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How to pick midfielders in UnderPar: the safest position in the game

By the Journeyman team · 9 November 2026

If you want a safe pair of hands in your UnderPar XI, look to midfield. Midfielders rate higher on average than any other position, have the fewest bad days, and are least affected by their team losing. Here's what 418 midfield starts from Gameweeks 4 to 10 of 2026–27 tell us.

All figures are FotMob ratings for players who started the match. We use Gameweeks 4 to 10 because that's when our data starts recording who started, and since Gameweek 9 only starters' ratings count in UnderPar.

Why midfield is the safest position

Midfielders have the highest average rating of the four positions, and only 18% of their starts ended under 6.5, the lowest share in the game. Their ratings also spread out less than any other position's. Only 6% of midfield starts fell below 6.0, against 19% for keepers.

The reason is simple: midfielders are involved in everything. A FotMob rating rewards passes, tackles, chances created, duels won and shots, and a midfielder gets plenty of chances to do all of those. A striker who doesn't score can go missing for 90 minutes, and a defender on a team that concedes three can't escape the blame. A midfielder nearly always has something positive in his game.

Midfielders against PAR

PARs already take a player's position into account, so a safe position doesn't mean easy points. Across Gameweeks 7 to 10, starting midfielders beat their PAR half the time, and on average finished almost level with it. But only 9% finished a full point or more over their PAR, about the same as defenders (8%) and far fewer than the 19% of keepers who did. Midfielders rarely ruin a Gameweek.

That makes them perfect for the middle of your team. If you've taken a risk on a keeper or an attacker, a couple of reliable midfielders will steady things. Our most consistent players article goes into this in more detail.

Goals scored matter more than goals conceded

For defenders, the number of goals their team lets in is what counts. For midfielders, it's the other way round:

When their team scored three or more, midfielders averaged 7.67, and 41% of them rated 8.0 or more. When their team failed to score, only 1% reached 8.0. Goals conceded matter less: midfielders averaged 7.36 when their team kept a clean sheet and 6.83 when it let in three or more. That's a gap of about half a point, compared with well over a point for defenders.

So pick midfielders from teams that are likely to score, not just teams that are likely to keep it tight.

Winning helps, but losing hurts less

Midfielders averaged 7.52 in wins, 7.20 in draws and 6.62 in defeats. That gap of 0.90 between a win and a defeat is the smallest of any outfield position. For defenders it's 1.07, and for attackers 1.16.

Sunderland's Granit Xhaka shows how this works. Sunderland lost five of the six games he started in Gameweeks 4 to 9, but Xhaka never rated below 6.9 and averaged 7.17. He's the steadiest midfielder in the game.

Holding midfielders are the steadiest

Among midfielders with at least five starts, the steadiest are almost all players who sit in front of the defence:

These players win the ball, keep it moving and rarely make mistakes, and that's exactly what a FotMob rating rewards week after week. They seldom hit 8.5 or more, but they seldom drop below 6.5 either. Elliot Anderson is the pick of them: he's played the full 90 minutes in all six of his starts and hasn't rated below 7.1.

Attacking midfielders swing more

Midfielders who create and score have bigger highs and lower lows. Brighton's Pascal Groß rated 8.8 against Brentford in Gameweek 10, one of the best midfield scores against PAR this season, and 9.4 in a 5–0 win in Gameweek 4, the highest midfield rating since Gameweek 4. But he's also rated 5.0, in a 2–0 defeat in Gameweek 8. Chelsea's Jordan Henderson (6.4 to 9.2) and Manchester United's Youri Tielemans (5.2 to 8.2) swing in the same way.

These players are worth picking when their team is likely to score a few. In a tight away game, a holding midfielder is usually the safer choice.

The best midfielders so far

Declan Rice has the highest average of any midfielder with five or more starts. He's rated 7.5 or more in six of his seven starts, and the exception was a 3–0 defeat. Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister is the only midfielder to beat his PAR in all four Gameweeks from 7 to 10, finishing 1.4 under in Gameweek 10.

Watch the minutes

Midfielders who were taken off before the hour averaged just 6.27, and more than half of them rated under 6.5. Those who played the full 90 averaged 7.29. A midfielder who is often subbed off around the hour, or who is coming back from injury, has less time to build up his rating. Check the team news in our weekly preview before you pick.

Five tips for picking midfielders

1. Use midfield as your safe base. Midfielders have the fewest bad days of any position.
2. Look for teams that will score. A midfielder's rating follows his team's goals more than its clean sheets.
3. Holding midfielders for safety, attacking ones for upside. Pick the style that suits the fixture.
4. Pick players who play 90 minutes. Early substitutions drag ratings down.
5. Remember the formation rules. You need at least three midfielders, and you can play more if you want a steadier team. You still can't take more than three players from one club.

Ready to pick?

Read our guides to goalkeepers and defenders, check this week's preview and picks, then pick your XI and bench. New to the game? Here's how UnderPar works.

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