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 highlights Fantrax Fantasy EPL Sleepers from Nottingham Forest, as we highlight three potential hidden gems for the new season! Click here for details on how you can access our 22/23 Draft Kit.
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Nottingham Forest Sleepers
As noted above, these are potential Fantrax Sleepers from Notts Forest. These Fantasy EPL players are likely to be drafted in the later rounds. Read below for two under the radar players who could provide excellent value in your pre-season draft.
Taiwo Awoniyi
Position: Forward
21/22 Points: 314* (In the Bundesliga)
21/22 Points Per Start: 12.8* (29 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 8.2 (33 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 110 or later (12 Team League: Round 10 or later)
Overview: Awoniyi had a breakout season last year in the Bundesliga, where the 24-year-old scored 15 goals and assisted twice in 29 starts for Union Berlin. Believe it or not, he was actually on Liverpool for the 5 years prior to that, frequently going out on loan to German and Belgian clubs. Berlin then bought him for £8m and have doubled their value a year later. Awoniyi is predominantly a goal scorer, but has loads of potential and has a chance to spearhead Forest's attack. He'll likely slot straight into the starting lineup as part of a dynamic duo with Brennan Johnson.
As for performance expectations, last season Taiwo averaged 12.6 fpts and 6.8 ghost points per 90 in the Bundesliga. Like other Forest assets mentioned in the best players piece, his goal/assist dependency was quite high, which doesn't bode particularly well for a promoted EPL side that will likely be near the bottom of the table. But Taiwo is still developing and perhaps he can still put up a respectable enough 8+ PPs or so, good enough for a forward who should rack up plenty of starts to be drafted in Fantrax. In addition to his primary strength as a goalscorer (npxG 88th percentile last season), he also dribbles well and often for a central attacker (78th percentile for dribbles completed) and is decent in the air (60th percentile for aerials won). You would do well to get him in the 11th round or later (his ADP is currently early 12th but likely dropping). Think of him as a slightly cheaper, more volatile, lower floor, higher upside version of Brennan Johnson. Another decent late forward option in drafts.
Steve Cook
Position: Defender
21/22 Points: 144* (In the Championship)
21/22 Points Per Start: 11.2 (13 starts)
22/23 Projected Points Per Start: 7.8 (20 starts)
Recommended Draft Pick: 150 or later (12 Team League: Round 13 or later)
Overview: Cook is your prototypical fantasy-valuable defender, with high volume defensive actions, particularly aerials won (over 3.5 per 90). He also put up good numbers in clearances, interceptions, and blocked shots. All that together got him 9.5 ghost points per 90 last season, and in prior years he had 9.0, 8.6, and 10.5 ghost pts per 90. A step up to the Prem is sure to keep him quite busy defensively, but of course he's likely to concede more goals as well. His ghost points should help him to be a useful player whenever he has a decent matchup, but his real downside comes from his expected game time.
After he came to Forest last season, Cook was a crucial part of the back line, predominantly playing in the center of a back 3/5. However, Forest have recently signed Moussa Niakhate, who looks likely to steal a spot in the XI at CB. The question remaining is whether he more often replaces Steve Cook or Steve McKenna. Forest has also signed another CB in Giulian Biancone who could steal starts as well. So with all that said, if he starts consistently, Cook should be a solid high floor, low ceiling defender. But that's a big if, and as such you should be aiming to take Cook late, late in drafts.
Honorable Mention(s):
Lewis O'Brien signed straight from the team they beat in the promotion elimination game, Huddersfield Town. He looks a smart value buy for Forest, and should slot straight into central mid. He's not a flashy fantasy asset but he put up Norgaard-esque numbers with 8.3 pts per 90 and 7.1 ghost points per 90 last season, and could repeat again with his hard-running in a busy role.
More Fantasy Sleepers: Arsenal | Aston Villa | Bournemouth | Brentford | Brighton | Chelsea | Crystal Palace | Everton | Fulham | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Man City | Man United | Newcastle | Southampton | Tottenham | West Ham | Wolves
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