FPL bargains: The best cheap forwards, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
• 9 min read

The 2022-23 edition of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) has launched, with players able to select their 15-man squad, with a budget of £100m to spend ahead of the opening round of Premier League fixtures in the first weekend of August.

With big-name stars such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland expected to feature heavily in the ownership percentage, and therefore take up plenty of the available budget, bargains are crucial in order to stay with the allotted £100m.

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FootballTransfers list three of the best bargain options from each position in the game.

The most expensive FPL goalkeepers for 2022-23

The most expensive FPL defenders for 2022-23

The most expensive FPL midfielders for 2022-23

The most expensive FPL forwards for 2022-23

The best bargain goalkeepers

Name: Edouard Mendy

Team: Chelsea

Price: £5m

Edouard Mendy is priced just £0.5m less than the most expensive goalkeeper, but he could be a great bargain. Chelsea may have suffered defensively last season, but under Thomas Tuchel they’ve generally had a very solid backline and they’ve added Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, while Ben Chilwell has returned to fitness.

The Senegal international may be deemed slightly pricey, but he’s the same value as Nick Pope, Kasper Schmeichel and Lukasz Fabianski and has a far higher chance of scoring points.

Alisson, Ederson and Hugo Lloris are all priced at £5.5m, so Mendy is the cheapest of the first choice goalkeepers who finished in the top four last season.

Name: Jordan Pickford

Team: Everton

Price: £4.5m

Due to the way FPL works, Jordan Pickford is in a group of goalkeepers all priced at £4.5m that will play regularly. Essentially, he is the cheapest ‘playing goalkeeper.’ What that means is he will be his team’s number one throughout the season and is the joint-least expensive goalkeeper who will actually play regularly.

Due to Everton’s poor season last year, he’s been priced in the same category as the likes of Dean Henderson, Illan Meslier and Marek Rodak. Now, Frank Lampard managed to tune a resurgence out of the Toffees last campaign, which enabled them to beat the drop. With Richarlison gone, there may be a shift even further towards the defensive side of the game, which could see Pickford pick up some clean sheets.

Furthermore, Everton are likely to face plenty of shots, meaning Pickford is able to score save bonuses, and if they improve this season then more shut-outs are likely. Furthermore, of all the goalkeepers priced at £4.5m this year in FPL, he scored the second most points in 2021/22 with 116.

In addition to that, other than facing Chelsea in week one, Everton play Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Leeds in their opening five fixtures, which means he may be able to score a good haul of points early on.

Name: Robert Sanchez

Team: Brighton

Price: £4.5m

Just like Pickford, Brighton’s Robert Sanchez is the joint cheapest first choice goalkeeper in the 2022/23 iteration of FPL.

The Spaniard has been a stalwart under Graham Potter and has a great chance of impressive returns. Brighton have a very solid backline and rarely concede too many chances. While Pickford is the £4.5m goalkeeper who scored the second-most points last season, Sanchez topped him and is therefore a good bet to repeat the feat.

He also has a better chance of grabbing an assist than most goalkeepers with the way Brighton play and his excellent distribution.

The best bargain defenders

Name: Kyle Walker

Team: Man City

Price: £5m

Kyle Walker is only priced at £5m, which is £2m less than Joao Cancelo, £1m less than Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte, and £0.5m less than John Stones. As a result, he's potentially a very valuable Manchester City asset.

He may find himself rotated this season and isn’t as guaranteed a starting option as many of his team-mates, but Walker will still play fairly regularly, especially at the start of the season.

Man City are likely to keep plenty of clean sheets and while you can’t expect many attacking returns, Walker is a cheap way into the Man City defence, as long as he is still favoured by Pep Guardiola.

Name: Takehiro Tomiyasu

Team: Arsenal

Price: £4.5m

He was injured a little bit last year, but Takehiro Tomiyasu is a great way to put an Arsenal defender in your team while keeping cash saved for other areas, such as for a stellar forward.

Tomiyasu is a guaranteed starter, unlike Kieran Tierney at left-back, and has great clean sheet potential. He isn’t a particularly attacking full-back so grabbing assists and goals isn’t likely, but Arsenal are on the up and he is the same price as many defenders who play for far weaker teams.

Name: Neco Williams

Team: Nottingham Forest

Price: £4m

Due to starting the FPL game as a Liverpool player, Neco Williams is the joint- cheapest possible defender in the entire game, and that includes several players who simply won’t feature at all.

He’s moved to Nottingham Forest and will play every week with Djed Spence not returning to the City Ground after his loan spell last season. Williams was excellent at Fulham in the Championship last season, and will be playing as a wing-back in Steve Cooper’s system.

Therefore, he has great potential for attacking returns, especially as Nottingham Forest have signed Taiwo Awoniyi from Union Berlin, who will provide a physical threat in the box for Williams to aim for from crosses.

The aforementioned Spence bagged six goals and assists last year, while Williams notched four goals and assists playing as a right-back at Fulham in one third of the minutes Spence managed. At wing-back, even more attacking returns are possible.

Furthermore, he enables far more money to be spent in other positions, while clean sheet potential has been increased by the additions of Moussa Niakhate and Dean Henderson.

The best bargain midfielders

Name: Gabriel Martinelli

Team: Arsenal

Price: £6m

With Eddie Nketiah's new contract and the additions of Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira, along with the competition for places already at the club, Gabriel Martinelli is not a guaranteed starter at the Emirates, but he remains an excellent option in FPL.

Emile Smith Rowe may rotate with Martinelli off the left flank, but the Brazilian was favoured towards the end of last season and at £2m cheaper than Bukayo Saka, Arsenal's other winger, he is an excellent option in midfield.

He scored 110 points in FPL last season, and while that was less than Smith Rowe, who is also priced at £6m this year, he is likely to start the season in Mikel Arteta’s first choice starting XI. With five subs allowed in the Premier League, he’ll play most weeks even if he comes off the bench, providing the Brazilian will plenty of chances to grab a big haul of points.

Name: Pedro Neto

Team: Wolves

Price: £5.5m

Wolves have good fixtures to start the season, and Pedro Neto is arguably their most valuable asset at just £5.5m. The Portuguese star spent the majority of last season on the sidelines with a serious injury, but he’s now back to full fitness.

Wolves need to up their attacking threat, and Neto could play a pivotal part in a resurgence in the final third this year. He contributed 11 goals and assists in his last injury-free season, in 2020/21, and a similar output level could be expected this time around.

At £5.5m, he’s a great option and will feature in many teams.

Name: Andreas Pereira

Team: Fulham

Price: £4.5m

Andreas Pereira was never good enough for Manchester United, but it could be a different story at Fulham. He notched up five goals and assists for Flamengo last year and is expected to take Fabio Carvalho’s role at Craven Cottage in 2022/23.

With Aleksandar Mitrovic to supply, Pereira has the potential to grab plenty of assists, but the main reason he features in this list is because he’s the joint-cheapest midfielder in FPL.

Unlike most of the other £4.5m options, Pereira is expected to start regularly, and getting two points per game at a minimum wouldn’t be a surprise. He’s a great option for a fifth midfielder to allow bigger spending elsewhere.

The best bargain forwards

Name: Gabriel Jesus

Team: Arsenal

Price: £8m

Gabriel Jesus is the most expensive player in this list, but at £8m he is still a bargain given how much other forwards in the game cost - Haaland and Harry Kane are both £11.5m for example. The Brazilian will be a starter at Arsenal and will finally be given a run of games in the number nine position.

His underlying numbers at Man City were always impressive and with Arsenal’s attacking style, combined with the quality of players at the Emirates, Jesus could score a bucket-load.

He was priced at £8.5m last season, and he wasn’t even a guaranteed starter. Now given the role of main man at Arsenal, he could be brilliant and he’s started pre-season in excellent fashion.

Name: Taiwo Awoniyi

Team: Nottingham Forest

Price: £6m

Taiwo Awoniyi scored 15 goals for Union Berlin in the Bundesliga last season and will be given the responsibility to fire Nottingham Forest to survival this year. Steve Cooper needs a reliable goalscorer to pai with Brennan Johnson and they’ve found their man in Awoniyi.

With Neco Williams and Omar Richards on either side as wing-backs, Awoniyi will receive plenty of service and could hit the ground running in the Premier League. At £6m, he’s one of the cheapest forwards who will play week-in, week-out.

Name: Deniz Undav

Team: Brighton

Price: £5.5m

The final player on this list is a slight risk due to the presence of both Neal Maupay and Danny Welbeck, as well as fellow summer acquisition Julio Enciso, but Deniz Undav could become Graham Potter’s go-to man up front.

He is £0.5m cheaper than both Maupay and Welbeck, and he scored 27 goals and assisted a further 13 for Union Saint Gilloise last season. Brighton create so many chances under Potter but have always lacked a real goal-scorer - Undav could be the man they’ve been crying out for.