Our Gameweek 5 Sleepers XI article provides Fantrax 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 one of our picks could easily 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 5 Sleepers XI
For this article, we use the % rostered from Fantrax. Our only rule is that each player we highlight is required to be rostered in 60% of leagues or less at the time of writing. Therefore there's a good chance some of these players will be free agents in your Fantrax Draft League!
Gameweek 4 continued the downward trend of weekly points, with the squad putting up a still respectable 87.5 (particularly when you take Yoane Wissa's -1 into account). It looks like it will continue to be more difficult to identify low-rostered gems as the season wears on, especially with the transfer window coming to a close this week. We've now also reached the point where the fixtures come thick and fast, with matches taking place every day from Tuesday through Sunday this week, split across two game weeks (GW5, Tues-Thur; GW6, Fri-Sun). Given the quick turnaround, we don't have our weekly player projections available at the time of writing, so I'm going mostly on gut here, with a bit of past performance thrown in.
Rotation will almost certainly come into play this week, so many of these recommendations are not guaranteed to start and I wouldn't recommend spending FAB to bring them into your team unless you're looking at them as long-term holds. If you have the luxury of being able to monitor lineup announcements for Gameweeks 5 and 6, I recommend keeping an eye out for these guys (including the Reserves) and jumping if you see the green check next to their name in Fantrax.
GK: Gavin Bazunu
Team: Southampton
Opponent: Chelsea (Home)
Rostered: 6%
Points Last Gameweek: 6.5
Prospects: It wasn't 100% clear when the Saints signed Bazunu from Man City whether he'd be a back-up option or immediately jump into the number 1 role ahead of Alex McCarthy. Any confusion over that has evaporated entirely over the opening month of the new season. Much like Southampton's other young transfer from City, Romeo Lavia, the Republic of Ireland keeper has settled into the first team immediately and made a massive impact for his team. The 20 year-old has conceded in every match so far, including four goals against in the Week 1 contest with Spurs, but has yet to post a negative score. This is exactly the type of player you should be looking for if you need to stream a keeper, where fixtures don't tend to impact their performance.
DEF: Joachim Andersen
Team: Crystal Palace
Opponent: Brentford (Home)
Rostered: 41%
Points Last Gameweek: 8
Prospects: I'm trying not to read too much into the fact that my other Sleepers XI returnees (Iwobi, Adams, Wissa) have all put up lower scores on their second outing than their first, especially since Andersen only managed 4.75 points when I featured him in GW3. Scoring 8 points with a goal is usually a bad sign, but considering Man City put four goals past Palace at the weekend, it's not a bad return at all. The Danish center back is one of the few players in this week's squad who I think is worth trying to bring in as a long-term stash on your roster, as he's a threat on set pieces and part of a much-improved Palace side with Patrick Vieira at the helm. He's facing the aerial threat of Ivan Toney in GW5, which typically bodes well for CBs racking up ghost points to help offset the negative points from any goals conceded.
DEF: Max Kilman
Team: Wolves
Opponent: Bournemouth (Away)
Rostered: 39%
Points Last Gameweek: 6.5
Prospects: Wolves put in a very strong defensive performance against Newcastle in GW4, their clean sheet hopes undone only by a piece of magic by Allan Saint-Maximin. The center back pairing of Kilman and Collins is looking more solid by the week, and surprisingly so far it's been Kilman who has been earning the lion's share of the points between the two of them. This week, they travel to the south coast to take on a Bournemouth side that will be licking their wounds following the 9-0 demolition by Liverpool. A bounceback performance wouldn't be out of the realm of expectation, but I'm still backing Bruno Lage's men to put an end to their self-destructive streak and bang out a result here. The center backs will be coming up against either Kieffer Moore or Dominic Solanke, so more than a handful of aerial duels are to be expected to go along with a decent chance for a clean sheet.
DEF: Kevin Mbabu
Team: Fulham
Opponent: Brighton (Home)
Rostered: 5%
Points Last Gameweek: -0.75
Prospects: The first true punt in the Sleepers XI this week is Fulham's new right back, Mbabu. The former Wolfsburg fullback has made a few late substitute appearances in the opening matches, acquitting himself well and even recording an assist in the win against Brentford in GW3. Kenny Tete has historically been fairly injury-prone, so giving him a rest midweek seems like it could be a distinct possibility. Much like the Dutchman he'd be replacing, the Swiss defender is one who can fill the stat sheet with both attacking and defensive contributions. A home match against high-flying Brighton will be a true test of Fulham's credentials this season, but the London club have been very impressive and I could see this being an end-to-end contest.
DEF: Ryan Sessegnon
Team: Tottenham
Opponent: West Ham (Away)
Rostered: 48%
Points Last Gameweek: 0.25
Prospects: Even without three fixtures in the space of a week, we've been expecting to see heavy rotation in the Spurs lineup, especially in the wingback areas. We haven't seen too much rotation yet on the right side of defense and while that could be a possibility it's tricky to guess who will get the nod in GW5. I have more confidence that Sessegnon will be restored to the LWB role midweek to keep Perisic as fit and fresh as possible. The England youngster has grown into the role since Antonio Conte's arrival, jumping ahead of Sergio Reguilon, and seems to have the full faith of his manager. West Ham have been in dire form so far this season, while Spurs have been quietly efficient, so I like Sessegnon as a high upside attacking option with clean sheet potential.
MID: Fabio Carvalho
Team: Liverpool
Opponent: Newcastle (Home)
Rostered: 23%
Points Last Gameweek: 13
Prospects: Liverpool fans have been crying out for new midfield additions since Thiago pulled up with a hamstring injury halfway through the opening match against Fulham, but as yet the Reds haven't found the "right profile" of player to fill the gap. With the summer transfer deadline fast approaching, it doesn't look like happening, either. So far, Klopp has called on Harvey Elliott to provide the creative spark in midfield, but has turned to Carvalho as an impact substitute on multiple occasions to good effect. Elliott was taken off at half-time against Bournemouth, perhaps with an eye on midweek, but more likely due to his emotional state after losing his grandmother earlier in the week. In any case, I think Carvalho has earned a start in one of the next two matches and is one of the higher upside players available. You'll have a limited window to make changes if he's not in the lineup, though, as the match kicks off 15-30 minutes later than the rest of Wednesday's slate.
MID: Mateusz Klich
Team: Leeds
Opponent: Everton (Home)
Rostered: 1%
Points Last Gameweek: 7
Prospects: I've got to give a shout-out here to community member Benji Wade for recommending Klich as a potential streaming option in this week's episode of the Key Pass Collective podcast. He's one of those guys that's easy to forget about until you look back after he's made an appearance and you've missed out on a points haul. I think rotation will come into Jesse Marsch's thinking given his preference for a high-energy playing style and wouldn't be surprised to see the Polish midfielder get a run out, either in central midfield or (preferably) in the middle of the attacking midfield band. There are some suggestions that Bamford could make a return to fitness here, but given his injury issues I think he'll be eased back in, which should mean another start for Rodrigo up top. It will be interesting to see how many alterations Marsch feels comfortable making ahead of a winnable match against Everton, but Klich is a gamble worth taking since Leeds are part of the Tuesday set of fixtures. If he doesn't start, it's an easy drop and pivot.
MID: Amadou Onana
Team: Everton
Opponent: Leeds (Away)
Rostered: 15%
Points Last Gameweek: 9.5
Prospects: I hinted at this with my Iwobi selection last week, but I was curious whether new signing Onana would end up stealing points away from his central midfield partner and that was indeed the case against Brentford. The Belgian youngster delivered a solid all-around performance and it's worth noting it wasn't until after he had been subbed off that the Toffees conceded. Two matches in quick succession may not be on the cards given Lampard's previous comments about him building his fitness, but his impact is clear to see and adequate replacements are currently thin on the ground. Apologies, Tom Davies, but there's a reason Everton are still linked with multiple other central midfielders. It's still a bit early to tell whether Onana will continue to be the better bet in central midfield, but I'm happy to gamble on him as long as he's in the team.
MID: Marcus Tavernier
Team: Bournemouth
Opponent: Wolves (Home)
Rostered: 23%
Points Last Gameweek: 9
Prospects: Rostership for Bournemouth assets continued to drop across all of Fantrax, especially after the heavy defeat against Liverpool in GW4, but one player who should be seeing an increase in the number of teams he's on is Tavernier. Just take a look at his score from last week to see why. 9 points in a 9-0 loss is an incredible return, and lends further credence to the prospect that the midfielder will be a fixture-proof asset for your fantasy team. The Cherries have made it through the worst of their horrendous fixture run to begin the campaign, so now is a good time to buy in on players like Tavernier, Billing and Solanke who may have been dropped and could be decent to good long-term holds.
FWD: Jean-Philippe Mateta
Team: Crystal Palace
Opponent: Brentford (Home)
Rostered: 6%
Points Last Gameweek: -1
Prospects: Patrick Vieira has shown us that he'll shift to a 5-at-the-back system in the toughest fixtures, as he did against both Liverpool in Man City, but will stick to his preferred 4-3-3 for most matches. I expect a reversion to the mean in the midweek match against Brentford. With question marks surrounding Wilfried Zaha's fitness (and perhaps his future at the club?), the former Arsenal legend will be left to decide which of his under-performing attackers has the best chance of earning a victory against the Bees. Palace have been unlucky not to have results go their way given their performances thus far, but I still think a shake-up in a few positions could be just what they need to introduce some healthy competition, and Mateta is one player who I thought would have had a look in by now. I think he'll get his chance this week and have a feeling he'll put pressure on Odsonne Edouard, as he did last season, to give Vieira a welcome selection headache moving forward.
FWD: Luis Sinisterra
Team: Leeds
Opponent: Everton (Home)
Rostered: 50%
Points Last Gameweek: 0.5
Prospects: It feels like we've been made to wait an age to see whether Leeds' Raphinha replacement will provide anything close to the value the Brazilian brought to Leeds and our fantasy teams. Could we finally be in a position to see what the Sinisterra hype is all about? I think so. The Colombian returned from a hamstring injury to put in a man-of-the-match performance in the League Cup last week, including a highlight reel worthy goal (look it up if you haven't seen it yet), but has had to bide his time for his chance in the Premier League. Dan James has done little in his two starts to justify him earning a place in Jesse Marsch's long-term plans for the starting lineup, and he's the man I believe most likely to drop out to accommodate the new winger. Sinisterra's numbers in the Eredivisie last season rival those of Man United's new signing Antony on a per-match basis, so he could prove to be a comparative bargain if he follows through on his potential. Watch this space.
The Reserves
If you're playing on Fantrax with Live Lineup Changes, you may also wish to consider the below high risk, high reward type players. If any of these guys get a surprise start this week, snap them up and plug them into your starting eleven!
Kostas Tsimikas, Defender, Liverpool. Opponent: Newcastle
Liam Cooper, Defender, Leeds. Opponent: Everton
Fabio Vieira, Midfielder, Arsenal. Opponent: Aston Villa
Eddie Nketiah, Forward, Arsenal. Opponent: Aston Villa
Kelechi Iheanacho, Forward, Leicester. Opponent: Man United
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