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 3 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 3 Ghost Point Hunters
Anyone else pining for the summer when we could avoid the inevitable heartbreak that is this game we love and loathe? Just us? Got it. Gameweek 2 served up some interesting fare and we're all over it. We're going with midfield madness on the big board: MGW, Tomas Soucek, and Enzo Fernandez. Honorable Mentions, meanwhile, features Ethan Pinnock, Joe Worrall, Thomas Partey, and Matheus Cunha. And it pains us to do it, but we're engaging in friendly fire by welcoming our man James Ward-Prowse back to the big time with the Dr. Peter Venkman Award. Those are the breaks.
Morgan Gibbs-White
Position: Midfielder
Team: Nottingham Forest
Rostered: 99%
Ghost Points Per Start: 12.5
Ghost Points Last GW: 17
Prospects: Nailed on as the main creative outlet. Dominates set pieces and has a built-in floor for ghosts.
Verdict: The time to pounce was after the difficult GW1 matchup v Arsenal. It will be very difficult to prise him away coming off this ghost-laden performance. Wait for a down week and test the waters.
Morgan Gibbs-White, long “next big thing” at Wolves, made his big money move to Nottingham Forest last summer. And he did not disappoint, serving as the nerve center of the attack and dominating set pieces. Of course, this served him well in Fantrax. He was a fantasy revelation last campaign, dropping just under 11 PPS (almost 8 of which were ghosts). Forest struggled to accommodate all the new signings, but MGW was a constant and played a huge role in keeping them up.
Coming into this season, he was a consensus 3rd round pick – early, mid, or late depended on your valuation. Opening with a very difficult fixture away at Arsenal, MGW was largely anonymous but still somehow ended up with 8 points – an extremely good sign and a key attribute for true ghost point gods. GPH took note of it and successfully acquired him in one league. It is no surprise that he followed that up with a huge haul versus lowly Sheffield United. MGW delivered 17 ghosties, stemming from the following: 4 Key Passes, 1 Shot on Target, 2 ACNCs, 3 Successful Dribbles, and 2 Aerials. He should continue to drop these kinds of numbers in matchups versus bottom table teams – and when he pairs them with attacking returns, look out. Yes, Forest are poor, and MGW doesn't have too much to work with. But as he has shown, he can ghost his way out of it. Wait for a dip and try to get him in.
Tomas Soucek
Position: Midfielder
Team: West Ham United
Rostered: 78%
Ghost Points Per Start: 12.5
Ghost Points Last GW: 15
Prospects: Seen by many as the odd man out with new midfield reinforcements, the giant Czech has staked a claim for his place in the side. He likely has done enough to keep his job, but rotation is still a concern with big money signing Alvarez coming in. His ghosts are back and JWP will serve it on a platter for him on set pieces.
Verdict: Pick him up or offer a cheeky bit of FAB – open with $15 and see what happens.
The community loves a scrappy ghoster that comes completely out of the woodwork. If he is humble enough to claim potato salad as his favorite food, all the better. Tomas Soucek fits that bill. An unheralded signing, the bruising Czech midfielder became a Fantrax favorite, largely utilizing aerials to drop 11 PPS/8.6 gPPS in 20/21, his most impressive campaign. He has since leveled off to 8.3 PPS/6.8 gPPS in 21/22 and, most recently, 7.9 PPS/6.8 gPPS in 22/23.
Soucek's coming back to earth from the lofty heights of 20/21 is the reason he was drafted so late this season. The middling numbers and the very real prospect of him losing his place to a new signing kept a lid on his value. But that is changing; he wants to turn back the clock. Coming off 10 scary scores on the opening day at Bournemouth, Soucek posted 15 in a tricky matchup versus Chelsea. His all action performance included 3 Key Passes, 1 Tackle Won, 5 Interceptions, 4 Clearances, 2 Blocked Shots, and 2 Aerials. Does this portend a potato-salad phoenix-like rise from the ashes of middling CDM numbers? These performances, plus JWP being able to ping crosses to his capable forehead, have us ready to take a cautious plunge.
Enzo Fernandez
Position: Midfielder
Team: Chelsea
Rostered: 99%
Ghost Points Per Start: 11
Ghost Points Last GW: 13
Prospects: Missed a penalty but is scoring well; he's the first name on the team sheet and the arrival of Caicedo should allow him to move further afield and get into more dangerous attacking positions, which adds to the set piece floor.
Verdict: Try offering $30-$40 or a 1:1 with someone like Yves Bissouma.
A record signing – it didn't last long – in the center of the park, Enzo Fernandez was near the beginning of the onslaught of high dollar signings at Stamford Bridge. A deep-lying playmaker that is also equipped with some slick attacking skills, he was intriguing as a fantasy when he came over to the shores of Blighty last year. But he quickly exhibited CDM Fantrax traits, finishing his debut campaign with an underwhelming 6ish PPS.
So why on earth is he featured here? Well, circumstances have changed. Enzo's first two outings have resulted in 9 and 13 ghosties, respectively. And he is now on many set pieces, including penalties (at least he was over the weekend when he missed a fateful kick from the spot). Despite the missed penalty, he bagged over a dozen ghost points from 4 Key Passes, 1 Shot On Target, 1 Tackle Won, 1 ACNC, and 1 Successful Dribble. With the addition of Caicedo, this could see Fernandez move even further up the pitch, getting into dangerous positions and nicking attacking returns to go with these scary scores. The upcoming fixtures for Chelsea are also a dream – the best for a midfielder according to our Fixture Difficulty Tracker - Luton Town, Forest, and Bournemouth in the next 3. He could be a sneaky good pick up.
Honorable Mentions:
Ethan Pinnock (Brentford DEF; 16.5 ghosts): After a mediocre opening game, the ghost point warrior reverted to type, filling out the stat sheet along with a clean sheet. He's a DEF1 ROS if he stays healthy.
Joe Worrall (Nottingham Forest DEF; 13.25 ghosts): Nicking ghosts from Willy Boly, the Forest DEF who was supposed to be the Casper of the bunch, Worrall did the business yet again. Don't fall in love, but he has proven he can be streamable in a decent matchup.
Matheus Cunha (Wolves FWD; 12.5 ghosts): One of the few Wolves players who followed up the performance against Man Utd with more ghosts, the Brazilian is making a case for FWD2 status. Let's see if he can maintain this form.
Thomas Partey (Arsenal MID; 11 ghosts): The Ghanaian at inverted right back was not on our bingo cards, at least not this early into the new campaign. But injuries to Timber and Zinchenko opened the door and Partey has scored well, nicking defensive points while also getting forward. Is this one of his little purple patches that inevitably result in his standard 5-7 PPS? Stay tuned.
Category Killers:
Key Passes: Phil Foden (7)
Successful Dribbles: Julio Enciso (6)
Aerials: Scott McKenna (8)
Accurate Crosses Not Corners (ACNCs): Serge Aurier (2)
Tackles Won: Rayan Ait-Nouri (4)
Interceptions: Tomas Soucek (5)
Dr. Peter Venkman Award:
James Ward Prowse (West Ham United MID; 2.5 real ghosts): There has been a long-running blood feud in the TDS ranks – there are the purists and the philistines (you should know by now where we stand here at GPH). The former believe that counting stats (e.g., a shot on target) happening in the course of an attacking return (e.g., a goal) should not count as true ghost points. The latter, however, feel that they should. For example, James Ward Prowse, on paper, bagged 6.5 ghosties from 2 Key Passes, 1 Interception, 1 Blocked Shot, and 1 Aerial. But when you take away the 2 Key Passes from his 2 Assists, he only mustered 2.5 scary scores.
This is a long-winded way to flag some initial concerns about JWP's ghosting ability in his new surroundings at West Ham. Posting an 18 spot in your debut is certainly positive – he also took all three corners, nixing the idea that Bowen or Benrahma might take a few. Penalties are still to be decided. While JWP has cemented a reputation over the years as a ghost point magnet - he usually averages around 8 gPPS (last season he hit 9 even) - he struggled in a lot of games, especially early doors. And if this weekend is anything to go by, he will rely a lot on set pieces. Take away the 2 assists and he scores 2.5 points, which he may do a fair amount this campaign. This isn't to say JWP won't be a good asset and wasn't worth all your FAB. But it isn't all puppy dogs and ice cream just because he dropped 18 in his first match. We'd be tempted to trade out on a high. But we're purists, what do we know?
***Click here to view the full Ghost Point Tracker table!***
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