The 2022/23 English Premier League season is ending. After a thrilling title race, it looks as though Manchester City will survive the challenge posed to them by Arsenal’s upstart young gunners and secure a fifth league crown in the last six years. Pep Guardiola’s side are currently a point clear of their rivals from North London with a game in hand and just a handful of games remaining.
The Citizens are also eyeing up just a second-ever treble in the history of English football. The only team to have successfully secured the Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League is City’s arch-rivals Manchester United, who still sing about the memorable achievement 24 years on. Websites such as Bovada ensure that you can bet on cricket, football, horse racing, tennis, and a whole host of other sports, and they have priced The Blues as short as 11/10 (+110) to complete the treble this term.
Courtesy of Arsenal and Manchester City’s titanic title battle, players from those two clubs have dominated the fantasy football landscape in the Premier League this term. Players such as Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Martin Ødegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli are topping the charts so far this term. But every year, fantasy football fanatics always make the same mistakes.
We add in the likes of those four, as well as Liverpool stars such as Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Allison. But then, what’s left of the budget? Next to nothing.
As such, we always need those budget players to flesh out our squads. And here are three players that we should pay plenty of attention to for the remainder of the current season and the beginning of next.
Dan Burn
Has there been a finer sight in the Premier League this season than watching Dan Burn gallop down the left-hand touchline like an excited giraffe? We challenge you to find one. Admittedly, standing at 6’6, the former Brighton man isn’t your conventional left back, but boy has he performed this season.
Newcastle United have had the best defense in the English top flight so far this term. They have conceded just 29 goals in 34 games and the giant Burn’s solidity down the left-hand side has been a key reason for that, along with his solid defensive partnerships with Sven Botman, Fabian Schär, and Kieran Trippier. Eddie Howe has selected the giant defender in every single Premier League game so far this term and, providing that the Magpies’ impressive form continues next term, Burn should be a great budget choice at the heart of your defense.
Alexis Mac Allister
Prior to the 2022 FIFA World Cup getting underway, no one really knew just how good Alexis Mac Allister truly was. Well, no one outside of the powers that be at Brighton & Hove Albion that is, as proven by their decision to tie him down to a bumper new long-term contract prior to the tournament getting underway. And it’s safe to say that was an inspired decision.
The diminutive midfielder was the missing piece of the puzzle for Argentina in Qatar last December. His integration into the first team allowed Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria to flourish, taking the famous gold trophy to the streets of Buenos Aires for the first time in 36 years, despite a shocking opening day defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia. And since the 24-year-old returned to the South Coast, he has been one of the players of the season.
Mac Allister has netted ten times throughout the course of the current season, as well as providing two assists. He’s been a key reason why Brighton is on the hunt for a first-ever European campaign, and we can see his form only improving next season.
Julián Álvarez
Speaking of Argentinian World Cup winners, another crucial part of La Albiceleste’s run to glory last December was Manchester City striker Julián Álvarez. Lionel Scaloni started out with Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez, but that clearly wasn’t working, and his decision to drop his leading scorer and replace him with the upstart former River Plate man proved to be an inspired one. And he hasn’t been bad in the Premier League either.
Plenty of attention to Manchester City will be placed on Erling Haaland, and rightfully so. The Norwegian powerhouse is an absolute phenom. But he doesn’t come cheap, and as Álvarez is firmly the second-choice hitman at the Etihad, he comes at a cut price. But even though he is the second-string option, fear not.
David James would score goals up front for this Blues team, and Álvarez has done exactly that when he’s called upon. And with Haaland’s sketchy past with injuries, Pep Guardiola still finds plenty of opportunities for his Argentinian striker. He has netted 15 goals in all competitions this term, and you can expect more to follow next season.