FanDuel World Cup Soccer DFS Analysis – Saturday June 23
By David Gate
Welcome to the FanDuel World Cup column. We have all the tips and picks for the Saturday slate to bring you the best analysis to help you in soccer DFS.
Last week the Saturday slate was a lot of fun. There were more people than usual filling contests and engaging on social media. There are obviously lots of people out there who want to fill their weekends with soccer DFS action!
Today we have three games on the All-day slate. Belgium v Tunisia; Korea v Mexico and Germany v Sweden. I highly recommend playing the all day slate instead of the two game Main slate tomorrow.
Punters will be filling their sides with Germany and Mexico players, which is not hard to do with this pricing. Adding the early game – particularly all the stars of Belgium – creates a slate that i easier to find separation in GPP play.
The lineups in this article will be for the All-day slate, but there should be enough info here to construct a line for the Main slate also. Bookmark my Guide to World Cup Set Piece Takers to help you increase your chances for goals and assists in your lines.
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 8am EST and the last at 2pm EST. You can follow me on Twitter – @davidgatesports – for updates.
FanDuel World Cup Goalkeepers
Top of the pile for the keepers is Guillermo Ochoa (6000) who posted an incredible 44 FanDuel points against Germany. That is the difference between cashing and not. You can’t win a GPP without having exposure to that kind of production from GK.
The question is can he recreate it against South Korea? Probably not. The Asian side will not manage as many shots as the Germans. Saying that he is still a good play for clean sheet bonus with a win.
After watching Tunisia create very little against England I can’t see anything else than a win and a clean sheet for Thibaut Courtois (5000) on Saturday. The Belgians are huge favorites and a win will take them through to the next round. I expect them to dominate.
In the other game Manuel Neuer (6000) is playing for the favorites Germany but I prefer Robin Olsen (5000) who has a slight chance of a clean sheet but should pick up a ton of saves… Ochoa did last time out!
FanDuel World Cup Defenders
If you are looking for high upside oat the DEF position on this slate there are two excellent options. Joshua Kimmich (7500) is one of the best attacking full backs at the World Cup. He is always a threat for an assist or even a goal. He also has a good floor contributing made by defensive stats. You have to pay the premium though.
Andreas Granqvist (6500) is very appealing as a defender who takes penalties. There are not many of those. He bagged one in their opener for a huge 49 FanDuel point day. He is not likely to repeat that but he racked up 24 points of defensive stats. He has a great matchup to repeat those and may just get you that goal. A cash must.
Sweden basically don’t have a midfield. At least from a defensive perspective. That is why all their defenders get a ton of stats. I am more than happy to double up with Swedish defenders on Saturday. Ludwig Augustinsson (5000), Mikael Lustig (5000) and Pontus Jansson (4500) are all great value plays. Lustig is my favorite of the three.
FanDuel World Cup Midfielders
The elite pair of Kevin de Bruyne (10500) and Eden Hazard (10500) should both be central figures for Belgium against Tunisia. Both bagged assists last week against Panama and are great plays to repeat.
If you can work lineups you like with both then good on you! My recommendation is to use Kevin de Bruyne in cash games. He has the higher floor with defensive contributions and taking free kicks and some corners. Hazard is on penalties and is more of the goal threat for GPP competitions.
I love the value of Ki Sung-yueng (7500) against Mexico. This will be an interesting game as the Mexicans surrendered the initiative to Germany in their opener. Now I think they will take hold of the game which great for a defensive midfield opponent like Ki.
I am leaning to paying up at the Forward position so I need some value in the MID to make that work. A couple of cheap players are projected to start; Oscar Hiljemark (5000) for Sweden and Naim Sliti (5500). I am leaning to the Tunisian as he plays first – I won’t have to sweat lineups the rest of the day if he plays. Also he takes the odd set piece!
FanDuel World Cup Forwards
Romelu Lukaku (12000) showed up in their first game with a well taken brace of goals. I like him to get on the score sheet again. However, his floor is frightening. He got exactly 40 FanDuel points against Panama – two goals and the two shots to make them. And that is it. No other shots. No chances created. Not a sniff of a defensive stat. I’m using him but I’m scared.
Mexico starlet Hirving Lozano (9000) announced himself as rising star against Germany. His goal was very well taken but it was the dynamism of his whole performance that caught the eye. It feels like he will be on of the stories of the tournament. I love his upside at only $9k.
Son Heung-Min (8000) is too undervalued for me to ignore. I don’t see South Korea getting more than one in this match – if that – but the Mexicans gave up a ton of shots and Son likes to shoot! He may make value purely from that.
All the German forwards are tempting but I think Sweden are going to keep it tight. I prefer their chances of scoring through Kimmich or Kroos. If Werner does make it then Thomas Muller (11000) gets a bump and comes into play.
FanDuel World Cup Lineup
Note: these are sample lineups and are not optimized. The only guarantee I can give you is that I will playing it 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.
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Suggested Lineup – GPP
FWD: Lukaku – Belgium
FWD: Lozano – Mexico
MID: Hazard – Belgium
MID: Sung-yueng – South Korea
MID: Sliti – Tunisia
DEF: Lustig – Sweden
DEF: Augustinsson – Sweden
GK: Coutois – Belgium
Suggested Lineup – Cash
FWD: Lukaku – Belgium
FWD: Lozano – Mexico
MID: De Bruyne – Belgium
MID: Sung-yueng – South Korea
MID: Sliti – Tunisia
DEF: Granqvist – Sweden
DEF: Kimmich – Germany
GK: Coutois – Belgium
Next: World Cup DFS Strategy Guide
Best of luck in your FanDuel World Cup DFS contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and analysis!