Fantasy Sports
Kieran Darcy, ESPN Staff Writer 5y

Tips for picking a difference-making Tier 3 midfielder in ESPN Fantasy Soccer

Fantasy Soccer, Fantasy

The only position that has three tiers in ESPN fantasy soccer is midfielder. And you probably spend more time thinking about your Tier 1 and Tier 2 midfielder choices, rather than worrying about Tier 3.

That makes plenty of sense. Tiers 1 and 2 contain star players, who will often deliver big fantasy rewards. Tier 3? Not so much.

But your Tier 3 midfielder can still make a big difference.

In the most recent round of Premier League fixtures, I chose Bournemouth's David Brooks as my Tier 3 midfielder. Brooks had taken five shots against Manchester United the week before, and even though he didn't score a goal in that game, he'd already scored three goals on the season.

Unfortunately, Brooks did very little in Bournemouth's 2-1 loss at Newcastle, taking just one shot and finishing with a measly 4.1 fantasy points.

I still won my fantasy matchup, but questioned my decision on Brooks nonetheless. After all, I'd been down on Brooks earlier this season, because looking past the three goals scored, he'd taken just one shot in each of the four games before the Manchester United match.

Perhaps I was swayed too much by the five shots against a pretty good opponent, which really looks like an outlier in retrospect?

I felt a little better when I looked at the Tier 3 midfielders selected by the other players in my fantasy league. Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Robert Snodgrass finished with just 4.4 and 4.9 points, respectively. Aaron Mooy and Abdoulaye Doucoure did better, although not dramatically so -- Mooy finished with 7.8 points, and Doucoure with 8.4.

Still, I'd have been kicking myself if I had lost my fantasy matchup by a point or two. Doucoure had been my Tier 3 midfielder the previous two weeks, and had delivered similar scores of 9.3 and 7.8 points. And he has 25.6 more points than Brooks on the season, despite not scoring a single goal.

A similar thing happened to me in the most recent round of Champions League fixtures. My Tier 3 midfielder this time around was Yacine Brahimi. Porto were strong favorites at home against Lokomotiv Moscow, and Brahimi had picked up an assist in the game between the same teams two weeks before. He'd also scored a couple goals in nine domestic games thus far, and had a goal and assist in seven Champions League games last season.

But Brahimi didn't deliver for me, either. He didn't take a single shot, had just one chance created, and finished with 4.5 points.

Again, I still won my fantasy matchup. But I questioned whether I made the right decision in chasing a goal or assist from Brahimi, when perhaps there were less risky options available.

But here's where the Champions League is a little different, at least during the knockout stages. There are players available from 32 teams, as opposed to 20 in the Premier League and La Liga. That means more depth in every tier, and more likely goal-scorers and assist-makers in Tier 3.

Saul, Dusan Tadic and Eduardo Salvio were three of the other Tier 3 midfielders selected by players in my fantasy league that week. Saul and Tadic both scored a goal, and Salvio picked up an assist.

Also, I think I was a little unlucky with Brahimi. Porto did score four goals against Lokomotiv. The other two members of Porto's starting front three scored goals, and Brahimi was taken off in the 68th minute.

The bottom line? Tier 3 is tricky. If you're like me, you have a natural inclination to pick a player who's going to get forward more often, hoping he'll pick up a goal or assist.

I still think that's the way to go during the Champions League knockout stages, given the talent available. But I'm not so sure about the Premier League, where Brooks is the only current Tier 3 midfielder with more than two goals, and he still has only the fifth-highest fantasy points per game average in that tier.

The safer bet is go with a less risky player, not chase goals and assists, and take what you can get.

Doucoure's no longer an option here, having been bumped up to Tier 2. But Wilfred Ndidi is, and the Leicester City midfielder has even more points than Doucoure on the season.

Ndidi is a defensive midfielder by trade, and thus picks up many more points than Brooks in categories like tackles, interceptions and clearances, plus passes completed. But he's also scored one goal, and has actually taken one more shot than Brooks so far this year.

That sounds like a good combination to me.

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