Our Gameweek 29 Sleepers XI article provides Draft 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 any one of these under-the-radar picks could 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 29 Sleepers XI
For this article, we use the percentage rostered calculation from Fantrax and Sleeper. Our only rule is that each player we highlight is rostered in 60% of leagues or fewer at the time of writing. Therefore, there's a good chance some of these players will be free agents in your Draft league! As always, we'll take form, fixtures, projected points, and a healthy dose of intuition into account to make our selections.
Did we just register back-to-back 100+ FPts scores for the first time this season? YEAH WE DID! The GW28 Sleepers XI absolutely smashed it last week and we couldn't be happier with our score of 113.5 FPts. Of course this naturally means we are likely to drop a stinker next gameweek but let's stay positive and see what resulted in another successful gameweek.
In net we had Vicario (yet again) who came up against Bournemouth and as we predicted, the Italian shot-stopper had plenty of saves to make, 6 to be precise, which meant that he ended on a healthy 11 FPts score despite conceding 2 goals. In our 3-man defence we had the likes of Levi Colwill, Jake O'Brien and Djed Spence. Colwill came up against a misfiring Leicester team and managed to squeeze out a clean sheet with 19.75 FPts, mostly fuelled by his 8 aerials. O'Brien faced a Cunha-less Wolves and still put up 6.5 FPts while only conceding 1 goal and Spence scored 2.25 FPts against Bournemouth, which was a bit surprising given his track record this season. In midfield we went with 4 picks. Harvey Elliott was the only asset to not start his game but the young Englishman still scored 5.5 FPts in 45 minutes. James Ward-Prowse and Adam Wharton both came off around the 80th minute in their games and scored 5.75 FPts and 14 FPts respectively, with the latter getting a yellow card. Our final midfielder, Jack Harrison, was the only player from our XI to get an attacking return, scoring 18.5 FPts with his goal. This meant that we had 3 forwards, with only one of them completing the 90 minutes. Keane Lewis-Potter, the aforementioned FWD, scored a reliable 10 FPts in a 1-0 loss against Aston Villa, while Eddie Nketiah scored 8.75 FPts in 71 minutes and Philogene got 11.5 FPts in 66 minutes.
Can we go for 100+ FPts for three weeks in a row? Let's see what we can conjure up for GW29, especially given four clubs (Liverpool, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Crystal Palace) don't have a fixture this weekend.
The Sleepers XI table below includes a full team of Starters, as well as 5 Reserves - high-upside players with some question marks around whether or not they'll start in Gameweek 29. So keep an eye out when lineups are announced and pick them up if you see them starting, especially if you need to fill a spot on your roster. Read below for the rationale behind each of the Starter selections.
Jose Sa (G, Wolves)
It's not often we recommend Wolves players but given the fact that they're playing the worst team in the league, and possibly in the history of the Premier League, it seems like a no-brainer to suggest them for good result, even a clean sheet. Although they're no Leicester, Southampton have still only managed 2 goals in their last 4 games. Wolves however, after a run of 4 losses in a row, have somewhat steadied their ship and seem safe from relegation with 2 wins and a draw in their last 5 games. They even got a couple of clean sheets against the likes of Bournemouth and Aston Villa. What's even better about this positive run is that Sa managed to make 3 saves in 4 of those 5 games, averaging just under 10 PPS. A nice replacement for this week.
Matthijs de Ligt (D, Man Utd)
After a 4-1 win in midweek against Real Sociedad in the Europa League and qualifying for the quarterfinals in style, Manchester United must be riding an absolute high! I know what you're thinking though, a Manchester United defender? A defender from a team that has conceded more goals than it has scored this season? If Man Utd are a rock, then meet the hard place Leicester City. Although the Foxes are not at the bottom of the league, they probably deserve to be on current form. Leicester are the only team to have not scored a single goal in the last 4 games. Although the backline has always been shuffling due to injuries to Martinez, Maguire and now Yoro, one thing has been consistent and it's de Ligt starting and scoring ghost points. The Dutchman has been averaging just over 10 gPPS over the last 4 gameweeks and he even scored a goal during that run, so the upside is there. Surely Leicester don't score, right?
Toti (D, Wolves)
After suggesting Jose Sa, it should have been obvious that I was going to suggest a Wolves DEF as well. You're lucky the entire backline isn't the Wolves team because it's probably the only week that you're going to be playing them for the rest of the season. Actually you might potentially hold on to Toti, our Wolves pick for this week. Over the past 4 games, Toti has scored 36 FPts (9 PPS), the most points of all the Wolves defenders. During this run he had the most tackles won (5), most interceptions (8), most clearances (20) and most blocked shots (4) compared to his defensive compatriots. It's fair to say he's heavily involved in protecting the Wolves goal and if they manage to keep a clean sheet against Southampton, Toti could be a great DEF-2 stream, especially if you're without the likes of Chris Richards or Konate.
Timothy Castagne (D, Fulham)
I'll be honest, as a ex-Castagne owner, I'll put my hands up and admit that maybe I was too quick to drop the Belgian DEF. I mean after a run of 4, 6, 2.5 and 0.25 FPts, I'm sure even you would have dropped him! However his last 2 games have been 12.25 and 7.5 FPts against Wolves and Brighton respectively, with no clean sheets mind you. Since it's a blank gameweek and there are teams that are scrambling for starting players, if you miss out on the popular options like the Wolves defenders, Castagne could be a good backup option, especially since Spurs could be fatigued after their midweek commitments in the Europa League. This season Spurs seem to enable almost any asset to score fantasy points in fixtures against them. We've already seen the Bournemouth fullbacks Kerkez and Cook put up decent ghost points against them in GW28, so maybe the same happens for Castagne, Fulham's best gPP90 scoring DEF at 9.5.
Bilal El Khannouss (M, Leicester)
Will Leicester ever score a goal in the Premier League again? God knows but if there was ever a time to break this barren run, it's when one of Manchester United's greatest strikers faces his old team (as a manager) in the last match of the gameweek before we go on the dreaded International Break. If you believe in the Foxes breaking their streak against a woeful and inconsistent Manchester United, then "The Canoe" is probably a good gamble. The Belgian MID has been the main source of creativity for Leicester over the past 4 games, leading the way with 7 key passes and 5 accurate crosses and averaging 6.5 PPS. He's a decent MID-4/5 for rosters needing a last throw of the dice for the gameweek.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (M, Wolves)
Given Cunha's suspension, someone in the Wolves team is going to have to step up and score the goals and get the assists for them. One likely candidate is Bellegarde. Over the last 4 games, Bellegarde has quietly been racking up the points while Cunha has been taking the spot light, for both good and bad reasons. During this period, Bellegarde has actually been averaging just under 10 PPS and manage to post 2 assists. He's also been the most creative outfielder during this run with 9 KPs and 3 ACNCs. We think Wolves could get a few goals against Southampton, especially with Bednarek being ruled out for this game, and there's a strong possibility of Bellegarde being part of that action. A solid MID-3 shout.
Kamaldeen Sulemana (M, Southampton)
Even though Southampton's form in the table has been atrocious, one person who must be buzzing is Kamaldeen Sulemana. The Ghanian MID has found a new lease on life under Juric and seems to be a nailed part of the plan for the rest of the season. Sulemana has started the last 4 games in a row and played 90 minutes in the last 3. He has been scoring just under 10 PPS and also managed to get a goal in one of the games, resulting in 19.25 FPts against Bournemouth. Given the Saints are the home team in their weekend fixture against Wolves, the onus is on them to attack and try to put some points on the board, even if they're already doomed for relegation. So if something good is going to come from the Saints attack, then Sulemana has a decent chance of being involved. If not, his 7.5 gPPS over the last 4 matches is still worth of a MID-4 position in your roster for this blank gameweek.
Nicolas Dominguez (M, Nottingham Forest)
Nottingham Forest are having a phenomenal season so it should come as no surprise that almost every regularly starting asset from their team is owned in your league. However one player might be flying under the radar and it's their Argentine MID Dominguez. In his last 3 starts against Newcastle, Arsenal and Manchester City, Dominguez has managed to average just under 9 gPPS. That's pretty enticing for an asset that's about to face Ipswich Town. Although the early subs are a worry, you'd think that Dominguez could nick an attacking return against a team that has conceded the 2nd most goals (14) in their last 4 home games. Maybe a MID-4/5 gamble if you can't find a FWD-3.
Evanilson (F, Bournemouth)
According to our fixture difficulty tracker Bournemouth FWDs have the 3rd best fixture rating in GW29. This shouldn't be a surprise as it's against Ipswich Town, what's surprising is the fact that Evanilson is already back for Bournemouth and back with a bang. On his first start since returning from injury, Evanilson scored 18 FPts with a goal. All of his 3 shots were on target, he had 1 KP and was robbed of an assist from a beautiful counter-attacking goal that was ruled out for offside. There's no denying that Bournemouth are chasing European Football next season and look like they could actually achieve their goal. And despite the lack of league table points, the Cherries have still been one of the top scoring teams with 11 goals over their last 6 games. Evanilson could feast in this game and possibly the rest of the season. Grab him while you can!
Jorgen Strand Larsen (F, Wolves)
1 point in 73 minutes against Everton doesn't fill you with loads of confidence when you're thinking of playing a striker that's facing Southampton in GW29 but that's exactly why we think Strand Larsen is a pick this weekend. It's Southampton! If you're going to gamble on a FWD scoring a goal in any game, surely it's against the worst team in the league. We'll cut him some slack though, he has been out injured for a while and his partner Cunha isn't around but 7.4 PPS isn't to be ignored. A FWD-3 at best!
Keane Lewis-Potter (F, Brentford)
KLP has to be one of the most underrated FWD-3 picks this season. The English OOP asset has been doing an excellent job for the Bees in left-back for the most part of this season and despite not being known for his attacking returns, the ghost points have been consistent and reliable. Over his last 5 starts, he's been averaging just around 9.5 ghost points with a mixture of key passes, successful dribbles and accurate crosses. Funny enough in the reverse fixture, he scored exactly 9.5 FPts. As someone who owns Salah (blank) and Jackson (injury) this gameweek, I'd even play him as a FWD-2 this weekend.
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