Welcome to Genie's Corner for Gameweek 14! Here, I, (DraftGenie), will be providing you with my thoughts on all things draft! Each segment of Genie's Corner will focus on something specific and relevant to current events in the Draft Fantasy EPL world. Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I tend to take a bold and differential approach to the draft game, which has led to many fantasy titles. In these articles I will be giving you my unique insights, bold takes, sage advice, and much more throughout the season.
Genie's Corner Gameweek 14
Check out this weekly dive into the mind of our mercurial Fantrax EPL manager and analyst Draft Genie! Each week he provides his thoughts on strategies, players to watch, trades to push for, and much more!
How to Approach the Waiver Wire
Waiver day is pretty important for week-to-week success in Fantrax, especially when you are in an active league. There will be key pickups made to add to your set of core players that help you win each week. How you approach the waiver wire can really determine who you end up bringing in, and your success in finding those hidden gems. Belo I'll give you some insight into how I approach the waiver wire and free agent pool, and hopefully it leads to some success like it has for me over the years.
Post Gameweek Drops
For those in leagues with me they will see I just straight up drop players either during the gameweek or after it before the waiver run to clear the "clutter" from my roster and give me just open spots to work with. I am a fan of this strategy of just dropping who you want as opposed to waiting to submit that add/drop claim. Firstly it saves you time when adding players to your waiver list (yes we are only talking a few minutes but still). It also might tempt some of your league mates to change their bids to include players that you have dropped but are no longer interested in keeping on your roster, improving your chances at other targets.
When you go to drop players you need to look at two things. First, will you be using them next week? If the answer is no, and they aren't in your "core" group of players then drop them. Second, look at the level of players on the waiver wire. If it is similar to said player you are thinking of dropping, make the drop as it shows they are no more than streamer level. For example - I dropped Chalobah in all my leagues last week given his matchup with United. There are a plethora of defenders with similar ceiling and ghost point outings as him, and it was an easy drop. He went for 0 FAB in my waiver wires this week, and I was able to bring in defenders in the similar mould with better matchups such as: Ben Davies and Mykolenko. Dropping Chalobah last week allowed me to play Zouma in a league and considering United's recent goal scoring form it was a worthy drop to win that gameweek.
As I have always said to win titles you need to be ruthless especially with players in the streamer/elite-streamer range when it comes to week to week matchups. No favouritism....speaking of which, even I have dropped Ryan Christie. A legend on Rigged FC, but a poor matchup this week coupled with Solanke likely on the sidelines will decrease his output of MID4 level. He is an elite streamer for me, but with the likes of Armstrong, Moutinho, and Jones on the waiver wire I was happy to make the move. These are players who all are a similar mould, but have better matchups and play for teams that didn't just lose their biggest goal threat.
Setting your Waiver Claims
Now hopefully you have adopted my strategy of just dropping players who you don't plan to roster pre-waiver run. So now you know how many free spots you have on your roster, and the positions you need to prioritize. Next you should set your lineup for the upcoming gameweek pre-waiver and see where you can use a better starter, or see where you might need a late match backup. This again will change who/the priority you waiver. If you find you are desperately needing a DEF3 this week because you only roster four defenders but Castagne plays City and Neco plays Arsenal, then you need to focus on bringing in a defenders. What I tend to do in this situation is scroll the wire sorting by just position and looking for defenders with decent defensive numbers or great matchups. Knowing I will need just one defender for the week, even if I have 0 FAB left I'll usually submit claims for 2-3 defenders as my top ones. Usually expect 1-2 of those to fail due to people having more FAB or you losing a tie breaker.
If you have extra free spots it is time to think about how those spots can be used more effectively. Should you bring in a high upside guy hoping they start, a player with a bad matchup this week but great matchups for the next 5/7 games, or a player in the last game of the gameweek? Unfortunately I can't tell you the exact answer here, that all depends on roster. My best advice would be to grab a player from the late games if you have more than one player in that game so you have flexibility for shock benchings. If you already have late-game coverage and don't need any more friendly matchup DEF, then waiver in some high upside guys. Players that tend to peak my interest in this category can include: Pulisic, Moura, Liverpool midfielders, and Broja. While they most likely won't start it's always worth the gamble of just holding them until lineups and seeing, worst case drop them for another streamer if needed, but if you don't need the room there is no harm in holding until the end of the gameweek to see how they do off the bench or if there is a potential suspension/injury to the player starting over them. This strategy only works if these are your 14-16th players, you still need a decent core of starters and reliable backups. The likes of Moutinho, Armstrong, Henderson, Onana are all players worth brining in as your 10th-14th men as they provide a bit of upside, decent floors, and are mainly starters for their squads.
Gameweek 14 Advice
Palace Defence
Palace defenders have forgot how nice of a schedule they have, and really haven't performed well. A lot of managers are using the likes of Guaita, Ward, and Guehi as streamers, and those who roster Andersen have probably had him set and forget for the last few weeks. Even with the clean sheet vs. Leicester none showed high ghost potential. In the matchups they do ghost well they concede too many goals to make it worth while, so you are stuck in this constant debate schedule vs. form. For me the game vs. Southampton is last chance saloon for all of them. I'm not saying I need 25 from Andersen or he's dropped, but another 1 pointer would probably put him on the waiver wire in leagues where I roster him. Palace still have Saints, West Ham, and Nottingham Forest before the World Cup. Three games with clean sheet and ghost potential. If Palace concede 2 or 3 vs. Saints it would really make me question if they are sturdy enough at the back to even stream some of these defenders. A bad performance vs. Saints would definitely make me avoid the streamer defenders, and probably look to trade out Andersen, or bench him until they figure out an improvement. I am hoping last week vs. Everton was down to them missing the ever-present Doucoure and his work rate, so with him back from suspension we will see if it makes a difference this weekend.
Adama Season??
Adama is back and we are all loving it, but how long will this last? He has proven in the past and even in his starts this year he offers upside from returns and a great ghost point floor. The biggest issues will be when Wolves get a new manager if he is in the first choice XI, and his overall minutes. If he becomes a rotation player then he still is a solid FWD3/4, but loses that set and forget FWD2 value. If you have Adama now my best recommendation would be to hope for a 9+ outing vs. Brentford then sell him on a high. Try to get in a more reliable forward unless you are set at forward then look for a midfielder/defender. Based off his current outings/perceived risk you could probably aim for players such as: Calvert-Lewin, Tielemans, Barnes, March, and Chilwell.
Leicester v Manchester City
This game has promise to be a good one, Leicester are getting back to good form, and City are, well, City with the monster that is Haaland coming up vs. an improved but still very shaky Leicester defence. I really expect this one to be a high scoring 4-2 type game (so naturally its a 0-0 snooze fest). All jokes aside, unless it is Cancelo I am not starting any defenders here, and in fact am willing to drop all defenders from both of these teams except Cancelo and MAYBE Castagne. Obviously, you are starting any City attacker that starts here. From Leicester I would definitely start Maddison unless you have an extremely strong midfield. Tielemans, Barnes, and KDH are tougher calls. Barnes offers that pace and upside, but without a return probably gets you less than 4 points. KDH and Tielemans will be busy in midfield, both probably get yellows but can still get you 6-10 points. I see a lot of managers with multiple Leicester assets, I'd only be comfortable starting one here unless you are in a bind so if you have Maddison and KDH then bench KDH. Daka/Vardy are benches for me unless you don't have better forwards they will at max go 70 min and could get you 0.5 pts.
United Upcoming Schedule
Manchester United have a great next 6 game schedule, but there is that World Cup break in the middle of it. The great run of games takes them until January, then they play City and Arsenal, followed by another few good fixtures. United have had one of the tougher schedules so far and have done pretty decent after those early season struggles. Now would be a great time to make a move for some of their assets. With a good schedule you would hope we see a few 2-0 or better performances. The one player who has been in and out of the XI I am not keen on bringing in is Sancho. I back what I said in pre-season even more now he will be very goal dependent, rotate, and with few returns, and this hold more true than ever. The rest of the attackers in Rashford, Bruno, and Antony are great buy in targets before they pop off for 20+ in consecutive games. Dalot + Shaw seemed to be the starting full-back pairing, and since Shaw is significantly cheaper I would probably prefer sending a lower offer for him. Eriksen is a tough one despite his set piece monopoly; he doesn't score very well although he's a key cog in the setup. He is still worth a trade-in if you can get him in as your MID4/5 given his upside to pop up with an assist every now and then. Streaming United CBs is okay in easier matchups but none really score good enough to make them must roster assets.
Genie's Streamers
This week here are some of the players I think could be great streamers. I try to use as low rostered players as possible to give you the best chance of getting a few.
Fred vs. West Ham - Fred will have considered himself unlucky to not start over Sancho vs. Chelsea. He did replace him in the game after another poor display by Sancho, and could be in line to start over him vs. West Ham. This shift would see one of Bruno/Eriksen occupy a wide role with a Fred-Casemiro pivot. Fred offers a decent floor when he starts and, as we saw, is eager to get forward to try and chip in on the attacking side. It seems Ten Hag wants his deeper playmakers to be involved in the attack, and I'm sure Fred will be pushing for another attacking return to try and keep his spot in the XI a little more confirmed. He is a decent MID4 this week, but have a backup in case he doesn't start as it is the final game of the gameweek.
Curtis Jones vs. Leeds - Liverpool were awful vs. Nottingham Forest, Jones included, but his recent return from injury may give him a midweek rest then a start vs. an out of form Leeds side. Liverpool should consider this a must win game to try and gain some confidence to get points before the World Cup break. If Jones starts I like him as a MID4 in a game where Liverpool will surely bombard the Leeds defence with shots. Expect KPs and SOTs from every Liverpool asset. Elliott is my next pick to pivot, but he is rostered in over 60% of leagues.
Amadou Onana vs. Fulham - Onana will have his work cut out in the midfield against an in-form Fulham. Especially the midfielders of Andreas and Reed. Both these players are in great attacking form and Onana + Gueye will look to shut them down. I prefer Onana due to his higher floor and bigger threat from set-pieces. He is a solid MID5 this week if you need a floor player to balance out your boom/bust midfield.
Willian vs. Everton - Willian is truly rolling back the years on the pitch and fantasy. He is only 37% rostered but that needs to be closer to 70%. All of his starts so far this season have provided double digit returns, and he faces an Everton team that still concedes a ton of chances. When Willian is in form he is tough to stop and it seems he has forgotten all about that "spell" at Arsenal. He doesn't get too many set pieces, but crosses and shoots for fun when he has the ball at his feet. He has FWD2 value until he proves otherwise for me.
Ben Davies vs. Bournemouth - Conte will be changing it up and I expect Davies to enter the lineup. Davies is my favourite Spurs CB to roster, and he will be against a Bournemouth team without the injured Solanke. The striker has been involved in half of Bournemouth goals, so there is a great chance of a clean sheet this week. Davies is a DEF2 this week, and offers some upside given his increased license to overlap and send in crosses to a very in form Kane.
Stuart Armstrong vs. Crystal Palace - A goal against league leaders Arsenal will do Armstrong wonders for his confidence. I do think he gets himself another start, and given Palace's recent defensive displays he offers a great MID4 option. He usually has a decent floor of 5-7 points, but has a great ceiling especially when he is in form. Armstrong is a form player, he has a fantastic shot on him, and when in form will hit them more often than not. I expect him to be looking for another goal this weekend, and if you need an upside play I do like him. I prefer his teammate Aribo to him if he starts/is available but both are great plays this weekend.
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