FanDuel EPL DFS Breakdown – Gameweek 2: Aug 19 2017

Welcome back to the FantasyCPR Fanduel EPL column. We have all the picks and tips for you this week to cash in FanDuel soccer DFS!

This week has a six game main slate on Saturday. Last week we had a great start to the Premier League campaign with many of our picks helping punters to cash. One of our lines from last week’s article was good for a finish in the top 2.5% in GPP’s turning $4 into $16 for anyone who used it.

The punters stayed away from Huddersfield which allowed us to get some high performers and low ownership. Aaron Mooy and Jonas Lossl paired with the Man City forwards gave us a bumper morning of DFS action.

This week the prime teams are Arsenal and Liverpool. Both of whom showed their offensive power and defensive frailties in 4-3 and 3-3 results respectively.

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!

FanDue EPL DFS — Simon Mignolet of Liverpool gestures during the during the Premier League match between Watford and Liverpool at Vicarage Road. (Photo: Alex Broadway for Getty Images)

FanDuel EPL Goalkeepers

The pricing for Goalkeepers has continued on FanDuel the highest priced is $5k and the lowest is $4k essentially allowing to pick any keeper you want. So who do I want? My favorite keeper of the day is Simon Mignolet (4500).

Crystal Palace tend to take a lot of shots from outside the box. With Wilfred Zaha out with injury they are far less likely to score and Andros Townsend should replace him. Townsend is one of the most shot heavy midfielders in the Premier League. Mignolet has a number of faults but very rarely gets beaten from long distance. I think he is in a great spot against a Crystal Palace side that could not score against Huddersfield.

Petr Cech (4000) is sitting there at just over the minimum for a goalkeeper. But Arsenal’s defense was awful last week and he has minus points! Yes, I know. But Leicester are a decent attacking side, especially at home. Stoke are not. They drew a blank against Everton and I can’t see them threatening Arsenal in a game that could be over at half time.

I really like Tom Heaton (4500) at his price this week. Last season Heaton was a weapon at home, a virtual lock. He was regularly priced around $7k for home games. His upside at his price is fantastic against West Brom who are a low scoring side. Great GPP play.

FanDuel EPL Defenders

With the Arsenal and Liverpool attacks available to stack this week I am looking to make savings with my defenders. I don’t feel any of the higher priced DEF picks have the upside you want to take away from those forward picks.

As always I’m looking to defenders who are facing Burnley and this week it is West Brom. Their defenders are solid picks most weeks as they surrender a lot of possession to the opposition under Tony Pulis. They have mini injury crisis in DEF with McAuley out and Evans struggling and rumored to be going to Man City. Both the West Brom fullbacks are in play. Craig Dawson (5500) has the safer floor but I love the upside of Nyom (4000) at the minimum price. I expect most people to chase Ahmed Hegazy this week and I’m happy to let them.

Elsewhere Leicester’s Danny Simpson (4000) sits at a fantastic price against Brighton & Hove Albion. He only needs 12+ points to make for a good value play.

Southampton are at home to West Ham who got annihilated by Manchester United las week. Cedric Soares (5000) seems very underpriced. He only had 8.5 FanDuel points last week but he has been a very consistent performer for Southampton and I expect him to get nearer the 20 point mark this week against the Hammers.

FanDuel EPL Midfielders

Liverpool midfielders dominate the top of the price listings for FanDuel EPL and rightly so. Sadio Mane (11000) and Mohamed Salah (10500) are forwards who are listed as midfielders. They are going to have heaps of opportunities at Anfield against Crystal Palace. The last time Liverpool faced Palace they struggled but that was under Sam Allardyce. New manager Frank de Boer is far more ambitious but he does not have the players; especially with Zaha out. Liverpool will run riot in this game and I want a piece of all their attackers.

With that logic I think Luka Milivojevic (6500) has a very bust day as the Palace holding man. Last season he was good for 20+ FanDuel points against elite teams.

Arsenal also have a fantastic matchup against an undermanned Stoke side. The Potters have traditionally been a bogey team for the Gunners but I think they are huge favorites to come away with a big win. Alex Oxalde-Chamberlain (7500) and Aaron Ramsey (7500) seem to be 1-2k underpriced for me. I love them both.

Last week Claudio Yacob (5000) of West Brom played in central defense. If Jonny Evans misses out again that is where he will play in an elite CB match-up with Burnley. He will be a lock for 20+ FanDuel points and he is a great way of freeing up salary for multiple Arsenal and Liverpool attackers.

FanDuel EPL Forwards

There are only three forwards I believe in for Saturday. Roberto Firmino (11000) is priced highly but he is one of the few elite Premier League forwards that has a safe floor. He drops deep and gets involved in the midfield so racks up some defensive stats alongside his attacking ones. Now he is the designated penalty taker I love him even more.

Marko Arnautovic (7500) is another forward with a safe floor that allows me to stack Arsenal and Liverpool attackers. He is in a good spot this week against Southampton. West Ham will see this as a winnable game so will push for 90 minutes to get a result.

Alexandre Lacazette (11000) scored in the first four minutes of his Arsenal debut. He is in a fantastic position this week against Stoke. His pace will cause their sluggish back line a host of problems. I love pairing him with Ramsey or Oxlade-Chamberlain or both.

The one sneaky play I have is Manolo Gabbiadini (7500). He tanked one of my lineups last week with 0.5 FanDuel point dud. This week he is in a great spot against West Ham. I love him in GPP as I think his ownership should be at basement levels after last week. He has the talent to bag a brace though.

FanDuel EPL lineups — (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

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: Firmino – Liverpool

FWD: Lacazette – Arsenal

MID: Salah – Liverpool

MlD: Ramsey – Arsenal

MID: Yacob – West Brom

DEF: Dawson – West Brom

DEF: Soares – Southampton

GK: Mignolet – Liverpool

Lineup 2

FWD: Firmino – Liverpool

FWD: Arnautovic – West Ham

MID: Salah – Liverpool

MlD: Mane – Liverpool

MID: Oxlade-Chamberlain – Arsenal

DEF: Nyom – West Brom

DEF: Simpson – Leicester