Gameweek 9 Sleepers XI: Draft EPL

Our Gameweek 9 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 9 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.

Look, 80.75 FPts is not a terrible score for a team that only had 10 starters. That's right, the guy who I constantly die on hills for, Lyle Foster our lone FWD, was a no-show during Gameweek 8. There were some positives though! Three of our assets put up double digit scores. Aaronson scored 11 ghost points in 65 minutes, Ballard scored a monster 24 FPts (including a clean sheet), while Lammens put up 13.25 FPts against Liverpool, despite conceding once. There were also some short comings in our team. In defence, each of our assets conceded 2 goals each with Rodon (9.75 FPts) outscoring the likes of Krejci (9 FPts with 1 own goal), Kilman (5.75 FPts) and Botman (2.5 FPts). In midfield, Alcaraz got a fat 0 in 69 minutes while Garnacho only lasted the first half of his game and scored 3 FPts. The final nail in the coffin was Summerville's 2.5 FPts, which frustratingly came with a yellow card, the only one for our team. In the end we got a respectable score but we can do better. Bring on Gameweek 9!

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 9. 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.

Senne Lammens (G, Man Utd)

According to our Fixture Difficulty Tracker, the Man Utd goalkeeper has the 2nd best fixture rating for Gameweek 9, which is probably your last opportunity and best entry point into one of the best scoring GKs we've seen so far. Albeit the tiniest of sample sizes, after two challenging fixtures against Sunderland and Liverpool, Lammens' 10.3 gPPS and 14.3 PPS is the best of all shot-stoppers in the league. One main reason is probably because Man Utd are actually 16th in the expected goals against table (just under 13 xGA). A team that concedes regular chances with a goal keeper that is actually good is a recipe for success. The floor and ceiling is high with this one. Don't miss out.

Danny Ballard (D, Sunderland)

After the slight doubt over whether or not Ballard would have started Gameweek 8, particularly in a back-4 system, Le Bris made fools of us all and did exactly that, playing Mukiele in RB and Alderete as the LCB. Now that Alderete has officially been ruled out of Gameweek 9, Ballard's position is certainly nailed now. So after suggesting the best shot-stopper in the league, let's go with the best player in the game. At 20.3 PPS (12.9 ghosts per start), Ballard should be one of the most nailed assets in your roster, regardless of the strength of the opposition they face. He's not only got the defensive numbers, but he's also being targeted on set-pieces as a source of goals for the Black Cats. It's crazy that he's 50% ROS across all leagues. If he's free, go snap him up now!

Diogo Dalot (D, Man Utd)

If you've read my articles before, you know that I love doubling up on a defence. So as the wine-pairing pick to Lammens, I suggest Dalot. Hopefully you prefer red because the Man Utd defender has been maintaining a bang-on 10 PPS this season. Althought he's not started every game this season, he has still scored decently at 7.2 gPPS, with a couple of assists to his name. If there's a chance he can fluke the rare clean sheet, then Dalot can easily hit around 16 FPts as a ceiling. This makes him a great DEF-3 pick for your roster this weekend and possibly ROS, as the Red Devils have already gotten the toughest teams in the league out the way (Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool). It should be smooth-sailing for this defence until we get to the half-way point of the season.

Gabriel Gudmundsson (D, Leeds) 

After seeing Michael Kayode pepper the West Ham box with accurate crosses on the Monday night game, racking up his season high of 5 ACNCs, the first thing that came to mind was Gudmundsson. Gudmundsson sits 3rd for ACNCs (10) of all players this season. I am well aware of the fact that Gudmundsson has also registered 3 negative scores this season, but he did put up scores of 22.5, 14.5 and 18.25 FPts. The latest score was actually the only haul that didn't involve a clean sheet! In the game against Burnley, the Swede registered 4 key passes, 2 tackles won, 6 accurate crosses and 4 successful dribbles. I genuinely think there's a big score on the cards for him on the Friday night game, especially with Leeds playing at Elland Road. West Ham were absolutely awful in attack and Nuno might take some to get the Hammer's attack clicking again. So maybe there's a chance of a clean sheet to go with his 7.9 gPPS.

Hugo Bueno (D, Wolves)

Although Wolves look doomed for relegation already, there has been one shining light from their misery, mainly for us Fantrax managers. Hugo Bueno seems to have finally nailed a starting spot under Vitor Pereira, and despite the lack of clean sheets and goals conceded, Bueno has still been scoring extremely well. Over the last 3 gameweeks, Bueno has been averaging just over 10.5 gPPS. The Spaniard is also currently the league leader for ACNCs (18) and is also 3rd for key passes (11) amongst all defenders. This weekend feels like Wolves' most important game of their season to date as they take on Burnley at home. They sit 5 points adrift of this weekend's opposition and sit rock bottom of the league with 0 wins. They're actually the only team who has yet to win a game this season. So this feels much bigger than a 6-point affair.

Malick Thiaw (D, Newcastle) 

I thought it was a bit strange to see Thiaw as a possible option for my Sleepers article this week, but he was also dropped in one of my community leagues. I will definitely be trying to add him to my roster, not only for this gameweek, but possibly as a ROS pick. The Newcastle defence is currently the 2nd best in the league, only behind Arsenal. Although the Magpies have conceded 7 goals this season, they've still kept 5 clean sheets. Fulham, West Ham and Brentford are the next 3 teams they face, and with a base of 10 gPPS, Thiaw is easily a DEF-2/3 pick. They've even kept clean sheets in their last 2 Champions League games. Fulham are struggling for goals and fit strikers this season, so this could be a clean sheet banker.

Brenden Aaronson (M, Leeds)

Well, well, well. After receiving loads of criticism from many a Fantrax manager, Aaronson is starting to prove his haters wrong. At 8.2 PPS, the American has slowly started emerging as a great MID-4 pick. Over his last 3 games, Aaronson has put up scores of 11, 10.5 and 11 FPts. This looks great and all but there are 2 main concerns. The first one being that he keeps getting substituted around the 65th minute and the other being that 2 of those scores include an assist each. I don't think Aaronson is a season-keeper by any means but in a home fixture against a team like the Hammers who are in massive transition, he could easily put up a double digit score. He's had a shot on target in his each of his last 3 appearances and has yet to find the back of the net. Maybe he's due. A great gamble if you need a MID this weekend.

Florentino (M, Burnley)

Florentino has come out of nowhere over the past four gameweeks, having become a 90-minute starter for Burnley. The Angolan midfielder currently boasts 9.3 PPS and 8.0 ghosts per start, the 3rd best in both categories for all Burnley assets. That level of scoring is a great option as a MID-4 for any roster, especially if he can get the odd attacking return like he did in Gameweek 8, giving him a ceiling of around 14 FPts. Burnley may have their backs against the wall this weekend when they visit Wolves, a team still grasping for their first win of the campaign. Even though the scores of 4.5 and 6.25 FPts don't look promising, we should probably caveat that with the fact that they played Man City and Aston Villa respectively. A steady-eddy if you need one.

Yasin Ayari (M, Brighton)

Speaking of reliable midfielders, another option has emerged from the south coast. Ayari has massively benefited from the injury to Hinshelwood and has ended up playing 90 minutes in his last 4 starts. The Brighton MID is currently averaging 8.2 PPS, and has already taken the most corner kicks for the Seagulls, despite only starting half of their games this campaign. He just seems like the perfect glue-guy for a roster. A MID-4 with the upside potential of an assist from a set piece should surely be way more owned. Consider this, if one of your studs like Palmer is out injured, your midfield is thin and you need a dependable placeholder to meet positional requirements, then Ayari could be the perfect fit.

Marc Guiu (F, Chelsea)

Let's be honest, Chelsea have looked a bit out of sorts in attack. Despite the results and successful start to the season for the Blues, it's not been smooth sailing at all. That was quite evident after the first half against Nottingham Forest. Although they won 3-0 in the end, Chelsea didn't click until Maresca made some key changes up front, specifically bringing on Marc Guiu in the No.9 spot. This allowed the likes of Joao Pedro to play in a freer role and thereby provide the creativity that the Blues have been lacking in Palmer's absence. Guiu was rewarded with a start in the Champions League and got his first goal of the season against Ajax. One possible hint of start in Gameweek 9 is the fact that after being 4-1 up at halftime, Maresca subbed off both Enzo Fernandez and Guiu. Maybe Guiu is being managed for multiple starts given their packed schedule and Delap's return still some weeks away. A route into one of the top attacks in the league? Yes please.

Raul Jimenez (F, Fulham) 

Raul is the insurance pick so I don't end up with another XI where there is no striker on the pitch. It's weird saying Jimenez is a safe pick given he's only started 3 games this season and only played 90 minutes for the first time against Arsenal in Gameweek 8. However, Marco Silva is short of fit strikers and the Mexican FWD is his only choice left. The new signings like Kevin have shown their inexperience and will need time to mature into dependable starters. Raul's scores aren't for pretty viewing but if you just need to fill a FWD spot, then he could be a last resort if your waivers weren't successful for more popular names like Kroupi.

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