Fantasy Premier League: 5 hidden gems in the game

A quarter of the season has gone by and now there are a number of must-haves and ones to avoid in the Fantasy Premier League. In between these two extremes, we have what makes up the bulk of the FPL players list available for selection. Many are average point-givers and squad builders, but within them hide a few really good bargains which have eluded the majority of the FPL manager's eyes.

We look at 5 of those players in this list as the EPL heads into December. These players have mostly a pretty low ownership- less than 5% in most cases and are not usually visible in the initial leaderboard section.

Their lower than the top score up to this point might be attributed to certain factors. These players might have missed games due to injury or suspension, their team might just be getting out of a tough run of fixtures, or they might just be from the lower end teams in the league which do not generally gather too many points.

Here are the top 5 hidden gems in the FPL at this point.

#5 Ricardo Pereira - Leicester City

The Foxes have had a pretty average showing in FPL thus far in accordance to their Premier League season. Jamie Vardy, in particular, being unable to provide a good return and midfielder James Maddison having drifted away from regular scoring after an impressive start. It has been their new defensive acquisition Pereira who has been quietly racking up the points.

While many opted for Harry Macguire in defence, the Portuguese full-back has provided good attacking returns to score 49 points so far. He has 1 goal and 3 assists to his name. Coupled with 4 clean sheets and 6 bonus points he makes a good choice in defence coming in at £5.

Pereira has been rotated out of the team a couple of times this season but has also played at the right wing in a few games. He has a knack for putting in good crosses which increases his fantasy appeal.

Currently selected by about 5% of the Fantasy population, Pereira might soon grow up to be featured in the defensive leaderboard and get his ownership increased.

#4 Callum Paterson - Cardiff

Paterson (L) is an ultra cheap out of position prospect.

Cardiff City players, in general, have one of the lowest ownership of players in the game. Their top selected player is goalkeeper Etheridge at only 6%. With the team primed by many as one of the favorites to go down, this isn't expected to change much as the season progresses. One player, however, is scoring a good bit of points in recent weeks and offers a great bargain deal.

Callum Paterson, listed in midfield, has been playing as a striker in recent matches and has scored 3 goals in his last 4 games, also grabbing an assist. At a lowly price of only £5.2, he might just turn out to be a deal too good to refuse. What is more is that only 0.7% of the players have him currently in their squads.

An out of position prospect you cannot look to ignore. Cardiff's fixture list is decent too for the coming matches and might provide more points to Paterson's owners.

#3 Salomon Rondon - Newcastle

After rarely playing for most of the season, being in and out of the team, Baggies' new signing Rondon scored a brace to grab his team back to back victory. This came after a torrid start of the season for Newcastle where they had a pretty tough run of fixtures.

The fixture list eases off for the month of December and gives the striker a chance to get more goals for his team. Rondon hasn't gone in double figures ever in EPL but goes close to 10 goals every season. At only £5.7, he might be a risky but potentially rewarding pick. The team's turn of form having coincided with him playing the full 90 might give make him a regular starter in the team from this point on.

He ownership has grown slightly but still stands at a miserly 0.8%. A good run of goals will definitely make him a steal at that price.

#2 Gudmundsson - Burnley

Gudmundsson provides points on the regular.

The Icelandic midfielder was a reliable points scorer in the last season and has continued that form going into the current one as well. He has scored 2 goals and provided 5 assists to cumulate a total of 52 points. This is a good score for a midfielder costing only £6.

Gudmundsson usually plays as a left wide midfielder and primarily works to provide crosses for the bulking Burnley center forwards. He is pretty decent from set pieces as well and definitely can gather a few goals himself.

His ownership is pretty low at 3.5% since Burnley usually do not inspire much excitement in the eyes of the Fantasy managers, their attack especially does not. Still, the midfielder is a great option for people looking for a cut-price player who offers points at regular intervals if not anything too spectacular. He is also a regular starter pretty much averse to any rotation.

#1 Felipe Anderson - West Ham

Anderson has been shifted to a more attacking role in the team.

His ownership has increased drastically in the past couple of weeks but still stands only at 5.4%. The Brazilain has taken the incentive after Yarmaloenko's injury and has scored 3 goals in 2 matches. He only had 1 goal and an assist all season before this.

While most people have gone for Arnautovic as their pic from West Ham, the Austrian striker has been in an out of the team due to his regular injuries. The Hammers have a favourable run of fixtures coming up which goes on for the next 2 months or so. It is imperative to bank upon their team in this time and a regular starter in Anderson is worth taking a punt on.

His current price stands at £6.9 but will increase probably in the coming weeks as a more attacking role in the team will rake up on an already decent total of 52 points.

Edited by Sundaresh Kumar