DraftKings Fantasy Soccer: Brondby IF v. SonderjyskE Showdown Preview

DraftKings Fantasy Soccer: Brondby IF v. SonderjyskE Showdown Preview

This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.

Tuesday's epic Danish SuperLiga matchup gives us fifth-placed Brondby IF (-139 on DraftKings Sportsbook) against 11th-placed SonderjyskE (+350). The home side comes in as the second-highest scoring team in the league, finding the back of the net 44 times in 24 matches, though they've allowed 34. Meanwhile, SonderjyskE have struggled in attack, scoring just 29 times while allowing 41 (the fourth-most in the league) in their 24 games. Despite a clear favorite, goals aren't really expected, with the over 2.5 goals sitting at +220 versus -305 for the under, unsurprisingly favoring Brondby, who is -150 to score more than 1.5 goals while SonderjyskE is +215 for the same.

Those who spent time combing through FBRef.com will quickly notice that some key players on the stat table are missing from the DraftKings player pool, including Brondby's leading goal scorer Kamil Wilczek, who signed with Goztepe of the Turkish Super Lig in January, and leading crosser Dominik Kaiser, who signed with 2.Bundesliga side Hannover 96 that same month. Additionally, SonderjyskE's second-leading crosser, Marco Rojas, now plays for Melbourne Victory in Australia. But that won't get us down ahead of a match between two teams that don't really shoot much, don't send in a plethora of crosses nor score a ton of goals!

Samuel Mraz ($11,200) is the most expensive player on the slate after scoring four goals in six starts this season, including a goal in two of his past three games. Granted, these games were back in February and March, but

Tuesday's epic Danish SuperLiga matchup gives us fifth-placed Brondby IF (-139 on DraftKings Sportsbook) against 11th-placed SonderjyskE (+350). The home side comes in as the second-highest scoring team in the league, finding the back of the net 44 times in 24 matches, though they've allowed 34. Meanwhile, SonderjyskE have struggled in attack, scoring just 29 times while allowing 41 (the fourth-most in the league) in their 24 games. Despite a clear favorite, goals aren't really expected, with the over 2.5 goals sitting at +220 versus -305 for the under, unsurprisingly favoring Brondby, who is -150 to score more than 1.5 goals while SonderjyskE is +215 for the same.

Those who spent time combing through FBRef.com will quickly notice that some key players on the stat table are missing from the DraftKings player pool, including Brondby's leading goal scorer Kamil Wilczek, who signed with Goztepe of the Turkish Super Lig in January, and leading crosser Dominik Kaiser, who signed with 2.Bundesliga side Hannover 96 that same month. Additionally, SonderjyskE's second-leading crosser, Marco Rojas, now plays for Melbourne Victory in Australia. But that won't get us down ahead of a match between two teams that don't really shoot much, don't send in a plethora of crosses nor score a ton of goals!

Samuel Mraz ($11,200) is the most expensive player on the slate after scoring four goals in six starts this season, including a goal in two of his past three games. Granted, these games were back in February and March, but goals are goals (he also had an assist in the game he didn't have a goal in). Mraz's +145 odds to score are the best in the game, and you better get a goal if you want him to come close to paying off that price. Instead, most people will likely be paying up for Simon Hedlund ($10,200), who is not only +155 to score but also the team-leader (excluding Wilczek and Kaiser) in shots, shots on goal and crosses, and he's likely to be a popular captain pick because he takes corners. It doesn't make it easy getting other higher-priced players because of how much salary cap space a Hedlund captain takes up, but a set-piece taker for a home favorite is usually enough for some people.

Hedlund only started one of their three club friendlies in the lead up to the league restart, and if we somehow get a start from Jesper Lindstrom ($3,800), he is likely to be extremely popular because of his low price and the fact that he successfully converted a penalty in their most recent friendly. Then again, he's unlikely to start, so cheap access to the Brondby attack is far from guaranteed. The wing options to choose from are Kevin Mensah ($7,400) and Jens Martin Gammelby ($7,000), who are likely to start as wing-backs in a 3-5-2-. Neither player has an overly reliable floor, with Mensah only slightly more attractive because he draws more fouls in addition to their respective scattering of crosses and tackles won. If anything, they at least provide some potential attacking upside that we likely won't see from central midfielder Josip Radosevic ($7,200), who leads the team in tackles won and is third among players still on the team in shots and interceptions. If you're going to go that route, just go with Anis Ben Slimane ($5,600) because of the salary savings.

Then again, the key guy might actually be Lasse Vigen Christensen ($4,600), a central midfielder who has taken a few corners this season, enough so that he's surely to be popular because of his price and even potential at some dead balls for a favored home side. The team as a whole really doesn't have many great floor options, so combining Hedlund and Christensen should be a solid foundation for cash games, potentially allowing you to spend more on SonderjyskE players even though they are underdogs.

You're going to have to go against the odds if you think SonderjyskE win, but they have the players to back it up if you're going that way. Alexander Bah ($9,800) will be one of the first players considered because of his well-rounded production, though his salary is a lot to pay given they're such big underdogs. And if there's a bigger knock against Bah it's that he hasn't scored a goal this season on his 20 shots. Instead, fantasy players could turn to Mads Albaek ($8,200), who could be on corners, a role that makes him the most prolific crosser in the game. That sounds like a lot, but further investigation shows he's sent in 73 crosses in 1,575 minutes, equating to 4.17 per 90 minutes, which isn't bad but also isn't great for a guy who is a +350 underdog.

Anders Jacobsen ($8,600) could lead the line, and he comes in with a team-high seven goals while his 37 shots are the most for active SonderjyskE players. Jacobsen is pretty goal-or-bust, and relying on a guy like that for a team not really expected to score sounds like a pure GPP option to me. If anything, you're better off targeting Johan Absalonsen ($7,600), who has a decent floor from the left wing and took a penalty in their most recent SuperLiga game. In the event SonderjyskE make some noise, at least Absalonsen doesn't break the bank as much. Based on the odds, it wouldn't be surprising if 4:2 rosters were the most popular, and it doesn't seem ideal to spend up on the two underdog spots because it limits who you can play from the team you actually want to stack.

Then again we might get a cheap fullback, as regular right-back Jeppe Simonsen is out with a broken ankle. One unfortunate option would be Stefan Gartenmann ($6,000), who is normally a center-back but has apparently impressed enough at right-back that he could play there, according to Der Nordschleswiger. If he doesn't get the call then it could be Nicolas Marfelt ($3,200), who certainly fits the bill as "cheap." He's a decent crosser when he gets the minutes, though you have to imagine he's not going to be moving up a ton in this one; then again, at $3,200 does it even matter?

Finally, Brondby goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe ($8,000) is the eighth-most expensive player on the slate, and not every player above him will start. His last four games are perfect examples of the variance of the position, as he scored 14.3, 0.5, 19.7 and minus-3.3. He certainly has the win and clean sheet odds in his favor, but the save upside presumably makes SonderjyskE's Sebastian Mielitz ($4,800) an option. Then again, one look at his game log makes you realize how much fire you're playing with, as his last 10 scores look like this: 7.2, minus-1.6, minus-1.7, minus-5.7, 4.4, 2.3, 5.8, minus-1.6, minus-3.7 and 0.3. Woof.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew M. Laird
Andrew is a former RotoWire contributor. He was the 2017 and 2018 FSWA Soccer Writer of the Year. He is a nine-time FSWA award finalist, including twice for Football Writer of the Year.
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