The Premier League season is just past the halfway point and in the second part of this series, the numbers of various midfielders is compared for the season so far to determine the best picks going forward.

Premium options: £8.0m and over

With only four midfielders above £9.0m, the criteria for 'Premium' midfielders is widened to include the £8.0m bracket. As the above image from our Stats Sandbox feature shows, Salah is significantly ahead of the competition with an xFPL score of 160.91. Son (119.86), Saka (114.80) and Bowen (102.60) are all bunched together and B. Fernandes has been one of the biggest underperformers with an xFPL score of 98.49 but just 70 FPL points.

Foden (96.47) has performed in line with his FPL returns (98) while Ødegaard (86.65) has struggled to replicate his exploits from last season.

Looking at shot volume, Salah (65) is obviously ahead, but Saka (51) really should have scored more goals than just the six. He is struggling to justify his price tag currently with the cheaper options performing much better. Bowen (11) has scored nearly double with the same number of shots. Foden's 'Expected Goals' (xG) (4.90) numbers are quite low which indicate most of his shots are speculative.

When it comes to creativity, B. Fernandes (55) has created the more chances but has notched just three assists. Saka and Salah (eight) are joint-top for that metric with the Egyptian significantly ahead for 'Expected Assists' (xA) (9.25). Foden is fifth for both chances created (42) and xA (4.75).

Mid-Priced and Budget options: Under £8.0m

As the above image from our Stats Sandbox feature shows, D. Luiz (99.92), Palmer (98.28) and Gordon (95.97) are posting numbers that rival that of the premium midfielders. Eze and Gordon (44 each) are top for shots in this price bracket with Richarlison's (41) numbers also impressive considering he has played just 1010 minutes. The Brazilian international (seven) trails just Palmer (nine) and Hee Chan (10) for goals and is fourth for xG (6.33) despite not taking any penalties so far.

Gross (50) is top for chances created but is only 11th for xA (3.83) having created only four 'big chances' all season. Kulusevski (5.47) is top for xA (5.47) but has bagged just two assists from 42 chances created and nine BC created. Gordon is fifth for xA (4.78) which underlines why he is such a good FPL asset with many routes to points. Andreas is going under the radar with the 28-year-old third for chances created (40).

Who has the best Fixtures?

As the above image from our Fixture Planner shows, Man. City are top for 'Attack Difficulty' over the next six Gameweeks with their Double Gameweek in 25 now confirmed. Foden looks a great pick from their midfield with the fit again De Bruyne also on FPL managers' wishlist.

Liverpool's fixture run also looks great, the extent of Salah's injury woes is currently unknown so Jota could be a great pick to capitalise in the short term. Villa's run also improves and D. Luiz can always be relied upon to deliver points, especially in home matches. Eze should also be a consideration with Palace playing Sheff. Utd. next. Newcastle's run improves from Gameweek 23 on and Gordon is still a great budget pick.

What do the Projections say?

As the above image from our Player Points Projections feature shows, with Salah and Son currently available and De Bruyne just making his way back from injury, the top 10 projected midfielders feature only four picks (Foden, Saka, Ødegaard and Bowen) from the 'Premium' bracket.

Richarlison (25.5) looks a top pick with Bailey (26.2) also worth considering ahead of Villa's good run. Olise's (29.4) injury is also worth monitoring with the winger expected back by the end of January. Bernardo (25.3) and Grealish (25.3) both look worse picks than Foden.