DraftKings EPL Soccer Daily Fantasy Picks – May 16 2017
By David Gate
Welcome to the penultimate DraftKings EPL DFS column of the season! We have you covered on this two game mini-slate to help you cash in DraftKings soccer daily fantasy. Look no further for tips, picks and analysis.
Last week saw us cash on a Bournemouth/Swansea stack that crept in over the cash line in GPP and easily made it in cash games. A great 18 point performance from Junior Stanislas helped shore up the line despite Stoke’s goal robbing us of a clean sheet bonus to our Arsenal backline.
Today has just the two games – Man City v West Brom & Arsenal v Sunderland – but they both carry importance. City and Arsenal are chasing Liverpool to grab Champions League qualifying places. If Arsenal fail to win they will almost certainly miss out.
Being a small slate I am going to look at the picks differently today. I will be looking at Locks (players I will have in every line) and Value (where to save budget to fit in all the studs.
The team sheets come out an hour before kick off – 1:45-2pm ET -and I’ll be tweeting out changes and surprises. You can follow me @DavidGateSports for updates and @FantasyCPR for the lineups. There is a link to my FanDuel article for this slate here. Now let’s see how to build a killer lineup today!
DraftKings EPL DFS Locks
The first player I am going to lock in today is Petr Cech (5800). Arsenal will win. They probably won’t concede (Sunderland are excrement). Clean sheet bonus. Win bonus. Thank you kindly and move on.
My favorite attacking player today is Oliver Giroud (6700). Arsenal have been playing with Sanchez wide left and using Giroud or Welbeck in the most advanced central position. Whoever starts there today will make my team but I really love Giroud in this matchup. He ranks 2nd in the league for headed goals (6) while playing a lot fewer minutes than his contemporaries. Today he faces a relegated Sunderland who have conceded the most headed goals this year (15). Sanchez, Aguero and Jesus all have fantastic upside but they have harder matchups and are much more expensive. Giroud will be in all my lineups today.
To pair with Giroud I will be using Hector Bellerin (4700) in defense. The French wing back found his countryman on Saturday for an assist and grabbed one other for a nice 16 DraftKings point day. I love their goal/assist possibility in this game especially as there is no defensive player I love more on DraftKings EPL.
I’ve been watching City a lot of the last few weeks and it is clear they have gone back to running everything through David Silva (6700). He has had a noticeable increase in touches, passes and time on the ball. He is my solid floor pick today.
DraftKings EPL DFS Value Picks
Away from the high-end midfielders I find the most value today in Yaya Toure (4400). If you take a look at his game log you can see how he has been heavily involved in the last few weeks when the games have become important.
He racked up over 100 passes against Crystal Palace. Now this doesn’t equate to actual points on DraftKings is does speak to usage and opportunity. Two things you should always consider in DFS. In the last matchup between these sides Ilkay Gundogan grabbed a brace. Toure now fills that role and is more than capable of grabbing a goal today. He is my sneak play for a goal on today’s slate.
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The defensive options today are very underwhelming. I will probably double up on Arsenal just to get the clean sheet bonus. Shkodran Mustafi (3500) is my go to cheap Arsenal defender as he has the highest upside of a goal.
Seeing as I HAVE to have a West Brom or Sunderland player on my team I am going to go for Chris Brunt (5500). He has double-digit games (10, 18 & 11 DraftKings points) in the last three and all of those were limp, lifeless performances by his side. When there is no better option on soccer DFS always choose the set-piece taker. A goal or an assist is always in play with those guys.
Other value names I am wanting to see on the team sheets are Donald Love (3400), Marc Wilson (2700) and Whabi Khazri (5200).
DraftKings EPL DFS Sample Lineup
GK: Cech – Arsenal
DEF: Bellerin – Arsenal
DEF: Mustafi – Arsenal
MID: Toure – Man City
MlD: Silva or Sane – Man City
FWD: De Bruyne – Man City
FWD: Giroud – Arsenal
UTIL: Brunt – Man City
Best of luck in your DraftKings EPL contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR on Twitter for all the late breaking lineup news and roster updates!