Our Fantasy EPL 22/23 Draft Kit promises to be the most comprehensive set of pre-season Draft Premier League articles ever produced! A key component of our Draft Kit will be the Team Preview articles which analyze key assets to sit alongside our all-important Draft Rankings. This article delves into the Best Fantrax Fantasy EPL Players from Southampton, as we take a deep dive into the prospects of their three best assets! Click here for details on how you can access our 22/23 Draft Kit.
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Southampton Best Fantasy Players
As noted above, these are the Best Southampton Players for the Fantrax Fantasy EPL platform. We analyze the Saints' top three prospects ahead of the new season, with a recommended draft pick for each player.
James Ward-Prowse
Position: Midfielder
21/22 Points: 425 (5th best midfielder)
21/22 Points Per Start: 11.8 (36 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 11.4 (36 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 9-13 (12 Team League: Late 1st, early 2nd round)
Overview: What else is there to say about JWP that has not been said before? The archetype of the great player on a bad team for fantasy, he is the best free kick scorer since David Beckham (arguably even better).
Like a metronome, tick-tock, the points come streaming in. Year after year, JWP delivers. He was10th overall in 21/22, 11th in 20/21, 17th in 19/20. He has only missed 2 starts in 3 seasons (suspension in 21/22 season) and has delivered 10 PPS or above in all 3 seasons. The model of consistency, if there ever was one.
What seemed like his ceiling for overall points and xG overperformance in 20/21 was taken up a notch in 21/22. For Fantrax, 422 points in 38 starts became 425 in 36, 8 goals from an xG of 5.44 became 10 goals from 5.09 xG mostly attributed to him perfecting the curled as well as the long-range free kick even further (2.72 xG overperformance came from direct free-kicks). JWP's quality starts went up slightly from 65.8% to 67% with Q75+90 improving from 16 to 19 (Q90 going from 1 to 7).
The Saints are quietly going about their transfer business as they inject youth and versatility into their squad. Forward depth seems to be severely lacking, so a new forward signing will strengthen my belief that JWP is worth a first round draft grade. But even without that, he will have no problem emulating his record from 21/22.
Che Adams
Position: Forward
21/22 Points: 238 (17nd best forward)
21/22 Points Per Start: 9.5 (23 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 9.3 (28 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 70-79 (12 Team League: Mid-Late Round 6)
Overview: The only out-and-out forward on the books for Southampton, who has proven that he is able to hold down a regular spot and actually score EPL goals.
It is relatively slim pickings for "Best Players" after talismanic JWP on a Saints team that spread the love when it came to attacking returns. No less than 15 players delivered either a goal or an assist last season. Therefore, it is no surprise that Adams (our second best ranked Saint) comes in as a 6th round pick.
Adams finished with 7 goals and 3 assists, improving his xG to Goal statistics from the previous season but still underperforming his xG by 1.29 (which he has done for all 3 of his EPL seasons). It is fair to expect him to continue in the mold of a not quite 10 goals per season striker, so he is not worth reaching for him. But our ranking of around 80 is significantly better than his current ADP of 104, so he might qualify as a steal if you can grab him that late. Based on Draftlad's Projections, he will score around 250-260 points from 28 projected starts (which could improve in the Saints do not bring in another forward) this season. That point total would have made him the 65th overall scorer last season. So although not overly exciting, he is a very solid FWD3, who you should be able to get at decent value.
Stuart Armstrong
Position: Midfielder
21/22 Points: 147 (77th best midfielder)
21/22 Points Per Start: 8.5 (15 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 8.8 (24 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 75-80 (12 Team League: Late Round 6)
Overview: After a season to forget, Armstrong will be looking to bounce back in 22/23 and become a driving force in the Saints attack.
Armstrong was looking to build on his 4 goals and 5 assists in 32 starts from the previous season, as he was widely regarded as the undisputed second most talented player on the team behind JWP. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be as injuries ravaged his 21/22 season, limiting him to 15 starts. His 6.9 ghost points per start are nothing to scoff at, as those stats are comparable to Coutinho and Norgaard, both established ghost-point-getters themselves. But the lack of starts killed any value he had as a fantasy asset unless you streamed him for the 8 quality starts he managed in those 15 games, which is very good considering he only scored 2 goals.
A closer look at his 20/21 numbers reveals a solid midfielder and, just like Adams, he'll be available much later than his projections and our ranks suggest. His current ADP is a lowly 111, which means that you should be able to scoop him up any time before the 9th round. His injury history suggests last season might have been an aberration. Although unavailable for most of 21/22, he only missed 6 games in 20/21, 5 in 19/20 and 2 in 18/19 seasons due to injury. As such, it is safe to assume that he will be able to overperform his projected 24 starts.
Honorable Mention(s):
The Saints squad is still being reworked, with a lot of incoming players boasting versatility as their main appeal. Nate Redmond, Mo Elyounnousi, or a new signing still to come could end up challenging Adams and Armstrong for the podium spots by the final day of the season.
More Best Fantasy Players: Arsenal | Aston Villa | Bournemouth | Brentford | Brighton | Chelsea | Crystal Palace | Everton | Fulham | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Man City | Man United | Newcastle | Nottm Forest | Tottenham | West Ham | Wolves
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