Gameweek 34 Sleepers XI: Draft EPL

Our Gameweek 34 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 34 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.

After 5 long days, the double gameweek is finally over and done with, but how did our squad fare? 146 FPts from a squad that didn't have a full set of double gameweek assets is pretty decent. So why don't we start with the punts that only had the single fixture. We went with 3 Nottingham Forest players, as they were facing Burnley, as well as one of the most in-form assets in the game, Mavropanos. The greek defender kept up his stellar form with a 19.25 FPts haul against Palace, which included a clean sheet. However our Forest players didn't do as well as we predicted. They ended up conceding 1 goal against the Clarets, which left Ola Aina with a score of 1.75 FPts, Milenkovic was lucky to end on 10.25 FPts thanks to his assist, whilst Igor Jesus came off the bench at halftime and ended up saving our blushes with a goal to his name, resulting in 15.5 FPts. So onto the doublers. In net we went with Darlow, which turned out to be a great decision as he kept 1 clean sheet and scored 18.75 FPts across his 2 games. His defensive compatriots Bogle and Gudmundsson scored 12.5 and 21.25 FPts respectively, with the former being a halftime sub in his 2nd match. Our Leeds gamble in Ao Tanaka also did quite well despite no attacking returns, ending on 16.25 FPts. James Ward-Prowse even managed to score 13.25 FPts, despite facing Man City in 1 of his 2 games. Our only other flop was Mats Wieffer, who despite absolutely hauling in Gameweek 33, did nothing in 135 minutes, ending on 1.5 FPts, which also included a yellow card. Finally, Kroupi scored 15.75 FPts, by scoring a goal and getting a yellow card across his 2 starts. All in all, a very tidy finish for our squad, but now it gets trickier as 6 teams are not featuring in Gameweek 34 (Bournemouth, Burnley, Brighton, Chelsea, Man City and Leeds), so options will be limited. Stay tuned to see who we punt on for Gameweek 34.

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 34. 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.

Matz Sels (G, Nottingham Forest)

Nottingham Forest have really turned a corner under Vitor Pereira. Over the last 4 games, they've been the 3rd best team in the league, only behind the likes of Brighton and Man City. In those 4 games, they've conceded the fewest goals (2), similar to the likes of Man City and Crystal Palace. They resume their Premier League survival mission on Friday evening, when they visit the Stadium of Light, as they face a Sunderland team that have their own aspirations of achieving European football for next season. However, despite putting 3 goals past the Villans in Gameweek 33, Sunderland have actually been quite goal shy at home. In their last 4 home games, the Black Cats have only scored 2 goals, this is only better than Chelsea. So there's a decent chance of a clean sheet for the Tricky Trees.

Kevin Danso (D, Spurs) 

Feels strange to be suggesting a Spurs defender this season, especially when you consider how bad they have been all season, including the fact that they've conceded the 4th most goals (53) in the league. They're facing Wolves this weekend though, the team that's bottom of the league. Wolves might have had a slight resurgence under Rob Edwards when he was first hired, but that seems to have completely faded now as the West Midlands club have just conceded 7 goals over their last 2 games, without scoring a single one in reply. This is a crucial matchup for Spurs and one where they badly need to get a result. Danso's 9.5 gPPS is actually the best amongst all his teammates too, so if Spurs are able to actually stop Wolves from scoring this gameweek, you could be in for a double-digit score.

Piero Hincapie (D, Arsenal) 

With Jurien Timber ruled out for yet another game, we quite fancy Hincapie to get the start against Newcastle, especially with the Magpies showing relegation form at the moment. Although Newcastle's talisman and captain Bruno Guimaraes is back, Newcastle's attack is quite blunt at the moment. Both new boys Woltemade and Wissa have been struggling to find the back of the net, and neither have been regular starters in recent weeks. Now the biggest blow is that Anthony Gordon is set to miss out on this weekend's match as well, so god knows where Newcastle will get their goals from. Arsenal still have the best defence in the league, having conceded the fewest goals (26) and having registered the most clean sheets (15). There is a chance of a possible attacking return from Hincapie too. A great option for your roster this weekend.

Harry Maguire (D, Man Utd)

Harry Maguire has been missing the last couple of matches due to his red card against Bournemouth in Gameweek 31. Now that his suspension is complete, we're fully expecting the English defender to be a regular starter again. He's had a mixed season, with inconsistent starts under Amorim and now being a shoe-in under Carrick. Under Man Utd's current manager, he's been averaging just under 7 gPPS, which is fine but he's not going to get many double digit scores, especially when the Red Devils have only kept 4 clean sheets over their last 12 matches. However, the good thing about "Slabhead" is that he's got a ceiling of 14.5 FPts, as he's always a threat from set pieces. Given Bijol's massive ghosting game against Brentford when Leeds drew 0-0 with the Bees, we're hopeful that Maguire could do something similar. So if you need a DEF-4/5, Maguire is your guy.

Jair Paula da Cunha Filho (D, Nottingham Forest)

Murillo was subbed early due to injury, during the Tricky Trees' 4-1 rout of the Clarets in Gameweek 33. Jair came on for his fellow Brazilian and did okay, scoring 3.75 FPts in 48 minutes. He's only started 2 other games this season, but maybe his scores should be taken with a grain of salt, especially his 0.25 FPts score in their 2-2 draw against Man City. His other start saw him score 6.5 FPts in a 2-0 loss against Newcastle, showing that he does have a bit of ghost point potential to his game. Seeing as we've gone with Sels as our goalkeeper for this gameweek, it's only natural that we double down on the defensive points and hope that Jair can also keep a clean sheet against a goal-shy Sunderland team. Although Sunderland have European ambitions, they've actually still only scored 36 goals this season, which is the same as Nottingham Forest. So if you need a DEF-5 this gameweek, Jair is a decent punt.

Kyle Walker-Peters (D, West Ham)

According to our Fixture Difficulty Tracker, West Ham defenders have the 2nd best rated fixture for Gameweek 34. I'm not going to lie, even I'm surprised that I'm suggesting KWP as a starter. However, it seems as though he's now the first choice right-back for Nuno, having displaced the likes of Wan-Bissaka. KWP has started the last 2 games in the league for the Hammers, and they've kept back-to-back clean sheets. He scored 17.75 FPts against Wolves and 8.5 FPts against Crystal Palace. The latter score isn't particularly pleasing given the lack of ghost points, but West Ham have really turned a corner in their season having kept 5 clean sheets in their last 9 games. Up next they face Everton, who have been in great form and look destined for European football next season. That being said, the Toffees are going to be without their in-form striker Beto, which could be a massive blow to their attack (5 goals & 1 assist in their last 6 games). This bodes well for another Hammers clean sheet.

Mathias Jensen (M, Brentford)

Since Jensen got 2 assists in their 3-2 win against Newcastle, scoring 18.5 FPts in the process, the Bees midfielder has gone a bit quiet, going on a run of 6 single digit scores in a row. To be fair to him, 2 of those games saw him get yellow cards, which would have put him around 10+ FPts. However, it's because of his last 2 games that managers might be looking at the Dane again. 11.25 FPts against Everton and 10 FPts against Fulham is quite impressive, considering they were all ghost points, mainly comprising of key passes, 7 in total. Jensen has become a permanent starter for the Bees since Gameweek 20, and in that time he's led his fellow outfielders in key passes (23), accurate crosses (13) and he's also taken the most corners (35 of 68). Everyone is so concerned about Damsgaard and his starts, whilst there's another Danish midfielder who has quietly been getting the job done. A great option for your roster for the rest of the season.

John McGinn (M, Aston Villa)

McGinn is usually one of the first names on the Aston Villa team sheets, but due to injury, the Scottish midfielder missed 6 gameweeks in a row. He's now fit again, started the last 4 games for the Villans, and has come back with a bang. In his last 3 games, he's been averaging just over 13 PPS, and gotten a goal and an assist in that time. Despite being in the semi-final of the Europa League during the week, we're still expecting McGinn to start against Fulham this weekend. He actually scored his 1st goal of the season against them back in Gameweek 6. Fulham have typically been strong at home this season, but they've lost 2 of their last 4 at Craven Cottage and they can sometimes be such a Jekyll-and-Hyde team when it comes to consistency. So if you have space for a MID-4 in your team, I'd consider adding McGinn to your ranks.

Dwight McNeil (M, Everton)

Although we mentioned how much West Ham's defence has improved over the last couple months, one could argue that they've still been allowing teams chances, and that their defence isn't as solid as what the number of clean sheets they've accumulated might say. Everton have also been one of the best away teams in the league. Although the Toffees sit 10th in the table, they're only 3 points behind 6th placed Brighton, so their desire to win, or get a result against the Hammers, is just as great as West Ham's bid for survival. Beto might be out due to injury, but believe it or not, since McNeil's return to the starting XI, he's attempted the most shots (15) of all Everton outfielders. So if anyone is to get a goal for Everton this weekend, it could most likely be from the boot of McNeil.

Valentin Castellanos (F, West Ham)

After Taty's 27.75 FPts haul against Wolves at home, it's crazy to think more managers aren't scrambling to roster the Argentinian FWD. West Ham sit only 2 points outside the relegation zone, so they'll need to be getting as many points on the board from now until the end of the season. This probably means they'll need to be scoring some goals. Since Taty's debut for the Hammers at the start of the year, he has attempted the most shots (30) of all West Ham outfielders, whilst also having the most on target as well (13). He's scored 4 goals since that time, which is the 2nd most of his teammates. He's probably not always going to be a sure starter for you in other gameweeks, but when there's 6 other teams not featuring, you could do a lot worse.

Omari Hutchinson (F, Nottingham Forest) 

Since Vitor Pereira's appointment, Hutchinson has found regular starts in the Forest XI again. It is a bit concerning that during this time, his highest score has been 8 FPts including an assist, but with Chris Wood back in the attack, there's a real target for Hutchinson and his fellow wingers to aim for. Also, he should be more nailed for minutes and starts given Hudson-Odoi's new injury. In Forest's last 4 games, Hutchinson has completed 11 successful dribbles as well, which is nearly double of any of his teammates, so it's clear that he is an outlet for their attack, and one that will be heavily relied upon as the Tricky Trees try to avoid the drop.

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