Gameweek 6 Ghost Point Hunters: Draft EPL

Ryan Barnes
Oct 2, 2024
7 min read

Updated: Oct 7, 2024

We ain’t afraid of no ghosts. In fact, we seek them – ghost points, that is. Ghost points are fantasy points that do not come from attacking returns or clean sheets. These can come in the form of key passes, shots on target, successful dribbles, interceptions, and tackles, among others. Identifying these points is essential for your Fantasy EPL prospects, and our Gameweek 6 Ghost Point Hunters article is here to help!

This Ghost Point Hunters article is based on the Fantrax Scoring System. Check out our Ghost Point Tracker page for the full list of Fantasy EPL players and their respective Ghost Point capabilities!

Gameweek 6 Ghost Point Hunters

Let's tackle another GW before we inevitably move toward another dreaded International Break. Despite not being a huge week in terms of unearthing gems - in our humble opinion - we still have a few folks to highlight. We bring back the prodigal son, Jack Grealish, along with two defenders: Maxence Lacroix (not French at all) and Marcos Senesi. Meanwhile, we give Adam Wharton and James Justin the Not So Fast treatment, with Carlos Soler (Valencia refugee) and Ethan Nwaneri (star boy 2.0) as the One(s) To Watch. Finally, Morgan Rogers, the originator of the Cole Palmer's chilly celebration, is given the Dr. Peter Venkman Award despite telling us repeatedly that he doesn't want it. Then score more ghosts, Morgz, score more ghosts.

Jack Grealish

Position: Midfielder

Team: Manchester City

Rostered: 87%

Ghost Points Per Start: 8.9

Ghost Points Last GW: 14

Prospects: Well, well, well, look who's back. Jack Grealish, who thrilled us while in the West Midlands and underwhelmed us when winning a treble in Manchester, is back in GPH after a long sabbatical. It gives us no pleasure to point out that we called his demise last season, firmly planting him in our overrated list prior to the draft. But we pivoted this summer and mentioned that his stock had fallen so far that he, in fact, was underrated coming into this season's draft. And Grealish has proven us right thus far. In his third start out of five, he served up his best performance in awhile, delivering 14 ghosties. These came from 5 Key Passes, 3 Successful Dribbles, & 1 Aerial.

The knock on Grealish and other City assets, as we all know, has been lack of consistent minutes. But the fact that he has started the majority of games is a good sign that Pep favors him. This could change, of course, especially with Foden surely coming back into the fold soon, but we think he will continue to win the majority of starts moving forward. And he has shown he can ghost when he is fit and firing. While we still haven't forgiven him for selling his soul to win some tainted trophies, he's one to target when his price takes a little dip in the near term.

Verdict: It's going to be very difficult to trade him in right now; wait until he's rotated for Doku or has an off day and pounce.

Maxence Lacroix

Position: Defender

Team: Crystal Palace

Rostered: 20%

Ghost Points Per Start: 8.9

Ghost Points Last GW: 11.25

Prospects: Veteran Palace defender Joachim Andersen's seemingly lateral move to Fulham had many of us scratching our heads. His replacement came in the form of Maxence Lacroix, a French import from Wolfsburg in Germany. He has taken a little time to find his feet and get some starts. But he's starting to cook. Last time out at Everton, he paired a rare assist with a bag of ghosts, which stemmed from1 Key Pass, 2 Tackles Won, 3 Interceptions, 5 Clearances, 1 Successful Dribble, & 2 Aerials. This now puts his GPPS at around 9 from 3 starts; not too shabby.

While we like him long-term, we're just not sure about fielding Lacroix against red hot Liverpool this weekend. While he should be busy, struggling Palace could also ship enough goals to drown out any of his ghosts. So let's keep an eye on him and view him as a break glass in case of emergency streamer - at least for now - to utilize in decent matchups.

Verdict: Pick him up (but after this week, unless you're desperate and/or brave).

Marcos Senesi

Position: Defender

Team: Bournemouth

Rostered: 34%

Ghost Points Per Start: 8.3

Ghost Points Last GW: 9.75

Prospects: Many of us likely employed the old "stream defenders against the worst team in the league" strategy this past GW, which meant going with Bournemouth defensive assets against Southampton. The problem is that the Cherries failed to bag a cleansheet and only one of their defenders really ghosted: Marcos Senesi. He nearly delivered double digits from 2 Tackles Won, 3 Interceptions, 5 Clearances, 2 Successful Dribbles, 1 Blocked Shot, & 1 Aerial. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise as Senesi was the best ghosting defender at Bournemouth last season with 8.4 GPPS (nearly identical to his current numbers for this season). Huijsen is edging him thus far in the ghosting department this season but isn't a consistent starter.

With seemingly so many defensive streaming options, we can afford to be fairly ruthless, chopping and changing nearly every GW. But Senesi proved last campaign with these ghosts and attacking returns (9 G/A in 23/24) that he can be worth holding. So let's stream him this GW v Leicester and see how it goes.

Verdict: Pick him up!

Not So Fast:

Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace MID; 12 ghosts): The young Englishman popped up this weekend with a dozen scary scores. Where did that come from? Prior to this, his best ghosting performance this season was 8.5 v Leicester in GW4. This seems to be an outlier and playing against Everton certainly didn't hurt. We don't expect this to continue. His GPPS is still only 6.9 after this inflationary performance, and he could only muster a 6.5 GPPS last campaign. Palace continue to struggle and are winless in 6, which isn't exactly giving us high hopes. Trade high if you can.
James Justin (Leicester City MID; 12.5 ghosts): Our condolences to anyone that faced a manager with a death wish this weekend - i.e., started James Justin against Arsenal. Two goals and a dozen ghosties later, he dropped a monster. He has peaked, though, so don't get too excited. Like Wharton above, his GPPS is still under 7 despite his GW6 heroics. And while some of us have a nostalgic soft spot for him due to his decent performances in yesteryear (he boasted a GPPS of roughly 8 in 21/22), the 24/25 Foxes are really bad, and Justin can't rise above it. His 6.6 GPPS last time he was in the prem in 22/23 doesn't really inspire confidence. He can still provide some upside as a streamer in decent fixtures but this past GW doesn't change the fact that he is far from a ROS hold.

One(s) To Watch:

Carlos Soler (West Ham United MID; 6.25 ghosts): Didn't expect us to direct any praise toward the Hammers, did you? Well, consider this the tiniest ray of light in a dreary start to the season for West Ham United. Carlos Soler, a nifty midfielder who we know very well from his days in the Turian capital (look it up), was signed this past summer. And while he has yet to win a start with his new club, he has looked good in his brief cameos, especially the most recent one v Brentford this past weekend. In just 45 minutes, he posted over 6 ghosts from a variety of sources: 1 Key Pass, 1 Shot on Target, 1 Tackle Won, 1 Clearance, & 1 Successful Dribble. He looks and feels like a Lopetegui signing - although his days as manager could be numbered given this miserable start - and his time could be nigh. Keep an eye out for the diminutive Spaniard; he could be a decent streamer this weekend and potentially more in a season where serviceable mids are extremely hard to come by. It is also worth noting Lopetegui praised the 2nd half team he trotted out vs. Brentford and could roll with that closing lineup this weekend.
Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal MID; 4.5 ghosts): This kid is unreal. Despite being just 17, the Arsenal academy product has won a spot in the first team this season and is showing with every appearance just why he is so hyped and earmarked for greatness. Arteta trusted him enough to throw him on when Arsenal were desperately searching for a later winner. And he immediately changed the game by being brave on the ball and driving forward relentlessly. He nicked 4.5 points in just 4 minutes; 1 Key Pass, 1 Shot on Target, & 1 Successful Dribble. He is not afraid to take on a defender and have a pop, which will mean Successful Dribbles and Shots on Target.

Arteta rightfully praised him after the game for not being scared to have a go in a pressure-filled environment. Nwaneri has passed every eye test but has yet to earn his first EPL start. That might change this weekend given Arsenal have a tough midweek CL game v PSG before hosting lowly Southampton at home. What better time for him to get the nod? While it's still a longshot, he's worth a speculative grab this week given the potential upside. With Odegaard coming back soon, he is very unlikely to nail down a consistent starting role, he'll be a must stream if/when he does make the teamsheet this season.

Category Killer Winners:

Key Passes: Dejan Kulusevski (9)
Successful Dribbles: Bukayo Saka (8)
Aerials: James Tarkowski (9)
Accurate Crosses Not Corners (ACNCs): Leif Davis (2)
Tackles Won: Tyrick Mitchell (8)
Interceptions: Lisandro Martinez (7)

Dr. Peter Venkman Award:

Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa MID; 0.5 ghosts): Here at GPH headquarters in Casper, Wyoming, we pour scorn on anyone that scores below 11 points with a goal. Again, a goal itself is 11 points (9 for the goal, 2 for the requisite Shot on Target), so finishing with anything below that is ridiculous. Morgan Rogers did just that against Ipswich Town in GW6, scoring just 9.5 despite hitting the back of the net. He achieved this unenviable feat by doing nothing but score a goal, nick a Successful Dribble, and get dispossessed 5 times. While he has looked good in real life and has been unlucky to not bag more attacking returns, his ghosting has been relatively disappointing. Rogers is currently on 6.9 GPPS and his numbers were even worse last season (4.5 GPPS). But all hope is not lost, he is nailed on in a decent attack and is still scoring relatively well, and he should continue to get into dangerous positions and improve upon his 3 G/A this season. While trading high isn't the worst idea in the world, we still like him as a high upside MID3 ROS. Hopefully Rogers learns from this and doesn't receive this ignominious award again this campaign.