Gameweek 30 Sleepers XI: Draft EPL

Our Gameweek 30 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 30 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.

Another gameweek, another 100+ FPts score. This is starting to feel like a walk in the park, and not because the weather is starting to finally get warm again. As we approach the final stretch of the season, our sleeper picks are seemingly more difficult as league managers are starting to catch on and are more sensible about their stashes and drops. That being said, let's see what went wrong and right with our GW29 team after it scored 118.25 FPts.

In between the sticks we went with Jose Sa who scored 7.25 FPts in a 2-1 win against the Saints. The Portuguese shot-stopper made a couple of saves, high-claims and a smother, which makes for a decent score despite missing out on the clean sheet. In our backline we had 3 defenders. Toti was a double-down play on the possibility of the clean sheet, which ultimately failed but the CB still managed to score 8.75 FPts. Our other two defenders both kept clean sheets in their games with Timothy Castagne scoring 16.75 FPts and Matthijs de Ligt scoring 16 FPts, which are pretty high scores without any attacking returns. In midfield we had 4 players, with only one getting attacking returns. Bellegarde managed to get 2 assists in the win over Southampton even though he only played 68 minutes, giving him a 20.25 FPts score. Two of our other MIDs scored pretty badly with Dominguez getting 3.25 FPts in 66 minutes and El Khannouss scoring -1 in 88 minutes. It should be noted that both these players also received a yellow card each. Our last MID was Sulemana who scored 6 FPts in 82 minutes against Wolves. In our frontline we had 3 FWDs. Clearly the tactic of targeting the promoted teams is the way to go since our Wolves pick, Strand Larsen, managed to score a brace against Southampton, resulting in 24.75 FPts. He was supported by our other two FWDs who faced each other. Evanilson got 9.75 FPts and Keane Lewis-Potter scored 6.5 FPts, with neither getting any attacking returns.

Gameweek 30 feels a bit trickier than usual given the abnormally long international break we've had, injured players returning to fitness and popular teams like Crystal Palace, Manchester City and Bournemouth playing the promoted teams. However, there might still be a few hidden gems to pick out so keep reading as we aim for yet another 100+ FPts score.

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 30. 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.

Alphonse Areola (G, West Ham)

There might not be many goalkeeping options that are available at the moment in your leagues. Popular options for GW30 like Kepa and Henderson might already be gone, not to mention the choice between Ederson and Ortega at Man City is basically a coin flip and depends on the madness of Pep on that day. Therefore if you want a bit of a safer choice, Areola could be your guy. Areola has been averaging just under 10 PPS over his last 5 games and although the games that West Ham have kept clean sheets in aren't very inspiring (11.25 FPts vs Arsenal and 10 FPts vs Leicester), the Frenchman has still managed to average 9 PPS in the games that he has conceded. Wolves are still without Cunha for another match and if we are to believe that Potter is continuing to improve the Hammers defence, then there's a genuine chance of a clean sheet here.

Nathaniel Clyne (D, Crystal Palace)

Given the late injury news regarding Chris Richards being ruled out of GW30 with a minor calf issue, we're assuming that Clyne slots in perfectly into the Eagles' backline. Crystal Palace visit St. Mary's on the back of a semi-final qualification win against Fulham in the FA cup and further emphasised how good their away form is at the moment after beating the Cottagers 0-3. If you make a table of the last 4 away games of all teams in the league, Crystal Palace would sit top with 4 wins in 4 games, but the standout stat is that they the only team to have not conceded a single goal in that timeframe. Therefore you would think that any defensive asset from Crystal Palace should be a safe pick this gameweek, especially against Southampton, the worst team in the league.

Harry Maguire (D, Man Utd)

Harry Maguire is another player that has benefitted from the long international break as the English CB has now been deemed fit for their fixture against Nottingham Forest. The better news is that Chris Wood picked up an injury during the same break. One of the top goal scorers in the league being absent against the Red Devils seems like a decent opportunity for a rare clean sheet for Maguire. If you don't think it's possible then maybe gamble on Maguire's 8.9 gPPS which is good enough as a DEF-3 for any roster. He has also shown his ability to score goals from the odd set piece as well.

Toti (D, Wolves)

Although it seems like Potter has improved West Ham overall, it might just be from a defensive perspective as their attack still seems totally out of sorts. Over the last 8 games, West Ham have still been one of the worst attacking teams in the league with only Leicester having scored fewer goals than them during that period. This is pretty shocking given the talent at Potter's disposal but this also seems as a great opportunity for a clean sheet. Hence we've gone with Toti. Toti's 8.8 gPP90 is one of the best from the Wolves backline and it shows over his last 3 starts. Despite conceding in each of those 3 games, Toti has been averaging just under 8 PPS. Decent scores for a DEF-3/4.

Illia Zabarnyi (D, Bournemouth) 

Over the weekend we saw the return of Senesi to the Bournemouth backline. Yes yes, we're well aware of the fact that community-darling Huijsen was suspended for the fixture but it's still something to note that the original first choice CB is available for selection again. However if you want to avoid that possible rotation or headache for this gameweek, then maybe consider Zabarnyi as an option. Although Zabarnyi might not be the best scoring asset from the Cherries backline, his 9.8 gPP90 is still a decent cover option if you're facing the likes of a Kerkez in your matchup, especially since they are facing Ipswich Town, the worst team in the league over the last 8 games.

Harvey Barnes (M, Newcastle) 

Anthony Gordon is still ruled out this gameweek due to his suspension in Newcastle's cup game and should be back for GW31. This means that Harvey Barnes should have another opportunity to feature alongside Isak as they play their first home game since winning the Carabao cup against Liverpool. St. James' Park should be absolutely bouncing this week and it could be a great fixture to target for attacking upside. In GW28, we saw Harvey Barnes get his first start since GW15, and it was quite a productive time against West Ham for the English midfielder. In 78 minutes, Barnes scored 16.5 FPts, including the assist for the winning goal. The last time Barnes got an attacking return was actually in his start in GW15 which was actually against his next opponents, Brentford. To top it off, according to our fixture difficulty tracker, Newcastle MIDs have the 3rd best rated fixture this gameweek. All the signs are pointing towards Barnes scoring well this gameweek so why not take a chance!

Ilkay Gundogan (M, Man City)

Gundogan is just one of many Manchester City assets that have been frustrating to roster this season. For the most part of this season, Gundogan has been averaging around 5.9 gPPS, which barely categorises him as a MID-4/5. However after his score of 16 FPts last gameweek against Brighton, which included 4 key passes and an assist, there's hope for using him in GW30 against Leicester. Over the last 6 games, Leicester have been the worst team in the league having lost all their games and conceding 16 goals, only bettering Southampton (17). Although Haaland has been ruled out for majority of the remaining games, there's a chance that Gundogan could be on penalties in the Norwegian's absence. There's always a risk of Pep's roulette but given the quality of the opposition, the upside is too high to not take a risk.

James Ward-Prowse (M, West Ham)

Is JWP finally back as a reliable asset? In JWP's last 4 starts, he has been averaging just over 8 gPPS. This is a great floor for one of the best dead ball specialists in the league. During this run of games, JWP managed to register at least 1 key pass per start, getting 3 in his most recent game against Everton. Assuming JWP still has a share of the set pieces, he could potentially get his first attacking return since returning to the Hammers. As it stands, Wolves have conceded the most goals (17) from set pieces when compared to all teams in the league. So if you're looking for a MID-3/4 this gameweek, JWP could do the job.

Adam Wharton (M, Crystal Palace)

Wharton could not have timed his return to action better, for real life and Fantrax purposes. The English MID helped his team qualify for the semi-finals of the FA cup and is now on the verge of a very tasty run of fixtures, with at least one confirmed double gameweek on the horizon. Since his return to Crystal Palace's starting XI, he's scored 10 and 14 FPts across 2 starts. What's even more impressive is the fact that he got a combined 9 key passes, no attacking returns and 1 cheeky yellow card. Southampton up next screams MID-2/3 potential. If by any chance he's free in your league, he's a must-roster.

Keane Lewis-Potter (F, Brentford) 

We have been saying it time and time again but KLP has to be one of the most underrated assets this season. Sure it doesn't feel comfortable to rely on a reverse-out-out-position player, especially a FWD that's playing as a defender in real life, but you can't deny the points that he has scored. In his last 5 starts, KLP has been averaging just over 9 gPPS, which is an easy option for any FWD-3 in your roster, possibly even as a FWD-2 if you own the likes of Salah.

Jaden Philogene-Bidace (F, Ipswich)

If you're like me and have been struggling for starting FWDs in your league, especially with injuries to the likes of Nico Jackson and Ndiaye, Philogene could be a possible short-term solution. Since his move to Ipswich Town, Philogene's 13 PPS have been one of the best in the league. Sure his numbers are inflated by a 36.5 FPts haul against Man Utd, but he still managed to score 18.5 ghost points in that game. In fact he's actually been averaging just over 10 gPPS over his last 4 games, despite only scoring 1.75 in his most recent outing against Nottingham Forest, one of the best defences in the league - so I think we can cut him a bit of slack. A decent FWD-3 if one of your regular studs is still missing in action.

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