Our Gameweek 21 Hot or Cold article is here to outline the current prospects of key Fantasy EPL players. Our 'Hot' or 'Cold' status will help take away your emotional attachment to certain Draft Premier League players and help you bring in the players that you need to help you dominate your Fantrax Draft League!
These Hot or Cold ratings are based on the data contained within the Weekly Rest-of-Season Rankings produced by Robbie P. The Draft Society's exclusive weekly refresh of Fantasy EPL prospect rankings!
Gameweek 21 Hot List
These are Fantasy EPL players that have risen in our Weekly ROS Rankings! Keep an eye on these Draft Premier League players, and bring them into your Fantrax squad if you can.
Martin Odegaard
Position:Â Midfielder
Team:Â Arsenal
GW20 Rank: 7
GW21 Rank: 5
What's Changed?:Â Odegaard has gone from just 10.2 PPS (7.4 gPPS) last season, to an absolute monster on 14.6 PPS (8.5 gPPS) this season. His early season form wasn't quite so amazing, inconsistency, especially in his decision making in front of goal, saw him rack up 11.2 PPS (3 goals and 1 assist) in the first 9 GWs. However, he's really turned it on since, effectively acting as Arsenal's chief playmaker and goal threat, averaging 17.7 PPS, with 5 goals and 4 assists in the last 9 GWs. This form has propelled him to the top 5 in my rankings, his consistency and importance to this buzzing Arsenal side should keep him here for the remainder of the season!
Recommendation: This would be a super tough trade to get over the line, given his form. Martinelli's form has declined compared to his early season form, if you could do that swap, maybe with a sweetener that would be a great deal. If you've been checking my ranks you will have seen Odegaard has overtaken Salah, at this point I'd back the consistency of an Arsenal team performing so well, compared to the struggling nature of the Liverpool team. If you can get that deal done 1-1, positional needs permitting then I think that could work out.
Solly March
Position:Â Midfielder
Team:Â Brighton
GW20 Rank: 34
GW21 Rank: 17
What's Changed?: At the start of the season we weren't expecting March to be a lock in the XI, with him being taken as a punt in the late rounds of drafts. However, he has gone on to start every game for Brighton this season, even through a managerial change. March's value in the early part of the season came more through what we know him for - his always reliable ghosting (8.7 gPPS), but he struggled to pick up many attacking returns to take him onto the next level. He managed just 4 assists in 14 games prior to the World Cup averaging around 9.8 PPS. I'm not sure what De Zerbi has been feeding him over the break, but 4 games in and he's on 4 goals and 2 assists at 23.4 PPS. Clearly this form isn't sustainable (achieved from just 1.1 xG and 1.3 xA) but there are a few factors that point us to believe that he can be a strong asset for the rest of the season. Brighton's form since the restart has been nothing short of electric, particularly in attack, and it's clear that March (and Mitoma) are really flourishing in their roles as inverted wingers. Trossard's enforced absence gives these two players more attacking responsibility and they don't appear to be missing him at all. It's a small sample size but the numbers suggest that March is looking more attacking since the re-start, getting off more shots and creating more chances as we can see below:
Recommendation: March's incredible form will make him hard to bring into your squad, especially now he's sitting pretty as the 7th top scorer in total FPts. You'll likely have to wait for a quiet week to get better value, at this moment you might have to give up an underperforming big name like Cancelo or Son, not ideal but you could do a lot worse!
Brennan Johnson
Position:Â Forward
Team:Â Leeds
GW20 Rank: 177
GW21 Rank: 90
What's Changed?:Â My final 'hot' player is one I never thought I'd be writing about in this section given he managed just 5.5 PPS (4.3 gPPS) prior to the World Cup. Johnson didn't ghost well and notched just 2 goals (one of which was a penalty), and 1 assist in 13 starts, in a struggling team - really not a great recipe for a Fantrax asset! The turnaround has been remarkable since the re-start with scores of 1, 9, 13.5 and 26.5, and what's more impressive is that this has come with great ghost point performances of 1, 9, 9.5, 10.5. These are really consistent scores (short of the tough fixture away at United that you wouldn't have started him in anyway). He's simply getting more scoring chances, before the World Cup, he generated 0.24 xG/90, but since the restart he's on 0.64 xG/90. Destroying Leicester clearly helped that figure, but even without that match he's on 0.43 xG/90 generated against Man United, Chelsea and Southampton, who rank 17th, 16th and 11th in our Fixture Difficulty Tracker. Forest appear to be a legitimate prospect at this point, particularly when playing at home and Johnson is benefitting massively from this.
Recommendation: Forest have a great run of fixtures in the next 3, ranking 2nd in the FDT. If you're struggling in the forward department, bringing in Johnson on the cheap could be a shrewd move. He may even be available on your waiver wire, but if not I would look to offer an underperforming Joe Willock, or this may even be a good opportunity to rid yourself of one of the big names who have recently got injured like Virgil Van Dijk or Raheem Sterling.
For the full list of Gameweek 21 risers, check out our Weekly ROS Rankings page!
Gameweek 21 Cold List
These are Fantasy EPL players that have fallen in our Weekly ROS Rankings. This may be due to poor form, they have been dropped from the best 11, they have suffered an injury, or received a suspension. It's time to consider trading out or dropping these Draft Premier League players from your rosters!
Leandro Trossard
Position:Â Midfielder
Team:Â Brighton
GW20 Rank: 27
GW21 Rank: 68
What's Changed?:Â Trossard has had an amazing season at Brighton, in 14 games prior to the World Cup he had scored 7 goals and assisted 4 on his way to a very handy13 PPS. However, since the re-start he has put in a couple of awful performances before falling out with the manager. He was left out of the squad for the last two matches and now appears to be attempting to force Brighton's hand to get a transfer away from the club. His agent has released a statement saying as much, so it appears that Trossard's position at Brighton may be untenable if no move can be found. (His transfer to Arsenal is virtually guaranteed at this point)
Recommendation: If you roster Trossard, frankly you're just waiting and hoping he gets a move, but this still may not be that desirable an outcome with links to big clubs such as Arsenal (looking most likely after missing out on Murdyk), Chelsea and Spurs. At any of these clubs the major issue for him will be playing time, getting ahead of any of the front 3 doesn't appear to be likely unless injuries occur. Trossard has been used all over the pitch at Brighton, at wing back and up top so that flexibility may earn him more starts than we might think, but I wouldn't project him to start more than 50% and would expect much less than that, which really tanks his fantasy value. If a move materialises, I would immediately look to ship him out to a manager who rosters an attacker from the club he moves to, for example Martinelli if he moves to Arsenal.
Bernardo Silva
Position:Â Midfielder
Team:Â Manchester City
GW20 Rank: 31
GW21 Rank: 48
What's Changed?: Benched in the first couple of games of the season with transfer rumours abound, Silva has returned to be a vital player for Guardiola, starting every match but one since. He was a great fantasy asset in the first part of the season, but his form has really dropped off. It's worth checking our Useful Draft Metrics page, where you can see that Silva's form has disappeared, he is on 4.4 PPS from the last 5 starts, if you take it back further its 6 PPS in the last 9 starts. These are truly awful numbers and I'm sure those who roster him must be pulling their hair out. The picture gets worse when you see he is actually overperforming his stats (10.3 PP90 from 8.3 xPP90). Things have been evolving at City this year with the primary focus on creating chances for Haaland and Silva has played the majority of games in the central midfield position rather than wide right which is limiting his attacking potential. He is generating just 0.1 xG/90 and 0.13 xA/90 and not even generating too many ghost points at 5.9 gPPS. His 9.7 PPS ranks him just 42nd for those players with 50%+ starts and the rank of 48 I've given him reflects that, he's lucky to not be dropped further, but his historical performances have given him some leeway for now.
Recommendation: If you have a city stack you're likely going to keep hold , if not you're just holding in the hope of more starts in the attacking positions, but given Mahrez's form that appears unlikely. The return of the Champions League may help, but I wouldn't bank on it. I would look to trade him out, his name value and early season form should carry a good amount of weight. You may be able to get a deal over the line with a frustrated manager for Reece James who looks to be back in training now. Or you may want to look for a more reliable asset like Joelinton or Morgan Gibbs-White, both of which would be great deals.
Eberechi Eze
Position:Â Midfielder
Team:Â Crystal Palace
GW20 Rank: 24
GW21 Rank: 46
What's Changed?:Â Until recently Eze had been having a great season, after having spent almost the entire 21/22 season out with a really bad Achilles injury. He has proved a really good value draft pick, after being taken in Rounds 5/6 or later, but his and Palace's form has been stuttering of late. Viera hasn't been able to get the balance right in midfield and attack, often playing Zaha, Olise, Ayew and Eze together without a recognised striker. In the past few games Eze's influence has been waning and he was subsequently benched for the midweek game against Man United. His Fantrax scoring form has refelcted this with just 6.7 PPS in the last 6 matches, and even that is massively propped up by a huge haul of 21.5 against struggling Bournemouth, you can imagine how abject the other scores have been! We could just be seeing a regression due to him being overly relied upon after coming back from a long term injury, but these are certainly worrying signs for the Palace midfielder.
Recommendation: I would back Eze to get his form back eventually, but this could take a little while and you may have to endure the odd benching and inconsistent scoring in the meantime, especially with Palace's upcoming fixture run looking very tough indeed. I don't think you should be desperately looking to trade him out, but if you could trade him out for say Alexis Mac Allister or Joelinton, I think that would be a good deal to de-risk your squad in the short to medium term.
For the full list of Gameweek 21 fallers, check out our Weekly ROS Rankings page!
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