It’s that time again!
It’s time to over-analyse each individual player again and again and again until you’re confident you know exactly how you’re going to draft your players that will carry to your 2020/21 league title.
To save you the agony, we have decided to share our own personal ranks over a series of articles, ranking defenders, midfielders and attackers before compiling them into an overall top 150!
Check out our midfielders rankings right here!
| 1 | Kevin De Bruyne | 31 | Leandro Trossard |
| 2 | Bruno Fernandes | 32 | Wilfried Ndidi |
| 3 | James Maddison | 33 | Pablo Hernandez |
| 4 | Jack Grealish | 34 | Youri Tielemans |
| 5 | Christian Pulisic | 35 | Gylfi Sigurdsson |
| 6 | Allan Saint-Maximin | 36 | John Fleck |
| 7 | James Ward Prowse | 37 | Mateusz Klich |
| 8 | Hakim Ziyech | 38 | Johann Gudmundsson |
| 9 | Paul Pogba | 39 | Daniel Podence |
| 10 | Michail Antonio | 40 | Declan Rice |
| 11 | Bernardo Silva | 41 | Ayoze Perez |
| 12 | Dwight McNeil | 42 | Jordan Henderson |
| 13 | Jarrod Bowen | 43 | Pierre Emile Hojbjerg |
| 14 | Phil Foden | 44 | Oliver Norwood |
| 15 | Wilfried Zaha | 45 | Jack Harrison |
| 16 | Joao Moutinho | 46 | N’Golo Kante |
| 17 | Nathan Redmond | 47 | Pascal Gross |
| 18 | Matheus Pereira | 48 | Felipe Anderson |
| 19 | Giovani Lo Celso | 49 | Andros Townsend |
| 20 | John McGinn | 50 | Connor Hourihane |
| 21 | Mason Mount | 51 | Kalvin Phillips |
| 22 | Dele Alli | 52 | Mateo Kovacic |
| 23 | Matt Ritchie | 53 | Anthony Knockaert |
| 24 | Tomas Soucek | 54 | Mesut Ozil |
| 25 | Harvey Barnes | 55 | Trezeguet |
| 26 | Miguel Almiron | 56 | Bernard |
| 27 | Jonjo Shelvey | 57 | Moussa Djenepo |
| 28 | Naby Keita | 58 | Matt Phillips |
| 29 | Stuart Armstrong | 59 | Josh Onomah |
| 30 | Lucas Moura | 60 | Rodri |
The Elite
I won’t patronise you by talking about Kevin De Bruyne. He’s in a tier of his own this season.
Bruno Fernandes is going at 2nd overall in a lot of mock drafts and it’s easy to see why when he averaged 18.29 points per match, bettered only by the aforementioned Fantrax king. His ghost points tailed off towards the end of the season but in all fairness United’s new man must have been exhausted as he basically played every minute of every match, such is his importance to the team. It’ll be interesting to see how dependant he Bruno is on those penalties…
Arguably the biggest surprise in my midfielder rankings is that it’s James Maddison who takes third spot ahead of the very popular Christian Pulisic. Everything stacks up for Maddison to start the season on fire. He played no part in the restart, meaning there will be no lasting effect of that gruelling schedule in his legs. Add into that the fact he has just signed a lucrative four year deal at Leicester and all arrows point to Maddison for me. In fact, I don’t have him that far behind Fernandes.
Jack Grealish’s value is dependant on him staying at Villa, of course. Why is there still no mention of Pulisic? Chelsea’s embarrassment of riches will inevitably mean rotation (which is also why Hakim Ziyech only makes it to 8th) but there’s clearly signs that the American is injury prone at this stage in his career. The last thing I’d want from my late 1st/early 2nd round pick is for him to only manage 25 starts.
I have to add my beloved Allan Saint-Maximin into the elite section. His re-classification as a midfielder only makes him more valuable in my eyes. He still needs to add more goals and assists into his game to make it into first round contention despite those beautiful counting stats but you’ll probably have to use at least a 3rd round pick to secure his services this season. Probably higher.
The Middle Order
The ever dependable James Ward Prowse heads up the middle order in the midfield rankings this season. A third round pick for a player that could be picked up as a free agent two season ago seems very steep but it’s also fully merited following a season that saw him finish as the third highest scoring midfielder. He’s as reliable as they come, playing every minute of the previous campaign and managing a very useful 10.11 points per match.
It’s a surprise to see Paul Pogba here for other reasons to JWP. The United man is used to strutting his stuff with the elite midfielders of the game but there’s no doubt in my mind that while he remains an important part of Ole’s setup, the arrival of Bruno Fernandes has lessened his fantasy impact. Still, if you can grab Pogba with a 3rd round pick you’re still getting excellent value there.
A purple patch at the end of last season has propelled Michail Antonio right up there in the rankings but I actually prefer the value of his West Ham team mate Jarrod Bowen. A 3rd round pick looks like it’ll be necessary to get Antonio but you should be able to wait until the 4th to get Bowen. His share of the set pieces as well as his tendency to score well in terms of ghost points could actually see him outscore Antonio.
Similar to our good friend ASM, Dwight McNeil’s value has shot up thanks to his long overdue re-classification as a midfielder. The Burnley man has always had a solid floor and would have scored 5th overall among midfielders with his score of 371.5 points. He has noticeably been picked between picks 33 and 40 over a sample size of 15 mock drafts that have taken place over the last few weeks.
Dele Alli represents the best potential value in the middle order. The Tottenham star has had a bit of a stinker over the past few months, largely thanks to fitness worries, which has seen his draft value plummet. A once nailed on 2nd rounder seems to be falling to the end of the 4th in the majority of mock drafts and I’ve seen him fall as low as 60th pick overall so far. If Dele can replicate anything close to the form he displayed when Jose Mourinho first arrived at Spurs, he could be the steal of this season’s drafts. If you’re able to get two solid midfielders in early then Dele is definitely worth the risk!
There will be plenty of question marks surrounding the middle order, such as where last season’s rising star Mason Mount fits in amongst Chelsea’s new galacticos and whether it is finally going to be Naby Keita’s season at Liverpool. You’ll still, most likely, have to spend a round 5/6 pick to find out and definitely don’t want to be relying on either as your MID1/2.
Ones to Watch
I’ve already bigged him up in a couple of articles recently but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Leandro Trossard this season. Brighton’s rotation worries me but the signs suggest that Trossard could easily be Graham Potter’s main man in 2020/21. Despite being in and out of the XI having shown patchy form, the Belgian still managed 5 goals and 5 assists in 31 appearances (22 starts). I’d be very surprised if Trossard didn’t improve on that this season and even seen him frequently picked between 70-90 in mock drafts so far. Could be an absolute steal!
We always like to look at what the promoted clubs have to offer and so with 8 goals and 16 assists in last year’s Championship, eyes will be on Matheus Pereira to see whether he will be the next Emi Buendia or if he’s more of an Anthony Knockaert. Either way, you will need to use your 4th round pick to guarantee his services. Big risk, huge potential reward.
On the same token, 35-year-old Pablo Hernandez will be on a lot of radars this season. His minutes will almost certainly be managed so I’m a lot more tempted by his team mate Jack Harrison who you’ll probably be able to pick up later on in the draft.
In terms of old draft favourites, Johann Berg Gudmundsson looks good following his latest return to fitness and is another you can probably get as late as round nine due to his constant injuries. Meanwhile, old Togga legend Andros Townsend should at least start the season for Crystal Palace with Christian Benteke out injured. Matt Phillips is back too, though those with extra long memories will know not to rely on the “boom or bust” West Brom winger.
Fantasy Football 92 