We have you covered for this week’s FanDuel EPL main slate on Saturday with all the tops, picks and analysis you need to succeed this weekend on DFS soccer.
Welcome back to the FanDuel EPL DFS column. Last week’s slate ended up being as ugly as I said it would be. There was very little outside of Manchester City (once again) to help you cash. Aaron Mooy had a really nice bounce back week. Wilfred Zaha vanished. My Otomendi call was my best pick of the slate as he grabbed a goal to get 35 FanDuel points and make almost 6x value at 7% ownership.
The bad slate meant it was the first EPL game week where I lost money. The good news is that this week’s slate is excellent. There are 6 games once again but four you can really target for goals; West Brom v Man City; Liverpool v Huddersfield; Arsenal v Swansea and Chelsea v Bournemouth.
Manchester City are blowing the Premier League away and for now will be stackable every week. Because of that I won’t be writing them up this week – all of their attackers are solid plays, you don’t need to over think it. Instead I am going to look at the other teams and players to attack in GPP to avoid the chalk ownership of the City players.
I’ll be on Twitter @davidgatesports to chat through lineups on Saturday from 9am EST. Happy to give advice for lineups or last-minute decisions.
FanDuel EPL Goalkeepers
This week I am going to use a soccer DFS strategy that some people love but others stay well away from. I am going to pair my goalkeeper against my own attackers. Essentially you give up the chance of a clean sheet plus you get one point less if your attacker scores as the keeper loses a point for the goal. The upside is that every Shot on Goal (SOG) gives you 8 points – 5 for the shot, 3 for the save.
I actually think this strategy is worth doing with whoever you are building your attack around this week. Jonas Lössl (5000) is facing Liverpool who are the most wasteful attack in the league. They rank 2nd with 168 for the season – only 2 behind Man City – but have 18 less goals meaning the GK’s are making a ton of saves. Go look at Nick Pope or Wayne Hennessey’s game logs. Over 30 points each and neither kept a clean sheet.
No one has made more saves this season that Lukasz Fabianski (5500). He is playing away at Arsenal who are the safest bet to match a keeper against. Either they bomb and you get a clean sheet or they force the keeper into a ton of saves. This is also a ‘revenge narrative’ for Fabianski after he spent 7 years at Arsenal before moving in 2014.
Ben Foster (5000) will also be a high volume option against Man City. He is nice in GPP because if by some miracle he keeps a clean sheet you will get bump against everyone’s Man City stacks. If you just want to lock in a clean sheet then Petr Cech (4500) and Ederson (4500) are your guys.
FanDuel EPL Defenders
If you are going to pay up at DEF this week then Christopher Schindler (7000) is a great play against Liverpool. Alongside Ben Mee of Burnley he is one of the most dependable defenders on FanDuel EPL. He is a high floor of around 18 points and has got 30+ pints in 4 of his 9 games. This matchup should see him towards the higher end of his potential. I also like his teammates Chris Löwe (5000) and Tommy Smith (5500). Lowe looks to cheap for me in this matchup and Tommy Smith is my flier for a DEF goal this week.
West Brom have some injuries in defense so I expect to see Allan Nyom (4500) return to the side and should see plenty of action against Man City. Steve Cook (5000) is a nice play in his matchup with Chelsea. His game log is very underwhelming but plays his best games against the best teams.
After Liverpool’s defensive horror show against Tottenham last week there could be some changes in personnel creating some DFS value for us. Trent Alexander-Arnold (5500) should come in at right back and we would be a good play against Huddersfield. He sometimes takes free kicks and corners too. The one I’m really looking for is Andrew Robertson (5000) who would have 5x upside.
Got a feeling Arsenal may use Rob Holding (4000) this week as they are at home to Swansea. He would be a nice play at pretty much the minimum for defenders.
FanDuel EPL Midfielders
Alright you should know about Man City and stacking them. It is a chalk play but not a bad one, especially in cash. This week there are some nice alternatives. Liverpool are back at Anfield and are desperate for a bounce back game against Huddersfield. They should have plenty of the ball and rank second for possession time and shots in the EPL.
Philippe Coutinho (9500) has had a price dip after two bad weeks and so sits nicely in a game where he should have plenty of the ball. Mohamed Salah (10000) has 5 goals and an assist in his 9 games this year. Love his chances of building on that on Saturday.
Bournemouth are too poor to have Eden Hazard (9000) at that price. Cesc Fabregas (9000) is adapting to the deeper role while N’Golo Kante is out and has thrived the last two weeks in that position.
Column favorites Aaron Mooy (8500) and Xherdan Shaqiri (8500) are both in good spots this week. Liverpool can’t keep clean sheets and Mooy has been involved in 42% of his teams goals this season. Shaqiri missed out with injury last week but should be back and faces Watford who have conceded more goals at home than any other team.
For value I am looking for Nacer Chadli (4500) who is at a crazy low price for his upside. If he starts I’ll be using him. I love the value of Joe Allen (5500) who will be involved in defense and attack and in a game that is evens to go over 2.5 goals.
FanDuel EPL Forwards
Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez (10500) looks healthy again and interested in playing football for the Gunners once more. This matchup saw Arsenal score 7 goals in two games last season and I’m backing Sanchez to continue is good run against Swansea. He is a $12k ability striker currently at a lower price and I want to take advantage of that.
Alvaro Morata (10500) is back for Chelsea earlier than expected and remains the focal point of the Blues’ attack. The matchup with Bournemouth is good and I like his ability to get back in the goals this week. On the other side of the ball, Chelsea have not kept a clean sheet since Kante went out injured. Joshua King (7000) may be a nice GPP punt for low ownership.
Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino (9000) only has 2 league goals this season but has three goals in Europe. I like his price against Huddersfield at Anfield. The Terriers have only kept one clean sheet in their last 6 games. In the same game Steve Mounie (6000) is my favorite value striker this week as he comes back from injury. He should get the start against Liverpool who have conceded 16 goals in the 6 games they have not kept a clean sheet.
FanDuel EPL 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: Liverpool/Huddersfield stack
FWD: Firmino – Liverpool
FWD: Sanchez -Arsenal
MID: Coutinho – Liverpool
MlD: Salah – Liverpool
MID: Allen – Stoke
DEF: Lowe – Huddersfield
DEF: Smith – Huddersfield
GK: Lossl – Huddersfield
Lineup 2
FWD: Morata – Chelsea
FWD: Sanchez .- Arsenal
MID: Hazard – Chelsea
MlD: Mooy – Huddersfield
MID: Allen – Stoke
DEF: Smith – Huddersfield
DEF: Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool
GK: Lossl – Huddersfield
Next: NFL DraftKings Week 8 GPP Plays
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