Gameweek 5 Sleepers XI: Draft EPL

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.

Gameweek 4 was neither great nor crap. With a middling score of 70.75 FPts, we take that. Some of our standout performers were Leno's 12.25 FPts, Mukiele's 14.75 FPts, Chris Richards' 12.75 FPts and Tete's 10.25 FPts, all of whom kept clean sheets. So other than these lads, our other picks were busts. In defence we had Adarabioyo score 4.75 FPts, after conceding 2 goals and Senesi got 9.25 FPts after conceding 1 goal with a yellow card. In midfield, David Brooks surprisingly scored -2.5 FPts, which wasn't helped by his 66th minute substitution or his yellow card, whereas Mateus Fernandes scored 6 FPts in 60 minutes. Furthermore, Gruda didn't even start against Bournemouth, which meant he only got 0.5 FPts as a 22 minute sub. Finally, up top we had the likes of Beto who scored 2.25 FPts in 74 minutes, whereas Callum Wilson made a sub appearance and scored 0.5 FPts in 21 minutes. So clearly we need to be mindful about some of the attackers we're punting on, as they may not seem as nailed as we thought or hoped they would be. It's also starting to feel like 4-5 DEFs is the play at the moment, especially since FWDs are hard to come by. So let's see if we can better our score in GW5!

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 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 below for the rationale behind each of the Starter selections.

Martin Dubravka (G, Burnley)

Burnley were massively unlucky not to get a point from the game against Liverpool in GW4, especially after the Clarets were down to 10 men around the 85th minute and Liverpool didn't score until the 96th minute, thanks to a very jammy penalty. It's quite refreshing to see the promoted teams actually come to their senses and approach the Premier League with a bit more pragmatism. So far, Dubravka has faced the 2nd most shots in the league (19), only behind the likes of Sels and Hermansen, which is probably going to be on par with their next opponents, an Ange-led Nottingham Forest. Ange's system is very attack-minded and this could see Dubravka be forced to make lots of saves in Gameweek 5. In fact, Forest registered the most shots (17) of all competitions in a 3-2 loss against Swansea in the EFL Cup during the week. So this is probably a good indicator of what's to come over the weekend.

Emmanuel Agbadou (D, Wolves)

According to our Fixture Difficulty Tracker, Wolves DEFs have the best rated fixture of all defenders in Gameweek 5. Other than Aston Villa, who have yet to score in the league this season, facing Leeds is probably one of the safest fixtures for a clean sheet. The Yorkshire club have still only scored 1 goal this season and that was from their dubious penalty back in GW1. That being said, Wolves are in terrible form themselves and sit rock bottom of the League, the only club with no points on the board. So Vitor and his wolf pack will be wanting to get at least a point in this game. Given how bad Leeds are in front of goal, we're backing Wolves for a rare clean sheet. Agbadou currently has the 2nd most ghost points of all Wolves outfielders and is currently averaging 8.0 gPPS, which is a great floor for your DEF-4/5 pick.

Joachim Andersen (D, Fulham)

It's been a fairly average start to the season for Fulham but if there's one positive that stands out, it's that Andersen continues to be a reliable asset for the Cottagers. Fulham kept their first clean sheet of the season against Leeds in Gameweek 4 and there's a genuine chance of another against Brentford in Gameweek 5. Andersen is currently Fulham's top scoring outfielder and he's been quietly averaging just under 8 gPPS, the best of all Fulham assets. The Danish DEF has also shown he can get the odd attacking return on his day. Brentford have yet to earn a point on the road and so this could be a London derby that Fulham find some joy. If you need a DEF-3/4, look no further.

Trai Hume (D, Sunderland) 

For those managers that kept patience with Hume since draft day, kudos to you. Hume racked up a massive 18.75 FPts in the 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace. The Northern Ireland DEF managed to score in every ghost point category except shots on target and blocked shots. He's currently averaging 9.3 gPPS and 11.8 PPS, which is pretty awesome as a DEF-3/4, especially one that has the occasional set piece and possibility of attacking returns. Sunderland host Aston Villa in Gameweek 5 and the Villans have yet to score this season. In fact, the single goal that they scored in the EFL cup in midweek was a massive gift for Elliott, where even the goalkeeper contributed to their benefit with a terrible attempted save. So if Villa are going to continue to struggle to put the ball in the net, Hume and his teammates could feast.

Enzo Le Fée (M, Sunderland)

As a manager who drafted both Adingra and Enzo Le Fée across multiple teams and leagues, it's been frustrating to own either asset. So far they've not been reliable for consistent starts or performances, and that's been more so the case with Adingra, who has been coming off around the 70 minute mark in 3 of his 4 starts. At least ELF played 90 minutes in his only start this season, after coming on as a substitute in the first 2 games of their campaign. After missing out in Gameweek 4, ELF has been given the all clear and is available for selection against Aston Villa this weekend. Given Adingra hasn't really had too much of an impact in the starting XI, we'll assume ELF takes back his rightful position and starts in Gameweek 5. There's even a chance he could get the odd penalty when on the pitch. ELF's 10.1 gPP90 is the 2nd highest of all his teammates and could be a great MID-4/5 option for your roster this weekend.

James Garner (M, Everton) 

The undrafted James Garner is starting to make Fantrax managers rear their heads towards him, after the English MID dropped a 13.25 ghost point game, while playing left back in Mykolenko's absence. Moyes hasn't really given us much hope that the Ukrainian will return for the Merseyside derby, so Garner could very well retain this role as he comes up against Salah and co. this weekend. You'd think that given his OOP duties, majority of his points would come from tackles won or blocked shots, but he actually had 4 key passes against Villa. Garner has taken 9 of 15 corners that Everton has had this season, with 6 of them coming in Gameweek 4. This gives the Toffee midfielder avenues to various scoring categories, even though he's now playing further away from goal which naturally lowers his chances of an attacking return. I'd still stick him in my starting XI as a MID-4/5.

Ryan Sessegnon (M, Fulham)

Marco Silva has admitted that he has been taking his time with Antonee Robinson's return to the Premier League after his long-term lay off. He hinted that the American full-back would get more minutes this weekend or in the Carabao cup next week, but it seems more likely that it could be the latter as Robinson didn't even feature as a sub in Gameweek 4 versus Leeds. Until we get the return of the Jedi, Sessegnon seems to be the main starting option as Fulham's left-back. The benefit of Sessegnon as an asset this season is that he's registered as a MID, so you won't have the negative impact of any goals conceded, with the bonus of having access to more defensive ghost points. In Gameweek 4, Sessegnon scored 10 ghosts, which included 2 key passes, 1 interception, 4 clearances, 2 successful dribbles and 5 aerials. What's even more promising is that he finally clocked 90 minutes in his last appearance. He's a great MID-4/5 this weekend but could be a minutes/starts risk moving forward. So enjoy him as an option while it lasts.

Sasa Lukic (M, Fulham)

I'm not a big fan of Lukic, despite me writing about him, but that's because he has burnt me in past seasons when we've seen him starting to trend as a roster option beyond just being a steady-eddy. It seems as though Lukic has been given corner duties again, and could be the primary taker as he's been on 15 of the 19 corners that Fulham have been award this season. That means he's positioned himself to get lucky with the random set piece, and we saw an excellent example of that as he pretty much fluked his way into an assist from Gudmundsson's extremely unlucky own goal in Gameweek 4. In fact, it was the only game this season that Lukic didn't register a key pass, having gotten 3 each in Gameweeks 2 and 3. The Serbian MID is as nailed as they come, so if you need a late backup option for the final game on the Saturday, he's probably your safest and best bet as a MID-4/5.

Kevin (F, Fulham)

During this week's press conferences, Marco Silva reported that some of his players have some knocks, mentioning Alex Iwobi as one of those players, who seems to be a bit touch-and-go. Although the Nigerian MID trained, there's some doubt over him starting this weekend against the Bees. This seems like the perfect opportunity for new boy Kevin to get his first start in the league. Trust me, you're going to want to get him in at least one league this season. Not only did the Brazilian pass the eye-test with flying colours, he also managed to score 6.5 FPts in 13 minutes as a sub in Gameweek 4. In his short cameo, he registered 1 key pass, 1 shot on target, 2 accurate crosses and 2 successful dribbles. He could genuinely turn out to be one of the best transfers this season and could make Fulham's attack finally click for the 25/26 campaign. Exciting times ahead.

Tolu Arokodare (F, Wolves)

Despite Jorgen Strand Larsen finally returning to training, Vitor Pereira hinted at the fact that the Norwegian FWD is not ready for 90 minutes this weekend, which could mean Arokodare could get his 2nd start in a row. The Belgian Pro League's golden boot winner of last season only played 65 minutes in Gameweek 4 and managed a meagre 3.25 FPts, with his points mainly coming from defensive actions such as interceptions and clearances. The small glimmer of hope is that he also managed 4 aerials, but the main reason we're suggesting him as a pick is that Wolves are at home against a promoted team. They could really do with a win under their belt as they try to get off the bottom of the Premier League table. This is purely a punt as a FWD-3 option.

Wilson Isidor (F, Sunderland) 

Isidor finally got his first start of the campaign, after coming off the bench in the first 3 games of the season, where he scored on 2 of those occasions. Loads of Fantrax managers are really struggling to find a fit and starting FWD across their leagues at the moment, so Isidor is a great option if one of your studs is still missing. It's a great sign that Isidor also played 90 minutes in Gameweek 4. Although the French FWD only scored 2.5 FPts, we need to remember that he came up against the Palace defence, which one could argue is one of the best in the league. He still managed 3 shots and an xG of 0.11. The Black Cats host Aston Villa this weekend, who are in desperate need of some goals themselves. This could leave the Villans susceptible to counter attacks, a situation that Isidor would massively thrive in. So if you need a FWD-3, roll him out.

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