The highest-scoring out-of-position players in FPL history turned positional quirks into season-defining advantages, earning points while regularly playing in a more advanced role.
A positional mistake can shape an entire Fantasy Premier League season. When a defender is regularly deployed in midfield, or a midfielder becomes his club’s centre-forward, he receives points under rules designed for a less attacking position.
That advantage can mean extra points for goals, clean sheets or both. It can also produce the type of bargain that becomes almost impossible to ignore.
This list ranks the five highest-scoring out-of-position players in a single FPL season. The players below had a clearer mismatch between their FPL classification and the role they regularly performed on the pitch.
- READ MORE: Top 5 Out-of-Position Players in FPL 2026/27
5. Stuart Dallas – 171 points
- Club: Leeds United
- Season: 2020/21
- FPL position: Defender
- Actual role: Central or wide midfielder
- Starting price: £4.5m
- FPL points: 171
Stuart Dallas began Leeds United’s first Premier League season in 16 years as an inexpensive defender. By the end of it, he had become the highest-scoring FPL defender in the game.
The classification was not completely unreasonable at first. Dallas had previously operated as a full-back and remained capable of filling either defensive position. Marcelo Bielsa’s flexibility, however, increasingly moved him into midfield, where he had more freedom to arrive around the penalty area.
Dallas started all 38 league matches and played every available minute. He scored eight goals, supplied three assists and collected points from 12 Leeds clean sheets. Those returns carried him to 171 points, ahead of Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the defender standings.
His classification made each goal particularly valuable. A defender received six points for scoring, compared with five for a midfielder, while Dallas remained eligible for the full four-point clean-sheet reward.
The most memorable example came away to Manchester City in Gameweek 31. Leeds played most of the match with ten men, but Dallas scored twice – including a stoppage-time winner – to deliver 17 FPL points. Plenty of managers had left him on their benches because a clean sheet at the Etihad appeared unlikely.
Dallas also offered remarkable value. His price rose from £4.5m to £5.5m over the season, but even at the higher figure he remained cheaper than most premium defenders. FPL corrected the classification for 2021/22 by moving him into midfield.
According to the Premier League’s review of his season, 48 of Dallas’s 171 points came from clean sheets – points he would not have received in full had he been classified as a midfielder.
4. Joshua King – 178 points
- Club: AFC Bournemouth
- Season: 2016/17
- FPL position: Midfielder
- Actual role: Centre-forward
- Starting price: £5.5m
- FPL points: 178
Joshua King’s 2016/17 campaign took time to catch fire. He scored only twice during the opening half of the season, leaving little indication that one of the great budget runs in FPL history was about to begin.
The transformation came after the turn of the year. Although King was listed as a £5.5m midfielder, Eddie Howe increasingly used him through the middle of Bournemouth’s attack. The Norwegian responded with 14 goals from Gameweek 19 onwards.
He finished the campaign with 16 goals, three assists and 178 FPL points. King’s midfielder status meant he received five points for every goal rather than the four awarded to forwards. He could also collect a clean-sheet point whenever Bournemouth kept their opponents out.
The combination of role and price was difficult to match. King gave managers a player operating as a striker without occupying one of the three forward places in their squads. His low cost also made it easier to spend heavily elsewhere.
By the closing months of the season, he was no longer merely a cheap fifth midfielder. He had become an attacking player managers were comfortable starting every week.
FPL removed the advantage the following summer by reclassifying King as a forward. His output fell to 110 points in 2017/18, although that decline was also influenced by a reduction from 16 league goals to eight.
The Premier League’s retrospective confirms that King produced 16 goals, three assists and 178 points during his season as an FPL midfielder.
3. Roberto Firmino – 180 points
- Club: Liverpool
- Season: 2016/17
- FPL position: Midfielder
- Actual role: Centre-forward or false nine
- FPL points: 180
Roberto Firmino was not a conventional striker, but his position in Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool system was unmistakably central.
While Sadio Mané and Philippe Coutinho attacked from wider starting positions, Firmino frequently led the line. His movement created room for the players around him, but he also occupied the spaces normally associated with a centre-forward.
FPL still listed the Brazilian as a midfielder in 2016/17. That gave managers the scoring benefits of a midfielder while selecting Liverpool’s central attacker.
Firmino recorded 11 goals and 11 FPL assists across 35 appearances, finishing with 180 points. He was not as cheap as King or Michu, but his security of starts and role in one of the league’s most aggressive attacks made him a dependable option.
His OOP status also helped managers construct unusually attack-heavy midfields. Firmino could be selected alongside other advanced midfielders while the three official forward positions remained available for players such as Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku and Diego Costa.
Unlike some names on this list, Firmino continued to perform after FPL corrected his position. He was moved from midfielder to forward for 2017/18 and responded with 181 points – one more than the previous campaign.
That does not erase the advantage he enjoyed in 2016/17. Eleven goals scored at the midfielder rate were worth an additional 11 points before clean-sheet scoring was considered.
The Premier League subsequently noted that Firmino had scored 180 points as a midfielder before being reclassified as a forward.
2. Michu – 190 points
- Club: Swansea City
- Season: 2012/13
- FPL position: Midfielder
- Actual role: Centre-forward
- Starting price: £6.5m
- FPL points: 190
Michu did not arrive in England with the reputation of an FPL star. Swansea City signed him from Rayo Vallecano for around £2m, while Fantasy managers were offered the unfamiliar Spaniard as a £6.5m midfielder.
The uncertainty lasted one afternoon.
Michu scored twice and supplied an assist in a 5-0 opening-day win at Queens Park Rangers. He followed that performance by scoring against West Ham United and Sunderland, giving him four goals and two assists after only three Gameweeks.
His starting classification made sense on paper. Michu had played as an attacking midfielder in Spain and was initially expected to operate behind a striker in Michael Laudrup’s 4-2-3-1 system. Swansea’s needs soon pushed him further forward, however, and he spent much of the campaign as the team’s centre-forward.
The result was an ideal FPL combination: a midfielder receiving five points per goal while playing as a number nine.
Michu scored 18 Premier League goals, added three FPL assists and ended the season with 190 points. His price climbed from £6.5m to £8.5m as managers rushed to bring him into their squads.
The numbers tell only part of his appeal. Michu represented the pleasure of identifying a player before the wider market reacted. Managers who owned him from the opening weeks gained points, team value and an attacking midfielder who was effectively playing one position further forward.
His form slowed after the turn of the year, with 13 of his 18 goals arriving before January. Even so, he finished sixth among FPL midfielders and secured a place in the game’s Team of the Season.
Injuries prevented Michu from sustaining that level in later campaigns, but his first year at Swansea remains one of FPL’s defining one-season performances. Fantasy Football Scout records his final total as 190 points from 18 goals and three assists.
1. Alexis Sánchez – 264 points
- Club: Arsenal
- Season: 2016/17
- FPL position: Midfielder
- Actual role: Left forward, centre-forward and central support attacker
- Starting price: £11.0m
- FPL points: 264
Alexis Sánchez was not a hidden bargain. He began the 2016/17 season as FPL’s most expensive midfielder at £11.0m, and managers already knew what he could produce.
What changed was his role.
Arsène Wenger used Sánchez as Arsenal’s lone striker for a sustained period, with the Chilean’s movement and aggression giving the attack a different shape. He later moved back towards the left and also operated centrally behind the striker, but a significant portion of his season was spent occupying the position of a forward.
FPL continued to classify him as a midfielder throughout.
Sánchez took full advantage. He scored 24 goals, supplied 11 FPL assists and collected 32 bonus points, finishing as the highest-scoring player in the game with 264 points.
Only Harry Kane produced a better points-per-match average, but Kane missed several fixtures through injury. Sánchez’s availability and ability to deliver away from home made him the more reliable season-long asset. Fifteen of his goals and 150 of his FPL points came on the road.
His 23-point performance at West Ham United became one of the campaign’s defining moments. Sánchez scored a hat-trick and added an assist in a 5-1 victory, rewarding managers who had trusted him with the captaincy.
Unlike Dallas, King or Michu, Sánchez did not derive his value from being inexpensive. His advantage came from offering elite forward output within a midfield slot. Managers received an extra point for each of his 24 goals, occasional clean-sheet points and access to one of the league’s most complete attackers without using a forward position.
There is room to debate how much of the season Sánchez spent genuinely out of position. He also played on the left, which fits FPL’s standard midfielder classification. But his extended run as Arsenal’s lone striker was long enough—and productive enough—to distinguish him from a conventional winger.
The Premier League’s official season review confirms his final total of 264 points from 24 goals, 11 assists and 32 bonus points. No clearly defined OOP player has produced a higher single-season FPL score.
Honourable Mention: John Lundstram – 144 points
John Lundstram does not make the top five, but few OOP players have had a larger cultural impact on FPL.
Listed as a £4.0m Sheffield United defender in 2019/20, Lundstram regularly played in central midfield. He scored five goals, registered four assists and finished with 144 points.
His price and role made him almost impossible to ignore during the first half of the season. “Lord Lundstram” became part of FPL vocabulary, and his success provided the template Dallas would improve upon one year later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does OOP mean in FPL?
A: OOP means “out of position”. It describes a player whose role on the pitch is more advanced – or simply different – from the position assigned to him by Fantasy Premier League. A defender playing in midfield and a midfielder operating as a centre-forward are the most valuable examples.
Q: Why are Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo and Son Heung-min not included?
A: FPL traditionally classifies wide forwards and wingers as midfielders. Including every advanced wide player would turn this into a list of the highest-scoring FPL midfielders rather than a ranking of genuine positional anomalies.
Q: Who is the highest-scoring OOP defender in FPL history?
A: Stuart Dallas holds the highest single-season score among the clear defender-to-midfielder OOP cases covered here. He earned 171 points for Leeds United in 2020/21 before FPL reclassified him as a midfielder.
You have just read the article “Top 5 Highest-Scoring Out-of-Position Players in FPL History”. Follow 52Hz Football for more captivating stories about football, geography and culture.
READ MORE:
From Dennis to Bednarek: The 5 Worst FPL Performances of All Time
