Our Gameweek 5 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 5 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.
GW4 came up with the worst score so far (63) with a bunch of guys not starting, who admittedly were punts to begin with. The defense was the only saving grace of the team with Sugawara (7.75) and Mavropanos (11.25) putting up decent ghost numbers as well as JPVH (8.25) managing a clean sheet. Mavididi celebrated his first start with a goal but had a Neal-Maupay-special as he ended on fewer points (10.5) than what you get for a goal with a shot on target (11) - Ouch!
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 5. 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 on below for the rationale behind each of the Starter selections.
Arjianet Muric (G, Ipswich)
Muric was another pre-draft fave of ours so his benching in GW1 and looming Manchester City game in GW2 cooled everyone's interest pretty quickly. He is almost as prone to real life errors as he is to huge scores, like last week's 24.75 pointer. He might not have the spot locked down for the rest of the season (as we saw at Burnley), but as long as he does, he should be able to outscore your every gameweek GK streamer.
Jan-Paul van Hecke (D, Brighton)
JPvH keeps his spot in the XI for the second week running as he anchors the steady-eddy part of our defense. He is guaranteed to start, has a decent chance of a clean sheet vs Forest and usually gets a few ghosts to keep the points dripping. He won't give you a huge score, but he is very unlikely to lay a goose egg. If you are struggling for defenders and don't want to gamble, go for him.
Jacob Greaves (D, Ipswich)
Last week, the much anticipated CB partnership of O'Shea and Greaves finally started together and we were eagerly waiting on who might come out as the more dominant of the 2. Fast-forward a week later, O'Shea is now hot property on Big League waivers and was touted in our WW article, while Greaves makes an appearance here. 16.75 vs Brighton is no mean feat even with the CS. Tackles, Clearances and Aerials make up his ghost points which means it is no fluke. Southampton have only managed one goal so far this season, rewarding 3 of their 4 previous opponents with clean sheets. As much as this is a ghost point play, 6 points for a potential cleanie will go a long way towards a decent score for those who stream him.
Yukinari Sugawara (D, Southampton)
The Japanese full-back's days on Sleepers are numbered, so I am rolling the dice on him probably one last time. He is due to hit the magic 60% mark any day now, making him a ROS hold in most leagues due to his attacking potential. He is still the only one of Southampton's players to actually score a goal this season and his ghost points speak for themselves too, most of which come from the attacking variety. 7.75 while conceding 3 goals last week should be the gold standard for ghosting defenders and this underlines his ability to get a good point total regardless of his team's fortunes. 5 KPs, 3 SOTs, 3 ACNCs are the highlights of his points scoring, but one should not disregard his 10 clearances when analysing point sustainability. The relegation 6-pointer this weekend should be a great opportunity for him to add another attacking performance to his already impressive resume.
Joe Willock (M, Newcastle)
The former Arsenal man is back from injury and announced his return with an assist from the bench during the Magpies' win over Wolves in Gameweek 4. Isak's potential injury and Joelinton's poor form suggest that changes might be around the corner for Newcastle, with Willock potentially getting lucky in this game of musical chairs. This weekend, Newcastle face Fulham, who while capable in attack, have looked wobbly in defense.
Mikkel Damsgaard (M, Brentford)
Is this the Damsgaard redemption season? Well, we don't know, but the Dane is finally looking like the exciting attacking mid that was promised when he joined the Bees. His 15 points against Southampton already got us kind of excited, but his goal mid-week and Wissa's unfortunate injury are the main catalysts for his inclusion in this XI.
Kevin Schade (M, Brentford)
Our second Brentford inclusion of the team will make you re-check who the Bees are playing. Lads, it's Tottenham. Schade has been name-checked by Frank this week as a potential beneficiary to Wissa's injury, who could play across the front line. He is a personal favourite of mine and I am still predicting this to be his breakout season. Spurs have only managed to keep a clean sheet in one game this season (vs Everton) and needed 2 last-minute goals to advance past Coventry in the cup. Their defense is easily startled and comfortably outpaced through the flanks because their defenders are pushed very high up. Expect pinpoint passes from the midfield for Schade and Mbeumo to trouble them all game this weekend.
Wilfred Ndidi (M, Leicester)
"Wilf Ndidi, Leicester's Number 10". We still have to process this. He has 3 scores of 9+ points, he has 3 assists in the past 2 gameweeks and he is facing Everton this weekend. That sentence alone should be enough for anyone to consider him to plug their midfield hole. Besides Arsenal in 2 weeks, Leicester are not facing a top half opponent until mid-November, and even then its Man Utd, so the fixtures would prompt us to consider Ndidi, even if he was playing his usual DM role, let alone this new attacking mid role. Whether this new role is here to stay is still up in the air, especially with El Khannous knocking on the door. However, Wilf's versatility and ability to drop back deep, if needed, is surely a huge reason for Cooper to continue using him this way.
Jadon Sancho (F, Chelsea)
He just needed an arm around a shoulder. Or maybe not being around ETH anymore. In an overwhelmingly frustrating Saturday night for Chelsea against Bournemouth, Sancho provided a much-needed spark to get the Blues across the line to come out as eventual winners. His influence on the game is probably best characterised by him getting the MotM award, despite coming on at half-time. We always knew he was a good player, he showed it last year, by leading Dortmund to the UCL final during his half-season loan there. While Chelsea is far from the epitome of stability and place of personal growth, a tactically astute player like Sancho definitely seems to be a good match for Enzo Maresca. While we are still concerned with squad size and opportunities at Stamford Bridge, Sancho has the ability to stake his claim for a starting spot, especially this weekend after impressing during Gameweek 4.
Jhon Duran (F, Aston Villa)
Is it finally his time? Emery said they had 40 offers for him this summer. Seemingly every time he is subbed on, he scores. He should be closer to 100% rostered than what his current state is. Slowly but surely Watkins is getting back to form, but during the Champions League this week, he was seen with ice on his ankle after he was subbed off, could this be the opportunity for Duran to finally get a start? We sure hope so! He is one of the most in-form forwards in the league and he still hasn't started a game - absolute madness! Surely his time is coming. If you are able to pick him up, do so now!
Stephy Mavididi (F, Leicester)
Mavididi repaid the faith we showed in him last week by scoring a goal and surely that is enough for him to continue starting this weekend too. Leicester play the "worst" team in the EPL (after the first 4 weeks) and will be looking to get their first win of the season in this relegation 6-pointer. We are suggesting to continue to trust Mavididi until "the wheels fall off". As we mentioned in the intro, do not expect many ghost points from the English youngster, as your only bet for points here is if he gets an attacking return.
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