Women's World Cup: Saturday DFS Breakdown

Women's World Cup: Saturday DFS Breakdown

This article is part of our Daily Fantasy Soccer Cheat Sheet series.

Saturday's two-game slate includes one very big favorite, as Germany are -750 to win on FanDuel Sportsbook against Nigeria (+1500), while Australia is a +110 favorite to beat Norway(+220).

Germany could have superstar Dzsenifer Marozsan back from a broken toe, though it's more likely they save her for the quarter-final, which is nearly a week after Saturday's match. Marozsan is a huge part of the German attack, including a significant role on set pieces, but the team still managed to win their last two group-stage matches without her. On the other hand, Nigeria will be missing two regular starters, with defender Ngozi Ebere suspended after being sent off against France on Monday and Rita Chikwelu suspended after getting a yellow card in each of the past two matches. Ebere took five corners in their opening match against Norway and then one against France, while Chikwelu played 90 minutes in all three games and got most of her fantasy value from winning tackles and drawing fouls. Additionally, attacker Asisat Oshoala, who has scored their only goal in the tournament (the other was a South Korea own goal) was subbed off in the 85th minute against France because of an ankle knock, though she participated in Friday's training session and should play.

Germany's set-piece situation has been pretty fluid, as Lina Magull took four corners in the group stage finale against South Africa while defender Verena Schweers took two. Magull's spot in the starting XI is hardly secure, but she should

Saturday's two-game slate includes one very big favorite, as Germany are -750 to win on FanDuel Sportsbook against Nigeria (+1500), while Australia is a +110 favorite to beat Norway(+220).

Germany could have superstar Dzsenifer Marozsan back from a broken toe, though it's more likely they save her for the quarter-final, which is nearly a week after Saturday's match. Marozsan is a huge part of the German attack, including a significant role on set pieces, but the team still managed to win their last two group-stage matches without her. On the other hand, Nigeria will be missing two regular starters, with defender Ngozi Ebere suspended after being sent off against France on Monday and Rita Chikwelu suspended after getting a yellow card in each of the past two matches. Ebere took five corners in their opening match against Norway and then one against France, while Chikwelu played 90 minutes in all three games and got most of her fantasy value from winning tackles and drawing fouls. Additionally, attacker Asisat Oshoala, who has scored their only goal in the tournament (the other was a South Korea own goal) was subbed off in the 85th minute against France because of an ankle knock, though she participated in Friday's training session and should play.

Germany's set-piece situation has been pretty fluid, as Lina Magull took four corners in the group stage finale against South Africa while defender Verena Schweers took two. Magull's spot in the starting XI is hardly secure, but she should get plenty of consideration on DraftKings, even at $7,700, if she does because of the set pieces, while $14 on FanDuel isn't bad either, especially because they are such big favorites. Meanwhile, Lena Goessling took one against Spain (Magull had one off the bench) and Marozsan (six) and Carolin Simon (two) shared against China in the opener, though Simon hasn't started since after suffering an injury and coming off at halftime. Then again, she played 45 against South Africa and could make her way back into the starting XI on Saturday. If she does get the call at left-back, Schweers likely heads back to the bench. Don't think you're getting any kind of discount on Simon, however, as she's the most expensive defender on DraftKings.

Alexandra Popp finally paid off against South Africa, scoring her first goal of the tournament on five shots (three on goal), but she continues to do little else in terms of a floor. On the plus side, her -175 odds to score on FanDuel Sportsbook are the best on the slate, with Svenja Huth (+135), Giulia Gwinn (+140), Sara Dabritz (+210) and Magull (+250) well behind her. While she hasn't had a role on set pieces, Dabritz has been Germany's most prolific shot-taker, ripping off 15 in three matches, including seven on target and two goals. Given Popp's struggles up front, it's certainly not crazy to consider Germany's goal upside with Dabritz instead of Popp.

If you want to consider Nigeria because of low ownership in GPPs, Oshoala has their best anytime goal scorer odds, except they're +460. With Ebere suspended, Ngozi Okobi could be on corners, but you can't go into the match expecting them to win that many. In all likelihood, Nigeria will sit back and try to surprise Germany on the counter, a strategy that really doesn't lend itself to a ton of fantasy points on DraftKings. However, it does work on FanDuel, so targeting someone like Halimatu Ayinde for her tackles and interceptions isn't a terrible idea at an $8 salary, while defenders Osinachi Ohale ($10), Chidinma Okeke ($12) and Onome Ebi ($12) should get plenty of defensive opportunities.

The Norway v. Australia match isn't expected to be as high scoring, as the over 2.5 goals is at -154 whereas the Germany match is -198, but the odds of both teams scoring at least one goal is -180 as opposed to +138 for Germany and Nigeria. The good news for Norway is that Caroline Graham Hansen is expected to play after leaving their final group stage match with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury suffered while drawing a penalty. Graham Hansen actually scored from the penalty spot earlier in the match, but she had to be subbed off because of the injury, which allowed Isabell Herlovsen to convert her attempt. Herlovsen has the second-best odds to score for Norway at +170, while Lisa-Marie Utland, who scored in their opening match against Nigeria on her lone shot, leads the team at +165, with Graham Hansen at +230. The corner-taking duties have been pretty evenly split between Graham Larsen and Guro Reiten (+320 to score), and while Norway is an underdog Saturday, they're facing an Australia team that really doesn't prioritizing defending. And speaking of defense, the Norwegian defenders are actually pretty cheap, though manager Martin Sjogren said during a press conference Friday that they are going to focus on limiting Australia's crossing in an effort to keep the ball away from star goal-scorer Samantha Kerr.

That plan seems like a pretty obvious one, as Kerr comes in after scoring four goals on nine shots (seven on target) in a 4-1 win over Jamaica, a result that helped Kerr become the most expensive player on both DraftKings ($9,600) and FanDuel ($22). Her +105 odds to score are the best in the game, and trail only Popp on the slate, and she goes into the match tied with the United States' Alex Morgan in the Golden Boot race with five goals. While she's pricey, Kerr certainly figures to be very highly owned in cash games and GPPs simply because of her shot floor and excellent upside. Caitlin Foord, who did not start the Jamaica match, is +175 to score, while Emily Gielnik, who had 15 crosses and an assist on four chances created against the Jamaicans, is +240. Gielnik and Emily van Egmond shared corners against Jamaica, while Elise Kellond-Knight took some against Brazil with van Egmond, which was preceded by Steph Catley and Chloe Logarzo sharing the first match. Gielnik's high finish in their last match could get some attention, but you're likely playing her instead of Kerr in cash games, as stacking Australia when the Germans are such big favorites seems suboptimal. van Egmond is a reasonable $5,900 on DraftKings, but she also scored 5.0, 5.0 and 6.5 fantasy points in three games, respectively, which are okay-but-not-great returns on that price. Ellie Carpenter is the second-most expensive defender on DraftKings, though it's tough to see her moving up enough in a close match to have double-digit crosses, but you're still probably more likely to consider Australian defenders than Nigerian. In fact, the possible return of Clare Polkinghorne to the starting XI could allow Catley to move back out wide, which would be great for a $3,600 price on DraftKings.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew M. Laird
Andrew M. Laird, the 2017 and 2018 FSWA Soccer Writer of the Year, is RotoWire's Head of DFS Content and Senior Soccer Editor. He is a nine-time FSWA award finalist, including twice for Football Writer of the Year.
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