Our Gameweek 11 Sleepers XI article provides Fantrax managers with a lineup of Fantasy EPL hidden gems. Our starting eleven of Draft Premier League differential picks will help you find a golden ticket to a big score this weekend! These hints and tips will give you a better chance of picking up an all-important victory, as one of our picks could easily make the difference in a Head-to-Head game!
We'll be focusing on players that will bring us not only attacking returns or clean sheets, but also those players that score Ghost Points in the sophisticated and statistics based Fantrax Scoring System!
Fantasy EPL Gameweek 11 Sleepers XI
For this article, we use the % rostered from Fantrax. Our only rule is that each player we highlight is required to be rostered in 60% of leagues or less at the time of writing. Therefore there's a good chance some of these players will be free agents in your Fantrax Draft League! As always, we'll take form, fixtures, projected points and a healthy dose of intuition into account to make our selections.
Gameweek 10 was a return to form following the disasterclass in Gameweek 9, with a right-on-the-money score of 89.75 points to keep that exact score as the weekly average across the season so far. Rostership numbers continue to climb for the assets that are worth rostering, making it ever more difficult to identify players you can call on to deliver gameweek winning scores. Case in point: I can no longer call on the services of last week's Sleepers XI top scorer Gianluca Scamacca, who jumped a massive 14% in rostership after his 19.5 point performance. The search for under-the-radar picks must go on, though, so let's see who gets a call-up to the Sleepers Squad for GW 11.
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga
Team: Chelsea
Opponent: Aston Villa (away)
Rostered: 22%
Points Last Gameweek: 14
Prospects: While there are still plenty of questions around who will establish themselves as regulars in Graham Potter's Chelsea side, one position that seems to have been decided is in goal, where Kepa has begun his redemption tour. The London Blues have kept 3 clean sheets in 4 matches with the Spaniard between the posts and face a poor Aston Villa side. Kepa is still only 22% rostered, but has potential to be a set-and-forget keeper over the course of the season. If you're tired of playing the highly volatile sleeper keeper game, this could be your off-ramp.
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
Team: Chelsea
Opponent: Aston Villa (away)
Rostered: 38%
Points Last Gameweek: 17.25
Projected GW11 Points: 9.4
Prospects: I typically avoid doubling up on defensive assets from the same team with these selections, as the same logic usually applies for why you should roster players from the same defense. However, Azpilicueta was a late addition following the injury Reece James suffered in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. The veteran defender was part of the rotated side that handled Wolves in GW10, coming through with a very handy 17.25 points. He should be in line for a recall to the starting lineup ahead of the trip to the Villa Park, and given the opposition he could deliver a similar score this time out.
DEF: Matt Doherty
Team: Tottenham Hotspur
Opponent: Everton (home)
Rostered: 55%
Points Last Gameweek: 12.5
Projected GW11 Points: 9.8
Prospects: After an agonizing wait that required an Emerson Royal red card to come to fruition, Doherty finally got a Premier League start last week, and was part of a Spurs side that kept a rare clean sheet this season. Does this mean he'll reclaim his role as the preferred starter? Well... let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Conte hasn't exactly been effusive in his praise for the Irishman. The good news for any Doherty rosterers is that Emerson will be suspended for another two EPL matches, so the former Wolves wingback at least has a strong chance of keeping his place for the home fixture against Everton. We know Doherty's upside from previous seasons, and he'll be eager to prove to his manager that he's worthy of keeping his spot even when his primary competitor returns.
DEF: Pervis Estupinan
Team: Brighton
Opponent: Brentford (away)
Rostered: 39%
Points Last Gameweek: 1.25
Projected GW11 Points: 10.4
Prospects: I was a little hesitant to include Estupinan in the Sleepers Squad this week, as he has attracted a lot of attention from the DraftPL community without really delivering on the buzz so far. There's also some discussion of Kaoru Mitoma working his way into the starting lineup, which could conceivably come at the expense of the Ecuadorian. It's a slight risk, but the projections certainly help offset my nerves. It's rare to see projected scores in double digits for a player that qualifies for selection in this team, so I think it's worth the gamble. The good news is that Brighton play in the first match of the week on Friday, so you will have plenty of options to pivot to if he doesn't get the start.
DEF: Max Kilman
Team: Wolves
Opponent: Nottingham Forest (home)
Rostered: 55%
Points Last Gameweek: -2.75
Projected GW11 Points: 7.3
Prospects: Wolves are in dire straits at the moment and have been further shocked by the news that their top managerial candidate has--understandably--dropped out of contention to focus on his family. That leaves them without the much-needed change in tactics and approach that they would have been expecting heading into this week, but there is a silver lining in that they at least face off against a similarly dire Nottingham Forest side. If there was a week to buy in on Wolves assets, it's this one. Given the uncertainty around who will start in the other defensive positions, I'm going for the safe bet with Kilman. In addition to the potential clean sheet, the youngster has been the more dominant of the center backs when it comes to ghost points. The same logic holds true for the starting fullbacks in this match - if you see Jonny, Semedo or Ait-Nouri in the starting lineup and they're available in your league, this is as good a week as any to consider plugging them in.
MID: Ryan Christie
Team: Bournemouth
Opponent: Fulham (away)
Rostered: 2%
Points Last Gameweek: 17.5
Projected GW11 Points: 6.7
Prospects: Almost nobody is rostering Christie at the moment. At just 2% rostered, he's on fewer teams than completely useless fantasy assets (as in, not even in the league any more) like Dele Alli, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Nathan Redmond, despite having scored more fantasy points than much more highly rostered players like Kai Havertz, Darwin Nunez and Philippe Coutinho. Much of this is likely down to him not being a starter under Scott Parker, but the Scottish international has worked his way into the first team and begun to show some signs of promise in the last few weeks. Fulham have been pretty forgiving against opposition attackers, allowing 10.5 points per game against midfielders. Coming off a goal against Leicester in GW10, the former Celtic winger will be high on confidence and I like his chances of outperforming his projected score this week.
MID: Joao Moutinho
Team: Wolves
Opponent: Nottingham Forest (home)
Rostered: 28%
Points Last Gameweek: 13.5
Projected GW11 Points: 9.0
Prospects: As was the case with Kilman, my recommendation of Moutinho ultimately comes down to the fixture. The veteran Portuguese midfielder has been inconsistent to say the least this season, but is coming off of a strong GW10 performance. With Pedro Neto injured and some questions around Goncalo Guedes' role in the team, there is potential for Moutinho to take his fair share of set pieces, as evidenced by the 3 he took in GW10. That, combined with a very forgiving Forest rear guard, earns him his place in a three-man midfield setup.
MID: Thomas Partey
Team: Arsenal
Opponent: Leeds (away)
Rostered: 47%
Points Last Gameweek: 4.5
Projected GW11 Points: 9.2
Prospects: Arsenal are flying high and on current form are genuine contenders in the title race. Following a hard-fought victory over Liverpool, the Gunners will hope for a less contentious battle against a Leeds side that appear to have lost their way a bit after a promising start. The high-intensity style employed by Jesse Marsch lends itself to opposition players racking up ghost points in the form of tackles and interceptions, which Partey thrives on. In addition to what should be a solid floor of defensive ghost points, we've seen that the potent attack of the North London outfit involves players from every position on the pitch, so there's also the hope that the Ghana international pops up with another goal or assist to drive your team to victory.
FWD: Odsonne Edouard
Team: Crystal Palace
Opponent: Leicester City (away)
Rostered: 25%
Points Last Gameweek: 13.5
Projected GW11 Points: 9.2
Prospects: As you've probably heard if you've been following along on Twitter or listening to the Key Pass Collective, we're fans of Crystal Palace's fixture run leading up to the World Cup. Edouard has seemingly done enough to escape the timeshare he's been stuck in with Jean-Philippe Mateta for most of his tenure with the Eagles, and has rewarded his manager's faith in him with a couple goals in recent weeks. While Leicester have at least shown signs of life recently, they're still one of the worst defensive teams in the league. With the shallow pool of forwards under 60% rostered, you could do much worse than pick up Palace's striker as a FWD3 for the next few weeks.
FWD: Dominic Solanke
Team: Bournemouth
Opponent: Fulham (away)
Rostered: 54%
Points Last Gameweek: 13
Projected GW11 Points: 9.6
Prospects: As was the case with Scamacca last week, this could be the final time I can call on Solanke to represent the Sleepers Squad if he delivers a solid score away to Fulham. The Cottagers are even more generous to forwards than midfielders, allowing a staggering 13.4 points per game on average to their opposition's front lines. Solanke may have the appearance of being a goal-dependent striker, but he's surprisingly only 12% reliant on goals and assists for his points. In other words, don't worry about missing out on points entirely if he doesn't register an attacking return.
FWD: Adama Traore
Team: Wolves
Opponent: Nottingham Forest (home)
Rostered: 43%
Points Last Gameweek: 8
Projected GW11 Points: 10.7
Prospects: Completing the Wolves triumvirate is the most explosive fantasy asset on the team, and one of the highest upside players in the entire league. Adama has failed to impress his many real-life managers, but the temptation is seemingly always there for a new manager to see if they can get the best out of the dynamic attacker. True to form, Adama was thrust into the starting lineup at the first opportunity under interim manager Steve Davis in GW10 and put up a respectable score. As with Estupinan, there's a possibility Traore is replaced in the starting lineup, but the projected score is too appealing not to take the gamble, especially at forward. If he can show some promising form while Wolves are finalizing their managerial search, he'll have a decent shot of continuing in a starting role for the long-term. If you can manage to bring him in now and wait to see what happens in the lead-up to the World Cup break, it could pay massive dividends to your fantasy team's fortunes for the rest of the season.
The Reserves
If you're playing on Fantrax with Live Lineup Changes, you should definitely keep an eye on starting lineups for the following high upside players who have some question marks around their starting status this week. If any of these guys does get a start for their team, snap them up and plug them into your starting eleven!
Rayan Ait-Nouri, Defender, Wolves. Opponent: Nottingham Forest
Takehiro Tomiyasu, Defender, Arsenal. Opponent: Leeds
Harry Wilson, Midfielder, Fulham. Opponent: Bournemouth
Kaoru Mitoma, Midfielder, Brighton. Opponent: Brentford
Willian, Forward, Fulham. Opponent: Bournemouth
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