FPL 2025-26 Season Preview: Best Midfielder Picks and Fantasy Tips

August 5, 2025

Adewale (The FPL Manual) previews the best midfielders to pick in your FPL fantasy team for the 2025-26 English Premier League season.

Hello, Rotoballers! Welcome to our third fantasy football article for the 2025-2026 Fantasy Premier League season. We are less than two weeks away from the start of a new campaign; however, which star players can we expect to have in our midfield?

Our preseason article series continues with a positional preview of the top attacking and defensive midfield players to help you garner points this season. We will analyze these assets using key statistics from the previous year, as we aim to capitalize on the latest defensive contribution modifications to the bonus points system.

The Gameweek 1 deadline for the 2025-26 Fantasy Premier League season is Friday, August 15, at 1:30 p.m. EDT, when Liverpool hosts AFC Bournemouth. Check out the rest of our excellent soccer coverage as the squad gets you all set for every EPL and UCL slate with our EPL DFS lineup picks and betting picks.

Unlocking your FPL Midfield Dominance

The midfield is a key component of any football team, with different players assigned different roles, such as providing creative support for the forwards, scoring goals or being a defensive anchorman to stop the opposition.

From a fantasy standpoint, selecting the right midfield is crucial to staying ahead in your mini-leagues, as midfielders get one point more than forwards for goals scored, additionally earning one point for a clean sheet.

To gain control of your midfield next season, let's carefully assess the best midfield picks you need in your FPL team based on the following categories:

• Best of The Premiums: Talisman Factor
• Mastering the Bonus Point System: Defensive Contribution Impact
• The Impact of New Signings

Best of The Premiums: Talisman Factor

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah set an FPL record with  344 points last season, while former Brentford player Bryan Mbuemo and Cole Palmer both crossed 200 points in the 2024-25 season. It is reasonable to say that we have a lot of quality midfield assets to bank on for the upcoming season.

Will any of last season's top scorers make your squad for Gameweek 1? 🤔#FPL pic.twitter.com/EmrJvgovvH

— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) July 21, 2025

However, is a premium asset only determined by their price tag (£9m and above) or by their talismanic influence in a team? To avoid bias in our midfield selections, we need to crunch the numbers and find an answer to this question.

Below is a sample size of FPL midfielders who earned at least 150 points in the previous year, highlighting their goal contributions and overall bonus points.

Note: Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford to Man United) and Anthony Elanga (Nottingham Forest to Newcastle United) have moved to new teams.

Table Summary: From the obtained data, there is clearly one name that stands out—Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian King had 47 goal contributions in the Premier League, earning him 55 bonus points. He is surely a long-term season hold for the 2025-26 season.

Mohamed Salah is the only player to score 20+ goals and provide 10+ assists in three different Premier League seasons.

◉ 2017/18 (⚽32 🅰️10)
◉ 2021/22 (⚽23 🅰️13)
◉ 2024/25 (⚽29 🅰️18)

Can he do it again in 2025/26? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/sEocL6Mmzw

— Squawka (@Squawka) August 1, 2025

One interesting outlier we must highlight was the emergence of midfielders within the £5.0m - £6.5m bracket. For instance, Morgan Rogers, Aston Villa's breakout player of the season, made 19 goal contributions and was only one shy of Man United skipper Bruno Fernandes (20), who was £3.5m more expensive.

The role of a talisman in a team ought not to be overlooked. Therefore, whatever the price bracket, FPL managers should pay particular attention to midfield assets that are key contributors for their respective clubs in both easy and difficult games.

Bonus Point System: Defensive Contribution Impact

In the 2025-26 season, every 12 defensive contributions garnered in a single match by a midfielder will earn two points. To this end, clearances, blocks, interceptions, tackles, and recoveries (CBITRs), now tagged as "DefCon," have become a recurring topic in the FPL community.

To this end, selecting a DefCon-minded player as your fifth midfielder could be a crucial factor in gaining points, especially in the tough matchups. Below is a list of the top midfielders who had the most defensive contributions in the previous season.

Among midfielders, Everton's Idris Gana Gueye completed the most tackles (80), Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch made the most interceptions (62), and West Ham's Tomáš Souček was top for blocks (21).

However, the fastest way to gain CBITRs for a midfielder is through ball recoveries. Chelsea's Moises Caicedo ranked first for possessions won (229), followed by Man United's Bruno Fernandes, Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson, Wolves' Joao Gomes, and Brighton's Carlos Baleba, who finished in the top five.

Although not every possession won directly translates into a ball recovery. It's worth noting the top five midfield assets most likely to be involved in one. One midfield asset we're monitoring for CBITRs this season is Tottenham's new signing, Joao Palhinha, who is expected to be Spurs' anchorman.

Warrior 💪 pic.twitter.com/2MO0NyG92x

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 3, 2025

The Impact of New Signings

The summer window has been quite active, as we've seen Mohammed Kudus join Tottenham, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo join Man United, and newly promoted Sunderland get in Granit Xhaka to bolster their midfield.

New season ✅
New club ✅
New position ✅

Will Matheus be in your @OfficialFPL team this year? 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/1Mrb5Hts8y

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 21, 2025

It is fair to state that how the top EPL clubs do business indirectly has an impact on how FPL managers select their top midfield picks. The question that comes to mind is, who are the most promising new additions to keep an eye out for, and how many of these players should we include in our Gameweek 1 roster?

Two new arrivals who could have an immediate impact in their debut season are:

Florian Wirtz (£8.5m) - Liverpool

Liverpool has employed the services of a promising player in Florian Wirtz. The German midfielder is coming off a strong campaign in the UEFA Champions League, where he earned the Player of the Match five times.

Wirtz made 22 goal contributions for Bayer Leverkusen in the 2024-25 Bundesliga season and is a versatile player who can play anywhere in the attack. The 22-year-old is priced at £8.5m and is one player to consider for your FPL team as Liverpool prepares for a title defense this season.

Introducing our new Red 🔴 pic.twitter.com/tvga353tGz

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) June 20, 2025

Jhon Arias (£5.5m) - Wolves

After impressing at the FIFA Club World Cup, Jhon Arias joins Wolves from Fluminense to help rejuvenate the Old Gold's attack. The Colombian international is a threat from set pieces and will be tasked with being the creative maestro for Wolverhampton.

Arias, priced at £5.5m, could be a solid differential pick this season and a promising prospect to hit 150 FPL points by the end of the 2025-26 season.

We’ve got a new 🔟 in the building 🇨🇴

Welcome to the pack, @jhonariasa 🐺

— Wolves (@Wolves) July 24, 2025

How many of these players should we include in our Gameweek 1 squad?

With fresh arrivals, it is unclear how soon these players will adapt or fit into the new system. It could be worth the risk selecting numerous new signings in your FPL team; however, fantasy managers are advised to only select one new signing, most likely with a favorable set of fixtures for the first few weeks.

As the season progresses, we'll learn about how these midfielders create, score, and contribute defensively, and when to bring them into our teams to gain FPL points.

Join the RotoBaller FPL League

Fancy pitting your wits against fellow RotoBallers? Then, join our free league to compete against the team and our dedicated FPL fans. Head to the official FPL site, click the leagues and cups tab, and enter the RotoBaller league code: 7xqqnf.

The best way to enjoy #FPL is to play with those closest to you 🫶

Personalise and share this with your friends and family to get them involved in your mini-league 📲 pic.twitter.com/z55KsOvkmQ

— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) July 29, 2025

Stick around for more 2025-26 Fantasy Premier League content coming soon. Hit us up on X @RotoBaller. We would love to hear your feedback and ideas!