Gameweek 1 Sleepers XI: Draft EPL

Our Gameweek 1 Sleepers XI article provides Draft 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 any one of these under-the-radar picks could 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 1 Sleepers XI

For this article, we use the percentage rostered calculation from Fantrax and Sleeper. Our only rule is that each player we highlight is rostered in 60% of leagues or fewer at the time of writing. Therefore, there's a good chance some of these players will be free agents in your Draft league! As always, we'll take form, fixtures, projected points, and a healthy dose of intuition into account to make our selections.

The Sleepers XI table below includes a full team of Starters, as well as 5 Reserves - high-upside players with some question marks around whether or not they'll start in Gameweek 1. So, keep an eye out when lineups are announced and pick them up if you see them starting, especially if you need to fill a spot on your roster. Read below for the rationale behind each of the Starter selections.

Bernd Leno (G, Fulham)

It's quite bizarre that Fulham have barely signed any players this transfer window, that being said, maybe there's some benefit to having a very small tight knit team to work with as the Cottagers tackle yet another season in the Premier League. It's fair to say that Fulham will probably miss the likes of Antonee Robinson in their ranks but maybe that means that Leno will just be busier than usual especially when you consider the fact that Brighton we're 5th in the league last season for shots on target per game as a club.

Joachim Andersen (D, Fulham)

If you've been reading my articles for a while, you'll know that I love doubling up on a defence in the Sleepers XI. It's probably not the wisest strategy but if a team like Fulham can get a clean sheet this weekend, it could pay off massively. Other than being a bit of a goal threat and key pass generator, it feels as though Andersen has gone undrafted in many leagues. Due to a couple of injuries, Andersen only started 30 games last season but despite that he still averaged 9.4 gPPS. It should also be noted that he had the lowest GACS% reliance of all Fulham defenders with 20 or more starts.

Sepp van den Berg (D, Brentford)

Brentford have had a lot of major departures from their club: their talisman, their captain and their manager. Although it seems like a team to avoid, there is still belief that you can find some good value in their defence alongside the likes of Collins and Kayode. By the end of last season, Sepp was scoring just under 10 gPPS which is a pretty good floor for a DEF-3/4 asset. The Bees come up against a Nottingham Forest team who have been dreadful during preseason, only scoring 1 goal in 7 games. Even their manager Nuno has come out and said that they are massively behind in their preparations for the new season, which surely does not bode well for the Tricky Trees. So maybe there's a potential clean sheet on the cards as well?

Trai Hume (D, Sunderland) 

According to our Fixture Difficulty Tracker, Sunderland DEFs have the 2nd best fixture in GW1 so it should be a no-brainer that you pick up Sunderland's 2024/25 player of the season. During their Championship campaign, Hume was 1st for tackles won, 2nd for interceptions, key passes and aerials, all while contributing with a few goals and having the 2nd most assists for the Black Cats. The Stadium of Light is going to be absolutely buzzing on the first weekend of Premier League football and they host an out-of-sorts West Ham team that have just lost one of their talisman to a local London rival during the summer transfer window. Even if Sunderland do concede a goal or two, Hume should rack up enough ghosts to back up his projected 8.5 FPts this weekend.

Anton Stach (M, Leeds) 

Stach was one of the few Leeds signings that went a bit under the radar for most Fantrax enthusiasts out there but as thanks to our amazing community, this player was a sleeper suggestion that I am personally punting on in GW1. Stach hails from the Bundesliga as a combative midfielder who should have a healthy floor and a potentially high ceiling. For instance, during Leeds' last preseason friendly, Stach took the majority of corners and even scored the equalising goal against Milan. That aside, he racked up a few clearances, tackles, aerials and interceptions, while even hitting the woodwork. This guy could potentially be the steal of the season in late drafts as your MID-5.

El Hadji Malick Diouf (M, West Ham)

If you're an absolute fiend for football and was one of those that took in as many preseason games as I did, then there's a chance you might have at least come across the highlights of West Ham's new left wingback, Diouf. There's still a debate on how much defensive contributions he provides for a solid fantasy floor but the ceiling is definitely there. Across the preseason matches, Diouf was crossing for fun and seemed to have been popping up in the box as a possible goal threat as well, and at 6ft tall, he could easily get on the end of a few crosses from the likes of Bowen, Wan-Bissaka and Ward-Prowse. What's even better about Diouf is that although he has defensive responsibilities, he's registered as a MID so he won't suffer from any goals conceded. Sure he might not get the 6 points for the clean sheet but how many do you really expect West Ham to keep? Possibly MID-4/5 gold dust.

James Ward-Prowse (M, West Ham)

James Ward-Prowse has been an absolute stalwart of the Premier League. This is a player that used to be drafted in the first two rounds of most leagues, but has now dropped off a cliff. Maybe that's due to him aging as a player but it also could be how tumultuous of a season he had from playing for 2 different clubs and a variety of managers last season. For 5 of the past 6 seasons, JWP has racked up around 400 FPts, averaging over 10 FPts a game, which is numbers you'd kill for as a MID-4/5. It seems as though he might have found a reliable starting spot under Graham Potter for West Ham, as he started most preseason games and with the height of his teammates around him like Kilman, Diouf and Fullkrug, JWP could absolutely smash it this season. The Hammers visit Sunderland in GW1 and a promoted team is the perfect opposition to target for a punt.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (M, Everton)

Everton have been making some very shrewd signings of late and one of them was KDH from Chelsea. KDH rarely featured for Chelsea last season but still had some vital moments in competitions like the Conference League and the Club World Cup. However it seems as though he might have a new role under David Moyes for the Toffees. It's hard to say how long he will stay as the No. 10 given the signings of Grealish and Alcaraz but if he does start there versus Leeds on Monday, you'll definitely want to roll him out. In his debut game against Roma, KDH dominated corner duty (it should be noted the McNeil was not on the pitch at the time so TBC on that going forward), created 4 chances (2 big ones) and had a couple of accurate crosses in around 60 minutes of play. That's a pretty damn good ghost point score if you do the maths, so why not take a chance on him this gameweek?

Dan Ndoye (F, Nottingham Forest)

After the departure of Elanga from Nottingham Forest, the Tricky Trees signed Ndoye from Bologna. The Swiss MID comes off the back of a fairly decent season in the Serie A with 12 attacking returns in 26 appearances, with most of them being goals. We've currently got him projected to score just under 9 FPts this gameweek but it won't be surprising if managers are hesitant to punt on a new face in the league. One possible benefit to starting him against Brentford is due to the mass exodus of a core set of players and figures at the club, even the likes of Flekken has moved on. There's not much data from the preseason games but the one fixture against Fiorentina showed that he could very much be an allrounder of an asset with shots, successful dribbles, aerials and other defensive contributions as part of his game.

Jaidon Anthony (F, Burnley)

When you compare the two times Burnley got promoted to the Premier League, their styles of football are complete opposites. Having gone from a team that was so attack focused, they've now reverted to a more defence-first approach which could see them having a much better time in the league. So why even suggest a Burnley attacker? Lads it's Tottenham. Spurs managed to collapse in the dying minutes of their Super Cup final against PSG which shows that not all is rosy at White Hart Lane under new manager Thomas Frank. If you think Burnley can have some joy, then go with Anthony. Last season, he led the Clarets on shots, key passes and dribbles, making him the heartbeat of their attack. He even took set pieces! So with Josh Brownhill out the picture, Anthony could be a ghost point machine.

Wilfried Gnonto (F, Leeds) 

Anyone remember Gnonto from a few seasons ago? Well, he's back! Although he didn't particularly dominate any attacking-minded categories during their 2024/25 campaign in the Championship, the Italian FWD still managed to rack up 15 attacking returns in 26 starts. That's nearly one in every 2 games! Of course there is a massive difference between playing in the Championship and the Prem but Gnonto could be a great punt against a Toffees team that seem to missing a few key defensive personnel like Branthwaite and Mykolenko, which means the likes of Michael Keane could feature - yikes. So if one of your regular studs doesn't start over the weekend Gnonto could be a great backup plan as it's the Monday night fixture.

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