There is a major shift now taking place in the squads of many Fantasy managers. Many have even pressed that wild card button.
It is all team dependent of course and indeed there is an opportunity to be had with the influx of midfielders already this season.
The act of selection of the right midfielders is directly proportional to transferring out players who are already in the squad and might have returned points as well.
Kaoru Mitoma already has a goal and an assist in the first two games. That is more than a decent enough return for a six-and-a-half million midfielder.
In seasons gone by, he would have been an absolute hot property in every manager’s squad. Which he kind of is, one supposes.
At the time of writing, Mitoma sits in 42.5% of the total squads in FPL. He is the second most popular asset from the Seagulls, after Estupinan.
The initial popular narrative at the start of the campaign owing to the fixtures was to have Brighton assets for the first three relatively easy fixtures, after the completion of game week three to let those assets go.
The time has come then, to put action to words of that plan. Should that plan still be followed?
Outside of their defeat against West Ham, Brighton’s assets have largely returned well. Mitoma had an eleven-point return in game week two.
He sits eighth on the xGi table of midfielders behind Mo Salah, with an xGi of 0.78. This is a pretty good statistic showcasing, that Mitoma has every chance to continue his form.
Brighton has the toughest fixtures, and Europa League
The problem lies in fixtures and competition. Brighton plays, Newcastle at home next, followed by Manchester United away, Bournemouth at home, Villa away, Liverpool at home, Manchester City away. It does not get much tougher than this.
Their only good fixture in this run, Bournemouth at home, comes in the week when Brighton will start their Europa League campaign days before.
There is every chance for players like Mitoma to be benched by the De Zerbi roulette.
Hell, he has already made goalkeepers a non-option in FPL, with his latest statements in the press conference.
Influx of midfielders competing for five spots
While there is every chance as mentioned, even with the hard fixtures, Mitoma might have returned every other match, other players like Maddison, Sterling, or Foden, have all incredibly good fixtures in the same period.
They are in all honesty, better players at the moment, and playing for better teams, at least on paper. Brighton fans will disagree on that.
It is hard to see Mitoma, matching or outscoring the midfielders who will be vying for the same spots in FPL squads, also there is Europa League for the first time in Brighton’s history, and there needs to be seen how that campaign affects them.
Mitoma, then, might be a hard sale, but he is a sale.
