FanDuel EPL Daily Fantasy Picks – April 4 2017
By David Gate
A bumper week of Premier League DFS action kicks of with 4 games on Tuesday’s FanDuel EPL slate. We’ve got you covered for tips, picks, analysis and lineups.
The weekend’s FanDuel picks came in strong. My top keeper pick Gomes was the second best goalie of the weekend and the late switch to Fabregas allowed me to cash in all the lineups I used him in. A lot of low scoring games kept the cash line low and once again no high-priced striker met value.
This week brings us two game days with 4 fixtures on Tuesday and 6 on Wednesday. FanDuel are running a joint two-day slate as well as Tuesday/Wednesday only slates. I will be doing an article for each day with lineups for those days. I will also be tweeting out a joint lineup for the two days.
Teams release their lineups an hour before kick off – which is at 1:45-2pm ET. It is paramount you check these team sheets before you complete your lineup. The DFS sites won’t list designations as accurately as they do for NFL or NBA sports as a player could be on the bench. I will list changes to my DFS lineups on Twitter at @DavidGateSports and @FantasyCPR
The best EPL DFS lineups have 4x value to $1k of FanDuel budget. These lineups are for GPP play and not cash. Because of the scoring in soccer DFS that means chasing goals and assists wherever you can find them. It often means looking in places where others won’t rather than just load up with the highest priced strikers on the slate.
My picks are out of three stars for each position to give you an idea of how confident I am in that pick.
* One Star = high floor players who will get adequate value
** Two Stars = players with a higher upside and fair match up
*** Three Stars = excellent option with a strong match up
FanDuel EPL Goalkeepers
There are two keepers on Tuesday’s slate that I like. After Heurelho Gomes (6600)*** performed for me on Saturday I’m ready to back him again in another favorable home game. He faces West Brom who only have 12 away goals on the season and are sitting nicely in 8th place. The month of April is when teams with little to play for start to dream of the beach in June. I can see a cautious West Brom side taking it easy in this game and Gomes going with back to back clean sheets.
Leicester host impotent Sunderland who look bereft of ideas and belief under struggling David Moyes. The Foxes themselves are in fine form and will look to keep their run going at home. Kasper Schmeichel (6500)*** is a great pick for a clean sheet and has the top-level ability to make the saves to achieve it.
The only other keeper I have on my radar is David de Gea (6400)** who is at home to Everton. Man Utd specialize in 0-0 draws at Old Trafford and with both teams suffering a host of injuries I see United keeping to the norm.
FanDuel EPL Defenders
The first thing I do when I look at the defenders on a FanDuel EPL slate is to look at who is playing Burnley. The Clarets have tried 2490 long balls (1st) this season. This gives opposing defenders more opportunities to clear and intercept. Burnley by-pass the midfield and hit Andre Gray and Ashley Barnes early. They face Stoke City on Tuesday who are perfectly matched against them with two strong headers of the ball at the back.
Ryan Shawcross (5800)*** and Bruno Martins Indi (5800)*** rank 9th and 13th respectively for clearances. I will be stacking them in at least one lineup as I expect the flow of this game to be Burnley bombarding them with long balls. Last time the sides met Muniesa deputized for Shawcross and amassed 49 FanDuel points. That included a goal but even without it, 29 FanDuel points is good for over 5x value. If I had to go for one player it would be Shawcross.
Ranking second for long balls is Everton. This tees up Eric Bailly (6100)** for a good week as he faces Romelu Lukaku. A similar defender in Joel Matip reached 22.5 FanDuel points on Saturday as Liverpool drubbed Everton.
A good value play on the Tuesday slate is Mason Holgate (5400)** who returned to the starting lineup on Saturday and grabbed over 20 FanDuel points. United have Ibrahimovic back and all the center backs in this game are solid picks. Holgate has the best value.
FanDuel EPL Midfielders
One player I’ve been watching and can no longer keep out of my lineups is Wilfred Ndidi (7800)***. The January signing has become one of Leicester’s top performers. He has been performing steadily but over the last few weeks has seen a bump in production grabbing an assist against West Ham and a stunning goal against Stoke. He has a high floor and high ceiling against Sunderland.
Unusually I will be looking to get two high-priced forwards in this week so I will look to make my savings with cheaper midfield plays. Chris Brunt (6100)** is always a nice sleeper as West Brom score 46% of their goals from set-pieces (1st). Brunt is on set-piece duties and faces Watford who have conceded 11 goals from headers this year. I love the upside here.
In the same game I like Etienne Capoue (6800)** who is Watford’s second highest scorer this term. West Brom concede more goals to central midfielders than anyone else and this is a nice pairing in a midfield slate that looks short on goals.
I will be keeping an eye on the Everton team sheet to see who plays in midfield. Calvert-Lewin, Lookman and Valencia have been ineffective as partners for Lukaku and Koeman may push Barkley further forward opening up a space for Kevin Mirallas (6000)*. United are much more vulnerable down their left side and Mirallas could be a nice punt in GPP.
FanDuel EPL Forwards
There are three elite forwards over $9k on FanDuel EPL. Romelu Lukaku (12000)* is the most expensive but has the hardest match up. Manchester United have only conceded 10 goals at home all season and Lukaku struggled enormously against Liverpool. Coleman’s injury hurts Everton badly at both ends. I will fade Lukaku almost everywhere. Though I have a nagging suspicion he could put on a show to impress United who are potential suitors this summer. It wouldn’t surprise me.
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United will be delighted to have Zlatan Ibrahimovic (11800)*** back after a three game suspension. Two of those games were shut outs for their attack. The Swede will be well rested and raring to go against an injury plagued Everton who defended horribly against Liverpool. Ibrahimovic will have watched the video of Everton keeper Robles with gleeful anticipation.
The third elite forward on Tuesday is Jamie Vardy (9100)*** who has 4 goals in 4 games. At under $10k he probably only needs one goal to make value. Add to that a first-rate home match-up with Sunderland and I will have him everywhere.
FanDuel EPL Lineup April 4
FWD: Ibrahimovic – Man Utd
FWD: Vardy – Leicester
MID: Ndidi – Leicester
MlD: Capoue – Watford
MID: Brunt – West Brom
DEF: Shawcross – Stoke
DEF: Martins Indi – Stoke
GK: Schmeichel – Leicester
Best of luck in your FanDuel EPL contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR on Twitter for all the late breaking lineup news and roster updates!