We ain’t afraid of no ghosts. In fact, we seek them – ghost points, that is. Ghost points are fantasy points that do not come from attacking returns or clean sheets. These can come in the form of key passes, shots on target, successful dribbles, interceptions, and tackles, among others. Identifying these points is essential for your Fantasy EPL prospects, and our Gameweek 25 Ghost Point Hunters article is here to help!
This Ghost Point Hunters article is based on the Fantrax Scoring System. Check out our Ghost Point Tracker page for the full list of Fantasy EPL players and their respective Ghost Point capabilities!
Gameweek 25 Ghost Point Hunters
We were a week early on the DGWs for this gameweek so we feel unfettered and can write about anything we damn well please this week. And we wanna talk Crystal Palace! This is for a few reasons - first, a fair amount of their assets ghosted well this past GW; second, many of these same assets are available on the waiver wire; third, Palace just sacked Uncle Roy for German hotshot, Oliver Glasner, and could start playing some decent football (with wingbacks!). In that vein, we have Adam Wharton, Daniel Munoz, & Will Hughes on the big board. Honorable Mention is Palace free, however, with Alfie Doughty, Zabarnyi & Senesi, Andrew Robertson, & James Trafford making the cut. Finally, in keeping with the theme, the Dr. Peter Venkman Award stays in South London and goes to the Colombian, Jefferson Lerma - pobrecito.
Adam Wharton
Position: Midfielder
Team: Crystal Palace
Rostered: 4%
Ghost Points Per Start: 13 (only 1 start)
Ghost Points Last GW: 13
Prospects: With Cheick Doucoure out, the youngster should be relatively nailed in one of the two CDM roles alongside Lerma. The new manager seemingly tends to play with 2 CDMs in a 3-4-3; let's see if he fancies the cut of Wharton's gib.
Verdict: The fact that he is a CDM gives him a relatively low ceiling. But we've seen that the Palace midfield can ghost fairly well. He is a wait and see for us ROS but not a bad streamer if you find yourself in a pinch this GW.
Palace wunderkind's have had a relatively rough go at it under Roy Hodgson. Outside of the obvious exceptions, Franca & others have been deemed unreliable and not worthy of consistent starts. But Adam Wharton might be another emerging exception. The 20 year old former Blackburn Rovers midfielder just made his first ever start in the EPL and he's already doing bits.
Following a tidy 61 minute cameo against Brighton, he excelled in his debut at home to Chelsea this past GW. Wharton dropped over a dozen ghosties, stemming from 2 Key Passes, 6 Tackles Won (!), 3 Interceptions, 2 Clearances, & 1 Aerial. This combination of attacking and defensive stats gets us all warm and fuzzy. But much like with his Palace engine room peers, we worry about consistency. We want to confirm if Wharton can keep up these types of performances and get a better glimpse into how he fits into Glasner's system. But we like what we see so far.
Daniel Munoz
Position: Defender
Team: Crystal Palace
Rostered: 15%
Ghost Points Per Start: 11.1 (only 2 starts)
Ghost Points Last GW: 12.25
Prospects: The Colombian fullback has gone straight into the starting lineup and he doesn't look like he will relinquish it anytime soon. With Glasner favoring wingbacks, Munoz should stand to gain in this new system.
Verdict: He should have the most potential upside ROS given his capacity to ghost and how the manager plays. Pick him up!
No offense to Joel Ward - lord knows he's gotten us out of a few jams over the years - but the Palace Right Back spot needed an upgrade. Enter Daniel Munoz, coming in the January transfer window from Genk in the Belgian League, where he scored 16 goals in 3.5 seasons, not bad for a fullback. He was thrown straight into the lion's den, starting two games on the trot v Brighton and Chelsea.
Munoz wasted no time in showing us he can ghost. Following up a ten ghost point performance with a 12+ one against Chelsea, he hoovered up 2 Key Passes, 3 Tackles Won, 1 Interception, 5 Clearances, 1 Blocked Shot, 2 Aerials. These are good signs. The problem is that Palace concede way too many goals at the moment and he has already shown a penchant for picking up yellow cards, which largely nullifying his ghosting. Munoz's back to back double digit ghosts resulted in scores of 0 & 4.25. But with the appointment of Glasner and the inevitable switch to an attacking wingback system, things are looking up for the Cafetero and his rosterers.
Will Hughes
Position: Midfielder
Team: Crystal Palace
Rostered: 1%
Ghost Points Per Start: 5.4
Ghost Points Last GW: 15
Prospects: With both Eze & Olise out, "big Willy style" comes in to do a job. When he's on all sets, he's a dangerous ghoster. When he's not, he's completely unreliable. Act accordingly.
Verdict: If he's fit and you need a midfield streamer, he's your man.
Will Hughes is a fantasy veteran, providing streaming services over the years via Watford & Crystal Palace. Recently he's been a utility man off the Palace bench, filling when Roy needs a body in midfield. While inconsistent, he can still strike a set piece quite well, and can do his fair bit of ghosting.
Last time out, Hughes proved his ghost point bonafides yet again. In the course of delivering a tasty 15 scary scores, he achieved 4 Key Passes, 3 Tackles Won, 1 Accurate Cross Not a Corner (ACNC), 1 Clearance, & 1 Blocked Shot. The key takeaway is that he can still do it when on set pieces/Eze & Olise are out, which makes Hughes a nice streamer in these relatively rare instances. While he is very unlikely to figure into Glasner's plans and he did come off late with a knock, if he does keep this role, he's a decent short term punt.
Honorable Mention:
Alfie Doughty (Luton Town MID; 22 ghosts): The key pass machine returned. After going somewhat quiet on the ghost point front for a bit, he came back with a vengeance this past week. This bodes well going into a DGW.
Zabaryni & Senesi (Bournemouth DEFs: 18.5 & 17 ghosts): This CB pairing had a field day over the weekend v Fulham. They have been relatively finicky as fantasy assets but are definitely high upside streamers in good matchups.
Andrew Robertson (Liverpool DEF; 15.5 ghosts): Back from injury and largely free from Trent & Szobo vulturing sets, Robbo proved he's still got it. Let's see if Klopp proceeds softly-softly with him due to the previous knock.
James Trafford (Burnley GK; 15.5 ghosts): The young GK just can't stop ghosting. He's become set and forget due to the plethora of saves he gets to offset any goals conceded. He is quickly becoming the Bernd Leno of yesteryear.
Category Killers:
Key Passes: Alfie Doughty (9)
Successful Dribbles: Rayan Ait-Nouri (6)
Aerials: Illia Zabarnyi (10)
Accurate Crosses Not Corners (ACNCs): Andrew Robertson (4)
Tackles Won: Amari'i Bell (5)
Interceptions: Antonee Robinson (5)
Dr. Peter Venkman Award:
Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace MID; 1 ghost): This is a special one for us this week. Going into the final game of the GW - Chelsea at Palace - and needed 3 points from someone. We landed on Jefferson Lerma, who rarely goes under 3 points and has shown he can ghost with both defensive and attacking output. When he scored an early golazo, we felt quite vindicated. Thank goodness he did - without the goal, he wouldn't have made it. Outside of the goal, Lerma only mustered 3 Clearances & 3 Aerials, which were offset by a dispossession & and a yellow card. He should still be a decent midfield streamer when in a pinch - his 6+ GPPS can do a job - but his ability to pick up yellows and go silent is scarier than the ghosts.
***Click here to view the full Ghost Point Tracker table!***
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.
Comments