FanDuel EPL DFS breakdown: Gameweek 1 – August 12th 2017
By David Gate
And we’re back! Welcome to the FanDuel EPL DFS breakdown. We have the best tips & analysis anywhere for the Saturday August 12 Premier League main slate.
Three long months have passed. FanDuel EPL is back and we are ready to hit week one flying. This week brings a FanDuel main slate with six games for us to pick from.
There are a host of new signings and three promoted teams giving us plenty of opportunity to get a jump on those who are casual players or watchers of soccer. Two of those promoted teams are in action on this slate; Huddersfield at Crystal Palace and Brighton hosting Man City.
Unsurprisingly the bookies have given the best over 2.5 goals odds to the Chelsea and Man City games. The attacks of both teams will be pretty chalk but there are some other options out there. Also there are ways to differentiate in defense and cheaper midfield options too.
Make sure to check lineups. Last year the FanDuel EPL contests did not tell you when a player was starting or not. We have a pretty good idea of how teams will lineup on Saturday but teams are often coy with injuries and game plans before the season starts.
The scoring for the contests is identical to last year. I was hoping they would change a few things but alas. There seems to be a change in their pricing, especially for defenders and keepers. Perhaps this is more of a ‘reset’ button until data comes in. I hope a little more variance comes into those positions in the future weeks.
I’ll be on Twitter @davidgatesports to chat through lineups on Saturday from 9am EST. Happy to give advice with any surprises on the team sheets.
FanDuel EPL Gameweek 1 – Let’s go!
FanDuel EPL Goalkeepers
The pricing for goalkeepers has been squashed and reduced making it easier to just pick the keeper you want. They were ranging between $5.5-7.5k last year. They now span from $4.5-5k with only Bournemouth and Huddersfield keepers at $4k.
So who is going to grab the clean sheet bonus and make a bunch of saves? My favorite keeper this week is Everton new boy Jordan Pickford (5000) . The ex-Sunderland goalie had a breakout year last season. His shot stopping is excellent and he was regularly at the top of keeper pricing. He won’t see the volume of shots that he had at Sunderland but Everton aren’t exactly Juventus. There will be opportunity to make saves and has a decent enough defense to grab a clean sheet. He has a fantastic matchup this week at home to Stoke who have lost key striker Arnautovic.
I like both keepers in the Crystal Palace v Huddersfield game. Both teams are more defensive and neither side have clicked in preseason. This could easily be a 0-0 bore draw. Wayne Hennessey (4500) is by far the safer option. Huddersfield keeper from last season Danny Ward has returned to Liverpool so new loan Jonas Lossl (4000) will make his debut.
Courtois (4500) and Ederson (4500) are both good bets for clean sheets. I’m not expecting to either to be that busy making saves but Man City play so open that Ederson nudges it for me between the two. However after watching him preseason I’m not convinced by him despite his record price tag.
FanDuel EPL Defenders
My first question when looking at defenders on FanDuel EPL is who is playing Burnley? The Turf Moor side use long balls more than any other Premier League team. By far. This means that opposition are going to have way more opportunities for headed clearances, tackles and interceptions. This week it is Chelsea who they face. It will be interesting to see if Antonio Conte keeps his 3 center back-formation or if he reverts to 4 at the back. They lined up with 3 in the Community shield so I’m guessing that’s how they roll on Saturday.
The three defenders should be David Luiz (6000), Gary Cahill (5500) and Cesar Azpilicueta (5500). The great thing about those three is they all have a chance of scoring too, especially Luiz.
In the Man City game I really like whoever plays at right back. That is projected to be Kyle Walker (6000) but Danilo (6000) has also played a bunch in preseason – especially when City have played three at the back. Both should have plenty of license to get forward and have huge upside for an assist or goal.
Other players with attacking upside are the Southampton duo Ryan Bertrand (6000) and Cedric Soares (6000). They have a great matchup against Swansea. Though with a new manager at the helm in Mauricio Pellegrino they may not play with the same verve as last year.
The one promoted defender I love is Huddersfield’s new captain Tommy Smith (6000). He is a dominate defender in the air, despite only being 6’1″. It is a great physical matchup with Christian Benteke. He also chipped last year with 4 goals and 10 assists – a fantastic return for a defender.
FanDuel EPL Midfielders
The no-brainer start of the day is Kevin de Bruyne (10500). He has been in fantastic form in preseason and is clearly the attacker that Guardiola trusts the most. Brighton are set to a rude welcome to the Premier League on Saturday. City have scored 10 goals in their last preseason games. But who was that against you ask? Only West Ham, Tottenham and Real Madrid.
In the rest of City’s midfield I like David Silva (9500) if he starts or Bernardo Silva (8500) if he doesn’t. I’m hoping some of the casual players will be put off by the injury designation to David or the lack of game log for Bernardo. I also love Leroy Sane (8500) is he gets the nod. One of the most clinical midfield finishers in the Premier League.
I expect everyone to be all over Gylfi Sigurdsson (8500) at that price. He was the most bankable player in all EPL DFS last year. A lock for 20+ points. He also scorched Southampton for a goal and an assist and 50 FanDuel points last time they met. Certain to be chalk but hard to turn away at that price. I think you must have shares in him somewhere….. unless the Everton transfer happens or is close to happening. Then I want everyone else to chase a player who is on the way out.
Cheaper options I like in midfield are Southampton pair Romeu (6500) and Tadic (6500) who are both nicely priced in a good matchup. The West Brom midfield sit a nice spot too with Chadli (6000) and Brunt (6000) the pick of the bunch. Sneaky midfield play is Aaron Mooy (6000) for Huddersfield against Palace who are missing Cabaye. He had seven assists last year and should be on set piece duty.
FanDuel EPL Forwards
As we have already noted Man City should dominate Brighton & Hove Albion. That is why Sergio Aguero (11500) and Gabriel Jesus (10500) sit atop of the pricing. One is a Premier League fantasy legend and the other is one of the hottest forwards in world football. They didn’t get the chance to play together much last season but when they did it was deadly. They will almost certainly be chalk so I favor Jesus whose injury designation should keep some punters away. He should play so I’m not worried. With the low-priced defenders and keepers it is not hard to stack these two.
Chelsea’s forward line is very interesting. Diego Costa looks on his way out. Alvaro Morata (10500) is the heir apparent but has looked underwhelming in preseason. At his price it is a risk. He has the talent and I expect his ownership to be fairly low. Michy Batshuyi (8500) and Pedro (9000) are better options if they start.
Outside of those two teams there are not a lot of predicted goals. Josh King (8000) finished the season on fire with 13 goals in his last 16 games. Will he share some with new man Jermain Defoe? I don’t think so.
Manolo Gabbiadini (8000) began hot at Southampton with 4 goals in his first 3 games before an injury kept him out. He failed to score for the rest of the season giving his game log an ugly look. But he was recovering from injury and played all the top 6 teams in his last 8 games. He has been scoring freely in preseason and I love the match up against Swansea.
FanDuel EPL DFS Lineups
Note: these are sample lineups and are not optimized. The only guarantee I can give you is that I will playing them too. I will also have some lines that are not here. Best thing is to take some of these picks and build your own lineup – especially in GPP – as lineup sharing only reduces the amount you can win.
Lineup 1
FWD: King – Bournemouth
FWD: Gabbiadini – Southampton
MID: de Bruyne – Man City
MlD: Sane – Man City
MID: Sigurdsson – Swansea
DEF: Luiz – Chelsea
DEF: Azpilicueta – Chelsea
GK: Pickford – Everton
Lineup 2
FWD: Jesus – Man City
FWD: Aguero – Man City
MID: de Bruyne – Man City
MlD: Romeu – Southampton
MID: Mooy – Huddersfield
DEF: Ake – Bournemouth
DEF: Azpilicueta – Chelsea
GK: Lossl – Huddersfield
Best of luck in your FanDuel EPL contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the late breaking line-up news and roster updates!