Gameweek 25 Sleepers XI: Draft EPL

Our Gameweek 25 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 25 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.

We ended Gameweek 24 with a bit of an underwhelming score of only 75.25 FPts for our efforts. Despite having all of our assets start their respective matches, there was a bit of bad luck, and maybe some oversight, with some of our picks. In net, even though he was one of the best assets in the game over the past few gameweeks, Dubravka only managed a meagre 1 fantasy point (3 goals conceded, 1 yellow card), which will most likely see him dumped in various leagues. In defence we had 2 good scores and 2 bad ones. The good scores came from James Hill (10.75 FPts, 1 yellow card and a clean sheet) and Sepp van den Berg (12.25 FPts with a clean sheet). Whereas the likes of Yerson Mosquera (2.5 FPts, 1 yellow card, 2 goals conceded) and Badiashile (45 mins, 2 goals conceded) were massive flops. In midfield, all three of our picks scored under 10 FPts each. Lewis Cook got 6.25 FPts, Joao Gomes scored 7 FPts with a yellow card and Yeremy Pino ended up with 4.25 FPts with his yellow card as well. If you've been keeping track, that's five yellow cards in total. Finally, up front is where we had our joy. Although Brobbey (4.25 FPts) blanked in a 3-0 win for the Black Cats, our other picks in Kroupi (13.5 FPts, 1 goal scored) and Mane (10.25 FPts, all ghosts) made us proud. Losing out on 10 FPts due to cautions is a bit frustrating, but we strongly believe we can do better in Gameweek 25, so keep on reading to see what we do next!

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 they'll start in Gameweek 25. 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.

Senne Lammens (G, Man Utd)

If you're like me and have had to switch goalkeepers over the past few gameweeks, then this one is for you, especially after I timed Dubravka's hauls absolutely wrong by getting him for his 1 fantasy point against Sunderland and missing the 3 hauls before that. Lammens, although not as flashy as he seems, has been a bit of a steady-eddy pick over the past few gameweeks. He's only had 3 double digit scores to his name all season, but over the past 3 games he's had scores of 9.25 (clean sheet), 8.75 and 7.5 FPts, with the latter two scores including 2 goals conceded per match. These aren't game winning scores by any means, but he's scored more points than the likes of Roefs during that period. So he can still be a reliable option if you need one.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (D, West Ham) 

Since returning from AFCON, AWB has put up scores of 19.75, 3.75 and 20.5 FPts. Other than the stinker in the middle, what's impressive about these hauls is the fact that he didn't keep a single clean sheet. His 19.75 FPts score were all ghost points, whereas his 20.5 score against Chelsea included 2 assists. Since his return, he's been consistently contributing at least 1 key pass, 1 tackle won and 3 clearances every game. His 6.7 PPS for the season isn't a great look, but he's actually the best outfielder in terms of ghost points for the Hammers, averaging 8.4 gPPS. West Ham visit Turf Moor next, which is weirdly enough one of those "6-pointer" affairs. Simply a must-win game for the London club and a fixture where AWB could see both attacking and defensive returns.

Jarrad Branthwaite (D, Everton) 

We thought that Branthwaite's return would have meant the end of Keane's time in the Everton defence, but Moyes surprised us all and basically played 4 centre-backs in their last fixture against Brighton. If you're looking for a DEF-4/5 for your roster, and tired of punting on FWDs that don't seem to score more than 4 FPts, then Branthwaite is a great back-up solution. He's only featured twice this season, scoring 6.5 ghosts in 45 minutes against Leeds and 7 ghosts in a full game against Brighton. So even if he was to concede against Fulham this weekend, he's still likely to score better than some of the available FWDs in your league. Everton have also shored up defensively in recent games. In their last 4 away games, they've only conceded 1 goal, which is the fewest in the league over that period. So there's a possible clean sheet on the cards for the Toffees, or loads of defensive ghosts as they try to maintain that form.

Pascal Struijk (D, Leeds)

According to our Fixture Difficulty Tracker, Leeds defenders are the 3rd best option this weekend as they host Nottingham Forest on the Friday evening to kickstart the gameweek. Elland Road has always been a difficult place to visit, as they've only lost 2 of their last 8 home games against the likes of Arsenal and Aston Villa, 2 of the top 3 teams in the league. The good thing about Struijk as a pick though, is the fact that conceding goals doesn't seem to matter to him scoring well. In a 4-0 loss against the Gunners, the Dutch defender still scored 8.25 FPts, equating to 14.25 ghosts. He's already averaging 8.2 gPPS, which makes him a great DEF-3/4 option for any roster. Leeds will be looking to win this game by any means possible as both clubs are tied on 26 points, and sat just outside the relegation zone. So who knows, maybe Struijk gets his first goal for the season. After all, he has attempted the most shots (22) of all Leeds DEFs so far.

Wesley Fofana (D, Chelsea)

Fofana's 9.9 gPPS is the best of any outfielder at Chelsea this season. The problem is though, the French defender has not managed to start regularly for his club. In fact, the longest stretch of consecutive starts he's had is 3 games, from Gameweek 15 to 17, which is a third of his total starts. It's a shame, as he is basically a DEF-2 for any roster. He even scores points regularly off the bench, which is probably why his 11.4 gPP90 is also the best amongst his teammates. The only reason we'd expect him to start this weekend is because of how bad Badiashile was in Chelsea's last league game against West Ham. Chelsea looked shambolic at the back and were down by 2 goals at halftime. Then on comes Fofana, sparking the comeback win for the Blues as he ended up scoring 13 FPts in 45 minutes, not to mention getting the assist for their first goal. If fit, I'd be stashing him in my roster ROS.

Emiliano Buendia (M, Aston Villa)

If you're looking for a MID-4 punt this weekend, then consider Buendia. The Argentine has had a very mixed season, showing promising signs of being a goal-scoring asset whilst constantly battling random injuries. However, he seems to be on the rise again, having started Villa's last 3 games and playing 90 minutes in two of those games. He even scored in Gameweek 23, bringing his tally to 5 goals for the campaign. In these 3 matches, he dropped scores of 5.75, 18 and 8.5 points, meaning he was averaging just under 7.5 ghost points per start. You could say he was even unlucky not to return in Gameweek 24 against Brentford, as he put up his 2nd highest xGi of 0.51 (goal involvement) for the season. Up next are Bournemouth, a team that has only kept 2 clean sheets in their last 15 games. So there's a good chance of attacking returns for Buendia this weekend.

Sean Longstaff (M, Leeds)

We got some shocking updates from Farke over the past couple of days. One being that Anton Stach would be missing the next couple of games for Leeds, with a not-so-serious injury. This can only mean the return of Longstaff. In Stach's absence, we're also assuming that Longstaff gets the monopoly of set pieces at his disposal, and therefore could resume his excellent ghost point production of 9.3 gPP90 and 8.9 gPPS. It shouldn't shock you that this point production is the 2nd best at the club, only behind the likes of Stach. Longstaff might not be a permanent hold ROS, but over the next couple of weeks, he's the perfect replacement if one of your studs like Saka is missing. He's arguably a MID-2 that's categorised as a MID-4/5 for your roster. Grab him ASAP!

Tomas Soucek (M, West Ham)

Despite a stinker of a score of 1 fantasy point against Chelsea in Gameweek 24, we still think Soucek could be a great option this weekend against Burnley. Burnley are arguably the worst team in the league right now, at least over the last 6 gameweeks. The Clarets conceded 13 goals over that stretch of games, the most in the division. Soucek has always had an eye for goal, and since returning into the starting XI, his scores have actually been very promising. He has put up scores of 18.25 (1 assist), 11.75 and 6.5 FPts prior to his game against Chelsea, being a constant provider of key passes, tackles won, clearances and aerials. This could be a very shrewd pickup as the Hammers desperately fight for their league survival.

Amine Adli (F, Bournemouth)

After Semenyo's departure from Bournemouth, we were all wondering who would thrive in the Ghanaian's absence. Lo and behold it turned out to be one of their new boys, Adli. There is a slight concern with this pick though, and it's the fact that the Cherries also signed the likes of Brazilian Rayan, who seems to be a bit more of a finished product. However, it would be extremely harsh to see Adli be dropped after his last 3 performances, getting an attacking return in each match. He's also probably getting a bit more stick than deserved as his ghost point production is just over 6.5 gPPS over his last 3 games, fuelling scores of 9.75, 15.75 and 13.5 FPts, with the last one including a yellow card. So if you're in dire need of a FWD-2/3, consider adding the Moroccan to your ranks.

Tammy Abraham (F, Aston Villa)

The ex-Chelsea striker is back in the league and in a familiar setting as well. Lest we forget, Abraham actually played for Aston Villa during their time in the Championship, where the England striker scored 25 goals in 37 appearances, helping the Midlands club secure promotion back to the Premier League. Given the departure of Malen, Villa badly required the services of a striker, as Watkins has struggled to gain full fitness all season. Watkins has only just been cleared to return to the match day squad for this weekend's tie against the Cherries, so we're still expecting Tammy to lead the line. In his debut game, he played 90 minutes, attempted 3 shots (1 on target), had 1 key pass and a couple of aerials. He even had a goal ruled out by VAR! I'd be punting on him if he's free in your league.

Valentin Castellanos (F, West Ham) 

Since his debut, Castellanos has attempted the most shots inside the box (13) and had the 2nd most big chances (4) in the league. He's accumulated the 3rd highest non-penalty xG of 1.7 over the last 4 games and, this might be hard to believe but, West Ham are actually in the top 5 for xG, big chances and goals scored since his first start for the club. The Hammers play Burnley next, one of the worst defences in the league, and this is a must-win game for Nuno and his men. Despite the loss to Chelsea, West Ham were actually leading that game 2-0 at the halfway mark, and before this, they won back-to-back games for the first time since Gameweek 10 & 11. So you could say they've actually been pretty good of late. If we are ignoring the crap score of 0.5 FPts against Spurs, Castellanos has been averaging just under 8 gPPS, which you'd definitely take as a floor against Burnley this weekend as your FWD-2 option.

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