FPL managers are quite fond of their midfielders when it comes to the game.
They always chose players that are either on penalties, set pieces or are a pacy winger or even an attacking midfielder who plays just behind the striker, basically someone who can bag goals.
You see, midfielders in FPL have a major advantage over forwards as they receive an extra point as compared to forwards who only receive 4 points whereas, midfielders receive 5 points.
Due to this, it is most likely that players such as Saka, Mitoma and Rashford are likely to be in your FPL midfield or somebody like Mbeumo or Richarlison who are listed as MFs but play a lot more centrally (as a striker).
In this entire system Central defensive midfielders or CDMs are quite neglected, since their role on the pitch has a lot to do with ball retention, controlling the tempo of the game and providing defensive cover.
However, if there was a CDM who banged goals for fun, would you take the risk to add him in your team?
Such is the case for Manchester City’s Spanish Wizard, Rodri. He has been on an absolute tear this season as he has already bagged 2 goals and one assist in the league.
One of which came in clutch time as he obliterated one past Sheffield United’s goalkeeper Wes Foderingham’s net to make it 2-1 to the Cityzens in the 88th minute as they eventually went on to clinch the tie.
While it may seem like this is just a purple patch for the Spaniard, his underlying numbers tell a different story altogether.
Over the years, we have seen how important Rodri is for this Man City side.
He is one of those rare players who has unmatched contributions in all phases of play. Rodri has always stepped up on big occasions when his team can’t find a goal.
With KDB injured and Mahrez & Gundogan moving elsewhere, Man City has a huge void to fill as these 3 had over 50 G/A combined.
With a different Man City team this season, Rodri has had to take up extra responsibilities & contribute more going forward. He is also great threat in the air and can prove to contribute from set pieces as well.
Here’s what Rodri said about his new role. “Ilkay [Gundogan] and Kevin [De Bruyne] played much higher than me so I needed to cover them but now with Mateo Kovacic I can go forward more”.
Rodri has clearly been more involved in the attacking phase with no City player having more goal contributions than him this season.
Rodri also presents a significant threat from set pieces as well, while almost at zero rotation risk which makes him a value pick at 5.7M but it would be smarter to go for him in coming game weeks as City have a fairly comfortable run of games against the likes of West Ham and Fulham and Nottingham Forest.
