Gameweek 9 Ghost Point Hunters: Draft EPL

Ryan Barnes
Oct 23, 2024
6 min read

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 9 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 9 Ghost Point Hunters

Let's get back to business before we're hit with another international break, shall we? On the big board we have three debutants: Ryan Manning, Elliot Anderson, and Trevoh Chalobah. In the Not So Fast department, we're going with AWB & Eddie Nketiah. And we finally have a scouser as the One(s) To Watch: Curtis Jones (and Casemiro). Rounding things out, the Dr. Peter Venkman Award is bestowed upon Kevin Schade. It's been a long time coming.

Ryan Manning

Position: Defender

Team: Southampton

Rostered: 1%

Ghost Points Per Start: 10.4 (just two starts)

Ghost Points Last GW: 13

Prospects: This guy was not on our bingo card. We have been completely off Southampton players all season. But the Irish fullback has now at least piqued our interest. Ryan Manning, in his second start on the trot, dropped over a dozen ghosties: 4 Key Passes, 1 Accurate Cross Not A Corner (ACNC), 2 Interceptions, 2 Clearances, 1 Successful Dribble, &1 Aerial. He was also on some set pieces and passed the eye test, looking dangerous and utilizing that wand of a left foot. There's a lot to like here.

Now on to the bad news. Manning plays for the worst team in the league, they will continue to concede goals for fun, and they have Man City away this GW. We've also seen similar things from his fellow Saints fullback teammate, Sugawara, and it's clear that none of their assets are reliable. The next test, however, is Everton in GW10. He's a worth a stream in that matchup and we can go from there.

Verdict: Manchester City away is his reward this week. Stay away but pick up and stream next week when the matchup is much more favorable (Everton at home).

Elliot Anderson

Position: Midfielder

Team: Nottingham Forest

Rostered: 32%

Ghost Points Per Start: 8

Ghost Points Last GW: 22.5

Prospects: This also came out of nowhere. We gave Elliot Anderson a shot earlier this season before dropping him in a tizzy after some mediocre displays. But he topped the list of ghosters this week in the late game v Crystal Palace. A mouthwatering 22+ ghosties later, his stat sheet looked like this: 5 Key Passes, 2 Shots on Target, 1 Accurate Cross Not A Corner (ACNC), 6 Successful Dribbles, 1 Blocked Shot, & 3 Aerials. His set piece dominance certainly didn't hurt and he was unlucky not to nick an attacking return. He took full advantage of MGW and JWP's absences, serving as the creative attacking outlet.

Is this going to last? The data says probably not. This all action performance boosted Anderson's GPPS to 8.4, which is pretty tasty but it's heavily reliant on this 22 spot and his GPPS last campaign was a middling 6.5 GPPS. He has proven with this outing that he is worth the punt, especially when he is the main man going forward, which should continue for the next few GWs (depending on MGW's fitness). Anderson is a premium short term streamer with an outside chance of being an ROS hold in a position crying out for depth.

Verdict: Pick him up and stream for at least while MGW is out (and monitor going forward).

Trevoh Chalobah

Position: Defender

Team: Crystal Palace

Rostered: 5%

Ghost Points Per Start: 8

Ghost Points Last GW: 13.5

Prospects: Chelsea academy product, Trevoh Chalobah, was done dirty by the Blues. He was frozen out during the Boehly spending spree and found himself across town with Palace at the end of the summer. He is starting to show some life in South London. He went for over 13 scary scores v Forest, stemming from1 Key Pass, 2 Tackles Won, 1 Accurate Cross Not A Corner (ACNC), 6 Clearances, 3 Blocked Shots, & 4 Aerials.

While it's good to see Chalo getting some reps, we just don't know if he'll find consistency, especially when Palace looks completely off as a whole. He has shown some flashes in the past and can get attacking returns. But he usually only musters a 6ish GPPS and is on a bad team. We'll keep an eye out.

Verdict: Not convinced yet; let's see how he does v Tottenham this weekend.

Not So Fast:

Aaron Wan Bissaka (West Ham United DEF; 18 ghosts): AWB is a character. He is one of the best one v one defensive fullbacks in the league but can struggle going forward. Fantasy-wise, he's also a basket case and a tale of two cities. Oddly enough, he usually performs better against tougher, more attacking opposition. Case in point - his best ghosting cameos have been against the prolific attacks of Man City and now Tottenham, who he balled out against this past GW. We suppose it makes sense given that he's naturally busier against teams that love to go forward but it's hard to predict. While he has a decent GPPS of 8 this season, which is similar to his numbers in previous campaigns, he is also on a defense that is rarely tight at the back. We just don't know about this guy, he can do this one GW and be completely meh the next.
Eddie Nketiah (Crystal Palace FWD; 14.5 ghosts): This will be a quick one. We know who Eddie is - one of the most goal dependent players in the league. He usually hovers around 5 GPPS; this recent cameo is an aberration. Book it.

One(s) To Watch:

Curtis Jones (Liverpool MID; 11 ghosts): This guy, man. He is the definition of hit or miss. He has burned us and many others over the years as he flutters between braces and stinkers. Jonesy was at it again over the weekend when he delivered a monster. What may be different this time is that his new manager is putting him into different spots on the pitch and he has rarely looked this dangerous under Klopp. Although he' s had limited starts, he is boasting a 9.8 GPPS (3.6 in 23/24) in the Slot machine. If he can keep this up and nail down a spot in this midfield, he can be a nice MID3/4. But we'll believe it when we see it.
Casemiro (Man Utd MID; 19.5 ghosts): We got a full house! We were close to this rare feat (at least one of each ghost point stat categories) last week with Vitaly Janelt. But Casemiro of all people pulled it off in GW8: 4 Key Passes, 1 Shot on Target, 3 Tackles Won, 1 Accurate Cross Not A Corner (ACNC), 1 Interception, 4 Clearances, 1 Successful Dribble, 1 Blocked Shot, & 4 Aerials. My God, we're exhausted. We actually rate the Brazilian as a fantasy asset. He is close to double digit GPPS this campaign and gets in dangerous positions. In real life, though, he has come up short, which has resulted in some benchings. With Mainoo out, he should continue to start. But he needs to stay fit. Let's see how he recovers from the knock he picked up over the weekend.

Category Killer Winners:

Key Passes: Elliot Anderson (5)
Successful Dribbles: Elliot Anderson (6)
Aerials: Nathan Collins (7)
Accurate Crosses Not Corners (ACNCs): Pedro Porro (3)
Tackles Won: Emerson (5)
Interceptions: Ryan Yates (5)

Dr. Peter Venkman Award:

Kevin Schade (Brentford MID; 1 ghost): We never bought into the hype, we have constantly thrown shade at Schade. Nothing against him personally, we just don't care for his obsession with not ghosting. He burnished his anti-ghosting credentials yet again in GW8 v Man Utd. He finished with one single solitary ghost: 1 Tackle Won, & 2 Aerials offset by 2 Dispossessions. His GPPS is now under 5 (roughly 6 in 23/24). Schade can't consistently snag attacking returns and he can't ghost. Get over him, it ain't gonna happen.