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 13 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 13 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 Gameweek 13 Start and Sit contenders!
Starts of the Week XI
| Player | Pos. | Team | Opponent | % Rostered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dean Henderson | G | NOT | LIV | 51% |
| Manuel Akanji | D | MCI | BRI | 51% |
| Cesar Azpilicueta | D | CHE | MUN | 61% |
| Joachim Andersen | D | CRY | @EVE | 83% |
| Liam Cooper | D | LEE | FUL | 29% |
| Joao Moutinho | M | WOL | LEI | 32% |
| Harvey Elliott | M | LIV | @NOT | 47% |
| Mikel Damsgaard | M | BRF | @AVL | 11% |
| Christian Pulisic | M | CHE | MUN | 61% |
| Willian | F | BRF | @LEE | 24% |
| Goncalo Guedes | F | WOL | LEI | 24% |
Average % Rostered: 43%
After a quick mid-week dalliance, we’re back to regularly scheduled programming in the EPL this weekend. There are some intriguing matchups to latch onto and some others to ignore. More importantly, this GW, we’re going to focus on the recent form of particular players. Enough build up, let’s get to it.
In goal, we’re going with Dean Henderson (Forest GK), who has a somewhat resurgent Liverpool at home. Hendo started the season like a man possessed but had gone cold up until this past GW when he had a tremendous game v Brighton. We’re backing him to at least get enough saves from a flurry of Liverpool shots to put up a decent score. We’d also be remiss to not shout out Bernd Leno (Fulham GK), who can’t stop making saves and has quickly become an underrated baller.
At the back, we have these four: Manuel Akanji (Man City DEF); Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea DEF); Joachim Andersen (Crystal Palace DEF); and Liam Cooper (Leeds DEF). Akanji is up against a Brighton team that has created a ton of chances but hasn’t seen the back of the net in 4 games. Azpilicueta is back in the frame, coming off a good performance mid-week, and usually scores well. Andersen had an uncharacteristically bad day at the office v Wolves and managers will be reticent about fielding him again. But he should regain form and will have plenty of aerial duels with Everton target man Dominic Calvert Lewin. Last but not least, similarly to Andersen, Cooper will have to contend with crosses to Fulham’s giant #9 Aleksandr Mitrovic, which should result in points.
In the engine room, we have pinpointed Joao Moutinho (Wolves MID), Harvey Elliott (Liverpool MID), Mikel Damsgaard (Brentford MID), & Christian Pulisic (Chelsea MID). Moutinho got a rest mid-week and should take some set pieces against a Leicester team that is notoriously poor at defending them. Elliott (or Jones/Milner) likely gets a start for rotation purposes against a shaky at best Forest defense. Damsgaard, one would think/hope, should be in line for a rare start this weekend and he has shown he can score ghost points. If he doesn’t start, he’s droppable. Last chance saloon for the Great Dane. Finally, Christian Pulisic could also get a rotation-induced start after making a decent cameo mid-week.
And up front, Willian (Fulham FWD) & Goncalo Guedes (Wolves FWD) lead the line. Willian has shown some flashes of brilliance since returning to the EPL and will have opportunities v Leeds. Meanwhile, Wolves have a good matchup on paper against a porous Leicester defense and one of Guedes or Costa should get the start and score some points.
Sits of the Week XI
| Player | Pos. | Team | Opponent | % Rostered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lukas Fabianski | G | WHU | BOU | 41% |
| Bella Kotchap | D | SOU | ARS | 17% |
| Marc Cucurella | D | CHE | MUN | 98% |
| Eric Dier | D | TOT | NEW | 93% |
| Dan Burn | D | NEW | @TOT | 85% |
| Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg | M | TOT | NEW | 96% |
| Joelinton | M | NEW | @TOT | 97% |
| Morgan Gibbs White | M | NOT | LIV | 51% |
| Alexis MacAllister | M | BRI | @MCI | 90% |
| Danny Welbeck | F | BRI | @MCI | 83% |
| Kai Havertz | F | CHE | MUN | 96% |
Average % Rostered: 77%
Now let’s find out how the other half lives. Our guy between the sticks is Lukas Fabianski (West Ham GK). The Hammers rarely keep a clean sheet and we’re not sure Bournemouth will shoot enough for Fabianski to rack up the requisite saves to offset any goals conceded.
In defense, we have Armel Bella Kotchap (Southampton DEF); Marc Cucurella (Chelsea DEF); Eric Dier (Tottenham DEF); and Dan Burn (Newcastle DEF). Kotchap – what a name – came off with a knock mid-week but if he gets the nod, he’ll have to contend with a high-octane Arsenal that will likely score goals, and his ghost points have been lacking. Cucurella has been very hit or miss and can be subbed off early; this doesn’t bode well v Man United. Dier has shown of late that he needs a clean sheet just to get to 8 points – not worth it. This might seem harsh on Big Dan Burn but Spurs likely won’t keep him busy enough to create points but should also score at least one. No thanks.
Midfield sits include: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Tottenham MID); Joelinton (Newcastle MID); Morgan Gibbs-White (Forest MID); & Alexis MacAllister (Brighton MID). Hojbjerg scored one solitary point last GW and would have done the same the previous GW without a fortunate goal. He can’t be trusted at the moment. We hate to say it but Joelinton has also gone off the boil, having failed to eclipse double digits in the last 4 games. A persistent knock hasn’t helped. MGW, meanwhile, continues to put in mediocre performances and won’t see much of the ball against Liverpool. MacAllister is in a similar spot, coming off a subpar outing v lowly Forest and facing a dominant Manchester City.
Up top, we’re relegating Danny Welbeck (Brighton FWD) & Kai Havertz (Chelsea FWD) to the pine. Welbz has yet to score a goal this season and despite some decent ghosting, we just don’t see it happening for him this GW v Man City. And where to begin with Kai? He keeps putting in one anonymous performance after another. No more. Glad we could end things on a high note!
Make sure you also check out our official EPL content partners The Draft Society for all the latest! Check out their Fantrax Weekly Player Projections page for more player evaluations for the upcoming week!