This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (EDT)
7:30 a.m: Stoke City v. Manchester City
10:00 a.m: Tottenham v. Crystal Palace
10:00 a.m: Watford v. Chelsea
10:00 a.m: West Brom v. Everton
10:00 a.m: Swansea City v. Hull City
10:00 a.m: Burnley v. Liverpool
12:30 p.m: Leicester City v. Arsenal
ODDS REPORT
EXPECTED CORNER TAKERS
Stoke City: Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan
Manchester City: Kevin De Bruyne, Jesus Navas, David Silva
Burnley: David Jones, Johann Berg Gudmundsson
Liverpool: Jordan Henderson
Swansea: Gylfi Sigurdsson, Wayne Routledge
Hull: Robert Snodgrass
Tottenham: Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela
Crystal Palace: Yohan Cabaye, Jason Puncheon
Watford: Jose Holebas, Etienne Capoue
Chelsea: Willian
West Bromwich Albion: Craig Gardner, James McClean
Everton: Kevin Mirallas
Leicester: Riyad Mahrez, Demarai Gray
Arsenal: Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott
PLAYER RECOMMENDATIONS
GOALKEEPER
Ben Foster, WBA vs. EVE ($4,600): Everton's first game featured a starting lineup without a true striker, as Romelu Lukaku as unavailable due to a heel injury. Tracking Lukaku's status for this weekend's fixture will be critical, as he is Everton's most efficient finisher. If he starts, I'd be more hesitant to use Foster. Nevertheless, he was the top fantasy keeper last weekend, making four saves on his way to keeping Crystal Palace scoreless in massive away win for West Brom. The Baggies' attack is poor, but the defense has been competent with Foster between the sticks, and they could pull off a massive result as they host Everton, who are only slight favorites.
Eldin Jakupovic, HUL at SWA ($4,300): It was at home and they travel to Wales to play Swansea on Saturday, but Hull City beat Leicester this past weekend! Maybe the Leicester magic has worn off and they aren't a top club anymore, but I'm giving Hull City and Jakupovic the benefit of doubt and full credit for a huge victory in their first Premier League match since the 2014/15 season. Jakupovic made four saves Saturday with Leicester's only goal coming via penalty. Swansea started Fernando Llorente up front last weekend, while Borja Baston could get the call this weekend. Regardless of who gets the start, neither has much experience with their team or the Premier League. Considering Swansea ranked 16th in goals scored last season, neither attacker will instill a lot of fear into opposing defenses early this season. Swansea will likely have Gylfi Sigurdsson back in the starting lineup this weekend, but the match figures to be low scoring, which plays well for Jakupovic.
DEFENDER
Kyle Naughton, SWA vs. HUL ($3,500): After buying in on Naughton last week at $3,300, I'll gladly buy right back this week for just $200 more. Of the games this week, this one figures to be the least likely to provide a number of goals. Hence, at such a low price, the three-point clean sheet bonus becomes all the more meaningful. In addition to the clean sheet against Burnley last Saturday, Naughton had four crosses, two tackles and three interceptions. Whoever starts on the left between Neil Taylor ($3,400) and Stephen Kingsley ($3,100) will be a solid discount option as well.
Juan Zuniga, WAT at CHE ($3,900) or Jose Holebas, WAT at CHE ($3,500): Coming into the season, I would've told you Zuniga would be the top left wingback with Holebas the backup. Being transferred to the squad fairly recently, it wasn't surprising to see Holebas get the start with Zuniga coming off the bench in the first game of the season. But, when Zuniga came on in the 72nd minute, it was not at the cost of Holebas, who stayed in for the entire game. With Watford playing three center backs, their fullbacks will be more offensively active than most fullbacks throughout the league. In addition to his lone corner he took last week, Holebas had five crosses from open play, one shot and one key pass. Zuniga is more talented than Holebas, and with the start – even against a much more talented Chelsea side – could rack up even more counting fantasy stats.
MIDFIELDER
Willian, CHE vs. WAT ($8,300): Watford allowed the second-most crosses per game last season, and they gave up 31 to Southampton last weekend. On Monday, Willian sent in 13 crosses, including seven from open play, against West Ham, who allowed nearly 3.5 fewer crosses per game than Watford last season. Willian takes many of Chelsea's free kicks to bolster his shots and goal potential, and he had six assists last season. If crosses didn't count, I would be writing up Eden Hazard ($7,800) here; forget whatever last season was, Hazard is back and is a legitimate contender for double-digit goals and assists.
Andros Townsend, CRY at TOT ($6,700): Without any goals or assists, Townsend scored 22.75 fantasy points last weekend in a loss to West Brom. If that's any indication of what's to come, Townsend will be a hub for fantasy goodness this season. He contributed six shots, two key passes, two dribbles, two fouls drawn, six tackles, three interceptions and nine crosses. To be fair, Crystal Palace had 62.0 percent of the possession against West Brom, and that likely won't be the case traveling to face Tottenham. If Tottenham had 57.5 percent of the possession at Everton, they'll probably have over 60 percent against Palace. I was already of the opinion that Townsend could end up being Palace's primary attacking outlet this season, but with the transfer of Yannick Bolasie to Everton, I only feel even more confident in that assessment.
Robert Snodgrass, HUL at SWA ($6,300): With the go-ahead goal in the 56th minute, Snodgrass was the MVP of Hull's upset victory over Leicester. He shows up everywhere on the stat sheet and will stand as a very valuable fantasy asset this season. Combining his corner-taking duty with his play in the open field, Snodgrass delivered seven crosses while also adding five shots, two key passes, two dribbles and five fouls drawn to his game-winning goal.
Santi Cazorla, ARS at LEI ($7,000): After a wildly productive 29 minutes off of the bench against Liverpool, it's hard to see a scenario when Cazorla doesn't start this weekend. In that short time on the field, Cazorla picked up four tackles, an interception, a shot, seven crosses (two from corners) and two key passes that both resulted in goals. He has twice reached double-digit assists for Arsenal and even reached 12 goals in the 2012/13 season. It's unclear whether Olivier Giroud ($7,400) or Mesut Ozil ($8,500) will play, but if they do it's only more attacking threats around Cazorla.
FORWARD
Kevin Mirallas, EVE at WBA ($4,800): I guess the days of high-floored forwards being a scarce commodity are over with DraftKings giving dual midfield and forward eligibility to a large number of attacking midfielders and wings. Near this price last weekend, Mirallas was a bargain midfield option. Whether you use him as a midfielder, forward or in the utility spot, he's a bargain. Mirallas had seven crosses last week, five from corners, and he has had as many as nine goals and seven assists in one season (both accomplished in the 2013/14 season), so he possesses the potential to be an elite fantasy option given sufficient playing time.
Daniel Sturridge, LIV at BUR ($6,600): I won't guarantee Sturridge starts, but when he is healthy, he's a massively talented goal scorer on a team full of talented providers. For $1000s cheaper than players like Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Romelu Lukaku and Diego Costa, you'll be hard pressed to find a better goal-per-dollar value if he starts. In fact, the entirety of the Liverpool attack is underpriced, starting at the low end with the corner-taking Jordan Henderson ($4,800) to the top with Philippe Coutinho ($7,400) who scored two goals last weekend against Arsenal.
Ahmed Musa, LEI vs. ARS ($7,200): While it won't show in his fantasy score, Musa was fairly promising in his Premier League debut. If nothing else, the fact that he played 90 minutes is enticing. He took two shots, provided four key passes and completed three dribbles. After seeing Liverpool take advantage of Arsenal's depleted defensive line with incisive passing and pacy dribbling, the likes of Musa, Jamie Vardy ($9,400), Riyad Mahrez ($9,900) and Demarai Gray ($4,700) could stand a very strong chance to do the same. Even if Laurent Koscielny returns, Arsenal will without Per Mertesacker (knee) and Gabriel, leaving either Rob Holding or Calum Chambers as the other center back.
