This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (ET)
- 10:00 am: Arsenal vs. Everton
- 10:00 am: Liverpool vs. Fulham
- 10:00 am: Newcastle United vs. Leicester City
- 10:00 am: Wolverhampton vs. Ipswich Town
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS
Bukayo Saka ($10,400, ARS vs. EVE): According to the DFS Trends tool, Saka is tallying 14.5 DraftKings floor points per appearance this season, second most in the Premier League. Saka comes into a strong home matchup against Everton with near even money goalscoring odds. He has the best floor, and he can easily achieve a ceiling to pay off his price. There are a few compelling expensive forward options, but Saka stands out as the clear best option.
Anthony Gordon ($9,500, NEW vs. LEI): Leicester have proven to be a team to target in DFS this season. The Foxes have conceded 18 shots per game on the road, second worst in the Premier League. I expect Gordon to play a partial role on set pieces for Newcastle, and his anytime goalscoring odds of +125 are solid. The only knock on Gordon's outlook is that he's not a lock for 90 minutes. He's been subbed early in his last five starts, though he may be ready to play more minutes after a full week of rest.
Matheus Cunha ($9,400, WOL vs. IPS): Wolves haven't been a strong team for producing floor points this season, but they have a good home matchup against Ipswich Town. Cunha profiles like a strong bet to get at least 10 floor points, and he'll have a majority role on set pieces and penalties. Still, Gordon's matchup is better and Wolves are a very game-script dependent team. There is also high risk that Wolves shift to a conservative approach should they get an early lead.
Jack Clarke ($4,800, IPS at WOL): Clarke would do well to play 75 minutes this weekend, but he's quite cheap, and it's important to find some salary savings on this slate. Leif Davis has not been taking a monopoly role on set pieces lately, and Clarke has taken some right-footed sets, including his most recent start. He profiles as a boring but solid cash-game option.
GPPs should be interesting with goal-dependent center forwards competing in a similar price range to set-piece-taking attackers. Options like Alexander Isak ($9,800) and Mohamed Salah ($11,000) likely need more than just a goal to be in the winning lineup in large-field GPPs.
I don't really care for most of the cheaper forwards on this slate (cough Jamie Vardy *cough*), but I'm intrigued by the low price tags on Ipswich forwards. I already pointed out Clarke, and Liam Delap ($5,500) and Omari Hutchinson ($5,400) are fine tournament plays. If you play two Ipswich pieces, you can afford Cunha as a bring-back and an additional expensive piece like Salah. I don't mind this as a tournament gambit.
MIDFIELDERS
The prices on Martin Odegaard ($8,000) and Declan Rice ($7,600) are a bit rich despite a good matchup, and I think that the high-priced forwards and defenders are more of a priority Saturday. Unfortunately, there aren't that many clear picks at the position.
Facundo Buonanotte (LEI at NEW, $6,700): My personal projections have Buonanotte as a solid value at $6,700. I found this odd initially, especially with Leicester projected as big underdogs. I looked back at Newcastle's home matchup against West Ham (that's right, RotoWire has every game log) where Newcastle were similarly high home favorites. West Ham aren't known as a possession team, but they managed 15 crosses and eight shots assisted en route to a 2-0 victory. Newcastle haven't been a particularly impressive defensive team this season, so I think Leicester players are capable of putting up floor points in this matchup. Buonanotte will be on a share of set pieces, should play at least 80 minutes, and is scoring 10.4 floor points per 90 minutes. I think that's enough to pay off this price.
Another reason to consider Buonanotte is due to the weakness of the midfield position. Bilal El Khannouss ($4,600) is an early-sub risk but should be on a split of set pieces. Sandro Tonali ($4,200) could be on set pieces, but it's worth playing cheap Newcastle pieces against Leicester. Curtis Jones ($5,400) and Dominik Szoboszlai ($5,900) are in a matchup where Liverpool are favored, but Fulham are not a pushover and both are unreliable.
Given the lack of options, it might be best to simply maximize salary savings. Kasey McAteer ($3,600) should play around 70 minutes as an attacking player for Leicester and I'd happily take six points from McAteer in cash games at his price.
DEFENDERS
Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV vs. FUL, $6,800): It appears that Alexander-Arnold has recovered from his injury, and he played 90 minutes midweek in Champions League play. While he hasn't been as offensive under manager Arne Slot, he's still shooting 1.2 times and assisting 2.3 shots per 90 minutes this season. With a share of set pieces, he's a good cash-game option.
Lewis Hall ($6,600) is priced similarly to Alexander-Arnold, and I think both are similar plays. I prefer Alexander-Arnold for his goal and assist upside, but Hall has been reliably scoring floor points for the past month, and Leicester City is a matchup worth targeting.
Leif Davis (IPS at WOL, $5,400): Davis profiles as a solid option, and it's helpful that he is more than $1,000 cheaper than Hall and Alexander-Arnold. I think the days of Davis being a set-piece monopolist are over, as Samuel Szmodics and Jack Clarke have taken right-footed sets the past two weeks. My personal projections are giving a mediocre 5.1 open-play floor points to Davis. He's a good play, but I don't think he's a must.
It might be worth playing all three of the defenders above and punting midfield entirely. That said, there are a couple cheaper defenders worth considering. James Justin ($3,800) looks like a good GPP option. He has goal and assist upside and reliably delivers a six-point floor. Matt Doherty ($4,700) is a bit more expensive but has been playing 90 minutes recently and scored a goal Monday at West Ham.
GOALKEEPER
David Raya (ARS vs. EVE, $5,900): Everton have struggled to score this season, and Arsenal have only conceded one goal in their last three matches. Raya feels like a safe spend-up option at goalkeeper, which means that if I play him in cash games Arsenal will concede a goal in the seventh minute.
I think Wolves are bad and Ipswich are a bit better than their record would indicate. There probably shouldn't be a $1,100 gap between Arijanet Muric ($4,100) and Sam Johnstone ($5,200). Muric is only $400 more than the cheapest option, Mads Hermansen ($3,700), and Ipswich have significantly better win odds than the other underdogs. Muric is likely to be a popular cash-game choice for this reason.
