All too often people look at cheap players as a way to just fill out their team once the superstars have already been added. While understandable, this is not always the best way to add value to your squad.
To that point, despite the historic year that Mohamed Salah had, he still ended it as the sixth most valuable player in the Goal game. So, as we head into the 2018-19 season, let’s take a look in the bargain bin to see who could provide the most value this year.
GK: Asmir Begovic - Bournemouth, £5.6m, owned in 1.23% of teams
DEF: Aaron Cresswell - West Ham, owned in £5.9m, 1.33% of teams
After a disappointing year in 2016-17, Creswell bounced back in a big way last season. He led all defenders with seven assists and finished top 10 in his position in both chances created and accurate crosses. The only thing that kept him from finishing that high in points was the fact that West Ham simply were not very good in defence.
However, with a significant improvement made at goalkeeper in the shape of Lukasz Fabianski, they should see both an increase in clean sheets and a decrease in goals allowed. The Hammers have a difficult start to the season, but Cresswell will definitely be worth owning for stretches of this season
DEF: Patrick van Aanholt - Crystal Palace, £5.8m, owned in 6.02% of teams
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DEF: Charlie Daniels - Bournemouth, £5.7m, owned in 1.91% of teams
MID: Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Arsenal, £7.0m, owned in 6.39% of teams
Mkhitaryan didn’t exactly have the season he would have wanted last year, but still ended up with nine assists in just 20 starts. In fact, everyone who created more assists played at least 400 more minutes. Now with a full pre-season to build up a chemistry with strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, he could rack up even more creative statistics in 2018-19.
Unai Emery’s Paris Saint-Germain scored an incredible 108 goals last season and, if he can bring any decent percentage of that with him London, Arsenal and Mkhitaryan could be in for a very big season indeed.
MID: Diogo Jota - Wolverhampton, £6.2m, owned in 5.11% of teams
Discussed here.
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MID: Gylfi Sigurdsson - Everton, £6.7m, owned in 5.74% of teams
MID: Ryan Sessegnon - Fulham, £6.3m, owned in 18.65% of teams
Last season, Ryan Sessegnon had one of the best season's that the Championship has seen in quite some time. He racked up an incredible 16 goals and five assists while playing the majority of his matches at left-back. After the arrival of Matt Targett at Fulham, Sessegnon was given far more minutes as a winger which helped him rack up an impressive 179 touches in the box, third best in the league.
Obviously, his counting stats will regress some due to the quality of opposition but, at just £6.3m in the Goal game, Sessegnon looks a fantastic value and his current ownership certainly reflects that.
FOR: Christian Benteke - £6.9m, owned in 1.49% of teams
Discussed here.
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FOR: Richarlison - £6.9m, owned in 2.42% of teams
This one is obviously a gamble due to his late-season struggles, but the upside is certainly still there. He racked up an impressive five goals and eight assists in the first half of the season and then, when Marco Silva left, he did not contribute towards another goal for the rest of the season. Now, by joining Everton, he will be under the tutelage of the manager who got the most out of him last season.
There certainly are signs that he will get back to his best as well seeing as he managed to end the season with more touches in the box (143) than everyone aside from Sterling. The fact that he’s a midfielder listed as a forward does dent his value a little bit, but a Richarlison could yield significant returns for those that take the chance on him.
FOR: Aleksandar Mitrovic - £6.7m, owned in 4.5% of teams
