This article is part of our Starting Eleven series.
MATCHES (EDT)
7 a.m: Watford v. Leicester
9:05 a.m: Fulham v. Chelsea
11:15 a.m: Everton v. Liverpool
FORWARDS
Sunday's slate is a bit weird for fantasy purposes in that anything could happen. Liverpool are favored in the Merseyside derby, but the first meeting ended 1-1 and the Reds were actually playing well at the time. Even Chelsea aren't a guarantee to win, while Watford-Leicester is anyone's guess. Eden Hazard still may be the best forward and it only helps that he's on the biggest favorite. He also happens to have one of the best floors as long as he plays more than the 60 minutes he had against Tottenham on Wednesday. When he plays close to a full 90, at least 10 fantasy points is a good bet and then you throw in that he has the second-best odds to score. I prefer him over Gonzalo Higuain, who has better odds to find the back of the net, though has a floor of about five points. Pedro and Willian are also more desirable than Higuain, though playing time could be a question for both.
On the other side, Aleksandar Mitrovic probably has a better floor than everyone but Hazard since he's always guaranteed for 90, but also rarely gets less than two shots in a match. Per usual, a lot of people will turn to Mohamed Salah because of name, but in the last few months, he's only had one solid fantasy performance on the road and that came at Brighton. As for Sadio Mane, he's scored in five of his last six league starts, but also has held a better floor with more defensive activity. I probably wouldn't consider anyone from Everton since Richarlison is goal-or-bust these days.
The upside play would be to ride with Troy Deeney and Gerard Deulofeu and hope they repeat what they did a couple matches ago. Sure, neither has a floor, but Leicester have allowed eight goals in their last three road trips and Watford will surely grab one or two. As for Jamie Vardy, use him at your own risk. He scored last match, but he's also had floors below six fantasy points in three of his last five starts.
MIDFIELDERS
It's a different situation in the midfield because there isn't much upside to be had unless you think Gylfi Sigurdsson will do something against Liverpool. The best bet is to hope James Maddison racks up corners and chances, but his production has been all over the place and he'll be harder to trust on the road. While he's consistent with crosses, he had nine shots against Crystal Palace, yet none against Brighton.
Fabinho is the safest route, as he's been excellent with at least 16 fantasy points in the last four matches, helped by at least 50 completed passes in each. In another difficult match, the defensive stats will also be there to reach close to 20 points. James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum aren't far behind and have held floors around 15 points, but both are inconsistent. It may be easier to go with N'Golo Kante or Jorginho as both are almost locks to hit at least 10 points. Kante has been better lately, but Jorginho had a floor of 18 points last match due to four tackles won and four interceptions.
If you prefer the defensive variety, Idrissa Gueye has hit 20 points in each of the last two matches, while Wilfred Ndidi and Etienne Capoue are the best choices from their squads. Prior to the Liverpool contest, Capoue had 15 fantasy points in three consecutive matches, helped by completing more passes in addition to defensive stats. Youri Tielemans is in the discussion and has at least 9.6 points in all of his three starts, though he only reached 9.6 last match because of an assist.
DEFENDERS AND GOALKEEPERS
For defender, mostly look at Liverpool and Chelsea as the biggest favorites on the slate in addition to already having players with solid floors. The Everton guys can be good, but it's hard to trust them against Liverpool. As for Leicester, Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell can reach floors around 15 points, but both have lacked consistency. The same goes for Watford, though Adrian Mariappa could reach a floor of 10 points.
Either way, it'll be easier to trust David Luiz, who could reach a floor of 10 points from passes alone, or bank on Cesar Azpilicueta or Marcos Alonso getting forward against Fulham. Alonso may be the best pick with at least 15 fantasy points in five of the last six matches in which he's finished. He had six crosses in the first meeting and should be near that number again. The Liverpool defenders have all been slightly more consistent since they complete a ton of passes. Trent Alexander-Arnold had two assists last match, but he oddly may have the worst floor of the bunch. Virgil Van Dijk has at least 16 fantasy points in his last three starts and Joel Matip has at least 15 in seven of his last eight. If you still want some upside on the flank, Andrew Robertson has been safer than Alexander-Arnold, completing about 10 more passes per match.
Goalkeeper isn't an easy selection unless you think Chelsea's starter makes a few saves on the road. Otherwise, Alisson will be popular with the hopes of a 1-0 win or scoreless draw against Everton. That game is far from a guarantee for the Reds, though. Ben Foster could be the safer play since he's making a ton of saves and has at least 10 fantasy points in his last six starts not against Liverpool or Tottenham.
