The Perfect XI format of Fantasy EPL on Fantrax enables you to create an all-star lineup of Premier League players without restrictions! Want to pick Salah, Son, De Bruyne, Saka, Trent and Cancelo in the same fantasy team? No problem! We're here to provide managers with our very own Perfect XI tips for each gameweek. Details of the concept and rules can be found here.
Check out @DPLCommLeague for further information on the format, regular updates on the latest standings, as well as information on how you can enter.
Fantasy EPL Gameweek 16 Perfect XI
So, what is Perfect XI? Similar to Official Fantasy Premier League game, all managers have full access the entire player pool each week, meaning multiple teams within the league could be completely identical.
The main departures from OFPL are the Fantrax Default Scoring, unlimited transfers each week, no budget/salary cap, no restrictions on players per club, and live lineup changes available.
This means that each week you can select a dream team of Fantrax assets who you think will score the most points on a given gameweek, and have the added bonus of being able to see the real life lineups before your players lock in. Magic. If you want further information, check out our introductory piece!
Check out our Perfect XI tips below. These are our recommendations for the best XI this weekend! For statistical predictions for these players and any others, check out our weekly projections, available exclusively to our Inner Circle subscribers.
GW16 Specific Context:
GW16 brings a fitting end to many managers' Perfect XI mini-season before the World Cup begins. As such, its your last week to chase the glory of a top finish. If you're near the top, you'll likely want to play it safe and pick many of the superstar players that got you there. If you're chasing a higher rank, now's the time to zig while others zag and use some differential players. I'll set you up for success either way below.
GK: Alisson
In goal we're opting for the 2nd highest clean sheet odds of the weekend in Liverpool's Alisson vs. reeling, just-sacked-their-coach-of-5-years Southampton at home. Some may be scared off by a potential new manager bounce for the Saints, but their offense has looked pitiful recently and they barely beat Sheffield Wednesday (a League 1 side) in the midweek EFL cup match, via penalties. Man City have higher clean sheet odds at 55% vs. Brentford at home, but Ederson tends to deliver little to no save points and Ivan Toney and co. are far better scorers than anyone on Southampton. If you're looking for a less clean sheet dependent, more multi-save likely option, I'd suggest Nick Pope vs Chelsea. He has 28% clean sheet odds and is bound to have many save opportunities vs the misfiring Chelsea offense. Finally, we have the uber-differential David Raya, who faces Man City away. City are very likely to score multiple goals (as they tend to do) and Raya only has a 4% chance to keep a clean sheet. However, if he has a fantastic day, nearing double digit saves is not out of the realm of possibilities.
Pivot: Nick Pope Differential: David Raya
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joao Cancelo, Kieran Trippier
In defense, we're going pretty standard this week. The two top-scoring defenders this season in Cancelo and Trippier and the top-scoring defender of last season in TAA. Due to his aforementioned home matchup, Trent is our favorite choice this week with 44% clean sheet odds, 32% assist odds and 11% odds to score a goal. He may be on a bit of a poor stretch (along with the rest of Liverpool) but he's still averaging 8.6 gpps and underperforming his xpp90 (10.6), so in a great matchup (2nd best according to FDR), the signs are there (as is the projection at 15.7). Next we have Cancelo vs Brentford at home. 55% clean sheet odds, 19% assist odds, 11% goal odds, and 8.8 pps. In their last 3 games, the Bees have allowed 2 goals to Forest, 1 to Wolves, and 4 to Villa. Finally, we have the red hot Trippier. He has the best form of any DraftPL player, averaging 19.5 fpts over his last 5 starts. He does have a tricky matchup home to Chelsea, but Newcastle have been in far better form than their usually top-6 opponents. He has 28% clean sheet odds, 18% assist odds, 4% goal odds, and averages 11.4 gpps. For some alternatives, we have Robbo and VVD vs Southampton (with lower attacking output generally than TAA), and the always solid James Tarkowski vs Bournemouth (the best defensive matchup according to FDR, where opponents average 10.5 pp90). Finally, if you need some real differentials, opt for 1 or 2 of the ghost point kings Neco or Pervis and hope for a clean sheet or attacking return. Alternatively, you could take a gamble on a Spurs wing back vs Leeds in Emerson or Matt Doherty.
Pivots: Andrew Robertson, James Tarkowski, Virgil Van Dijk Differentials: Pervis Estupinan, Neco Williams, Emerson Royal
MID: Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Michael Olise
KDB and to a lesser degree Phil Foden (when he starts) should be all but nailed in your Perfect XI week in, week out. This week is no exception vs Brentford at home, where City are expected to score 3 goals on average according to the oddsmakers. KDB and Foden have the best chances (outside of forward Haaland) to be involved, with 27% and 35% goal scoring odds, and 49% and 35% assist odds respectively. De Bruyne also happens to be the #1 ghost point scorer per start this season (with 11.5 gpps). Next up is where things get interesting. I'm opting for Saka vs Wolves and Olise vs Forest. Saka is in very nice form going into the World Cup, and despite some up and down form for Arsenal as of late, they're strong favorites vs Wolves away (60% to win, 20% to draw). Saka has a 36% chance to score and 27% odds to assist). Olise, who's had some great scores lately, gets the pleasure of facing bottom-side Forest, albeit away. As expected, Forest are the best mid matchup by Fixture Difficulty Ranking (allowing 10.5 pp90 on average to opposing mids), and Olise is no average mid. He scores 9.2 gpps and is in excellent form, with 13.2 pps in his last 5. For this fixture against Forest he has a 27% chance to score and a 34% chance to assist. His teammate Eze, who splits set pieces with him, could be a good differential pick as well. Speaking of differentials, Bruno Fernandes vs Fulham is a nice upside pick (27% to assist, 28% to score), as is Kulusevski if he starts against Leeds (31% to assist, 24% to score). Any City mid outside of those mentioned is always a possibility for an attacking return, but we particularly like Grealish, who plays further forward and who most of your opponents will fade due to his recent poor form. Going further out there, Mitoma of Brighton is in stunning form, Perisic has a monopoly on Spurs set pieces without Son in the lineup, and you can never count Maddison out of a multi-return performance.
Pivots: Bruno Fernandes, Deki Kulusevski, Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan Differentials: Kaoru Mitoma, Ivan Perisic, Eberechi Eze, James Maddison
FWD: Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane
As we did with our defensive selections, we're opting for the top 2 scoring players at their position up top (Haaland and Kane) and the 1 player who scored their highest points total last year (Salah). Haaland has the highest goal odds of anyone this week at a whopping 70%. Tack on a 32% chance to assist and 7.2 gpps and if he's not in your lineup, you must be going for an incredibly differential lineup this week. Next up, Salah is part of a Liverpool team expected to score 2.5 goals vs the Saints. After scoring in 4 straight games, he has a 59% chance to score at the weekend, as well as a 32% chance to assist (and 7.7 gpps). Finally, Harry Kane has a 54% chance to score and 30% odds to assist (and 8.7 gpps) vs the best forward matchup vs. Leeds (1st in FDR). As for some pivots, Nunez is a surprisingly good option, with nearly 1 xg+ap90 this season, up against Southampton (50% chance to score). Zaha vs Forest (45% to score, 29% to assist), and Gabriel Jesus against Wolves are my other favorites. If you want to go even more radical, may I suggest Mahrez (if he starts), who many are low on due to his multiple sub-5 point scores this season. He still has 37% goal odds and 32% assist odds (and often takes sets). Firmino as the 3rd Liverpool option or Julian Alvarez as the 2nd City option are good places to turn as well, particularly if Haaland doesn't get a start.
Pivots: Darwin Nunez, Wilfred Zaha, Gabriel Jesus
Differentials: Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, Julian Alvarez
For all the latest from The Draft Society, follow @Draft_Society on Twitter!
And for more in-depth and exclusive resources, become a member of The Inner Circle.
