Genie's Corner Draft Season - Fantrax Hot Takes for 24/25

Genie's corner is back with a "hot takes segment". Here are some of my more out there opinions for the upcoming Fantasy EPL season, as well as my reasoning behind them. Obviously these are just my opinions, but the hope is my reasoning will force you to at least reconsider your own stance, and maybe even agree with me. For more incredible analysis and draft help check out our 24/25 Draft Kit and our Pricing Plans.

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Draft Season - Hot Takes for 24/25

Genie is here with some hot takes as we head into the all-important Draft Season! While most of these takes may be out there, some takeaways, and food for thought will hopefully impact your upcoming draft strategy.

Darwin Nunez Will Be The Top Forward

Last season, Nunez was a very hit or miss player in both fantasy and reality. Hitting the post/crossbar more than anyone and leaving anyone watching him frustrated more often than not. A new manager is in town, and Nunez will need to impress from the off. Liverpool don't seem to be in the market for a new forward, and there are already reports of Slot planning to use Gakpo on the left. That leaves Jota and Nunez to compete for the forward spot. Nunez is the type of player that needs space to run into, from there his pace and power allow him to score. The biggest thing he will need to work on, shockingly for a striker, is his finishing. Last season he only scored 18% of his big chances. If he can up that closer to 50% he is already well on his way. Slot has already instilled his style and whoever is Liverpool's starting CF will be cooking. I am backing Nunez to win the role with Jota providing great depth and off the bench performances.

In mock drafts, Nunez is going in the late 2nd - early 3rd rounds. I think this is the perfect spot for him, and based on the way ADPs and mocks are trending, he should be available between picks 2-9 and 3-3. Last season he only scored 11 goals and 8 assists, and managed a PPS of 12.6. If he can get between 20-22 goals this season, he has every chance to be the top scoring FWD in Fantrax.

Fantrax takeaway: Liverpool attack can cook under Slot. It is worth investing in one of their attackers, especially if you cannot get Salah in round 1.

Aston Villa Will Finish 8th Or Lower

Well, it may be obvious from some of my articles this season but I am quite low on Villa and their assets. I have already discussed how Watkins should not be a first rounder, and how he way over-performed last season. But on top of that, they lost key players, and will be in more competitions. Villa will be looking to do something in the Champions League, EPL, and potentially the cups as well, but they just don't have the squad to do that. Losing Diaby and especially Luiz are two huge losses. While incomings of Onana, Barkley, and Maatsen will provide some value to this Villa team, they just still don't have enough pieces to properly compete everywhere. Players will play a lot more than they are used to. This is reminding me of West Ham back in the 2016/17 season. They finished 11th in the EPL, after qualifying for the Europa league, but seriously lacked squad depth to compete with strong teams in both fronts. Unless Villa sign some strong depth pieces or 1-2 more superstars I reckon they have a tough time this year.

Fantrax takeaway: Be cautious with Villa assets. Don't reach for any of them, especially in the mid rounds. Avoid Watkins if options such as Son or Isak are still available.

Quansah Will Be The Top Scoring CB

I can't tell if this is more of a bold take than the Nunez one above. Quansah was discussed in my Sleepers XI article. His PPS of 8.6 last season was very solid in his first real season as an EPL player. He won the starting CB spot over Konate, and offered very similar ghost point production to his partner Van Dijk. When it comes to CBs Van Dijk and Tarkowski are the two big names that managers rush to draft. Tarkowski's ghost points are clear of both VVD and Quansah, while he averages 10.8 per game the Liverpool CBs average 8.9 and 8.6, respectively.

But the new scoring should help them. Liverpool will give up a sloppy goal here and there, but after that have shown they can respond, shore it up, and see out the game. Not losing 2 points for that goal could see Quansah not receive any negatives all game, and just collect points. His ghost points will also improve as he becomes more comfortable in the EPL. He is a good ball playing CB as well who gets forward and could chip in with some key passes and, of course, goals from set-pieces. He scored 2 goals in his 13 starts, which is tied with what Van Dijk managed in 36 starts and more than what Tarks managed in 38 starts. He should improve upon those numbers with more starts this season.

Fantrax Takeaway: The takeaway here may not be as obvious. Do not overlook the CB partner of the bigger name defender. Quansah is just one example and someone I am seriously backing this year, along with Chris Richards, Jarrad Branthwaite, Akanji, and Dan Burn. These players are all usually drafted after their CB partner by at least 2-3 rounds or sometimes more and can score similar, if not outscore, their bigger name CB partner. Go for value when it comes to CBs especially with the new scoring making them more valuable.

The 3 Biggest Flops of the Season

Julian Alvarez

I am not high on Alvarez at all this season. He has already spoken out about how he didn't like being benched in big games, and Pep has stated that Alvarez already plays a lot and can leave if he wishes. This is not a good way to start the season. There is every chance Alvarez leaves the EPL before September, especially with Savio now on the City roster and KDB most likely staying. Alvarez is also participating in the Olympics so will be back much later than his teammates, and if he does stay he could have his work cut out for him to get into the XI. I think Alvarez will have a lot of appearances if he stays this year, but they will be across all the competitions and a significant amount of off the bench minutes. In mocks he is going in rounds 2-3 and with players like Kai, Solanke, and Toney available around those spots, I am passing on Alvarez. Do not expect similar stats to last season, but more so the trend of minutes we saw to close out the campaign, a worrying thought.

Rodri

Another City player features here. Rodri is being way over drafted. Last season was his best season fantasy wise with a 11.7 PPS, 8 GPPS, and 17 G/A. Seeing him go in the third round of drafts is quite shocking. While Rodri is an incredible player, and an integral part to City's success, he is still a defensive midfielder. With Pep having basically every attacker healthy to start the season, you would expect Rodri to not be as heavily needed in that aspect. It is also worth noting that Rodri suffered an injury in the Euro Final. While he is yet to return to City, it remains to be seen if this injury could be one that reoccurs or keeps him out of the opening 2-3 gameweeks. Yes, when you play for a team like City, everyone will have games they pop off for 25+ with some returns, but I do not think he improves upon what he did last season to repay the lofty draft pick required to nab him in the draft this season. In the third round there are options such as: Nunez, Toney, and Robertson. All three should outscore Rodri and offer significant more upside than the City midfielder mainly due to their roles in their teams. Rodri will be good this season but he will seriously disappoint those who take him in the first 3 rounds.

Matheus Cunha

Cunha had himself a breakthrough season, and was the hero for Wolves. He scored 12 goals and got 7 assists in his 32 appearances. He had a PPS of 11.8 and a GPPS of just over 7. These are fantastic numbers for someone who was on the waiver wire to start the season. While I still believe in Wolves unlike some of our analysts, I don't see Cunha continuing to be a near 12 PPS player. His ghost points are respectable, but he would need to get 20 returns this season in order to get near his accomplishments of last year. He was a tough one to look at and label a flop, given how he looks to be improving every year, but it is more so that Wolves are just not being the best attacking team. Neto may be on his way out or will be out for half the season as per usual, and Wolves don't seem to be making any big signings to help out this attack. Cunha has also suffered a pre-season injury and while his manager is hopeful he won't be out for long, there is a chance he misses the start of the season. If Cunha fell to you at the end of the 5th/early 6th then he is worth a pick, but for a late 3rd/early 4th round pick, I would rather look to assets on more attacking teams such as Joao Pedro.

Honourable Mention: McNeil

Would it really be a Genie article if I didn't advocate against drafting McNeil? For the second year in a row McNeil features here. This is the season he truly falls off. The signing of Ndiaye is a good one. Dyche added another creative player to his mix, and no longer has to McNeil and inshallah his way to draws. There will be multiple creative routes now, and with Doucoure potentially dropping deeper and Garner remaining in the lineup, McNeil will be relying on mainly set-pieces for his points. I expect there to be more of a timeshare on the ball as opposed to everything going through the former Burnley hero. Dyche was lucky not to be relegated this season, and he will need to change things up to ensure Everton stay up again. Avoid McNeil in the draft, especially in the 2nd or 3rd rounds.

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