top of page

Gameweek 21 Sleepers XI: Draft EPL

Writer's picture: Bantah BoyzBantah Boyz

Our Gameweek 21 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!

Michail Antonio shooting the ball for West Ham

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 21 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.


New Year, New High Score. If this is a sign of things to come for our picks in the New Year, let's have it then! Our GW20 roster ended up with a season-high of 133.75 FPts, nearly double our GW19 score. Let's see how our previous selections helped us achieve this feat.


Between the sticks, we had Areola versus the out-of-sorts Champions Man City, with the hope that Haaland and co. would struggle to convert their chances. Alas that didn't seem to be the case as the Frenchman conceded 4 goals but still managed to score 3 FPts. In our backline, we went with another 5-defender formation which ended with a mixed bag of results. James Bree, our only pick that didn't play 90 minutes, was yanked off at half-time with a 3.25 FPts score. Luckily he didn't end up conceding five goals like the rest of his teammates did. Neco Williams put up a similar ghost point score but managed to keep the clean sheet versus Wolves which resulted in 10.75 FPts. We also went with the Bournemouth CB pairing of Huijsen and Zabarnyi, with the former scoring 16.25 FPts and the latter 15 FPts, both boosted by their clean sheet versus Everton. Lastly we had Sepp van den Berg's 19 FPts haul versus Southampton. The Dutch defender kept a clean sheet, won a penalty and also got the assist after Mbeumo converted his penalty as part of the 5-goal thriller at the St. Mary's stadium. In midfield we went with 2 more Brentford players and a re-born Leon Bailey. Bailey managed to score a goal against the Foxes but only scored 13.5 FPts. From our two Bees, Norgaard scored a respectable 7.5 FPts, while Schade scored just over double that amount after scoring a goal, giving the German a tidy 15.75 FPts score. Finally in our front 2, if it wasn't predictable by now, we obviously had yet another Brentford player in Keane Lewis-Potter, who also scored a goal and ultimately ended up as our 2nd highest scorer of the team with 17.75 FPts. Mavididi was our other FWD who also scored a goal but had an underwhelming 12 FPts. 4 goals is an insane return from our GW20 Sleepers XI which feels irreproducible but of course we will do our best to come as close to our season-best score as we roll out another 11 possible starters for our GW21 Sleepers article.


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 21. 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.



Christian Walton (G, Ipswich)

For nearly the entire season, Muric has been the starting GK for the Tractor Boys. However, it seems as though McKenna might have finally ran out of patience with their Kosovar shot-stopper. Muric currently leads the league for errors leading to goals (5), which is 2 clear of any other keeper - not a stat you want to be leading. He even made a mistake during the FA cup tie and ultimately got subbed in the 80th minute for their 3rd string GK. So we're going to assume that Walton has now got the starting spot after his back to back appearances against Chelsea and Fulham. You'd say the 4 FPts score versus Fulham is a bit unlucky given he faced 2 successful penalties, but if he can come close to his 20 FPts haul that he made versus Chelsea, he'd be a great pick against a Brighton team that has now been battered with a fresh set of injuries to their attackers.


Matthijs de Ligt (D, Man Utd)

Obviously we have to pick someone that is facing Southampton right? Since Totti has already suggested Maguire in our GW21 Waivers article, the next best thing seems like de Ligt. After the massive win in the FA Cup against Arsenal, Manchester United will want to continue that short unbeaten run, which also includes the draw against Liverpool in the league. It seems as though the Red Devils are finally starting to understand Amorim's philosophy and do look a bit more solid at the back. Given how shambolic the Southampton defence is right now, there's always an opportunity for attacking returns for any player, even de Ligt. His only goal for the season was actually against the Saints in the reverse fixture. Can lightning strike twice?


Maxence Lacroix (D, Crystal Palace)

In the last 6 league games, Leicester City have scored the 2nd fewest goals (4) in the league. So it seems as though whatever bounce van Nistelrooy brought to the Foxes, has quickly worn off. In fact, in the same timeframe, Crystal Palace have been the 7th best team and have only lost once in their last 9 league games. Although there are some transfer doubts floating around the Eagles defenders such as Guehi and Chalobah, Lacroix seems to be staying put in the XI which is great news for the London club given his positive impact on the team. You might be concerned that Leicester scored 6 goals in the FA cup, but it wasn't against a Premier League team. So even if the Foxes manage to score 1 goal, Lacroix 7.5 gPPS is enough to warrant a start as your DEF-2/3.


Sven Botman (D, Newcastle) 

After Schar missed out due to his yellow card accumulation, Sven Botman finally got his first start of the league campaign after being out of action for so long with an injury. It looked like he never even left the team. The Dutch CB racked up 10 ghost points which comprised of a few tackles, interceptions, aerials and even a successful dribble! There's a concern that Botman goes back to the bench after such a long period out but given Schar's start in the FA cup, there's also a chance that the Swiss DEF gets benched for the league game, because Eddie Howe will want to manage his players' load and avoid further injuries to his fairly thin squad.


Timothy Castagne (D, Fulham)

Castagne has been a great addition to the player pool since Tete's injury and now we've gotten an update that the latter is most likely out till the end of March or beginning of April. This pretty much cements Castagne's place in the Fulham starting XI. What's more appealing about the Belgian DEF is that he has actually been playing as a RWB in his last 3 matches. This slight positional shift has somewhat unlocked Castagne's attacking potential as he now has 2 attacking returns in his last 4 appearances, with the most recent one being a goal in the FA cup versus Watford. West Ham are still settling under their new manager Potter and with more injuries to the Hammers attacking players, there's also a better chance of a clean sheet for the Cottagers.


Harry Wilson (M, Fulham)

Harry Wilson has not had the best of times at Fulham as the Welsh lad has struggled to be a regular starter for the London outfit. Not only that, he's not typically been the best ghost point scorer in his time there as well. However, he currently seems to be in a bit of a purple patch having started 4 of the last 5 games for the Cottagers, with 3 attacking returns in his last 3 appearances. Although his 6.7 gPPS is not impressive, the 12.8 gPP90 is what seems more attractive. In his last two appearances, Wilson started both games and scored 8 ghost points versus Bournemouth and 14.75 ghost points versus Ipswich. This makes him an easy MID-3/4 for your roster this gameweek.


Jefferson Lerma (M, Crystal Palace)

I know what you're thinking...Lerma?! Hear me out. This suggestion is similar to the likes of Norgaard. A steady-eddy for a roster that is struggling to find a dependable MID this gameweek. Especially a manager like myself who has injured players like Bowen in their roster. In Lerma's last 4 games, he's been averaging just under 7 PPS, but what's more intriguing is the that the Colombian MID has had a shot on target in each of those games. So this is purely a fixture punt play because the Eagles are up against relegation-candidates Leicester City, a team that is tied for the second-most goals conceded (10) over the last 4 games.


Mateus Fernandes (M, Southampton)

It's fair to say that Southampton missed Mateus in their 5-0 battering versus Brentford in GW20. Not saying that he would have had defensive duties and helped keep the goals out but there is some benefit to having your best attackers on the pitch to give your defence some kind of relief during periods of the game. Manchester United might be finally finding their feet under Amorim but the Red Devils have been anything but consistent recently and Southampton's away form has been better (not by much) than their home form. If the Saints can kick on from their FA cup win against Swansea, then Fernandes is most likely to have a say. He has the most key passes (15) and tackles won (24) out of all the Southampton players, which is backed up by his 6.5 gPPS, the best of their midfield lot. A decent MID-4/5 option.


Simon Adingra (M, Brighton)

The Seagulls have not been very lucky with injuries since GW20. After the cup break, there are now doubts over the likes of Pedro, Minteh and Rutter which means that there's a decent chance of a 3rd start in a row for the 2023 AFCON young player of the tournament. Although the Ivory Coast MID has not started many games this season, his 12.7 PP90 is still the second best of all Brighton midfielders. Brighton visit Ipswich Town in GW21 and Adingra will be hoping to add to his 2 goal tally as the Tractor Boys still boast one of the worst home forms in the league.


Nathan Broadhead (F, Ipswich) 

According to our fixture difficulty tracker, Ipswich Town's opponents Brighton are the 3rd best fixture for FWDs to face in GW21. I know in the past I've said to not trust Ipswich Town attackers but a new asset seems to have emerged in Broadhead. He has now started back-to-back games for Ipswich and coincidentally had a win and a draw against the London clubs, Chelsea and Fulham. It might be purely coincidence but he should also be given another start given the latest injury to Szmodics. If you need a FWD-3 that seems to have some ghost point potential, then Broadhead could be a decent punt. Brighton are winless in their last 8 games and have only kept 1 clean sheet in that time. Not the worst gamble.


Stephy Mavididi (F, Leicester City) 

Mavididi has finally found form and a consistent spot in the Leicester starting XI. The young English FWD now has 2 attacking returns in his last 4 starts in the league, with his most recent one being a goal against Aston Villa. Although this game only saw Mavididi score 3 ghost points, the 11.25 ghosts against Man City and 7.75 ghosts against Liverpool were the more promising indicators that he might be returning to some of his best form this season. He even scored in the cup game where the Foxes put 6 past QPR. These performances warrant a gamble as a FWD-3 option for your roster yet again.


Sleepers xi gw4

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.

Banner image for The Draft Society - A Fantasy Football Community

1,092 views

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page