Home or Away? The Top 10 FPL Midfielders

It's crunch time in the Fantasy Premier League. Fixtures for the elusive Double Gameweeks are slowly being added to the FPL website, and many patient managers who have endured the winter months are heavily considering playing chips and the second wildcard for a points boost when the right time arises. With many changes abound, we evaluate the top 10 midfielders heading GW31, and ask the simple question... Do they produce better fantasy returns at home or away? Tricky fixtures for the likes of favourites Mesut Ozil, Roberto Firmino, and Dimitri Payet to name a few, have had us call into question whether or not we need to worry about these popular selections heading into this week and the future.

The simple question...

Requires the simple answer. We've looked just at overall points tallies from home and away fixtures running up until GW30, and after tapping away with a calculator have unearthered whether players are more effective from a fantasy standpoint in front of their own fans, or if they're more likely to turn on the style at rival grounds.

Mahrez's best home days...

GW1 (Sunderland, home): 15pts

GW3 (Spurs, home): 10pts

GW5 (Aston Villa, home): 11pts

GW10 (Crystal Palace, home): 6pts

GW16 (Chelsea, home): 13pts

GW23 (Stoke, home): 6pts

GW24 (Liverpool, home): 6pts

GW28 (West Brom, home): 6pts

Mahrez’s best away days… GW2 (West Ham, away): 10pts GW6 (Stoke, away): 11pts GW11 (West Brom, away): 15pts GW15 (Swansea, away): 21pts GW17 (Everton, away): 15pts GW25 (Man City, away): 14pts GW29 (Watford, away): 11pts

Mahrez vs. ‘Top 4’ GW7 (Arsenal, home): 2pts GW14 (Man United, home): 2pts GW16 (Chelsea, home): 13pts GW19 (Man City, home): 3pts GW25 (Man City, away): 14pts GW26 (Arsenal, away): 1pt Total: 35pts

Ozil’s best away days… GW9 (Watford, away): 12pts GW11 (Swansea, away): 10pts GW14 (Norwich, away): 10pts GW25 (Bournemouth, away): 10pts GW27 (Man United, away): 10pts

Ozil vs. ‘Top 4’ GW6 (Chelsea, away): 2pts GW8 (Man United, home): 13pts GW17 (Man City, home): 11pts GW23 (Chelsea, home): 2pts GW27 (Man United, away): 10pts Total: 38pts

Payet's best home days...

GW2 (Leicester, home): 9pts

GW7 (Norwich, home): 7pts

GW10 (Chelsea, home): 5pts

GW28 (Spurs, home): 6pts

Payet’s best away days… GW8 (Sunderland, away): 10pts GW21 (Bournemouth, away): 11pts GW26 (Norwich, away): 13pts GW29 (Everton, away): 13pts

Payet vs. ‘Top 4’ GW1 (Arsenal, away): 6pts GW6 (Man City, away): 5pts GW10 (Chelsea, home): 5pts GW15 (Man United, away): Didn’t play GW23 (Man City, home): 2pts Total: 18pts

Firmino's best home days...

GW18 (Leicester, home): 8pts

GW21 (Arsenal, home): 13pts

GW25 (Sunderland, home): 13pts

GW28 (Man City, home): 12pts

Firmino’s best away days… GW11 (Chelsea, away): 5pts GW13 (Man City, away): 15pts GW23 (Norwich, away): 18pts GW26 (Aston Villa, away): 6pts GW29 (Crystal Palace, away): 9pts

Firmino vs. ‘Top 4’ GW3 (Arsenal, away): 3pts GW5 (Man United, away): 2pts GW11 (Chelsea, away): 5pts GW13 (Man City, away): 15pts GW21 (Arsenal, home): 13pts GW22 (Man United, home): 2pts GW28 (Man City, home): 12pts Total: 52pts

Marko’s best home days… GW12 (Chelsea, home): 9pts GW15 (Man City, home): 16pts GW 18 (Man United, home): 8pts GW27 (Aston Villa, home): 15pts GW30 (Southampton, home): 9pts

Marko’s best away days… GW2 (Spurs, away): 10pts GW8 (Aston Villa, away): 9pts GW19 (Everton, away): 12pts

Marko vs. ‘Top 4’ GW5 (Arsenal, away): 2pts GW12 (Chelsea, home): 9pts GW15 (Man City, home): 16pts GW 18 (Man United, home): 8pts GW22 (Arsenal, home): 3pts GW24 (Man United, away): 2pts GW29 (Chelsea, home): 2pts Total: 42pts

Notes on Alli • Dele Alli has scored 7 BPL goals this season, but only has been at home. GW11’s home goal against bottom club Aston Villa is the solitary home goal.

• Like with Alli’s goals, most of the assists are away from the Lane. Alli has only registered 4 of his 11 assists at home.

• The English midfielder has only missed 2 games all season (GW2 & GW14).

• Alli has completed the full 90 minutes on 11 occasions this season. Alli’s either been subbed, or come on as a sub in 17/30 of his games.

Alli’s best home days… GW11 (Aston Villa, home): 10pts GW13 (West Ham, home): 5pts GW18 (Norwich, home): 6pts GW25 (Watford, home): 4pts GW29 (Arsenal, home): 5pts

Alli’s best away days… GW3 (Leicester, away): 6pts GW8 (Swansea, away): 9pts GW15 (West Brom, away): 9pts GW17 (Southampton, away): 12pts GW20 (Everton, away): 8pts GW23 (Crystal Palace, away): 13pts GW24 (Norwich, away): 10pts GW30 (Aston Villa, away): 9pts

Notes on Barkley

• Despite being in the Dream Team of midfielders, Barkley has only managed returns in 3 games this season. He’s blanked in the remaining 20 games.

• Barkley has managed 4 double digit weeks in the FPL: GWs 2, 14, 15, 24

Barkley’s best home days… GW1 (Watford, home): 9pts GW5 (Chelsea, home): 9pts GW13 (Aston Villa, home): 19pts GW17 (Leicester, home): 9pts GW19 (Stoke, home): 5pts GW24 (Newcastle, home): 16pts

Barkley’s best away days… GW2 (Southampton, away): 11pts GW10 (Arsenal, away): 7pts GW14 (Bournemouth, away): 13pts

Gini’s best home days… GW1 (Southampton, home): 7pts GW7 (Chelsea, home): 8pts GW9 (Norwich, home): 25pts GW15 (Liverpool, home): 14pts GW21 (Man United, home): 8pts GW22 (West Ham, home): 13pts

Gini’s only away days… GW8 (Man City, away): 5pts GW12 (Bournemouth, away): 6pts

Siggy’s best home days… GW4 (Man United, home): 4pts GW21 (Sunderland, home): 7pts GW25 (Crystal Palace, home): 10pts GW29 (Norwich, home): 10pts

Siggy’s best away days… GW7 (Southampton, away): 8pts GW10 (Aston Villa, away): 10pts GW20 (Man United, away): 8pts GW23 (Everton, away): 8pts GW24 (West Brom, away): 10pts GW30 (Bournemouth, away): 9pts

Eriksen’s best home days… GW2 (Stoke, home): 8pts GW13 (West Ham, home): 10pts GW16 (Newcastle, home): 5pts GW22 (Sunderland, home): 15pts

Eriksen’s best away days… GW8 (Bournemouth, away): 15pts GW23 (Crystal Palace, away): 7pts GW24 (Norwich, away): 11pts GW26 (Man City, away): 10pts

Verdict

The process of thinking with a lot of fantasy managers, in regards to advantages for a new Gameweek, is looking at home fixtures. However, top performers in midfield have prospered on the road more than they have in front of their own fans. Here's a quick recap of the top 10 midfielders that were profiled in this article.

Riyad Mahrez (away)

Mesut Ozil (away)

Dimitri Payet (away)

Roberto Firmino (away)

Marko Arnautovic (home)

Dele Alli (away)

Ross Barkley (home)

Gini Wijnaldum (home)

Gylfi Sigurdsson (away)

Christian Eriksen (home)

The big players in question - Mahrez, Ozil, Payet, and Firmino - are all playing away from home for GW31. All have superior FPL points tallies away from their home grounds. If you're in doubt about playing them, don't be. If anything, if you've to rotate your team, Dele Alli, based purely off his returns at White Hart Lane, should be the culprit on your bench for the weekend. Saying that, we're pretty sure we've jinxed a treble from the new English international. On top of everything, will you have the nerve to drop Mahrez for GW34, making way for a midfielder playing twice? Long term owners might not be able to afford him.

All aboard.