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 Everton, 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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Everton Sleepers
As noted above, these are potential Fantrax Sleepers from Everton. 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.
Michael Keane
Position: Defender
21/22 Points: 241 (22nd best defender)
21/22 Points Per Start: 7.4 (31 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 7.8 (20 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 133 or later (12 Team League: Round 12 or later)
Overview: Completely overlooked by the majority of the draft community, it wouldn’t take much for Keane to outperform his draft position. He’s equally capable of a disaster as he is a match-winning performance. Are you willing to take the gamble?
Despite finishing above competent and attractive DEF 3/4 candidates like Mohammed Salisu, Ben Davies and Aaron Cresswell last season, I have yet to see Michael Keane on a single draft board in any of the mock drafts leading into this season. At the time of writing, the Everton center back’s ADP is 216 (for comparison, Salisu is the lowest of the aforementioned group at 152). So, why is a consistent starter who put up a perfectly respectable score being blacklisted from people’s personal rankings and going undrafted? Well, the own goal, halftime substitution and subsequent -10 point score he dropped in the first game of a double week that saw him highly rostered is probably as good a reason as any.
Keane is the ultimate example of a frustrating fantasy asset, coming through with a monster 20+ point score when you don’t start him in a tough game and then going negative when you put him in your squad for the next match against easier opposition. The former Burnley man scored in the red on 7 occasions last season, but he also posted (positive) double digit scores twice as often. Keane looks to be first-choice alongside James Tarkowski to begin the season and, despite their poor showing in their first pre-season outing together, should be given time to rekindle their former partnership while they were both at Burnley back in 2015-16. If Tarkowski’s presence can help steady the ship defensively, Keane could provide value similar to players being drafted as early as round 10. Just be prepared for a roller coaster ride if you do end up adding him to your roster.
Alex Iwobi
Position: Midfielder
21/22 Points: 193 (59th best midfielder)
21/22 Points Per Start: 7.6 (22 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 8.4 (30 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 145 or later (12 Team League: Round 13 or later)
Overview: An under-the-radar pick who could stand to benefit from a dynamic trio of attackers in front of him, Iwobi’s not going to set the world on fire, but he does provide something that is hard to come by in the later rounds: consistency.
Despite starting him fairly frequently during his tenure, Rafa Benitez never got the best out of Alex Iwobi. That tended to be the case for the former Liverpool manager, who never seemed fully committed to propelling Everton forward after they were abandoned by Carlo Ancelotti the previous summer. Benitez was on the way out after six months and, as was the case with many other players, Iwobi set out to prove himself to his new manager. Lampard took a liking to the former Arsenal man, reimagining him as a central midfielder where Rafa had primarily used him as a winger.
The Nigerian quickly became a regular starter for Lampard and delivered some solid—if unspectacular—results over the back half of the season, generally scoring between 5 and 7.5 points. Iwobi did occasionally come through with some strong ghost point performances, though, recording 5 key passes on two occasions on his new manager’s watch (13.5 points against Leeds and 22 against Watford). A temporary change to a wingback system to begin the season could be detrimental to the number of starts Iwobi gets, but he’ll be a regular starter when Lampard is able to deploy his preferred formation. With more prolific attacking talent in front of him, he could be set to improve upon his output from last season.
Vitalii Mykolenko
Position: Defender
21/22 Points: 81.75 (50th best defender since GW20)
21/22 Points Per Start: 6.7 (12 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 6.9 (30 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 157 or later (12 Team League: Round 14 or later)
Overview: Coming in to replace an elite fantasy asset like Lucas Digne makes it difficult to appreciate a solid DEF 5, which is likely what Mykolenko is. But finding a reliable starter in the late rounds is often what our teams need to allow for chasing upside earlier. If your team needs some late-round consistency with some potential for surprise, look no further.
It’s probably ill-advised to recommend any defensive assets from Everton, let alone two in the same article, but such is the state of their team at the moment that there’s not much quality to choose from. The Toffees are badly in need of reinvestment to provide depth beyond their starting eleven, but we’ve yet to see quality reinforcements brought in to bolster the ranks beyond James Tarkowski. Despite his heroics in previous relegation battles, he certainly can’t be relied on to change Everton’s fortunes on his own.
One of the few bright sparks for the Merseysiders last season was the signing of left back Vitalii Mykolenko from Dynamo Kyiv in January. Lucas Digne’s row with Rafa Benitez meant Everton were in desperate need of someone who could step in and at least partially fill the Villa-bound defender’s boots. The Ukrainian didn’t bring the same level of quality, but did well to add some attacking impetus down the left flank, partnering with Richarlison and Anthony Gordon to keep his side in the Premier League for another season.
The 23-year-old currently only has Niels Nkounkou for competition in his spot, so should be a shoo-in to the starting lineup any time he’s fit to play. Despite stating that he’d prefer to play with a 4-3-3 formation, Frank Lampard may be forced to roll out a wing-back system to take advantage of the best players he has available to him until (unless?) new signings arrive. If that’s the case, Mykolenko could find himself in more advanced positions to put in crosses for DCL or earn key passes to Anthony Gordon. Even as a left-back a four, though, he should be a nailed on starter. It’s not saying much, but it’s better than a lot of other options available in the final few rounds.
More Fantasy Sleepers: Arsenal | Aston Villa | Bournemouth | Brentford | Brighton | Chelsea | Crystal Palace | Fulham | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Man City | Man United | Newcastle | Nottm Forest | Southampton | Tottenham | West Ham | Wolves
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