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 14 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.
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Gameweek 14 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 (Below 50% Rostered)
| PLAYER | POS | TEAM | OPPONENT | % ROSTERED | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lukasz Fabianski | GK | West Ham United | Brighton & Hove Albion | 39 | Fabianski faces a Brighton side that tends to have a lot of the ball in the opposition final third, but struggles to score goals. A 0-0 draw in GW12 might see them try a few more shots than usual, which could be good for Fabianski managers |
| Maximilian Kilman | DEF | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Burnley | 38 | Drab Wolves have become difficult to play against of late and Kilman has formed a key part of that. He's averaged 12.6 in November |
| Malang Sarr | DEF | Chelsea | Watford | 2 | I think Tuchel will change things up after the disappointing draw with United, and with such a short turnaround heading into this game. Christensen and Azpilicueta could come in (both highly owned), but it wouldn't be surprising to see Sarr either. He was a monster in his one other game this season |
| Nathan Collins | DEF | Burnley | Wolves | 1 | Wolves' improved defence has come at the cost of an impotent attack. With Tarkowski out, Collins could be the beneficiary - he's averaging 10.3 from his 3 starts (only 1 of which led to a clean sheet) |
| Oleksandr Zinchenko | DEF | Manchester City | Aston Villa | 23 | This week is the week Walker or Cancelo gets a rest. Surely. Fit-again Zinchenko is the logical replacement and against a Villa side that has generated just 1.0 XG in Gerrard's opening two games as manager, it might be a nice return for him |
| Jonjo Shelvey | MID | Newcastle United | Norwich City | 15 | 8 points in a game where the whole side generated just 0.2 XG is pretty impressive - imagine what he can do against a Norwich side that gives up more fantasy points to midfielders than any other team in the league |
| Joao Moutinho | MID | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Burnley | 50 | Burnley give up the 2nd most fantasy points to midfielders, and that could get worse with Ashley Westwood suspended for the trip to Wolves. Back Moutinho to hit double figures in this one |
| Dan James | MID | Leeds United | Crystal Palace | 44 | The all or (most of the time) nothing James is worth a punt in GW13 against a Palace team coming off a disappoint defeat. A cold, midweek trip up north is probably not what Vieira's side want after that |
| Ademola Lookman | MID | Leicester City | Southampton | 35 | Is this the point at which Leicester - and Lookman - show us what we were all expecting back in August? A game against Southampton should be a nice way for the winger to follow up a big game and a big win in GW12 |
| Milot Rashica | MID | Norwich City | Newcastle United | 38 | Pukki would have been the preferred Norwich man, but he's rostered in 53% of leagues - making him just about ineligible for the side. But Rashica could be a solid alternative. He's played 80+ minutes in both games for Dean Smith and Newcastle are just woeful defensively |
| Joelinton | FWD | Newcastle United | Norwich City | 28 | It's slim pickings up top this week, and there really is only one option rostered in less than 50% of leagues: Joelinton. The Newcastle man had a huge match in GW11 and there's a chance for him to do something similar against Norwich, though it should be noted that the Canaries have improved a lot defensively in recent weeks. (Note; Adam Armstrong, at 54%, falls just outside our criteria, but could be a very nice pickup if available) |
Average % Rostered: 29%
Sits of the Week XI (Above 80% Rostered)
| PLAYER | POS | TEAM | OPPONENT | % ROSTERED | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emiliano Martinez | GK | Aston Villa | Manchester City | 90 | Kicking things off with an obvious one - it's always best to avoid goalkeepers who face the might of Pep's City |
| Lucas Digne | DEF | Everton | Liverpool | 98 | Liverpool have scored 53 in their last 17 games and haven't been held to less than 2 goals since facing Chelsea on August 28th. To say Everton's form has been poor would be an understatement (1 draw and 5 losses from their last 6). This could be carnage |
| Michael Keane | DEF | Everton | Liverpool | 96 | As above, but with the added drawback that ghost points for a CB should be at a minimum against a Liverpool team that attacks from out to in |
| Takehiro Tomiyasu | DEF | Arsenal | Manchester United | 74 | Hit the ground running since his arrival, but since Ole has gone, United look to be prioritising defence. Plus, these "big 6" (sorry West Ham) games often tend to be cagey affairs so attacking returns are unlikely |
| Declan Rice | MID | West Ham United | Brighton & Hove Albion | 98 | Midfielders have struggled against Brighton - they are actually the 3rd worst team to face for the position from a fantasy perspective. Defensive midfielders (Rodri, Nakama, Phillips) have scored particularly low against them recently. |
| Jadon Sancho | MID | Arsenal | Arsenal | 97 | Sancho did NOTHING on Sunday except score a goal that was presented to him on a plate. Yes, it was against Chelsea, but Arsenal - especially now - are no pushovers either. |
| John McGinn | MID | Aston Villa | Manchester City | 97 | McGinn has played a lot of minutes for Villa this season, and chasing City shadows 4 days after a hard fought win away at Palace isn't likely to help things. Fantays points are likely to be minimal. |
| Abdoulaye Doucoure | MID | Everton | Liverpool | 83 | Rafa probably wouldn't want to risk back to back starts with just a 3 day rest inbetween after the prolonged injury, but there aren't a lot of alternatives. This - and the fact it's Liverpool - suggest he should be sat |
| Wilfried Zaha | FWD | Crystal Palace | Leeds United | 99 | Could Saturday's surprise defeat be a turning point where Palace drop back to preseason expectations? I don't think so, but I still think Zaha will struggle against a Leeds team that has actually been pretty good against opposition forwards in fantasy |
| Ivan Toney | FWD | Brentford | Tottenham Hotspur | 100 | Maybe the most controversial selection here, but it's nice to have a talking point. Tottenham's postponed game on Sunday should mean they are fresher physically, and will have given Conte more time to work with them tactically for the Brentford game. I'm backing Lloris and co to keep Toney out |
| Danny Ings | FWD | Aston Villa | Manchester City | 91 | 1. Faces the 2nd worst team from a fantasy perspective for forwards. 2. Has been subbed off early in back-to-back games. 3. Has scored a combined 1.5 in those games (both wins). Sit. |
Average % Rostered : 93%
Check out Draft Society’s Fantrax Weekly Player Projections page for more player evaluations for the upcoming week!
Follow Luke Wilkins on Twitter @the_innergeek for all the latest!
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In GW 13 our Starting XI got 74.25 with 3 non starts (Davies-snow, Podence-covid, Ox-rotated) and our Sitting XI got 38.5 with 4 non starts (Ronaldo bench, Hoj snow, Christensen rotated, Ings hurt). Starters outscored Sitters by 25 despite only being 24% rostered compared to 92%