We ain’t afraid of no ghosts. In fact, we seek them – ghost points, that is. Ghost points are fantasy points that do not come from attacking returns or clean sheets. These can come in the form of key passes, successful dribbles, interceptions, accurate crosses, and aerials, among others. Identifying these points is essential for your Fantasy EPL prospects, and our Gameweek 10 Ghost Point Hunters article is here to help!
This Ghost Point Hunters article is based on the Fantrax Scoring System. Check out our Ghost Point Tracker page for the full list of Fantasy EPL players and their respective Ghost Point capabilities!
Gameweek 10 Ghost Point Hunters
The season keeps humming along and Halloween is nigh. Ghosts are coming out of the woodwork - some from familiar sources and others not so much. Here is your lot this week: Lucas Digne, Christian Benteke, and Christian Norgaard. And the notorious Dr. Peter Venkman Award goes to the most unlikely of recipients: Adama Traore. Now that's scary.
Lucas Digne
Position: Defender
Team: Everton
Rostered: 99%
Ghost Points Per 90: 10.9
Ghost Points This Past GW: 19.75
Prospects: Nailed on starter at LB but set piece duty and ghosting ability still up in the air.
Verdict: May be a good buy low candidate - the 5 goals conceded masked his uptick in ghosts. Try 1:1 for another underperforming name brand DEF1 like Robertson or package one (e.g., Maguire +1).
Lucas Digne dropped 7.75 points this past GW - so what? This is mediocre for a top player but look behind the numbers. The French Left Back delivered 7.75 points despite conceding 5 goals and getting a yellow card to boot. That is quite impressive. Here is how he pulled it off: 3 Key Passes, 1 Shot on Target, 4 Tackles Won, 2 Accurate Crosses Not Corners (ACNCs), 1 Interception, 1 Clearance, and 5 Aerials. This is vintage Digne. But unfortunately for fantasy managers, he has been missing for much of the season. Digne has failed to score more than 11 points in both cleansheet games for Everton and his biggest score was 13.75 v Burnley. Digne has also failed to register an assist so far this season - not what you've come to expect from the Frenchman and certainly not Round 3 value.
If Everton had kept a cleansheet and he hadn't received a yellow card, he would've scored almost 26 points without an attacking return. Was this performance a watershed moment and a harbinger of things to come? Digne usually thrives off set pieces and up to this point, Andros Townsend has largely dominated set piece duties. This past GW, this is how sets were dispersed: Digne 3, Dros 3, Gray 1. According to our set piece tracker, this is roughly in line with his 3.6 set pieces per game average, so an uptick in sets doesn't seem to be the answer behind the increased ghosts. So either this is just a one off or he is starting his fantasy comeback. Despite the tough schedule, it might be a good time to buy low just in case.
Christian Benteke
Position: Forward
Team: Crystal Palace
Rostered: 62%
Ghost Points Per 90: 8.6
Ghost Points This Past GW: 14
Prospects: Getting a new-found lease on life and has repaid the manager's faith. Will be interesting to see if he starts when the team is fully healthy. He has a ton of upside, especially with the soft run of fixtures upcoming.
Verdict: Tekkers is a must stream in decent matchups. The time to pick him up was 2 weeks ago but he will remain on some waiver wires and some might even drop him this week before the dreaded Man City fixture.
The big fella is no stranger to ghost aficionados. Benteke's aerial point ability is legendary - and last season he even started to bang in goals again. This season, however, he has found it difficult to regularly get into Sir Patrick Vieira's starting XI. No more. Benteke has started and scored goals in the last two games (and another goal, which would have won the author his GW, was very wrongly disallowed), and this could lead to more opportunities for the large Belgian. In addition, he has been reverting back to his ghostly ways, dropping 14 scary scores against Newcastle. These stemmed from 3 Key Passes, 2 Shots on Target, 1 Successful Dribble, and, of course, 7 Aerials. After the matchup from hell that is Manchester City away, the schedule softens up for Palace considerably. Whilst there will be a lot of mouths to feed when the squad is fully fit, if Benteke can keep up this form, he can be a FWD1.
Christian Norgaard
Position: Midfielder
Team: Brentford
Rostered: 22%
Ghost Points Per 90: 5.9
Ghost Points This Past GW: 12.5
Prospects: Has started every match but went through a dry spell after his opening game heroics. The past 2 weeks, however, have seen him score double-digit ghost points. Worth a punt to see if it continues.
Verdict: Pick him up off the waiver wire!
Last week it was the Nathan's, this week it is the Christian's. The second Christian this week is of the Norgaard persuasion. Norgz is quite an enigma. The Brentford CM starts the season with a goal and then takes a tour de force through mediocrity for several gameweeks. Out of the blue, Norgaard goes and drops double digit ghosts back to back in GWs 8 & 9. His 12.5 scary scores this past GW came from a wide variety of sources: 1 Key Pass, 1 Shot on Target, 5 Tackles Won, 2 Interceptions, 2 Clearances, 1 Successful Dribble, and 2 Aerials. Norgaard seems to be acting as a box to box midfielder at the moment. Does this have anything to do with Janelt being out? Will he revert to type this gameweek if Janelt returns? All valid questions. But the numbers don't lie; it might be worth punting on Norgz on a free to find out.
Honorable Mention:
Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal MID; 15 ghosts): ESR couldn't ghost at all last season and his average this season is still somewhat low (around 7.5) but he balled out this past GW. One to watch.
Naby Keita (Liverpool MID; 15 Ghosts): Where on earth did that come from? Drastically outscoring his ghost point average of 6.5, Keita ghosted out against relegation fodder, Man Utd. Another one to monitor.
Eric Dier (Tottenham DEF; 11.75 Ghosts): Good scary scores for the Spud defender, may bode well for the coming weeks when their schedule looks a lot more friendly.
Dr. Peter Venkman Award:
Adama Traore (FWD, Wolves): I never ever thought that this would happen and it absolutely pains me to do this. But Adama somehow contrived to go full Venkman this past GW, delivering a measly 2 points. That is surely a record low for the ghost point god - and must be the first and only time he has started and failed to record at least one successful dribble. It is a far cry from his 14 ghost point average. So what the hell happened? Hard to say. He was dispossessed 4 times, so he was still trying to dribble but to no avail. This is likely an aberration, Adama is still Adama, a successful dribble machine. The more concerning issues for those who have him rostered is the unresolved contract situation, his never-ending lack of finishing, and the fact that Trincao and Podence are now fully fit and competing with him for starts. He could be a cautionary tale from here on out.
***Click here to view the full Ghost Point Tracker table!***
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