Getting your team selection correct in Draft Premier League is just as essential as your pre-season draft or your weekly waiver wire claims. And that’s exactly why we’re here to help with our Gameweek 23 Start and Sit article! We’re here to help you with some of the big Fantasy EPL decisions you may need to make for the upcoming fixtures.
Gameweek 23 Start and Sit
Whether you’re an obsessed EPL fan like our Fantrax HQ team, or a casual player new to the world of Fantasy EPL, you know to start your attacking players against relegation-threatened sides. We’re not going to waste your time dealing with the obvious! The goal of this article is to delve into notable players across each Fantrax position and let you know if you should be starting or sitting those players.
Our format is as follows: We will be choosing 2 different teams. One will be our starts of the week, made up of non-obvious, low-rostered players. The other will be our sits of the week, made up of highly rostered, normally started players. We will keep track of how each team performs in next week’s article for full transparency.
Now let’s see the teams!
Starts of the Week XI
| Player | Team | Team | Opponent | % Rostered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Foster | WAT | G | NOR Fri 3:00PM | 15% |
| Luke Ayling | LEE | D | NEW Sat 10:00AM | 43% |
| Diogo Dalot | MUN | D | WHU Sat 10:00AM | 42% |
| Hassane Kamara | WAT | D | NOR Fri 3:00PM | 18% |
| Samir | WAT | D | NOR Fri 3:00PM | 8% |
| Marc Albrighton | LEI | M | BHA Sun 9:00AM | 7% |
| Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | LEI | M | BHA Sun 9:00AM | 11% |
| Mateusz Klich | LEE | M | NEW Sat 10:00AM | 31% |
| Pierre Lees-Melou | NOR | M | @WAT Fri 3:00PM | 8% |
| Joao Pedro | WAT | F | NOR Fri 3:00PM | 31% |
| Jay Rodriguez | BUR | F | @ARS Sun 9:00AM | 3% |
Average % Rostered: 20%
We’re loading up on under-rostered Watford assets for 2 important reasons. 1. They’re playing Norwich and 2. They have a DGW where they also play Burnley. Talk about a win-win, 2 great matchups for the price of 1. The same logic applies to our two Leeds players, Klich and Ayling who will definitely play Newcastle, and also may play Villa for a DGW. Filling out the lineup, we have the 2 Leicester lads, Albrighton and Dewsbury-Hall, who have been scoring quite well despite their lack of attacking returns, and are criminally underrated and under-rostered at the moment. Finally, our sneakiest and lowest rostered player of the week is Jay Rodriguez. A Burnley backup forward may not be the most obvious of picks, particularly in an away game at Arsenal. However, the situation is more than meets the eye: Burnley have a DGW against Arsenal and Watford in GW 23 and due to their lack of forward options after losing Chris Wood to relegation rivals Newcastle, Rodriguez is almost guaranteed to start 2 games.
Sits of the Week XI
| Player | Team | Team | Opponent | % Rostered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Sanchez | BHA | G | @LEI Sun 9:00AM | 75% |
| Vladimir Coufal | WHU | D | @MUN Sat 10:00AM | 87% |
| Aaron Cresswell | WHU | D | @MUN Sat 10:00AM | 98% |
| Emerson Royal | TOT | D | @CHE Sun 11:30AM | 68% |
| Davinson Sanchez | TOT | D | @CHE Sun 11:30AM | 72% |
| Abdoulaye Doucoure | EVE | M | AVL Sat 7:30AM | 74% |
| Kai Havertz | CHE | M | TOT Sun 11:30AM | 88% |
| Jordan Henderson | LIV | M | @CRY Sun 9:00AM | 76% |
| Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg | TOT | M | @CHE Sun 11:30AM | 89% |
| James Ward-Prowse | SOU | M | MCI Sat 12:30PM | 100% |
| Odsonne Edouard | CRY | F | LIV Sun 9:00AM | 74% |
Average % Rostered: 82%
Our defense is made up of West Ham and Tottenham players who have 2 difficult away features in Manchester United and Chelsea. Emerson Royal is a particular one to avoid after getting subbed off at halftime for Matt Doherty’s last match, and Conte’s Spurs supposedly shopping in the transfer market for his direct replacement. In midfield, we have a set of underwhelming, not particularly attacking central midfielders in Hojbjerg, Doucoure, and Henderson. They won’t win you any matchups but they might put a serious dent in your chances to win. James Ward-Prowse, on the other hand, is a certified stud mid, but this week he’s a sit in our eyes, as he has the toughest of matchups vs. Manchester City. Without a goal, Kai Havertz is looking at some serious downside vs a much improved Spurs defense. Edouard has scored twice in his last three games but scored only 1.5 against Brighton last week. With Liverpool next, the 74% rostered man, is better left on the bench, or maybe off the roster entirely.
Check out Draft Society’s Fantrax Weekly Player Projections page for more player evaluations for the upcoming week!
Follow DraftLad on Twitter @DraftLad for all the latest!
Fantrax was one of the fastest-growing fantasy sites of 2020, and we’re not stopping now. With multi-team trades, designated commissioner/league managers, and drag/drop easy click methods, Fantrax is sure to excite the serious fantasy sports fan – sign up now for a free year at Fantrax.com.