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 22 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 22 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.
Now let’s see the Gameweek 22 Start and Sit contenders!
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First things first, it’s important to know that Gameweek 22 is a double game week (DGW) for two teams: Leeds United and Manchester United. Generally speaking, two opportunities for points instead of one means you should be prioritizing bringing in and starting players from these teams over those with only a single match. However, that’s not always the case, particularly when rotation could see your players only start one of the games (inevitably the more difficult of the two) or when negative points are factored into the equation. Beware the dreaded double negative! With that out of the way, let’s get to it.
Starts of the Week XI
| Player | Pos. | Team | Opponent | % Rostered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illan Meslier | G | LEE | @NOT/@MUN | 20% |
| Serge Aurier | D | NOT | LEE | 68% |
| Pervis Estupinan | D | BHA | BOU | 55% |
| Mohammed Salisu | D | SOU | @BRF | 27% |
| Tyler Adams | M | LEE | @NOT/@MUN | 30% |
| Mathias Jensen | M | BRF | SOU | 66% |
| Douglas Luiz | M | AVL | LEI | 59% |
| Mykhailo Mudryk | M | CHE | FUL | 68% |
| Patson Daka | F | LEI | @AVL | 34% |
| Dango Ouattara | F | BOU | @BHA | 4% |
| Luis Sinisterra | F | LEE | @NOT/@MUN | 38% |
Average % Rostered: 43%
There’s a high degree of variance in the goalkeeper position, with scores easily capable of hitting double digits in the red or the black, so it’s a brave manager who takes a punt on Illan Meslier this week, but we’ve seen keepers with two matches have success in previous weeks this season (Leno, in particular, but Guaita also did just fine). The opening fixture against a Forest without their talisman MGW is just attractive enough to draw me in despite the far more difficult match against United to close out the gameweek.
A three-man backline this week is made up of familiar, yet still under-rostered defenders. Serge Aurier got a bit of a breather in the midweek EFL cup loss to Manchester United but will earn an immediate recall to face Leeds and build on his impressive points-scoring form of late. Brighton has struggled to keep their opponents off the scoresheet this season, but Bournemouth isn’t the most free-scoring side so Pervis Estupinan will favor his chances of a rare clean sheet. His involvement in the Seagulls’ attack should help offset the cost of conceding in any case. Speaking of conceding, Southampton has been doing a lot of it, and yet it hasn’t seemed to dent the fantasy output of Mohammed Salisu, who is thriving from a Fantrax perspective in Nathan Jones’ system.
I’m banking on a return to fitness for Tyler Adams in the Leeds midfield for the double gameweek. The American has been putting up respectable scores for a CDM and the prospect of two matches makes him a more attractive option this time around than he would be under normal circumstances. Don’t play him if he doesn’t start against Forest, though. Mathias Jensen is one of those players I didn’t think would be fantasy relevant this season, but has actually done quite well for himself after a dismal first campaign in the Premier League. A double-digit haul isn’t out of the realm of possibility with Brentford facing the shaky Saints defense this weekend. Douglas Luiz has been in fine fettle for Villa since Unai Emery’s arrival, racking up points through just about every counting stat available. I expect that output to continue for at least another week before Aston Villa’s fixtures take a turn for the worst. Chelsea new-boy (though maybe he should be considered a veteran at this point considering their influx of new players) Mykhailo Mudryk should be in line for his first EPL start for the Blues this week, assuming he’s not banned for his use of a racial slur on social media. The Ukrainian winger showed flashes of his potential in his cameo against Liverpool and should prove a handful for local rivals Fulham on Friday.
Up top, Patson Daka should continue as the main striker for Leicester’s trip to Villa Park. The Zambian hasn’t lived up to expectations so far this season but could benefit from the return to fitness of James Maddison and the potential introduction of new winger Tete. Dango Ouattara made an instant impact for Bournemouth with an assist in his first match for his new club, also contributing a solid stack of other stats to boost his score. He should be a focal point for the Cherries attack, which bodes well for more points even if they do have a very difficult schedule on the horizon. Finally, I’m hoping another long-term Leeds injury absentee, Luis Sinisterra is ready to break back into the starting lineup. He may not be quite up to starting both matches in the double week, but if he is called on from the start in the first match he’s definitely worth running out as he’ll likely earn some minutes off the bench in the second game. The Colombian has shown that he only needs a few minutes or a single sight at goal to deliver.
Sits of the Week XI
| Player | Pos. | Team | Opponent | % Rostered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hugo Lloris | G | TOT | MCI | 78% |
| Aymeric Laporte | D | MCI | @TOT | 75% |
| Cristian Romero | D | TOT | MCI | 71% |
| James Tarkowski | D | EVE | ARS | 90% |
| Demarai Gray | M | EVE | ARS | 94% |
| Dejan Kulusevski | M | TOT | MCI | 100% |
| Ruben Neves | M | WOL | LIV | 92% |
| Lucas Paqueta | M | WHU | @NEW | 72% |
| Ivan Perisic | M | TOT | MCI | 95% |
| Dominic Calvert-Lewin | F | EVE | ARS | 80% |
| Son Heung-Min | F | TOT | MCI | 100% |
Average % Rostered: 86%
Apologies in advance if your team depends on Spurs players, but you’ll notice a theme here starting with Hugo Lloris. I don’t like Tottenham’s chances to do much on either side of the ball against Man City this weekend, and with most of their players being highly rostered they fit the bill for inclusion in the Sits selections.
Continuing the Tottenham hate-in (I don’t actually hate them), Cristian Romero sits near the bottom of the player projections for this week. Being a yellow card magnet and coming up against Erling Haaland will do that. On the other side of the pitch, I don’t love Aymeric Laporte (or any other City CB for that matter) as a fantasy option; unless City keep a clean sheet, the Frenchman doesn’t look likely to score many points, and Harry Kane can always pop up with a goal. Outside of the featured match, I’d recommend steering clear of Everton players for Sean Dyche’s first match in charge against top-of-the-table Arsenal. Defenders like James Tarkowski may see a boost in their fantasy value with the new manager, but the former Burnley boss won’t have had enough time to make an impact and Arsenal are flying.
My midfield selections see more of the same – stay away from players taking on the two top teams if you can, including regularly strong fantasy performers like Dejan Kulusevski, Ivan Perisic and Demarai Gray, the last of which may also be less of a nailed on starter given his manager’s history with Dwight McNeil (though surely Anthony Gordon’s departure leaves room for both of them). Ruben Neves is an excellent player and has scored surprisingly well at times this campaign, but the reinforcements that have arrived at Wolves may see some of his value diminished. Lucas Paqueta is another player who is extremely talented, but he’s struggled to make the impact we expected…perhaps due to David Moyes’ managerial style and well-documented struggles communicating with non-English speakers. Add in a match against the best defense in the league and I’m staying away.
Up top it’s unfortunately more of the same, but sometimes stating the obvious is the best approach. Dominic Calvert-Lewin hasn’t rediscovered his best form since returning from long-term injury and I wouldn’t count on him doing so against Arsenal. While I would give Harry Kane a run-out given his form, I’d actually be okay benching the woefully out of form Son Heung-Min, who looks like he could use a benching in real life to get his mind right.
So, there we have it…Cue the shock 2-0 wins for Tottenham and Everton this week. Stranger things have happened, but don’t say I didn’t warn you if these big names don’t deliver in gameweek 22.
Make sure you also check out our official EPL content partner, The Draft Society, for all the latest! Check out their Fantrax Weekly Player Projections page for more player evaluations for the upcoming week!