Our Gameweek 37 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 37 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. Additionally, I've included the rostership percentage from the "Community List" -- the twenty 12-team divisions that comprise the ultra-competitive DraftPL Community League and International Genie League -- to provide some additional context for who is likely to be available and where you might want to follow the wisdom of the crowd.
As always, let's take a quick look back at Gameweek 36: Curtis Jones (30) was the star man with his brilliant two-goal display for Liverpool, but Julio Enciso (22) and Joel Ward (17.25) also made hay. Sam Johnstone (8) was really the only other player to deliver a halfway respectable score. The less said about the remaining selections, the better. The 89.75 points for the week was an above average outing, taking the season tally over to 3008.5 points. That's good enough for a weekly average just shy of 86 points.
I'd be very happy to keep the weekly average above the 85-point mark for the season. Let's see what's in store for the penultimate gameweek. Brighton, Chelsea, Man City and Man United all have two fixtures. As has been the case recently, my recommendation is still to fit in players from these teams if you can (well, maybe not Chelsea defenders), but my primary focus is going to be on players you can potentially draft into your side from the single gamers. Here's where I've landed:
GK: Jordan Pickford
Team: Everton
Opponent: Wolves (away)
Rostered: 49% (Fantrax) / 47% (Community)
Points Last Gameweek: -4
Prospects: After featuring heavily earlier in the season, I feel like it's been a while since Jordan Pickford made the top of my goalkeeper shortlist. England's number 1 hasn't been hitting the heights he did under Frank Lampard since Sean Dyche arrived (a sign that the defense in front of him is actually functional now), but despite that and his -4 last week, I have a good feeling about Pickford's chances to make a handful of saves against Wolves this weekend. The Toffees' bid for survival depends on a good performance, and I think he and his teammates will be up for the fight.
DEF: Emerson
Team: West Ham
Opponent: Leeds (home)
Rostered: 5% / 14%
Points Last Gameweek: 1.5
Projected GW37 Points: 6.4
Prospects: I'm going all in on defenders this week, largely due to that being the position with the most options available at this late stage of the season (the forward pool has always been shallow, but even the options among viable midfielders seem to have dried up). That's no slight on defenders, by the way...they can come through in a big way for your team when they hit. With much of West Ham's focus on the Europa Conference League, it's likely that we see a fair amount of rotation, including Emerson replacing Aaron Cresswell at left back. I wouldn't count on a Hammers clean sheet, but the former Chelsea wingback has a lot of attacking talent and can cause problems for a Leeds team whose defensive struggles are well documented.
DEF: Jakub Kiwior
Team: Arsenal
Opponent: Nottingham Forest (away)
Rostered: 18% / 52%
Points Last Gameweek: -2.5
Projected GW37 Points: 7.4
Prospects: Arsenal's downturn in league form directly coincided with their loss of William Saliba through injury, with Rob Holding not doing a convincing job of covering for the Frenchman when asked to step up. A minor injury to Gabriel Magalhaes opened the door for young Jakub Kiwior to show what he's made of, and he passed the initial test with flying colors. Since replacing Holding upon Gabriel's return, the Polish CB has looked calm and composed in and out of possession. He's certainly not as influential as Saliba, but the Gunners have a couple kind fixtures to close out the season and Kiwior has shown he can build a solid foundation of ghost points to help offset the loss of a clean sheet. If Kieran Tierney is available in your league, he's also a solid option now that we have confirmation Zinchenko's injury will keep him out of the remaining games.
DEF: Victor Lindelof
Team: Man United
Opponent: Bournemouth (away) / Chelsea (home)
Rostered: 36% / 95%
Points Last Gameweek: 14.5
Projected GW37 Points: 14.3
Prospects: I've only selected one DGW player this week and it's a surprise choice of Victor Lindelof. The Swede spent most of the season in the background, but has proven to be a capable deputy for the injury-stricken Lisandro Martinez. With injuries and rotation making the LCB role a bit of an uncertainty between Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw and even Harry Maguire, the safest route to two starts in the Red Devils back line may just be through Lindelof. Like Maguire, he's someone who scores pretty well on the rare occasions where he does start, and even if he is rotated for the second game against Chelsea, I think he's still a good option for the trip to Bournemouth.
DEF: Pascal Struijk
Team: Leeds
Opponent: West Ham (away)
Rostered: 43% / 19%
Points Last Gameweek: 2.5
Projected GW37 Points: 8.1
Prospects: It doesn't even feel like it was this season that Pascal Struijk was in the conversation for top-3 highest scoring defenders. Long gone are the heady days of Jesse Marsch and The Net™, with Struijk finding himself behind Junior Firpo in the pecking order under Javi Gracia and now Sam Allardyce. Firpo, to his credit, has given his teammate an opportunity to prove to Big Sam why he was a mainstay in the team for the first half of the campaign. It's not a foregone conclusion that Struijk will stand in for the suspended Firpo, but there aren't too many other options available so I think this is the likeliest scenario. If the Dutch defender does get the start, I'm optimistic he can give us all a reminder of his fantasy potential.
DEF: Toti
Team: Wolves
Opponent: Everton (home)
Rostered: 3% / 14%
Points Last Gameweek: 1
Projected GW37 Points: 6.4
Prospects: Closing out the defensive ranks is a potentially controversial pick in Toti. The converted center back is an all-or-nothing play and has unfortunately been very reliant on goals and/or clean sheets when he's provided fantasy value. I don't like betting on either of those things, particularly when the player doesn't have a floor to speak of (check the multiple negative scores when the Portuguese hasn't scored or kept a CS), but something is telling me he's a worthwhile pick-up this week. Following my intuition is what led me to include Curtis Jones in last week's selection, so there's at least some precedent that my hunches can pan out. That said, you'd be following me blindly on this one, as I really don't have much else other than my gut feeling to go on with this pick.
MID: Elliot Anderson
Team: Newcastle
Opponent: Leicester (home)
Rostered: 1% / 0%
Points Last Gameweek: 0
Projected GW37 Points: 5.4
Prospects: Newcastle continue to go from strength to strength as they push to secure Champions League football next season. Their in-form midfield triumvirate of Bruno G, Joelinton and Joe Willock looks like it will be broken up for at least the match against Leicester City after Willock picked up what looks to be a fairly serious hamstring injury against Brighton on Thursday. Elliot Anderson was the man to replace him and in all likelihood will get the nod from the start against the Foxes with Sean Longstaff still a doubt and Anthony Gordon not necessarily suited to a central midfield role. There's not really any fantasy precedent to go on with Anderson and the projections aren't in his favor this week (perhaps down to lack of data rather than potential). But it's hard to bet against anyone playing for the Magpies or against the Foxes right now. Combine the two and it could be a big day for the Geordies.
MID: Cheick Doucoure
Team: Crystal Palace
Opponent: Fulham (away)
Rostered: 27% / 38%
Points Last Gameweek: 4.5
Projected GW37 Points: 6.9
Prospects: As I mentioned above, there isn't a whole lot to love in terms of high-upside midfielders who will start (especially not twice for the teams that double), so I'm going with an old reliable pick in Cheick Doucoure. Sometimes you need a "Steady Eddie" type of player who you can count on to get you 6-8 points, with at least a slight possibility of providing a goal contribution. Doucoure fits that bill pretty well, fluctuating between 4.5 and 12 points over the past few months. Keep an eye on the players in the Reserves as well as any surprise starters that offer higher upside, though...especially if you are are behind in your matchup or have fewer DGW players than your opponent. This pick isn't likely one that's going to tip the scales too heavily in either direction.
MID: James Garner
Team: Everton
Opponent: Wolves (away)
Rostered: 2% / 14%
Points Last Gameweek: 3
Projected GW37 Points: 9.0
Prospects: One of the many players to benefit from Sean Dyche's appointment, at least in terms of playing time, is James Garner. The central midfielder appears to have worked his way into the manager's good graces and has been a regular starter over the last month. Dyche could look to switch things up with survival on the line, but Garner has been impressive in real life if not in fantasy terms and should keep his place. I'm predicting an open game between Everton and Wolves, which should help Garner and company pull through with some solid counting stats even if they don't get on the scoresheet.
FWD: Jordan Ayew
Team: Crystal Palace
Opponent: Fulham (away)
Rostered: 58% / 90%
Points Last Gameweek: 12.5
Projected GW37 Points: 8.6
Prospects: With Wilfried Zaha looking very likely to miss the rest of the season, we should be able to count on Jordan Ayew being a nailed-on starter for Crystal Palace. The Ghanaian makes frequent appearances in our Sleepers XI, Waivers and Ghost Point Hunters articles due to his ability to rack up the peripheral points, seemingly out of thin air. Both of my forward selections are right at the high end of the roster % threshold in Fantrax, so if Ayew isn't available in your league you could instead pivot to another Palace striker in Odsonne Edouard, though I have to caution you that the Frenchman doesn't have the same magic ability when it comes to ghosting.
FWD: Daniel Podence
Team: Wolves
Opponent: Everton (home)
Rostered: 60% / 23%
Points Last Gameweek: 1
Projected GW37 Points: 10.0
Prospects: Finally, I'm going with a bit of a Hail Mary with my selection of Daniel Podence. The diminutive forward hasn't been a regular starter under Julen Lopetegui despite being one of the few attacking players who can create chances that lead to goals (and score a few himself). With the frontline guys like Diego Costa and Matheus Cunha not really firing, we could see Podence given a chance to help Wolves solidify 13th. If Podence doesn't start, you could also look to Pedro Neto or even Hwang Hee-Chan if they're called upon instead. But I'm personally staying away from Cunha after he's disappointed me on multiple occasions when I've chosen him.
The Reserves
If you're playing on Fantrax with Live Lineup Changes, you should 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 do get a start for their team, snap them up and plug them into your starting eleven!
Michael Keane, Defender, Everton. Opponent: Wolves
Raphael Varane, Defender, Man United. Opponent: Bournemouth / Chelsea
Fabio Vieira, Midfielder, Arsenal. Opponent: Nottingham Forest
Cole Palmer, Midfielder, Man City. Opponent: Chelsea / Brighton
Reiss Nelson, Forward, Arsenal. Opponent: Nottingham Forest
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.
