Mondogoal Fantasy Soccer: Perfect Million Picks

Mondogoal Fantasy Soccer: Perfect Million Picks

This article is part of our Mondogoal Fantasy Soccer series.

Coming off a midweek round replete with startling results, the Premier League kicks off Week 29 on Saturday, when seven matches are included in Mondogoal's Perfect Million contest.

While the opening, high stakes North London derby of Arsenal at Tottenham is Saturday's lone game excluded from the contest, the remaining matches of the day leave plenty of fantasy prospects to pursue.

With that in mind, here's a team built under Mondogoal's £100M budget that could lead to handsome cash earnings from Saturday's action.

Formation: 3-4-3

Goalkeeper:

Kasper Schmeichel, at (£6.9M): Priced below 14 other goalkeepers slated to play Saturday, Schmeichel has actually scored the third-most points (144.40) among those peers this season. That includes nine clean sheets for Schmeichel, who has held opponents scoreless in three of his last six outings. This weekend, the Leicester shot-stopper is set to take on a Watford attack whose dynamic duo of Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney has gone cold lately, combining for just three goals and two assists across the Hornets' last nine games. Those struggles have left only three teams with fewer goals than Watford heading into Saturday, when Schmeichel could capitalize with another clean sheet.

Defenders:

Gary Cahill, v. (£8.3M): Frozen out after Chelsea's porous start to the season defensively, Cahill has been thrust back into the Blues' starting lineup following injuries to teammates. The Englishman has started Chelsea's last three league encounters, and also scored in his team's recent FA Cup triumph over Manchester City. After compiling 30 clean sheets in the previous two seasons, Cahill's mere two this term has understandably seen his fantasy stock drop, but his revived role and a home matchup against Stoke on Saturday provide reasons to insert him into lineups. Chelsea has allowed just one goal in four straight Premiership games, and Stoke has been blanked in five of its past six visits to Stamford Bridge.

Virgil van Dijk, v. (£7.9M): Even though Southampton's defense has conceded two goals in back-to-back games, their six straight clean sheets that preceded has helped leave just two teams with fewer goals allowed this season. Van Dijk has starred in the heart of the Saints' defense, averaging 6.69 fantasy points per game which ranks fifth among Saturday's defenders. Of that group, only van Dijk's partner, Jose Fonte (£8.2M), boasts more than the Dutchman's 10 clean sheets, one of which came versus Sunderland earlier this term. The Black Cats failed to score in their most recent away match in league play, giving van Dijk an opportunity to further improve his already-impressive campaign.

Vincent Kompany, v. (£7.0M): Like Cahill, Kompany also fell off fantasy radars this season, albeit his disappearance was due an extended injury absence. In fact, after scoring in both of Manchester City's first two games, Kompany ultimately went on to make just three Premier League starts from mid-September to mid-February. The Belgian has since returned to start City's last two games, a pair of defeats in which they've conceded five goals. Nonetheless, Saturday's home date against last-place Aston Villa makes Kompany a sound buy-low option. Costing just £7.0M, Kompany is the cheapest Man City defender expected to start Saturday versus the Premier League's worst attack, a Villa team that hasn't scored in four of five against City.

Midfielders:

Gylfi Sigurdsson, v. (£10.6M): With the match-winning assist after being introduced as a halftime substitute against Arsenal on Wednesday, Sigurdsson continued what's been a tremendous run of form since the calendar turned to 2016. In Swansea's nine league games in the new year, Sigurdsson has supplied five goals and one assist, boosting his season tallies to seven scores and two helpers overall. Riding such a wave, Sigurdsson is an increasingly hot commodity going into Saturday's home date with Norwich City. To sweeten Sigurddson's stock, no team has shipped more goals than the Canaries thus far, making his upside well worth paying £10.6M for his services.

David Silva, v. (£9.7M): Admittedly, Silva and Manchester City fell completely flat in their second straight match versus Liverpool, a 4-0 thrashing at Anfield following their League Cup title win over the weekend. With that trophy hangover out of the way, the Citizens have a ripe opportunity to bounce back at home this weekend against last-place Aston Villa. In contrast to their horrid away record, Manchester City sport the second-most points at home, and they've scored eight more goals at home than any other team this season. Silva has recorded seven of his eight assists at home, and scored his only goal at the Etihad Stadium, so being back in the Eastlands on Saturday shapes up well against awful opposition.

Jonjo Shelvey, v. (£7.9M): Another player who has been rejuvenated in recent times, Shelvey has hit the ground running since arriving at Newcastle during the January transfer window. In six games for the Magpies, Shelvey has scored at least 6.90 fantasy points on four occasions, serving up two assists along the way. Suddenly a key contributor in the middle of Newcastle's setup, Shelvey's performance surely holds huge importance ahead of Saturday's game against promoted side Bournemouth. With Newcastle in need of wins, they'll take confidence from their three-match unbeaten streak at home, and Shelvey should find Bournemouth's fifth-worst defense to his liking as well.

Marc Albrighton, at (£5.4M): An unheralded architect of Leicester's incredible ascent, Albrighton's six assists on the season are tied for the sixth-most among Saturday's midfielders this weekend. Additionally, the Englishman has played in all 28 of Leicester's games this season, starting 27. That consistency makes Albrighton a nice option to fill out lineups, especially with a decent matchup at Watford waiting. Although the Hornets' defense has been stingy lately, Leicester's attack has scored seven goals in their last three games against Watford, dating back to the teams' time in the Championship together. The Foxes also still lead the top-flight in goals, partially thanks to Albrighton's assistance.

Forwards:

Sergio Aguero, v. (£14.1M): As previously mentioned, giving Manchester City a mulligan for the midweek letdown at Liverpool may be the best method ahead of Saturday's tasty home tie against Aston Villa. Only two teams have surrendered more goals than the Villains this season, and Manchester City have become known to run riot at home offensively. Such a contrast makes Aguero, who boasts the top point average (10.64 per game) among Saturday's strikers, worth his hefty price tag of £14.1M. The Argentine has scored three goals in City's past three home outings in the league, and found the back of the net in both of his games against Aston Villa last term.

Diego Costa, v. (£11.5M): After finishing third in the Premiership with 20 goals last season, Costa stumbled out of the blocks in his second season in England, managing just three goals through Chelsea's first 16 matches. However, since then, the Blues' hitman has responded with eight goals and four assists in his past 12 Premier League appearances. That includes a goal in Chelsea's midweek win at Norwich City, something that should inspire Costa to continue his carnage against Stoke City on Saturday. With Chelsea averaging two goals from their last three dates with Stoke at Stamford Bridge, Costa is a prime candidate to keep the goals coming this weekend.

Romelu Lukaku, v. (£10.6M): Like Costa, Lukaku found the scoresheet as well this week, bringing his tally to 17 goals on the season. That figure made Lukaku Everton's highest single-season scorer in Premier League history, and he still has 10 games left to play. At just 22 years old, Lukaku is already vying for his first-career league scoring title, as he's only two goals behind Leicester's Jamie Vardy at the moment. This Saturday, Lukaku is pitted against a West Ham side pushing for a place in Europe next season, but despite the Hammers' success, Lukaku has absolutely owned them since arriving at Everton. To that point, Lukaku has amazingly scored in each of his last six matches across all competitions against West Ham.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Pitner
Nick Pitner writes about fantasy sports for RotoWire. He supports Arsenal FC, the Green Bay Packers and the New York Knicks, while specializing in those respective sports in his coverage for the site.
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