FanDuel World Cup Soccer DFS Analysis – Wednesday June 20 2018

FanDuel World Cup Analysis: Edinson Cavani of Uruguay celebrtae Jose Gimenez’s goal during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group A match between Egypt and Uruguay at Ekaterinburg Arena on June 15, 2018 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) FanDuel World Cup /

Welcome to the Fantasy CPR FanDuel World Cup column. We have all the tips, picks and analysis to help you cash on Wednesday in FanDuel DFS.

The first round of group fixtures are over and we head into the second week of action. This has been a lot of fun to watch. Which is a good job because it has not been much fun for me from a DFS perspective.

I can’t catch a break. Messi misses a penalty. Mandzuick and Gueye both have goals ruled as own goals. Sending offs. Injuries. I am on a tilt. However the games keep coming and the luck will change eventually right? Right?

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FanDuel continues to frustrate it’s soccer fans. The scoring is controversial particular with the new win bonus for Goalkeepers and clean sheet for Defenders changing the landscape. But for me the biggest bug bear is making the three game days into two game main slates.

I understand the ‘West Coast’ argument with an 8am EST game but also… I live on the East Coast and like bigger slates.

As of the time of writing there is no all-day slate on FanDuel for tomorrow; only the later two games. Nevermind. You still need a plan to play this in DFS. It’s the World Cup. you are not fading or slowing down yet!

You will need to keep an eye on team sheets throughout the day which will come out an hour before kickoff of each game. The first game on the slate is starting at 11am EST and the last at 2pm EST. You can follow me on Twitter – @davidgatesports – for updates.

FanDuel World Cup Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera of Uruguay celebrates his side’s first goal during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group A match between Egypt and Uruguay at Ekaterinburg Arena on June 15, 2018 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) FanDuel World Cup /

FanDuel World Cup: Goalkeepers

On this two game slate there are only two keeper that have a chance for the win bonus. Fernando Muslera (6000) and David de Gea (5500). The Uruguayan picked up both the win bonus and clean sheet bonus plus three saves for a very good 26 points against Egypt.

He should get both bonuses this time round but will struggle to make many saves against the (by far) worst team in the tournament.

David de Gea is the best keeper in the world. Until he wasn’t. He let in three goals in Spain’s 3-3 draw with Portugal including one howler. There is next to no chance he does that again. I am hoping the -7.5 FanDuel point performance will put people off in this round. Buy low on de Gea.

Because of how I want to approach the Midfield and Forwards position I will be making savings at GK in most of my lines. Iran keeper Alireza Beiranvand (4500) impressed against a decent Morocco side.

I am comfortable waiving the bonuses but hit a bunch of saves and save the budget for my higher priced players in other positions.

FanDuel World Cup Defenders: Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin of Uruguay speak during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil round of 16 match between Colombia and Uruguay at Maracana on June 28, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images) /

FanDuel World Cup: Defenders

The DFS stars of Uruguay’s opening match were center backs Jose Gimenez (6500) and Diego Godin (7500). They will not see as much action defensively against Saudi Arabia but they are both a goal threat from set pieces. Rock solid cash plays on this slate.

The Spanish defenders did next to nothing in DFS terms against Portugal. If Nacho (5500) hadn’t scored they would have averaged less than 10 points between them. I can understand using the full backs – Nacho and Jordi Alba (6000) – in GPP play but they have no floor for cash games.

My personal preference for this slate is similar to the goalkeeper decision. I want to get the cheaper DEF options to allow for better forwards in these one-sided games.

Both Iran and Saudia Arabia will be doing a lot of defending, however I trust Iran to do that better and they have a slim chance of grabbing a clean sheet bonus.

Rouzbeh Cheshmi (4000) is cheap enough to take a punt and made almost 4x value in the opening game. Morteza Pouraliganji (4500) is the best of the other punts on this small slate. Spain will have all the possession and I love their potential to rack up some defensive stats.

FanDuel World Cup Midfielders: Cedric of Portugal and Isco of Spain battle for the ball during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group B match between Portugal and Spain at Fisht Stadium on June 15, 2018 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images) /

FanDuel World Cup: Midfielders

No position has taken a dip in production from FanDuel’s new scoring system like the midfielders. Removing the 5 pass points hurts the midfielders more than other positions as they see most of the ball. But it is the rejigged defensive stats that make the biggest difference.

Tackles were worth 2 points and that has reduced to 1.3 points. Interceptions are also down from 1.5 points to 1.3 points. These are the defensive stats that midfielders get far more than blocked shots and clearances.

All this means is that ONLY thing that matters for midfielders in DFS is goals. Scoring goals, shots on targets, assist and chances created. If a midfielder can’t produce those they are useless.

I am going to approach this small slate as an experiment with the new scoring. I will have a cash line and a GPP line with dramatically different midfield. The cash line will have three middle of the pack guys who could get an assist or goal. My picks on this slate are; Isco (8500) who has as high a ceiling as any MID; Rodrigo Bentancur (7500) is the best Uruguayan in a game they should walk; Salman Al Faraj (6500) is on free kicks and corners and had a decent showing against Russia despite the team sucking.

The GPP line will have one high-priced midfielder, one of the middle pack guys and a total punt. David Silva (10000) performed better than his FD points suggested. He had three shots – none were on target so missed points – and three chances created. He only needs one of those shots to hit the target and a chance to be scored to easily make value. Also Spain’s penalty taker.

You can pick a punt play. Literally one of the cheapest midfielders on the slate regardless of whether they play so yo can pair the best two forwards and a good keeper…

FanDuel World Cup Forwards: Luis Suarez of Uruguay (C) receives the ball during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group A match between Egypt and Uruguay at Ekaterinburg Arena on June 15, 2018 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /

FanDuel World Cup: Forwards

I took Luis Suarez (12500) over Cristiano Ronaldo in the first round DFS slate. Suarez whiffed while Ronaldo scored a hattrick. Surely I won’t make the same mistake twice? Well watch me.

For a start there is no Ronaldo here. The only other credible goal threats are Suarez’ teammate Edinson Cavani (12000) and Spain’s Diego Costa (11000). None are cheap.

My plan is to go all in on Uruguay in GPP. Stack both forwards and hope for another blow out. Saudi Arabia lost 5-0 to Russia in the tournament opener. No-one doubts that the Uruguay pairing is better than the Russian forwards. Sport doesn’t always work out the way we expect but I am not betting against this matchup.

Costa is a fine play in a decent matchup. Spain should have too much for Iran, despite the Middle East side defending like champions in the first game.

To fill out my even spread cash lineup I am taking Sardar Azmoun (8000) who is Iran’s best goal threat. I don’t like their chances of scoring but Spain looked a little shaky against Portugal. On a small slate I don’t mind this pairing with Costa.

FanDuel World Cup Lineup: Iury Gazinsky of Russia tackles Salman Alfaraj of Saudi Arabia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group A match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium on June 14, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) /

FanDuel World Cup: Lineups

NOTE: I will be using both lines in at least one GPP and Cash competition. This is pretty normal for me with Cash lines but because this is a little more experimental I want a full spread of options to see how it does.

Suggested Lineup – GPP

FWD: Suarez – Uruguay

FWD: Cavani – Uruguay

MID: Silva – Spain

MlD: Al Faraj – Saudi Arabia

MID: Al Khaibari – Saudi Arabia

DEF: Cheshmi – Iran

DEF: Pouraliganji – Iran

GK: Muslera – Uruguay

Suggested Lineup – Cash

FWD: Costa – Spain

FWD: Azmoun – Iran

MID: Isco – Spain

MlD: Al Faraj – Saudi Arabia

MID: Bentancur – Uruguay

DEF: Godin – Uruguay

DEF: Gimenez – Uruguay

GK: Beiranvand – Iran

Next: World Cup DFS Strategy Guide

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