This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (EDT)
10:00 a.m: Brazil v. Mexico
2:00 p.m: Belgium v. Japan
FORWARDS
Eden Hazard, BEL v. JPN ($10,100): Hazard has been nearly unstoppable during the World Cup, and while dominating Panama and Tunisia isn't something we need to base all of our decisions on, it's not like Japan are a significant roadblock. Hazard comes in with eight shots, including four on goal, and nine fouls drawn in two games, not to mention the two goals he bagged against Tunisia and the assist he picked up against Panama. He was held out of Belgium's final group stage game, leaving him fully rested to explode on Japan. Hazard has legitimate GPP upside, though if you want goals then you need to seriously consider Romelu Lukaku ($10,300), who bagged a brace in both games, though it's worth noting he only took five total shots. His floor is fully dependent on how many shots he can get off, but no one has better anytime goal scorer odds. And if you're considering Hazard and Lukaku then Dries Mertens ($8,900) is no doubt an option too, but he's just as goal dependent as Lukaku but with worse odds to score.
Neymar, BRA v. MEX ($11,200): Monday's slate is the total opposite of Sunday's in terms of viable forward-eligible players, particularly in terms of elite options. Neymar has been the most consistent fantasy player at the World Cup, scoring more points, not including goals and assists, than anyone else. His 16 shots and 17
MATCHES (EDT)
10:00 a.m: Brazil v. Mexico
2:00 p.m: Belgium v. Japan
FORWARDS
Eden Hazard, BEL v. JPN ($10,100): Hazard has been nearly unstoppable during the World Cup, and while dominating Panama and Tunisia isn't something we need to base all of our decisions on, it's not like Japan are a significant roadblock. Hazard comes in with eight shots, including four on goal, and nine fouls drawn in two games, not to mention the two goals he bagged against Tunisia and the assist he picked up against Panama. He was held out of Belgium's final group stage game, leaving him fully rested to explode on Japan. Hazard has legitimate GPP upside, though if you want goals then you need to seriously consider Romelu Lukaku ($10,300), who bagged a brace in both games, though it's worth noting he only took five total shots. His floor is fully dependent on how many shots he can get off, but no one has better anytime goal scorer odds. And if you're considering Hazard and Lukaku then Dries Mertens ($8,900) is no doubt an option too, but he's just as goal dependent as Lukaku but with worse odds to score.
Neymar, BRA v. MEX ($11,200): Monday's slate is the total opposite of Sunday's in terms of viable forward-eligible players, particularly in terms of elite options. Neymar has been the most consistent fantasy player at the World Cup, scoring more points, not including goals and assists, than anyone else. His 16 shots and 17 fouls drawn led the group stage, and his 21 crosses were the second-most. Given his role on set pieces and in the Brazil attack, his floor is about as safe as they come. The matchup against Mexico may be the toughest one he's faced so far, but he'll be the hardest fade on the slate. Trying to get enough value out of Philippe Coutinho ($8,700) and/or Willian ($6,600) is probably going to be not as fruitful, though they theoretically make sense with a Belgian attack stack. Willian really hasn't been doing enough in open play to warrant cash-game consideration, and his GPP upside isn't nearly as high as Neymar's or Coutinho's. If you want to look elsewhere for Brazil exposure then Gabriel Jesus ($7,600) would be a nice pivot.
Hirving Lozano, MEX v. BRA ($6,400): I think paying up at both forward spots is the optimal direction for Monday's slate, but if you want to avoid the two biggest favorites then you could consider Lozano or Carlos Vela ($5,600). Continuing the trend of targeting players who attack and draw fouls, Lozano has drawn 10 fouls and taken six shots in his last two games. However, the difficulty with Lozano is that Mexico could score on the counter and he might not be involved at all, with Vela (one goal on seven shots and five fouls drawn in his last two games) and Chicharito ($5,700) also around to poach those goals. Chicharito has the lowest floor of that group, though against Brazil I'm not sure Mexico will have enough of the ball to really pile on the peripheral points.
MIDFIELDERS
Kevin De Bruyne, BEL v. JPN ($8,300): De Bruyne was pretty disappointing in the two matches he played during the group stage, even with his assist against Panama, if only because the other Belgian attackers had better games. Those who want to fade De Bruyne point to the fact that he's been playing deeper in the midfield, taking him away from the goals and assists that guys like Lukaku, Hazard and Mertens are getting, but they're also ignoring the fact that De Bruyne created nine chances in the first two games, two more than those other three guys combined. He shares set pieces but is the clear distributor for an attack that could score multiple goals against an overmatched Japan side, but I understand why there would be some nervousness in selecting him.
Hector Herrera, MEX v. BRA ($3,800): Playing against Brazil won't be easy, but all the Mexican players have reduced salaries to make up for it. Brazil have hardly been inspiring during the World Cup, and while Mexico are coming off a rather humiliating loss to Sweden in their last group stage match, Herrera actually had his best attacking game, taking two shots (one on goal) and sending in five crosses while winning at least two tackles for the third straight game. Teammate Andres Guardado ($3,600) gets a little more attention because he takes a few corners, but Herrera has been the overall better fantasy contributor (and he's played 90 in all three games), which is why he costs a little more. There isn't as much upside with Herrera as opposed to Miguel Layun ($5,400) or Lozano, though their prices make them a bit tough for cash games with Brazil still expected to win. Paying down for Herrera or Guardado seems a bit safer than trying to target the Japan set pieces, with Gaku Shibasaki ($3,400) likely to take the few opportunities for Japan before Keisuke Honda ($5,600) comes on. Honda will get some people looking his way if he somehow makes the starting XI, but I'm struggling to see a lot of upside without a penalty against a much stronger Belgian team.
DEFENDERS
Toby Alderweireld, BEL v. JPN ($3,800): There could be plenty of clean-sheet hunting with the Belgium attackers, as all of their centerbacks are less than $4,000, with Vincent Kompany ($3,300) possibly coming in as the cheapest starter. It's certainly worth noting that the Belgian centerbacks have been pretty poor peripheral scorers, with Alderweireld scoring 2.25 and 4.50 floor points (fantasy points without goals, assists and clean sheets) in the first two games, respectively, and Jan Vertonghen ($3,900) finishing with 0.50 and 4.25 himself (both players were rested against England in the final group stage game). But the clean sheet bonus is always sitting there for the heavily favored side, so paying this little for a few points isn't out of the question. If you want a more attacking player, Thomas Meunier ($5,600) is that guy for Belgium, but he's failed to get much going in Russia and that price might be better spent on other positions.
Thiago Silva, BRA v. MEX ($4,100): Paying up for Marcelo ($6,000) is always a possibility when he's on the slate, except he is not expected to start and Filipe Luis ($5,200) isn't nearly the same level of attacker. Whoever starts at right-back -- Danilo ($4,900) or Fagner ($4,500) -- doesn't do enough in the attack to warrant paying that much when you can just pay down for Silva or even Joao Miranda ($3,400), who have the same clean sheet equity and even become targets on set pieces. Clean-sheet chasing hasn't been easy during the World Cup, but at least we don't have to pay that much when we want to spend up elsewhere. You can always get a random goal from an underdog defender from Mexico or Japan, but I'd rather try to focus on the Brazilians and Belgians.
GOALKEEPER
Thibaut Courtois, BEL v. JPN ($5,800): Anyone who paid up for David de Gea on Sunday will cringe at the idea of paying up for Courtois on Monday, but Belgium are even bigger favorites against a Japan side that qualified for the knockout round after having the worst odds before the tournament to get out of Group G. In fact, they got progressively worse in their three matches, beating Colombia 2-1 in their opener after being up a man for 87 minutes, drawing 2-2 with Senegal and then losing 1-0 to Poland. Meanwhile, Belgium blew through Group H, with Courtois posting two clean sheets while making six saves. The save upside is probably small Monday, but he has a great opportunity at the win and clean sheet, and those 10 points could go a long way at this salary range.
