL points for midfielders go through goals – 5 points – and assists – 3 points – that’s their main source of points.

Clean sheet point for midfielders is often overlooked = but if a team keep 20 clean sheets, that is 20 more FPL points for a midfielder (that is 5 more goals for forwards).

And usually, when an FPL midfielder registers two attacking returns, he is more likely to earn bonus points as well.

Further resources

Matej Šuľan

Fantasy Football enthusiast with two top 1k finishes in FPL. Best FPL overall rank: 119th in 2019/20 season. Five top 500 finishes in UCL Fantasy, best overall rank: 23rd in 2018/19 season. Founder of Fantasy Football Reports.

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