Gameweek 36 Sleepers XI: Draft EPL

Bantah Boyz
May 9
7 min read

Our Gameweek 36 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!

Michail Antonio shooting the ball for West Ham

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 36 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.

Unfortunately our GW35 Sleepers XI scored even worse than our previous weeks with a measly 57.5 FPts. However there are some explanations for such a terrible score this week. First off, there were some surprise absentees in our roster with the likes of Abdoulaye Doucoure and Rasmus Hojlund missing in action, which left us with 8 starters, as our 9th player Ethan Nwaneri only made a 3-minute and 0.5 FPts appearance off the bench. There were also 3 early subs for Ryan Sessegnon (3 FPts in 56 minutes with a yellow card), Mateus Fernandes (8 FPts in 56 minutes) and Luke Shaw (-5.5 FPts in 45 minutes). Four of our picks did play 90 minutes though with Kepa getting 6.25 FPts, Chris Richards getting 12.5 FPts despite conceding once, Sepp van den Berg getting a rare 2.25 FPts and Mathys Tel scoring 10.5 FPts which included an assist and a yellow card. However our stand-out performer was Bilal El Khannouss who scored a whopping 20 FPts which also included an assist. All in all, a bit of bad luck but also some positives. Hopefully we fare better as we enter the final few gameweeks of the season so stay tuned as we tackle the GW36 challenge.

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 or not they'll start in Gameweek 36. 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.

Kepa (G, Bournemouth)

Over the past 4 gameweeks, Kepa's 12.6 PPS is the best of all GK assets in the game. During that period, Kepa has made 15 saves (3rd highest), kept 2 clean sheets and conceded only 2 goals. The Cherries host Aston Villa in the final kickoff of the Saturday games and face a stern test as Emery and his squad are currently fighting for one of the four remaining Champions League spots. So Aston Villa will most likely be trying their best to win the game which means that Kepa could be busy. In fact, over the last 4 gameweeks, Aston Villa have had the most shots on target (28), which is a good indication of Kepa's potential points output.

Ian Maatsen (D, Aston Villa)

Since GW31 Maatsen has started 4 of 5 games ahead of Digne in the left back spot for Aston Villa which somewhat indicates that the Dutchman might be the preferred starter for Emery as the Villains try to secure a spot for next season's Champions League. Over this stretch of games, Maatsen has 13.75 PPS which is basically double the score of his teammates. It should be noted that his PPS is probably inflated due to his attacking returns (1 goal & 1 assist) but given his potential upside, he seems like a no-brainer pick in any roster, especially as he's still been averaging 6.5 gPPS.

Kenny Tete (D, Fulham)

According to our fixture difficulty tracker, Fulham DEFs have the best fixture in GW36 against Everton and chances are, the only one who will be available and has tantalising upside is Kenny Tete. Since returning from injury, he's displaced the stand-in Castagne and started the last 3 games in a row. Although Tete has been in and out the starting XI because of his injuries, he still boasts a healthy 8.0 PPS and 7.1 gPPS across the season. There's also a chance that Fulham keep a rare clean sheet as Everton have only scored 4 goals over their last 6 games, which is the lowest of all teams in the league along with Southampton and Leicester City.

Michael Kayode (D, Brentford)

Brentford seem to have a new kid on the block, and potentially a permanent solution for the right-back spot in their starting XI. Despite the extremely small sample size of only 3 games, Kayode has already shown his potential to contribute on both sides of the pitch. The Italian DEF's 10.7 PPS is the best of all the Bees defenders, as well as his ceiling of nearly 20 FPts. Brentford visit Ipswich Town in GW36, a team with the worst home record over the last 4 games, having been the only team to have lost all 4 games while only scoring 4 goals and conceding 14. So Kayode could be a great DEF-2/3 addition to your roster this weekend, and potentially for the rest of the season.

James Garner (M, Everton)

Garner seems to have nailed his starting spot in the Toffees' XI under Moyes again. The English MID has started the last 4 games for Everton, playing the full game and being given freekick and corner kick responsibilities as well. If you ignore his 1.75 FPts stinker in this 4 game stretch, he's actually been averaging just over 8 gPPS (vs. NOT, MCI and IPS). Although there's not much of a ceiling with an asset like Garner, he can be a steady-eddy asset with the potential of nicking the odd assist from a set piece. So if you're looking for a MID-4/5 for this weekend, look no further.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (M, Wolves)

After missing GW33 and GW34 due to an injury he suffered against Spurs, Bellegarde returned to the Wolves starting lineup and managed to score 6.75 FPts in 65 minutes, which is an decent return. Not only does he pass the eye-test, but the French MID has shown his ability to hit the heights of nearly 20 FPts. Vitor Pereira has revitalised a Wolves team that looked doomed for relegation into the 2nd best team in the league over the past 12 games, only behind the likes of Liverpool. If they are to continue this form for the rest of the season, then Bellegarde could benefit from some attacking returns while playing alongside the likes of Cunha.

Julio Enciso (M, Ipswich)

Another season, another Enciso banger of a goal. Despite being unable to help Ipswich Town to stay in the Premier League, Enciso has still been a great asset to own during this season. Across his 12 starts, the Paraguayan MID has averaged 8.2 PPS and 5.9 gPPS, which is decent enough for a MID-3/4, especially with a ceiling of 15.8 FPts. Although Enciso has dropped a few stinkers, it's the games in which they have been completely dominated that he's had poor performances. That's why against Brentford, there's a chance of a more even matchup which means that Enciso could potentially score around 8-10 FPts. If you wanted more proof, the last time he faced Brentford was while he was playing for Brighton and he managed to score 7 ghost points in 77 minutes.

Matheus Nunes (M, Man City)

I usually consider Matheus Nunes to be a massive trap of an asset, especially as he's a midfielder that's playing as a fullback for Man City but when you're facing the bottom of the league, a gamble must be taken. Even though Pep made some damning comments about the Portuguese MID, he's stepped up and been performing much better, especially over the past 3 games. Nunes has been averaging just over 10 PPS and he's shown that despite playing a deeper role, he has the ability to get attacking returns. Although Nunes played LW the last time Man City faced Southampton, he still did manage to get an assist that game. So let's hope lightning strikes twice.

Mats Wieffer (M, Brighton)

Over the past 4 gameweeks, Mats Wieffer has been averaging 11.4 gPPS, which is the 2nd highest of all MIDs in the game. Even though this is only over 3 starts, Wieffer seems to have found some Groß-like performances out of nowhere, with 2 assists across separate games. If Wieffer retains this role for the remaining games of the campaign, he could be a nailed MID-2/3 option for any roster. The attractive thing about his points breakdown is that his FPts have been a continuous influx from a collection of categories such as key passes, tackles won, interceptions and aerials. An all-rounded midfielder with a bit of upside.

Beto (F, Everton)

Is Beto back? After a few appearances off the bench, Beto started the last 2 games for the Toffees and rewarded them with the opening goal against Ipswich Town. Although DCL is fit again, it's unlikely that the English FWD is going to be starting a game anytime soon after such a length injury. However, the return of players like Dwight McNeil bodes well for Beto as their creativity should see a massive uptick. Moyes will not want the Everton's poor form to continue much longer and without the likes of Tarkowski in the backline, chances are Everton will have to score more goals than usual if they are to get a result in any game for the rest of the season.

Niclas Fullkrug (F, West Ham)

After his bold interview and benching against Brighton, Fullkrug returned to the Hammers starting lineup but unfortunately only scored 2.5 FPts versus Spurs. Not what you expect from any attacking player against Spurs. Next up is Manchester United. After their midweek commitments in the Europa League, we're expecting a sub-par lineup and performance from the Red Devils, which could be a great platform for Fullkrug to get some FPts this gameweek. Manchester United have been the 2nd worst team in the league over the past 6 games, having drawn 2 and lost 4, while conceding 11 goals in the process. The only problem is that West Ham have been the 3rd worst. So this game could either have a bunch of goals or none at all. So I'd only risk Fullkrug as my FWD-3 this weekend.