Arsenal returnee a potential Fantasy Premier League steal
To round off our Fantasy Premier League bargain buys series we take a dive into five strikers who could deliver the points for a little amount of cash next season.
First up we have Yoane Wissa of Brentford. As we covered with Bryan Mbeumo earlier in the series, Brentford will be looking for goals in the absence of Ivan Toney this season and Yoane Wissa is one of the outlets in which they could come from.
The frontman scored seven goals and provided three assists last season and featured in every single game for Brentford making 16 starts. The Bees created the seventh highest amount of big chances in the league and you’d think a large portion will be falling to the likes of Wissa in Toney’s absence.
Last season he returned a total of 111 points in the Fantasy Premier League and at just £6.0, making him the cheapest Striker in last year’s top10, he could be an absolute bargain if he delivers next season.
Taiwo Awoniyi scored 110 fantasy points last season which is a decent return give he only made 17 starts for Nottingham Forest. He ended the season as Forest’s top scorer with ten goals and also added one assist to Steve Cooper’s side.
Nottingham Forest have a lot to thank Awoniyi for last season and arguably his goals are one of the main reasons behind their survival with almost half of their points coming in games in which Awoniyi was involved in a goal.
He also ended the season on a high with six goals in his last four matches. If he can pick up where he left off then he is definitely worth a shout to lead the line for any fantasy side.
An interesting player to consider is Folarin Balogun. He had an absolute field day in Ligue 1 last season. He bagged a total of 21 goals, the fourth highest tally in the league, and provided two assists. He had the third highest xG of any player in Europe’s top five leagues last season (25.0), with only Erling Haaland (30.6) and Robert Lewandowski (25.3) ahead of his total.
He’s returning back to Arsenal but his future is still to be confirmed. It remains to be seen as to whether Arsenal will utilise him or if they will look to sell him on. They’re looking for a fee of £50m which might make him an option for West Ham and their Declan Rice money. If he does get a Premier League move then he will be an absolute steal at £4.5 and if he doesn’t and sits on the bench then he frees up some budget for elsewhere in the squad. It’s a win-win.
📊 Only Erling Haaland (30.6) and Robert Lewandowski (25.3) had higher xG than Folarin Balogun (25.0) in Europe's top 5 leagues last season pic.twitter.com/idTKWLa0Ya
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 8, 2023
Brighton had a stellar season in Roberto De Zerbi’s first campaign in charge qualifying for Europe for the first time in the clubs history. Evan Ferguson more than chipped in to the success with six goals and two assists in his 19 appearances for the Seagulls, scoring every 159 minutes.
The 18-year-old has proven he has bags of potential and with last season under his belt you’d back him to kick on. He also looked in good shape in the most recent international break finding the net against Gibraltar in Ireland’s 3-0 victory and providing an assist in their 2-1 defeat to Greece.
At £6.5 Dominic Solanke looks decent value. The Bournemouth striker scored a total of six goals and provided seven assists. Not only that, but he also returned 130 points in the Fantasy Premier League last season a total which puts him behind five others.
Solanke was a pivotal player in securing The Cherries’ Premier League status and he finished the season as their second highest rated player (min 25 apps), with a rating of 6.79. He will likely be their main man again next season so could be worth one of the three striker spots.
