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 Crystal Palace, 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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Crystal Palace Sleepers
As noted above, these are potential Fantrax Sleepers from Crystal Palace. 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.
Everything that you've read above, you'll see in every one of our team "Sleepers" articles with the team name changed. It's the header. It's boilerplate. What you won't read in other articles is this... for the love of god, Crystal Palace please sign some players. Please force me to come back and amend this article. Because as it stands, finding sleepers in CPFC is like finding a glass of ice water in Hades.
Odsonne Edouard
Position: Forward
21/22 Points: 198.5 (22nd best forward)
21/22 Points Per Start: 9.9 (17 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 8.7 (19 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 110 or later (12 Team League: Round 10 or later)
Overview: A surprisingly solid fantasy asset who fell out of favor with Patrick Vieira. If he can nail down a spot, he's actually be a very sneaky late-round draft asset.
The casual observer would look at Vieira's comments in March and think that Edouard would have no chance of another start under this gaffer: "I’m going to change regarding what I want from the striker and what I need from that game." Those words came after giving Edouard a string of matches. His form at the time was rotten, though Palace's overall game wasn't much better. This was early March and they had won only twice since New Year's Day. Luckily, his competition is Jean-Philippe Mateta. (No offense to the Mateta stans out there.) By April 20th, Edouard was back in starting contention, but the results were a mixed bag. So, heading into 22/23, Vieira has some choices to make. Fantasy managers will hope they involve more time for OE.
Here's a quick overview of his numbers to entice you to root for a preseason renaissance from the Frenchman. Edouard's 9.9 PPS puts him just behind (within 0.2 of) Richarlison, McGinn, and Odegaard. And for a forward, his 7.5 ghost points per 90 is respectable. He's 42% reliant on goals and assists for his fantasy points, which also isn't terrible for a forward. As a comparison, Jamie Vardy is at 58% and even Mohamed Salah is at 51%. Quietly, he was a FWD 2 to begin last season and could easily continue in that same vein if given the chance. A humming Palace team and a nailed on Edouard would definitely qualify him as a sleeper. Now, we just need to clear up some of the question marks.
New Signing #1
Position: Midfielder
21/22 Points: N/A
21/22 Points Per Start: N/A
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: ?
Recommended Draft Pick: 134 or later (12 Team League: Round 12 or later)
Overview: Yes, the "sleeper" situation at Palace is this bad.
Is it a cop-out? Probably. But seriously, you try to write a sleepers column on Crystal Palace. You start to pore through the numbers and start trying to reassure yourself that Tyrick Mitchell's 6.6 points per start qualify him as a sleeper. "But he has 6.6 ghost points per match..." I think to myself. Then I mentally deduct between 2 and 6 points for goals against, depending on the opponent. And that brings us to this: let's collectively cross our fingers for a new signing. There's a gaping hole at Palace after Gallagher skipped town, and its eventual occupant is going to be our best bet for fantasy points.
One potential signing worth mentioning here is Morgan Gibbs-White. Crystal Palace are rumoured to be in for the youngster after his solid showing with Sheffield United last season. He scored 12 goals, assisted on 10 more and averaged just under 2 shots, key passes, and dribbles per match. These numbers, converted to Fantrax default scoring, translate to a 13.1 points per 90 player, who also posts a solid 8.1 ghosts per 90. It's my hope that he walks into this starting XI in place of a mediocre Schlupp, Hughes, or Milivojevic and immediately brings an attacking threat that Palace will be sorely missing in Gallagher's absence (...though, even he was a shell of himself in the second half of last season.) So the potential is there, and that's all we can ask for in the fantasy football desert that is often Selhurst Park.
James McArthur
Position: Midfielder
21/22 Points: 147 (75th best midfielder)
21/22 Points Per Start: 8.2 (15 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 8.3 (24 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: ~170 (12 Team League: Round 14 or later)
Overview: A MID5 with a decent floor who can act as a streamer or a safety net when you need 7-10 points.
We've reached the end of the Crystal Palace players that I would consider rostering. Sure, in a good matchup with the outside chance of a clean sheet, Andersen and Mitchell are both great choices for a one-week play. However, McArthur is the only other current Palace player who could be in consideration for one of your bench spots. He's the type of player who can come to your rescue when your other players are injured or being rotated.
Last year, he averaged a decent 8.2 points per start, 7.2 of which are ghost points, giving him only a 19% reliance on goals, assists, and clean sheets for his fantasy points. His expected points total per 90 minutes is 9.5, and his actual points average per 90 is an impressive 9 even. It's quite rare to find a player this consistent, and that's the attraction for McArthur. You know what to expect. Whether it's as a stop-gap for injured/rotated players (as mentioned) or as a double-gameweek option with a solid floor, he's your man. James McArthur: known commodity with almost no upside.
Honorable Mention(s):
Christian Benteke - If, for some strange reason, Tekkers wins back a starting role, he's always a lock for aerial ghost points and the very occasional goal. One might be wondering why new signing, one of the very few, Cheick Doucoure, has yet to be mentioned. The reason is that he's a CDM, who will replace Kouyate and has extremely limited fantasy value.
More Fantasy Sleepers: Arsenal | Aston Villa | Bournemouth | Brentford | Brighton | Chelsea | Everton | Fulham | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Man City | Man United | Newcastle | Nottm Forest | Southampton | Tottenham | West Ham | Wolves
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