We ain’t afraid of no ghosts. In fact, we seek them – ghost points, that is. Ghost Points are fantasy points that do not come from attacking returns or clean sheets. These can come in the form of key passes, shots on target, successful dribbles, interceptions, and tackles, among others. Identifying these points is essential for your Fantasy EPL prospects, and our Gameweek 9 Ghost Point Hunters article is here to help!
This Ghost Point Hunters article is based on the Fantrax Scoring System. Check out our Ghost Point Tracker page for the full list of Fantasy EPL players and their respective Ghost Point capabilities!
Gameweek 9 Ghost Point Hunters
We followed up a blank week with a short-handed one, which benefited those who don't roster many assets from Palace, Brighton, Chelsea, Liverpool, Leeds, & Man United. Life isn't fair, and Draft EPL is even worse. Anyways, this is all to say that we had a smaller pool from which to choose this week's ghosting extraordinaires. We're going with John McGinn, Armel Bella Kotchap, & Patson Daka on the big board. Meanwhile, honorable mention includes Rodrigo Betancour, Ben Mee, Ollie Watkins, Ryan Christie, & Mikel Damsgaard. And it gives us immense pleasure to send the Dr. Peter Venkman award to where it belongs...the chateau of Neil Maupay. We may even elevate it to a lifetime achievement award. He's earned it.
John McGinn
Position: Midfielder
Team: Aston Villa
Rostered: 72%
Ghost Points Per Start: 5.5
Ghost Points Last GW: 11.5
Prospects: Nailed on doesn't cover it - would be the best man at Stevie G's vow renewal ceremony - and has it in his locker to consistently drop double digit ghosts. Has been spotty but let's see if he cracks on.
Verdict: If he's on your wire, a rarity, pick him up. If you have him, hold him or consider including him in a trade.
Last chance saloon - we hear that phrase a lot in Draft EPL. Lord knows we used it a lot in the run-up to this past GW in reference to John McGinn. A fifth round pick for many of us, coming off the back of a season in which he was close to10 pps, the Scottish midfield brawler has been a disappointment thus far, other than the 9.5 point ghost performance GW2 v Everton. Coming into this pivotal matchup against Southampton, McGinn was averaging less than 5 ghost points per start; again, last chance saloon territory.
But like a haggis-fueled phoenix from the ashes, McGinn rose to the occasion, refusing to go gentle into that good night (i.e. warrant getting dropped to the waiver wire). He was his all action self again, posting nearly a dozen ghosties, snatching points from multiple categories: 1 Key Pass, 4 Tackles Won, 2 Interceptions, 1 Blocked Shot, & 2 Aerials. He passed the eye test as he was a man possessed, hence the tackles. But can he keep it up? Is this a brief respite from the dross we've seen 70% of the time thus far this season? Or is this McGinn regaining his historical form? Given that we have more historical data to point us toward the latter, we'll hope for the best. But it may largely depend on Villa improving as a whole, which could be dented by the CDM Kamara's recent knock. The next few matches will be key to determining if this revival is durable. If so, he's a hold/buy low and could still repay 5th-6th Round value.
Armel Bella Kotchap
Position: Defender
Team: Southampton
Rostered: 18%
Ghost Points Per Start: 8.2
Ghost Points Last GW: 13
Prospects: The youngster has made the RCB role his own; nailed on and showing some ghosting ability.
Verdict: Pick him up and stream in decent matchups. He hasn't showed enough consistency yet to be a long term hold.
Ketchup was mustard this GW - we'll be here all week. We used this joke in a private chat and it was so bad that it warranted repeating here. And it is true - the giant wunderkind Armel Bella Kotchap was excellent v Aston Villa. And he has shown flashes of brilliance at various points in the early part of this season, which is a great sign for the Saints given his age (20) and the fact that he's brand new to the Premier League (came over from Bochum in the Bundesliga). Die Mannschaft management seem to agree as he just earned his first senior call up to the German national team.
Fantasy-wise, Bella Kotchap has been hit or miss these first 7 GWs. He has had two double-digit gameweeks, one of which was aided by an assist, and has a pps of 6.7 pps and gpps of just over 8. And the Southampton defense has yet to keep a clean sheet this season. Be that as it may, ABK ghosted big time this past GW, delivering 13 scary scores. These came from all over the place: 2 Tackles Won, 5 Interceptions, 6 Clearances, 1 Successful Dribble, & 4 Aerials. This is a great performance but given the fact that it was against a struggling Aston Villa that provides a lot of joy for opposing defenders, and he has had mixed results, we're not fully buying in. But Bella Kotchap has the tools to be similar to his teammate Momo Salisu from last season. Watch this space.
Patson Daka
Position: Forward
Team: Leicester City
Rostered: 33%
Ghost Points Per Start: N/A (less than 3 starts)
Ghost Points Last GW: 10.5
Prospects: Given Vardy's aging legs and Leicester's dire form, Brodge has turned to the Zambian in recent weeks. He should keep his place but is still in danger of potential rotation.
Verdict: Pick him up if available on the wire; if not, try a 1:1 for a bigger name FWD like Martial or Havertz, or try an opener of MID5+DEF4 (Onana+Ayling).
The eyesore that has been Leicester this season perked up a bit v Spurs. They scored 2 but looked like scoring a few more. Patson Daka was a big reason for that. He has become the "break glass when emergency" option for beleaguered manager, Brendan Rogers, of late. Benched for the first 5 GWs, he has now gotten two starts on the trot. In the first, he bagged a goal and an assist. And in his latest start v Spurs, he was very dangerous, and probably should scored at least one. Both ended in defeat for the Foxes but it was the defense - conceding 5 and 6, respectively - that was largely at fault.
For fantasy managers, Daka was likely drafted in the mid to late rounds based on the assumption that he could get some starts over the aging Vardy. But he was then likely dropped after riding the pine for the first 5 games. For those who just recently picked him up, he got you 24.5 & 8 points - great value for a waiver wire punt. And Daka has shown some ghosting ability, posting a respectable 5.5 ghosts in the first one before exploding for 10.5 this past GW. He was able to do so by snatching 2 Key Passes, 2 Shots on Target, & 3 Aerials - impressive for a #9. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Based on last season's stats, Daka isn't normally very ghosty. In the last campaign, he averaged 3.7 ghost points per start with a 48% GACs (goal dependence). While we don't expect the ghosting to be consistent, it is a good sign that he can, when pressed, add some ghosts to the attacking returns you come to expect. He is worth getting in; even if Brodge is fired, the new manager, whoever it is, will likely depend on Daka as well.
Honorable Mentions:
Rodrigo Betancur (Tottenham MID; 17.5 ghosts): Well, that escalated quickly. Having failed to eclipse 7 points in a game all season, the Uruguayan/poor man's Lucas Torreira went HAM for 32.5. If only he (all of our players) could play against this Leicester side every week. This won't continue, he is a MID5/streamer at best. He only boasted a 6.3 ghost point average last season and we don't see that increasing much this season. Trade high.
Ben Mee (Brentford DEF; 10.5 ghosts): Despite getting gutted by the Arsenal, the former Burnley behemoth ghosted well. He can still do that on his day but his 7ish gpps still holds him back from being just a streamer.
Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa FWD; 9.5 ghosts): An all too rare occurence these days, the Villa FWD put in some tasty ghosts against the Saints. But don't expect it to persist given his abysmal 4.3 gpps.
Ryan Christie (Bournemouth MID; 9 ghosts): This is an ode to the Genie Foundation - don't say we never do any charity work. While Genie's new boy, Christie, and the Cherries looked decent v Newcastle, we're not buying. He has yet to crack 7.5 total points. Sorry, Genie, no thanks.
Mikel Damsgaard (Brentford MID; 8 ghosts): My word, we've been patient. The big money, arthritic signing from Italy has taken his sweet old time adjusting to the EPL. Thomas Frank has yet to give his fellow Dane a start but he dropped 8 ghosts in just 26 minutes this past GW: 1 Key Pass, 1 Shot on Target, 1 Accurate Cross Not a Corner, 1 Interception, & 1 Successful Dribble. Let's hope he gets a start soon and replicates this Casper act.
Dr. Peter Venkman Award:
Neil Maupay (Everton FWD; 0 ghosts): Rarely has a player been so committed to maintaining one's fantasy brand. The player in question is, of course, Neil Maupay. Once in a blue moon, he throws us off, as was the case last week. But he always comes home. In GW6, the now Everton striker miraculously dropped 10 ghosties, riling up his small, deluded, but dedicated fanbase. And then he perfectly reverts back to type just one GW later, scoring a goal v West Ham but only mustering 11 points. This doesn't include a yellow card. His only stat was the goal - without that, he'd have ended with a goose egg. Chef's kiss. Leopards and Maupays don't change their spots. This is who he is. A gpps of 4 last season speaks to that. Hopefully DCL gets back fit so we never have to suffer through him again this season...unless it's for him to drop his patented -0.5 and put Anthony Martial on notice that the sheriff is back in town.
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