Best premium Fantasy Premier League players ranked: Haaland, Salah, more

In Fantasy Premier League ‘premium’ (or, to put it more bluntly, expensive) players are going to be the lifeblood of your team, earning a huge chunk of your points each week and performing well regardless of fixture. Here are all the premium FPL options ranked for the 2023/24 season.

This season, there is a lot of variation in how players plan to tackle their premium options. Some are opting for just one, with some solid choices in the mid-range prices of 6.0-9.0 (depending on position), while others want to pack in as many as possible and worry about the logistics of it later.

Whether you want to go all-out with three premium options or go more reserved with just one or two, here are our recommendations.

Bear in mind that these are based on the teams they play for, points in previous seasons, and their overall stats, for any player priced particularly handsomely — of which there are very few this season. Here are the players included:

• Trent Alexander-Arnold (8.0, Liverpool)
• Mohamed Salah (12.5, Liverpool)
• Kevin De Bruyne (10.5, Manchester City)
• Erling Haaland (14.0, Manchester City)
• Harry Kane (12.5, Tottenham)

Premium FPL players ranked

Here’s how we rank the five players above in terms of importance for having in your FPL team this season:

5. Trent Alexander-Arnold

Trent is still down as a defender in FPL, at the dizzying cost of 8.0. Common advice in recent seasons has been to simply look at him as a midfielder, which is fair enough, but Liverpool have a tough run of opening fixtures that includes Chelsea (A), Newcastle (A), Tottenham (A), and Brighton (A).

While Trent is no doubt a valuable FPL asset, this — partnered with Liverpool’s signing of Szoboszlai, which could affect his output down the right side of the pitch — means downgrading to more affordable options could allow you to do more damage with saved cash. By downgrading from Trent to Shaw, for example, you have a spare 2.5 to upgrade a midfielder or forward, after which the combined points could be far more beneficial.

4. Kevin De Bruyne

At 10.5, KDB could prove to be a fantastic asset in FPL this season. There have been question marks over his availability following injury at the start of the 2023/24 season, but his cameo in Manchester City’s Community Shield loss against Arsenal may have hinted towards De Bruyne getting back to his regular starting role for the start of the season.

If you’re not willing to take that risk, someone like Foden (7.5) could be a steal, but we could very well see De Bruyne become a vital asset once he is back to full fitness.

3. Harry Kane

Kane is fixture-proof in every sense of the word and had the second-highest points-per-game in 2022/23 with 6.9. He would be a great pick for most fantasy teams, depending on the players you surround him with.

However, he is not rated higher due to some of the other options in the Spurs side that could also be points magnets, and for cheaper. Son (9.0) and Maddison (7.5) offer far more affordable entries into the Spurs offence, which could free up funds across the rest of the pitch.

2. Mo Salah

Salah is one of the best fantasy assets in the game, even when he’s having an off-season. We would consider him and Kane on very level pegging in terms of how essential they are this time out, even having fairly similar fixture difficulties, but Salah gets the nod over Kane because there aren’t as many nailed-on slots in the Liverpool front line.

While Salah is expected to play 90 minutes most weeks, it’s hard to gauge who Klopp would like to play alongside him between Jota (8.0), Diaz (7.5), Darwin (7.5), and Gakpo (7.5). If one of those players become clear-cut starters with minimal rotation, there could be a migration away from Salah and on to one of them to save money.

It’s worth noting, however, that Salah has averaged over 13 points in GW1 over the last six seasons, and this year he follows that up with a GW2 visit from Bournemouth. He could even steal the captaincy away from Haaland that week.

1. Erling Haaland

No surprises here — Haaland is an absolute essential and should be the first name in your team. He got a price hike to 14.0 this season but, truthfully, even at 16.0 or higher he’d be a very hard player to turn away. You simply have to fit him in.

With 1.09 xGI last season — on top of, obviously, breaking the Premier League single-season goalscoring record with 36, and 12 more in the Champions League — it’s hard to imagine Haaland or City slowing down at all in 2023/24.

Check out some of our other FPL guides to make sure you’re ready to tackle the season:

Best FPL tips this Gameweek | Top 3 must-have FPL players from each team | Best budget defenders | Best budget midfielders | Best cheap forwards | Best FPL team names | Best FPL team according to AI | Best premium FPL players ranked | All FPL position changes this season | Best promoted players | Best underpriced players | Best new signings for FPL | Top FPL trap players to avoid