In Fantasy Premier League, you need goals and assists from your forwards to earn points. That’s what forwards are supposed to do. And because of that, looking for more than one budget forward might not be a good idea.
In other positions except for the goalkeeper, it is compulsory to transfer in 5 players which makes it absolutely necessary to sign budget defenders and budget midfielders for your team to maintain a balanced squad of 15 players within a £100m budget.
But in the forward line, there are only 3 players to be signed, so we must transfer in at least 2 proven goalscorers (I suggest Isak and Haaland).
As for the third player, there is room for making a budget signing, but to fulfill the role expected of a forward player, I have increased the minimum value of the budget forward from £5m to £7.5m. This ensures that the third player you choose is well capable of scoring goals.
Below is a list of FPL Budget Forwards that I would like you to consider for your teams:
1. Julián Álvarez (Manchester City)
- FPL Price: £6.8m
FPL managers who are not transferring Álvarez into their teams have one big concern: Guardiola might shuffle the starting 11, and Álvarez could come off the bench.
That should not be a worry at the moment!
Álvarez is currently starting every game and is contributing much more than just scoring goals and providing assists.
When a player is in this kind of form and contributes significantly to the team, no manager would be foolish enough to bench him.
Another thing is that City are not playing multiple games in a week. The season is still in its early stages, so there isn’t much need to rest players or protect them.
I’m suggesting Álvarez as the number 1 priority budget forward for now because he ticks all the boxes: he plays for the top attacking side Manchester City, gets full game minutes, and performs well.
Even last season, when he came off the bench, it was usually around the 60th minute. His 30 minutes on the pitch are often more valuable than 90 minutes for most other forwards in the league who play for average sides.
2. Alexander Isak (Newcastle United)
- FPL Price: £7.5m
Starting from last season, Newcastle United has become a much more balanced side, both in defense and going forward.
Their performance till now has been a huge setback in the ongoing season, but if you look at their upcoming fixtures, there are too many low-difficulty games until game week 19.
If you don’t follow the crowd in transferring out the Newcastle United assets, you potentially have an advantage over many managers, both in your private leagues and in the global league.
I think it’s high time to start transferring in Newcastle United players because their team is quite strong, despite the poor performance in the opening four games.
I have this bold prediction that Isak will be the second-highest scorer in the league this season, just after Haaland.
Even if that prediction goes wrong, 7.5m in FPL is a very budget-friendly price for a player like Isak, making him my second priority among budget forwards.
You can even include both him and Álvarez in your teams!
Check out Alexander Isak’s best moments so far in the video below:
3. Evan Ferguson (Brighton)
- FPL Price: £6.0m
Ferguson is the most exciting budget forward to watch this season. Towards the end of the last season, he had a fantastic but short period of excellent play.
He scored 6 goals and provided 2 assists in just 942 minutes on the pitch. These numbers are truly impressive and shouldn’t be overlooked.
A lot of his performances will depend on which Brighton shows up to the games and whether he will get regular minutes or not.
At times, Brighton seems like the most attacking side in the league with attack coming from left right and center.
They are at times a super exciting team to watch that can score 5 or more goals even against the likes of top teams like Liverpool.
So it’s not just about Ferguson. You need to be clever on when to use Brighton assets in your team! and it’s the same about having Newcastle United and Arsenal main players in your team.
4. Taiwo Awoniyi
- FPL Price: £6.6m
Awoniyi is in red-hot form, providing attacking returns to FPL managers in every game.
His current form is a continuation of his performances from the end of last season, where he scored 10 goals and provided an assist in just 1,395 minutes.
His current ownership is also only 4.7%, making him a very good option if you want to stand out from other FPL managers.
But I personally won’t consider him for my team just yet because Nottingham Forest is not an overall strong team, and Awoniyi would need to do something incredible to convince me to sign him.
For now, I’ll go with the safer options of Álvarez or Isak or both.
5. Yoane Wissa (Brentford)
- FPL Price: £5.9m
No one has any idea where Brentford is headed in the ongoing season or how good their forward Yoane Wissa can be.
He could either be a total bargain or the worst signing of the season. The range spans from 0 to 10.
However, I am expecting him to emerge as one of the top budget forwards due to his performances in limited time last season.
He’s a player who goes in and out of the starting lineup, not guaranteed to start every game, but he’s currently in top form, and Brentford’s upcoming fixtures are also favorable.
Considering his very low price, there’s no harm in including Yoane Wissa in your teams for now.
6. Darwin Núñez (Liverpool)
- FPL Price: £7.4m
Núñez last season said something like, ‘Judge me based on my 2nd season performance.
I can’t find any direct reference to it, but this ongoing season marks his 2nd with Liverpool :D, so let’s see how well he lives up to that claim and the hype created on the day Liverpool signed him for a €75 million fee plus €25 million in add-ons.
So far, he has been an in and out striker, getting minutes mostly from the bench.
Instead of signing him now, it would be much better to add him to the watchlist and wait for a time when he will receive significant minutes.
Currently, Diaz is playing as a forward, and Gakpo is sharing minutes with Núñez. Let’s see who gets more playing time more often.
You have other good options to choose from, as listed above, so it’s better not to sign a Liverpool forward just yet.
7. João Pedro (Brighton)
- FPL Price: £5.3m
João Pedro took on penalty duties during the pre-season for Brighton, converting 2 from the spot.
If he secures a starting position for Brighton, which seems a bit unlikely after Ferguson’s hat trick, that £5.3m price could prove to be an incredible bargain.
The only big concern is whether he will be a starter and get regular minutes. FPL managers seem to think so, as he is selected by more than 14.6% of teams. However, I’m personally not investing in him.
Best 4.5 Striker in FPL
Antoine Semenyo appears to be the best 4.5 striker in FPL. He gets minutes in every game, even though he isn’t a guaranteed starter!
Apart from him, there aren’t many 4.5 strikers in FPL likely to receive good minutes.
That’s all in FPL Budget Forwards. We will keep updating the list throughout the season.
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