This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (EDT)
- 10:00 am: Burnley vs. Everton
- 10:00 am: Liverpool vs. Leicester City
- 10:00 am: Norwich City vs. Aston Villa
- 10:00 am: Watford vs. Sheffield United
- 12:30 pm: West Ham United vs. Crystal Palace
For detailed stats and odds, check out the FanDuel Fantasy Soccer: Saturday EPL Cheat Sheet.
FORWARDS/MIDFIELDERS
The three-most expensive players on the slate play for Liverpool because they're the biggest favorite by a wide margin. However, they played a taxing match Wednesday and neither team has scored more than two goals in the last three meetings. It's reasonable to go with the trio of Sadio Mane ($22), Mohamed Salah ($21) and Roberto Firmino ($19), but if Liverpool don't score more than two goals, that probably won't be enough to win any GPPs. Between the three, I'm leaning Mane even though he has worst goal odds. His floor has been better throughout the season and Salah has better odds to score mainly because he takes penalties. If you don't want to think too hard, this slate allows you to roster both Mane and Salah, which could be a popular strategy.
If you fade Liverpool, Jamie Vardy ($17) is the GPP pivot, but I'd rather go with both John McGinn ($18) and Teemu Pukki ($18) in cash games. Norwich City have won the last three meetings against Aston Villa, and they've been much better at home. Pukki could be chalky with five goals and two assists in three home matches. McGinn has shown a slightly better floor because he's averaging more than three tackles in addition to three combined shots on goal and chances created per 90 minutes. I'll also have Marvelous Nakamba ($11) in a lot of my lineups because he's had a floor of 16 fantasy points in the last two games, mostly from defensive stats. Jack Grealish ($14) has a bit more upside and is still worth a play in cash games due to his price. The Pukki stack with Emiliano Buendia ($15) and Todd Cantwell ($14) should also be popular given Norwich have the second-highest projected goal total.
I'm not sure what to do with Crystal Palace and West Ham because they've both played very defensively in the early season. Outside of the four goals allowed at Tottenham, Palace have allowed three goals in six matches. Andriy Yarmolenko ($14) makes a little more sense than Sebastien Haller ($19) because he has a better floor for five bucks less. Luka Milivojevic ($17) is suddenly priced too high and is away from home. I'm least confident in Watford and Sheffield United because the Hornets can't score and the Blades aren't allowing more than one goal per match. That said, John Fleck ($10) is almost free despite taking half of Sheffield's free kicks against the most forgiving back line in the league.
Everton are in a bit of a funk, and instead of going with the more popular Richarlison ($17) and Gylfi Sigurdsson ($16), I think the collection method of Burnley's goals is a worthy GPP strategy. Ashley Barnes ($17) and Chris Wood ($15) have close to no floors, but they've scored seven of Burnley's 10 goals. Wood will probably be the more popular option since he has three goals in the last two matches, but I wouldn't put too much into that. It wasn't long ago that Barnes had four goals in the first three matches of the season.
DEFENDERS
Given the lack of high-end attacking options, more lineups will want a piece of Trent Alexander-Arnold ($17) and Virgil van Dijk ($16). Alexander-Arnold's floor has been better than last season mainly because he's had a few matches with high tackle and clearance numbers. I also doubt he's going to average 3.29 chances created per 90 minutes after being at 1.75 last season, especially with only four in his last four games in all competitions. For Leicester, Caglar Soyuncu ($12) and Jonny Evans ($10) should both have floors around 15 points because Liverpool have forced the third-most clearances. The only reason to pay up for Ricardo Pereira ($15) is if you're expecting another goal (don't).
Crystal Palace, Everton and Watford are next in line in terms of forced defensive action, and the Hornets are at home, so that should mean more production from the five-man Sheffield United back line. John Egan ($10) is the middle man and leads the team in clearances with Jack O'Connell ($15), who is oddly expensive. If you have more money, Matthew Lowton ($12) and Joel Ward ($12) remain safe bets to hit between 10 and 15 points because Everton have forced the most clearances and Burnley have the fourth-most this season.
GOALKEEPER
Adrian ($15) almost guarantees a win and positive points, though he doesn't have a home clean sheet this season, already allowing to Newcastle and Norwich. I'm fine with backing any of the other home options, especially Roberto Jimenez ($8) who will be chalk in cash games, assuming he replaces Lukasz Fabianski. West Ham may not win, but they haven't allowed more than one goal since the opener. Fabianski has been averaging more than three saves per match and Roberto made three saves in relief last weekend. Watford have one of the worst ratios in the league with four goals from 30 shots on target, though Dean Henderson's ($13) price is a bit extreme for an underdog.
