Gameweek 26 Sleepers XI: Draft EPL

Our Gameweek 26 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 26 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.

Remember when we said we would aim to improve our score? Well good news and bad news. The good news is that we did! The bad news is that we only beat it by 0.25 FPts, landing us on 75.5 FPts for our Gameweek 25 score. So what went wrong? Well to start, our Friday evening game had polarising scores with Struijk getting 11 FPts (1 goal conceded) and Longstaff not even starting his game as he came on as a 7-minute sub, ending with -0.5 FPts (Stach owners, you can breathe a bit easier). The rest of our action came from all the Saturday games. So let’s stay in the “Bad Place” for a bit longer. Branthwaite and Tammy Abraham were 2 other sub appearances from our roster, with the former getting 3 FPts in 4 minutes and the latter getting 0.5 FPts in 3 minutes. Other underwhelming scores came from Wesley Fofana (6.25 FPts, 1 goal conceded), Buendia (2 FPts, 65 mins, 1 yellow card) and Soucek (5.25 FPts, 1 clean sheet point). So who actually scored points for us? Well to start, our goalkeeper Lammens got 9.25 FPts (1 clean sheet), Wan-Bissaka scored 14.5 FPts (1 clean sheet), Adli dropped 12 ghost points and Castellanos scored his first league goal to end up with 12.25 FPts. All in all, a mixed bag, especially given the number of sub appearances we wound up with. Given the quick turnaround, it’ll be challenging to avoid non-starters, but we’ll still give it a go as we try to hit the 100 FPts mark as always.

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 26. 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.

Mads Hermansen (G, West Ham)

According to our Fixture Difficulty Tracker, West Ham goalkeepers have the 2nd best rated fixture in Gameweek 26. The Carrick-bounce is real at the moment and it’s been reflected through Man Utd’s improvement over the last 4 gameweeks. Along with Chelsea, they've been the most in-form team in the league over the past 4 gameweeks, only behind on goals scored (10) by 1. They’ve also had the most team shots on target (26) tied with Liverpool over that time. This is why we’re suggesting Hermansen. It was shocking to see Nuno make the swap from Areola to their new summer signing, but it paid off immediately as the Hammers registered only their 2nd clean sheet of the season, with their first also coming when the Danish shot-stopper was their starting goalkeeper during Potter’s tenure. We’re not expecting a clean sheet by any means, but we’ll take the save points and hope for a near-10 FPts score.

Harry Maguire (D, Man Utd) 

Given the Red Devil’s resurgence, we were always going to include a couple of names in our Sleepers XI this gameweek. Did you know that Man Utd have been the best club in the league over the last 8 gameweeks? They are the only club that didn’t lose a single game during that stretch. They also only conceded 8 goals, which is the 2nd lowest, only bettered by Arsenal, the best defence in the league. Even though they’re facing West Ham next, a team that has won 3 of their last 4 games, we’re still expecting Carrick and his team to win this game, possibly with a clean sheet. Finally that fan can cut his hair. Maguire has always been a DEF-2 on his day and in spite of only starting 8 games this season, he still has PPS of 10.6, with some notable goal threat.

Ian Maatsen (D, Aston Villa) 

If you saw the Rayan goal that Aston Villa conceded in Gameweek 25, you would have had the same reaction that everyone else did. I could not believe my eyes watching Digne let the young Brazilian just breeze past him with no kind of pressure or challenge to stop the attacker from entering their 18-yard box. So we’re going to assume Emery brings Maatsen back into the starting XI. Despite Digne’s haul of a score, managers should prefer Maatsen as a starting option for Villa, especially considering his 7.9 gPPS is the best at the club! The Villans host Brighton next, a team that has only won once in their last 12 games. This makes Maatsen a great DEF-4 option for your roster.

James Hill (D, Bournemouth)

Sticking to the same aforementioned game, you’ll know that Hill absolutely lucked out with his assist for new boy Rayan. Although Hill now has 2 assists in his last 3 games, this isn’t the reason why we’re suggesting him. Since becoming a mainstay in the Cherries’ backline, he scored the most ghost points out of anyone, averaging just over 10 gPPS, outperforming the likes of Senesi, who has been averaging just under 8 gPPS himself. During this period, Hill has been 1st for clearances (56) and aerials (29), while being 2nd for blocked shots (6). Bournemouth visit Everton next, a team that has actually been 17th of all teams over the last 4 home games. Maybe Iraola’s men can keep a rare but most welcomed clean sheet!

James Justin (D, Leeds)

What if I told you that James Justin has scored the 3rd most Fantrax points of all defenders since Gameweek 19, only behind the likes of Tarkowski and Magalhaes. The most shocking bit of all of this is that 2 of his 7 scores were in the negative! So naturally it means that he had some massive hauls as well. He has put up scores of 15, 8.5, 18.5, 22 and most recently 25.5 FPts, all while being deployed as a wingback (both sides) and as a centreback. He can clearly do it all! He’s even gotten a share of set pieces, mainly corners, while Stach has been absent from the starting XI. Chelsea is a tough fixture for Leeds but Justin is averaging 9 gPPS, so I’d still start him as my DEF-3.

Yerson Mosquera (D, Wolves)

Wolves and Arsenal are the only 2 teams in Gameweek 26 to have a double gameweek, the first of the season so far. There’s a good chance that most of the Arsenal assets are already gone in your leagues, so we’re left with the option to punt on the Wolves players. One option we’re considering is Mosquera. After Rob Edwards took charge and lost his first game in the dugout, Mosquera has then come in and become a permanent starter, playing the most minutes at the club. During his 12 starts, he’s been 1st for clearances (57) and blocked shots (9), 2nd for tackles won (20), interceptions (11) and aerials (23), as well as being 3rd for attempted shots (16). This has translated to just over 9 gPPS, which is great as a DEF-3 in a double gameweek.

Gabriel Martinelli (M, Arsenal)

Although this asset might be near on impossible to pick up as a free agent, maybe this might convince you to risk starting him, even if he’s benched for the first game. Having said that, there is still a slight possibility of a start against Brentford, as Trossard went down late in their last game and had to be substituted. In Martinelli's last 4 appearances across all competitions, he has registered a goal and 2 assists. In those 4 apperances, he started 2 games and came on as a sub in the other 2. The point being, across 2 games, he could be worth the risk. Afterall, with a PP90 of 11.5, you could do a lot worse as him being your MID-4 option.

Kobbie Mainoo (M, Man Utd)

Kobbie Mainoo must be so grateful that Amorim was fired and Carrick brought in as his replacement. After being left out the starting XI all season, since Carrick’s first game in charge, Mainoo has started all 4 league games in a row and played 90 minutes as well. He’s been averaging just under 11 PPS, and in his most recent game, he put up a whopping 19.25 FPts, which included his 2nd assist in 4 games. During this spell, Mainoo has registered the 2nd most key passes (7), meaning he’s definitely got some upside to his play. Not to mention he’s been ticking along with successful dribbles, blocked shots and even aerials! A solid MID-5 option.

Lewis Cook (M, Bournemouth)

Midfielders are starting to drop like flies at the moment across leagues. Also given the fixture congestion at the moment, there’s a chance that some of your regular studs are probably being rested and rotated so club managers avoid losing their talismans for long periods of time. So if you’re looking for a reliable MID-4, consider Le Chef, Lewis Cook. He’s started the last 4 games in a row for the Cherries and been taking corners again, taking 12 of their last 26 corners. He has also been averaging just over 7 PPS over the last 4 games, without any attacking returns. He’s a great glue-guy for any roster.

Adam Armstrong (F, Wolves)

It’s strange to see Adam Armstrong not in a Southampton shirt, but the ex-Saint is now back in the Premier League and has already hit the ground running. Not only did he manage to play 90 minutes in his first game for his new club, but he also notched an attacking return, assisting Arokodare’s goal against Chelsea. It’s obviously concerning that he only scored 8 points with an assist, but he did get 4 ghosts which included a key pass, an aerial and 2 successful dribbles. You’re not expecting much against Arsenal in their 2nd game of the double gameweek, but against Forest, a team that just conceded 3 goals to Leeds, you’d fancy Armstrong and his teammates to find joy against their relegation rivals.

Tolu Arokodare (F, Wolves) 

Tolu was one of Wolves’ new signings this season, but he’s not had a great experience during his time at the West Midlands club. After starting back to back games in Gameweek 1 & 2, it wasn’t until Gameweek 18 that the 2024/25 Belgian Pro League Golden Boot winner saw consecutive starts again, only being benched once in 8 games. During his return spell, he’s been averaging just over 10 PPS, scoring a goal and registering an assist, whilst attempting the 2nd most shots on target (7), completing 10 successful dribbles and having been top for aerials (36) amongst his teammates. Not only is he a great double gameweek option, but possibly a nailed FWD-2 ROS for your roster.

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.