Gameweek 31 Sleepers XI: Draft EPL

Our Gameweek 31 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 31 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.

You know what, with only 7 starters giving us a score of 85 FPts in Gameweek 30, it could be a lot worse. We had sub appearances from Elanga (1 FPts, 11 mins), Joelinton (1.5 FPts, 22 mins), Douglas Luiz (2 FPts, 7 mins) and Ajer (0.75 FPts, 17 mins, 1 yellow card). So who actually scored points for us? Well in net, Ellborg continued his run of starts for Sunderland and scored us 8.5 FPts, despite conceding 1 goal to Brighton. Our three other defenders did most of the damage with Ampadu smashing out 19.5 FPts (clean sheet), Tchatchoua continued his good form with 9.5 FPts (2 goals conceded) whilst Tete rounded things out with a 14.5 FPts score against Forest (clean sheet). In midfield, Garnacho continued to surprise managers with a 10.5 FPts score with no attacking returns. And finally in our front line, Beto scored 5.75 FPts against Arsenal in 68 mins, whilst Mathys Tel dropped 11.5 ghost points in 74 mins. The European rotation hit us a bit harder than expected but we've definitely learnt from it and will make sure we consider this for a future article. For now, let's see how we tackle our first blank gameweek of the season in Gameweek 31.

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 31. 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.

Aaron Ramsdale (G, Newcastle)

It's crazy to think that Pope has actually lost his spot to Ramsdale as the starting goalkeeper for the Magpies, but the numbers and results don't lie. In Pope's last 6 games, he didn't keep a single sheet, letting in 15 goals with a 57.1 save %. However, since Ramsdale took over, Newcastle won both their league games, keeping a clean sheet in one of them. They were even down to 10 men for one of those wins! Despite Newcastle being battered 7-2 in the midweek Champions League game against Barcelona, we're still expecting Ramsdale to be the preferred option in net. With Newcastle having the second best clean sheet odds of all teams this weekend, mainly due to the fact that Sunderland have been extremely blunt in attack, we fancy Ramsdale to churn out another big score this weekend. An easy swap for any manager that rosters a popular option like Donnarumma or Raya, both without a fixture this gameweek.

Jaka Bijol (D, Leeds) 

After being a consistent starter from Gameweek 14 to 21, Bijol has now returned from injury and started 2 of the last 5 games for Leeds. It's no coincidence that Leeds also didn't lose those games, as he was a big part of Leeds only losing once in those eight games. Leeds defenders have shown that they can absolutely haul in any given gameweek, and Bijol's 9.6 PPS is actually the highest of all of their defensive options. He's even got the best gPP90 of 8.9, along with a ceiling of 15.5 FPts. He's shown that he has immense goal threat on set pieces, and even though he's only played about half as many minutes as some of his teammates, he still has the most shots on target (6) of all Leeds defenders. While Bijol was a regular starter, his near 12 PPS was the best amongst his teammates, along with being in the top 2 for aerials (27), clearances (48) and interceptions (13). So if he can end up being a nailed starter again, he's probably the best pick of the lot moving forward.

Joachim Andersen (D, Fulham) 

According to our Fixture Difficulty Tracker, there's no surprise that Fulham defenders have the best rated fixture in Gameweek 31. The Cottagers host Burnley, a team that has only scored 7 goals in their last 8 away games. To be fair to the Clarets, it's not the worst record in the league, but it's only better than Sunderland and Wolves. They've also only won once during those 8 games whereas Fulham have had the 6th best home record over the last 8 home games for all clubs in the league. Fulham have only kept 6 clean sheets this season, but the promising sign is that Andersen has been present for every one of those games. So if you need a DEF-4/5, Andersen should easily make the cut, especially with his 7.6 gPPS, meaning a double digit score could easily be on the cards.

Ola Aina (D, Nottingham Forest)

Since returning from a long term injury, Aina has had a bag of mixed fantasy scores. He's kept 4 clean sheets in 11 games and managed to put up scores such as 6.5, 19.75, 17.75 and 17 FPts in those games. He's even shown his ability to get attacking returns, getting an assist in the game he scored 19.75 FPts and even hitting the woodwork against Fulham in Gameweek 30. Believe it or not, he's actually been averaging just under 9 PPS since his return, and he's been in the top 3 of all Forest assets for categories such as clearances (47), interceptions (16) and tackles won (12). Up next, the Tricky Trees visit Spurs in what could be their most important game of the season, as both clubs are fighting to avoid the drop and are only 1 point apart from each other. Aina could easily find joy on both sides of the pitch against arguably the worst team in the division over the last 12 games.

Valentino Livramento (D, Newcastle)

Although Newcastle's main talisman, Bruno Guimaraes, is still missing in action, another crucial component of Newcastle's success this season has also come from both of their main fullbacks starting games together, Hall and Livramento. So it's no surprise that the Magpies were able to beat Chelsea on their own turf and keep a clean sheet in the process. 8.25 FPts with a clean sheet isn't amazing but before his injury, the young English defender had a spell of games towards the end of 2025 where he was averaging around 7-9 gPPS. If he can manage to hit those heights again, in combination with a clean sheet, he could easily put up a double digit score as your DEF-4. This weekend's Tyne-Wear derby is the perfect opportunity to do so as Sunderland have dropped off quite a bit in attack. The Black Cats have only scored 3 goals in their last 6 games, and have been the 2nd worst away team over the last 8 away games, only scoring 4 goals, both tallies being the fewest in the division.

Dwight McNeil (M, Everton)

McNeil has now started the last 3 games for Everton in a row and played at least 80 minutes in each game. During these appearances he put up scores of 14.75 (1 assist), 7.5 and 5.5 FPts, with the latter 2 not including any attacking returns. He was quite unlucky not to get an assist against Arsenal, after hitting the post with an exquisite shot from outside the box and Ndiaye failing to convert the rebound. 5.5 FPts is pretty good against a team like Arsenal, and he was definitely their best player on the day. He's only taken 1 corner in those last 3 games but he's still led the Toffees on tackles won (5) and shots attempted (9) during this 3 game-spell. Up next, Everton host Chelsea, a team that looks completely out of sorts defensively and they have just lost their main centerback Chalobah to injury. So McNeil could find some joy this weekend.

Mats Wieffer (M, Brighton)

After missing Gameweeks 19 through to 26, Wieffer has been back as a regular starter in the right-back spot again. His scores upon returning were not very impressive, scoring around 4-7 gPPS, but his last 2 games showed proof as to why he was so highly sought after prior to his injury. The Dutch midfielder just dropped scores of 9.25 and 9.5 FPts without attacking returns, which is really solid scores as a MID-4/5 option. He even accumulated an expected goal involvement of 0.38 in his last match. During this recent 4 game spell, he's been 2nd for tackles won (8) and interceptions (6). Given he's facing Liverpool this weekend, there's a good chance of an attacking return as the Reds are not only terrible in defence this season, but they could also be a bit fatigued after their midweek UCL exploits.

Tomas Soucek (M, West Ham)

Since Gameweek 21, Soucek has been a regular starter for the Hammers. During that 10 game run, West Ham have been the 7th best team in the league, only losing 3 times and scoring 15 goals along the way. Soucek has had played a part in 3 of those goals and has actually scored 2 goals in his last 5 starts. The Czech midfielder has been averaging just under 7 gPPS in his last 5 games, and is starting to look like the perfect MID-4/5 option for any roster. Since his reintroduction to the starting XI, he's been averaging just under 9.5 PPS by being 2nd for tackles won (12) and 1st for aerials (27) amongst all his teammates. Soucek has always had an eye for goal and the Hammers need his clutch antics if they are to survive relegation come end of the season.

Zian Flemming (M, Burnley)

If you need a MID-4/5 this weekend, then you should consider Flemming. The Burnley midfielder, who actually plays OOP as a striker, has started the last 5 games he's featured in, only being absent against Everton during that run. He's actually got 2 goals in his last 3 starts and was very unlucky not to have returned against Bournemouth, especially after racking up an xG of 0.86, his 2nd highest in a game all season. What's more impressive is that he even put up 9.75 ghosts. He did the same against Chelsea as well! It might be a bit of an over-performance, given he's been averaging 5.6 gPPS for the season, but it's still decent numbers as your MID-4/5 pick. Flemming still believes that Burnley can pull off a miracle, and so with that confidence, how can you not back him in a blank gameweek when pickings are slim?

Samuel Chukwueze (F, Fulham)

It's pretty strange that Chukwueze hasn't been a nailed starter since returning from AFCON. He's only started 4 of the 7 games that he has featured in, and that's mostly due to the addition of Oscar Bobb to their ranks. However, given Bobb's recent stinker of 0.5 FPts in 61 minutes and being subbed for Chukwueze, we're expecting the Nigerian to get the nod in this weekend's clash against Burnley. Everyone will be scrambling to get attackers against Burnley, as they are still one of the worst teams in the league. The Clarets have conceded 11 goals in their last 6 games, which is the same as Aston Villa and only less than Spurs (14). Chukwueze's 15.7 PP90 is still the best of all Fulham assets, by some margin. One could even argue that he's worth a start off the bench in a fixture like this, especially when popular assets from Man City and Arsenal are unable to feature this gameweek.

Valentin Castellanos (F, West Ham) 

The battle to survive being relegated from the Premier League continues for the Hammers. They're sat in 18th place, tied with 17th place Nottingham Forest who are on the same points, and only 1 point behind Spurs and 3 points behind Leeds. It's a bit cliche but goals win games, and West Ham have looked like one of the best attacks of the aforementioned lot. So why not punt on one of their attackers, especially when they come up against the worst form team in the league. Aston Villa have lost 3 of their last 4 games and conceded 10 goals as well, the most in the division during that time. Taty has started every game since joining West Ham and both his goals have come in away fixtures, which bodes well for their visit to Villa Park. In fact, Taty is actually better in away games than home ones, averaging 8.5 PPS away from home as opposed to his 5.1 PPS at the London Stadium. A nice FWD-2 punt if you need one.

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