This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (ET)
- 10:00 am: Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa
- 10:00 am: Everton vs. Nottingham Forest
- 10:00 am: Fulham vs. Brentford
- 10:00 am: Leicester City vs. Southampton
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS
Saturday's four-game slate is different than the previous two Saturday ones in that there aren't any massive favorites and no team has an implied goal total above two. Leicester City at home against Southampton are the biggest favorite and they have a 1.83 implied total. Jamie Vardy ($8,500) has the top goalscoring odds at -120. It's a decent matchup for Leicester but far from a must-target spot. With lowish totals across the board, the likelihood of fewer goals would make floor points more important.
Eberechi Eze, CRY vs. AVL ($7,600): After starting the season with matches against Arsenal and Liverpool, Crystal Palace should be able to express themselves a bit more at home against Aston Villa. Eze has been taking the majority of set pieces and he should have more opportunities to create chances than in previous weeks. Wilfried Zaha ($8,900) is the most expensive forward on the slate and he'll be less popular than he should be in GPPs, in part because there are cheaper options with better odds to score. Aleksandar Mitrovic ($8,000) has been scoring goals for fun over the past year (43 in Championship last season). It remains to be seen if he'll have similar success in the Premier League, but his +115 goalscoring odds are second best on the slate, as Fulham have a favorable matchup home against Brentford.
Anthony Gordon, EVE vs. NFO ($7,400): Everton have a favorable matchup at home against Nottingham Forest. They have an implied total above 1.5 and Gordon has the best goalscoring odds on the team. Even if he doesn't take any set pieces, he's their most valuable player and he's played 90 minutes in consecutive games to begin the season. Dwight McNeil ($7,900) has been splitting corners but hasn't played longer than 64 minutes through two matches, which rules him out of cash-game consideration for me.
There are expensive midfielders worth paying for which makes it viable to spend all the way down at forward even though the options aren't great. Odsonne Edouard ($4,400) has better goalscoring odds than Zaha, which is surprising considering Edouard is not nearly as good and he's surely to get subbed early. Nevertheless, he's cheap and would start in the No. 9 role at home against Villa. Bobby Decordova-Reid ($5,200) has the highest floor in this range, as he's played 89 minutes in both matches and Fulham are home favorites. Joe Aribo ($4,200) came off the bench and scored last weekend. Southampton are big underdogs, but Leicester's defense has been shaky so don't mind taking a chance on Aribo in GPPs.
MIDFIELDERS
James Maddison, LEI vs. SOU ($10,200): Leicester having the highest implied goal total at home against Southampton means that Maddison has a higher floor and ceiling than any player on the slate. He had 12 floor points against Arsenal last weekend and 16 against Brentford the week before. I'd consider him a lock for cash games and a fantastic tournament option, as well. On the opposite side of that matchup, James Ward-Prowse ($8,700) offers a similar floor to that of Maddison, but his upside is more dependent on converting a penalty kick/free kick. Playing them together is certainly viable, but Maddison would be my priority if only spending up for one. John McGinn ($7,700) leads Aston Villa in set pieces through two games and he's also taken five shots in that span. He pretty much always plays 90 minutes and that combined with those numbers makes him a decent option in all formats on a slate like this.
Demarai Gray, EVE vs. NFO ($6,700): Gray led Everton in set pieces the first two matches while playing at least 81 minutes in each. Saturday's matchup at home against Nottingham Forest is one of the better spots Everton will have all season. Gray is cheaper and his role in the front three gives him more attacking upside than the likes of Ward-Prowse and McGinn.
Rostering three midfielders seems like the optimal cash-game construction to me. Andreas Pereira ($5,000) has played at least 86 minutes in consecutive games and leads Fulham in set pieces. The cheap salary and favorable home matchup makes him a logical choice. On the other side of that game, Mathias Jensen ($5,800) leads Brentford in set pieces and he's coming off a goal and assist in their destruction of Manchester United on Sunday. He almost always gets subbed early and hasn't lasted longer than 74 minutes in two matches, however. Looking elsewhere, it's weird to see Youri Tielemans ($4,300) priced so low. Only 63 minutes against Arsenal last weekend and concerns over his future should give pause, but he's still viable in GPPs considering Leicester have the highest implied total.
DEFENDERS
Neco Williams, NFO at EVE ($5,700): Williams was everywhere for Forest against West Ham on Sunday. He finished with nine crosses and four shots as he took corners and got forward often from right wing-back. Lucas Digne ($6,800) is expensive and he lost out on corners to McGinn last weekend. Even if I knew Digne was taking corners, I'd still prefer Williams.
James Justin, LEI vs. SOU ($4,200): I chose Justin simply because he's cheaper, but Antonee Robinson ($4,500) and Nathan Patterson ($4,400) are similar options as full-backs playing for home favorites. I'd take any of the three over Digne from a point-per-dollar standpoint. After Williams, there isn't much that stands out which makes punting a center-back more viable than usual if you'd rather go that route.
GOALKEEPERS
Jordan Pickford, EVE vs. NFO ($5,400): Everton have the best clean sheet odds at roughly 37 percent and they're significantly better than Leicester's which has me preferring Pickford if I'm spending up, but goalkeeper shouldn't be a priority on this slate. All these teams are mediocre and the matchups are unpredictable, especially this early in the season. Correlation should be the most important factor when deciding who to roster in tournaments.
