Welcome to our new weekly EPL Draftkings series breaking down the English Premier League’s typical featured Saturday slates throughout the season. This article will be dedicated to providing you with the top targets at each position based off value and projected performance. In hopes to provide you with a sense of direction in creating an initial core that’ll be the foundation in building an optimal winning lineup.
Still relatively fresh off the World Cup, we welcome back the return of English football and all it’s glory. Soccer DFS is in it’s own breed when it comes to DFS especially on Draftkings. The first note worth mentioning and possibly the most important factor to remember about soccer DFS is that confirmed squad lineups are officially released one hour before match time. You can always use social media platforms to research for leaks and projected lineups but always make sure to check the “CONFIRMED STARTING XI” for every squad on the slate before locking in any lineup. This is simply not only to see whether a player is confirmed playing or not, but more importantly to see a manager’s decision in formation strategy as well as a respective player’s positional role on the pitch.
All these factors can play a huge part in deciding a player’s potential effectiveness and impact for an upcoming match. Draftkings soccer DFS scoring is unique in that it greatly values peripheral stats. Sure, goals and assists on the surface are what everyone should be hoping and aiming for but in soccer they can be hard to come by and even sometimes harder to predict. This is where crosses, fouls drawn, tackles won, interceptions made,clean sheets, etc. play a huge role. Targeting players who can potentially rack up these peripherals can go a long way in building a profitable optimal lineup sprinkled in with a goal/assist or two or three. Without further ado here are the 5 matches being played tomorrow, Saturday 8/11 and the players everyone should be considering in their lineups. *Special Thanks to @Jsandberg11 of @GHOSTDFSPICKS for assistance with this article.
Matches Saturday 8/11 (EDT)
10:00 AM- Watford vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
10:00 AM- AFC Bournemouth vs. Cardiff City
10:00 AM- Huddersfield Town vs. Chelsea
10:00 AM- Fulham vs. Crystal Palace
12:30 PM- Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Everton
EPL Draftkings Forwards to Target
Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace $8,300
Zaha is my favorite forward of the slate with a fairly decent price. The back to back Crystal Palace Player of the Year award winner should be a player to be over the field on. He is pivotal to CP’s attack, scoring 5 goals in his last 6 matches to end last season. In his last 10 matches last season he averaged 2.3 shots and 2.3 crosses per game. Not to mention he drew 3 or more fouls in 4 out of those 10 matches. Zaha’s looked in form this preseason netting 4 goals. So if Crystal Palce looks to pull off an away underdog win, it might be behind his right foot. Also Fulhams defense looks to be fairly thin and potentially error prone. Denis Odoi, Alfie Mawsom, and Tim Ream are all not suiting up tomorrow.
Joshua King, Bournemouth $7,900
King is the striker I will have most exposure to on tomorrow’s slate simply because I think he’s going to net at least one goal. He doesn’t really rack up the peripherals, so I’d say he’s more of a GPP play. He looked to be in fantastic form this preseason scoring 4 goals. With Bournemouth being the biggest favorite behind Chelsea on tomorrow’s slate, it’s a prime matchup against a weak Cardiff side for King. After seeing his goal total cut in half from 16, 2 seasons ago to 8, last season, King will definitely look to pounce on this glorious opportunity to start his season off tallying one in the goal column.
Midfielders to Target
Ryan Fraser, Bournemouth $8,900
This pick is all about how the matchup dictates the price and I’m eating the price because the matchup is well worth it. Based off Vegas, Cardiff City are the favorites to get relegated this season at -150. Meaning they’re going to be really bad and if tomorrow’s any indication of that you are going to want exposure to Bournemouth’s primary set piece taker in Fraser. Stemming back to last season he averaged 13.8 FPPG in his final 7 matches with a staggering 9 crosses per game avg in that stretch. If Jordan Ibe doesn’t start, Fraser is a pure lock. But either way a great play nonetheless. Ryan Fraser also has a great FD/FC ratio evidenced by his 45 fouls drawn in 26 appearances while only conceding 6 fouls himself. Fraser is going to wreak havoc tomorrow.
Gylfi Sigurdsson, Everton $6,400
This is a fairly simple pick, when it comes to Soccer DFS you want to target set piece takers. At $6,400, Gylfi is a steal for the fact that he takes all set pieces for Everton while having forward/midfielder eligibility on Draftkings. This means he has a chance for double digit crosses and possibly a few free kick opportunities. In his last 5 matches to end the season, He averaged 13 FPPG which is more than 2x his value at his current price. Newly appointed manager Marco Silva also looks to implement new tactics, he’s expressed he’d like Gylfi in possibly more of a centralized midfielder role instead of playing up top on the left wing evidenced in an article by Phil Kirkbride in which he quotes Silva saying “Ok, he can play on the left and last season and with his previous clubs, he played many, many games on the left and that is one position he can play but for me it is clear he is a player to play on offensive midfield.” If this happens to be the case it’s possible this will further elevate Gylfi’s potential of peripherals drawing more fouls and winning tackles. Gylfi’s a workhorse, play him and move on.
EPL Draftkings Defenders to Target
Jose Holebas, Watford $6,200
Yes, Holebas is the most expensive defender on the slate and Yes, you should still be rostering him. The slate offers some real nice salary relief options especially with high priced players like Eden Hazard not suiting up, meaning paying up for the best and safest defender on the slate might prove to be highly optimal. Holebas has a relatively safe floor as he is involved in set pieces for Watford and likes to get forward and whip crosses in from the left wing evidenced by the 210 crosses he tallied last season. He’s not a threat to score but he does have upside for an assist in this match. One word of caution though, Holebas can be a yellow card magnet. But besides that minor detail have no fear to lock him in.
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Antonio Rudiger, Chelsea $3,800
If you’re rostering Holebas, it’s best to pair him with a cheap center back GPP punt. Meaning a CB who probably won’t do much in any of peripheral columns but has a chance to score a header off a set piece. Rudiger is that perfect type of player, in fact he scored a goal recently in that exact scenario in a preseason match against Arsenal. Also with Chelsea being the biggest favorite on tomorrow’s slate, the possibility for 3 fantasy points from a clean sheet is well in reach not to mention a lot of potential set pieces. Don’t expect much but fully expect to reap the benefits if one of Rudiger’s headers find the back of the net.
Goalkeeper to Target
Asmir Begovic, Bournemouth $5,300
GK is usually a toss up, you can either target an underdog GK who will face a lot of shots which might equate to save opportunities or you can target a GK of a heavy favorite and chase the Win and Clean sheet combo which equates to 10 fantasy points on Draftkings. Tomorrow I will be chasing the W/CS combo by picking Begovic up against a poor Cardiff side which has been discussed throughout this article. As of now Chelsea’s GK situation is a little cloudy even though Willy Cabalero looks poised to start since newly acquired Kepa Arrizabalaga seems to not be ready to suit up for the blues. But I’d rather take the discount and have Begovic over Caballero Bournemouth also sports a lackluster defense, meaning Begovic will have chances to rack up some hopefully easy saves.
Best of luck in your EPL DraftKings contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the latest DFS news and analysis!