Our Fantasy EPL 22/23 Draft Kit promises to be the most comprehensive set of pre-season Draft Premier League articles ever produced! A key component of our Draft Kit will be the Team Preview articles which analyze key assets to sit alongside our all-important Draft Rankings. This article highlights Fantrax Fantasy EPL Sleepers from Brentford, as we highlight three potential hidden gems for the new season! Click here for details on how you can access our 22/23 Draft Kit.
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Brentford Sleepers
As noted above, these are potential Fantrax Sleepers from Brentford. These Fantasy EPL players are likely to be drafted in the later rounds. Read below for three under the radar players who could provide excellent value in your pre-season draft.
Bryan Mbeumo
Position: Forward
21/22 Points: 252 (22nd best forward)
21/22 Points Per Start: 7.6 (33 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 8.5 (31 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 109 or later (12 Team League: Round 10 or later)
Overview: Statistically one of the biggest under-performers in the Premier League last season, Mbeumo has the potential to be a much more potent finisher. Can he deliver? It’s worth a mid-round punt to find out.
I remember watching the first few fixtures of Brentford’s season last year and thinking Bryan Mbeumo was going to be the breakout fantasy star from the newly promoted club. He was a constant menace to defenders from the right wing, utilizing his speed, strength and technical ability to put himself in threatening positions. Looking back now, Mbeumo’s 4 goals and 7 assists feel like a bit of a letdown given my expectations.
Speaking of expectations, the 22-year-old statistically should have done much better on the goal scoring front. While he was on the score sheet 4 times in the Premier League, his 9.9 xG (expected goals) is a prime reason for his sleeper status this season. The Frenchman carries the unfortunate distinction of hitting the post 7 times in the space of 11 appearances last season, and was widely labeled as the league’s unluckiest player.
If 6 of those 7 shots went in, to bring Mbeumo’s goal tally in line with his xG, we’d be looking at him in a much different light heading into this season. An additional 60 points added to his points total from last season (or 2 pts to his PPS), give or take, would have put him in the same territory as Gabriel Jesus, Ollie Watkins and Richarlison. A player with that type of scoring potential being available in round 10 could be a game changer.
Keane Lewis-Potter
Position: Forward
21/22 Points: n/a (transfer from Hull City)
21/22 Points Per Start: 9.1 (46 starts at Hull)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 8.1 (22 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 157 or later (12 Team League: Round 14 or later)
Overview: The Bees have a new record signing, but we won’t have too many opportunities to see how he’ll be utilized before drafting. He should earn a starting role in the attack, though, so is worth a late-round pick to assess his fantasy potential.
You may be surprised not to find any mention of Yoane Wissa in either of my Brentford previews. I originally had him slated to appear in this article given his fantasy-relevant breakthrough to the first team in the second half of the season. However, the signing of Keane Lewis-Potter from Hull City is likely a death knell for Wissa’s role as a regular starter.
KLP arrives as the Bees’ record signing after a very productive few years on the left wing for the Tigers that have earned comparisons to Jarrod Bowen. The diminutive winger played all but 1 minute across Hull City’s 46 matches in the Championship last year, scoring 12 goals and assisting a further 3. The 21-year-old is a versatile attacker, equally capable of capitalizing on a breakthrough run behind defenses as he is arriving to the box late to tap in a rebound. Despite being only 5’7”, he is also a very strong header of the ball. His ghost points per start last season in the Championship were a bit underwhelming for a winger at 6.3 (on par with the likes of Cucho Hernandez and Said Benrahma), so he may pass the eye test but end up being more reliant on goal involvements than we’d like from a top prospect. As a FWD 4 or 5, though, you could do worse than a guaranteed starter on a mid-table team whose career is on the rise.
Keep an eye on how Thomas Frank sets up in pre-season. If he continues with the 4-3-3 he used toward the end of the 21/22 season, Lewis-Potter could be a sneaky value pick in the last couple rounds of your draft.
Honorable Mention
To be honest, there’s not really a third player on Brentford’s current roster that fits our definition of a sleeper. Players like Sergi Canos, Vitaly Janelt and Mathias Jensen have faced inconsistent playing time and form, while more regular starters like Pontus Jansson and Rico Henry are solid enough but not worth spending your draft capital on with plenty of higher upside (albeit riskier) selections available in the closing stages of drafts. Aaron Hickey, while full of potential, didn’t put up particularly stellar fantasy numbers at Bologna. Each of these names could outperform their draft position (if they’re drafted at all), but I don’t feel confident in any of them doing so.
However, the question of who will fill Christian Eriksen’s shoes is top of mind for Brentford fans and fantasy managers alike. While you shouldn’t expect anything close to the same quality as the Manchester-bound Dane, early indications are that forgotten man Josh Dasilva could be given the chance to earn a starting role in the space vacated by Eriksen. The central midfielder was one of the first names on the team sheet during the 19-20 season, as well as in their promotion campaign in 20-21 before a freak hip injury sidelined him for almost a year. Across those two seasons (one of which was cut short by 3 months), he delivered 15 goals and 8 assists. Dasilva didn’t make a notable impact last season, scoring just 8 fantasy points, but was working his way back into the first-team picture with a couple starts and sub appearances in the Spring. He’ll likely go undrafted in most leagues, but could be worth a punt in the last round or two if Thomas Frank decides against a marquee midfield signing.
More Fantasy Sleepers: Arsenal | Aston Villa | Bournemouth | Brighton | Chelsea | Crystal Palace | Everton | Fulham | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Man City | Man United | Newcastle | Nottm Forest | Southampton | Tottenham | West Ham | Wolves
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