This article is part of our Starting Eleven series.
MATCHES (EDT)
8:30 a.m: Everton v. Manchester United
11:00 a.m: Arsenal v. Crystal Palace
11:00 a.m: Cardiff v. Liverpool
FORWARDS
Liverpool have the best matchup for the entire gameweek, so most rosters will be full of their players on Sunday's three-match slate. Roberto Firmino could be the top forward with two goals and three assists in his last four starts. Plus, he's also likely to go a full 90 after subbing on after the break in the midweek match at Porto. The Arsenal forwards aren't far behind, though you'll have to make sure who's starting, with both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in contention. If they both start, it's a guessing game, but it's hard to argue their numbers. Aubameyang has scored in each of his last three starts, while Lacazette has made the scoresheet in six of his last seven appearances.
The only other forward worth using may be Wilfried Zaha, who has at least 11.00 fantasy points in four of the last five matches. Even against Man City last weekend, he still managed a floor of 13.40 points with a couple shots and fouls drawn. In another tough spot, he could do the same and reach around 10.00 points, but upside will be limited as the Gunners haven't allowed a goal in their last four matches in all competitions.
Otherwise, there's no point in trusting someone from Cardiff, and the Everton-Man United matchup is hard to project. The Red Devils have lost their last four away and were just in Barcelona on Tuesday, so I'd avoid Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford. Everton have also held Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal scoreless in their last three at home.
MIDFIELDERS
It's a similar situation in the midfield, with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane possibly in every lineup. Salah shook his bug and has three goals and an assist in his last four starts, which will likely make him more popular than Mane and his two goals in that same period. Salah is also taking more shots and creating more for his teammates. You could throw Jordan Henderson and Fabinho into the mix, but their floors have been below 10.00 points numerous times so there's also some risk.
It's a little less certain for everyone else since most of Arsenal's goals come through the forwards. That said, Granit Xhaka returned from injury last match and had a floor of 17.80 points from 88 completed passes and a couple shots on target. In favorable spots at home, he's often been around 15.00 fantasy points because of his passing numbers. No one else really makes the cut, as Henrikh Mkhitaryan doesn't have much of a floor and Aaron Ramsey is out.
Luka Milivojevic is probably the next best choice, though don't expect another penalty (I said that last week too). Either way, he had a floor of 15.00 points at Tottenham a couple weeks ago and could be near that number again from completed passes, corners and defensive stats. His floor is better than most, and that includes Paul Pogba, who has failed to surpass 11.00 fantasy points in four of his last five league starts. Idrissa Gueye probably has a better floor on the other end of the field since he's almost guaranteed to rack up defensive stats in this spot, as he has 14 tackles won and eight interceptions in the last three. Richarlison has shown a floor near 10.00 points since he's getting a couple shots every match, while Gylfi Sigurdsson is coming off a 2.5-point outing at Fulham.
DEFENDERS AND GOALKEEPERS
Unsurprisingly, it's more Liverpool at defender, with all four of their starters expected to have the highest floors. Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk are the safer bets because of passing numbers, but Trent Alexander-Arnold takes corners and has three assists in his last four starts in all competitions. The Arsenal defenders are a little less safe but still have floors around 10.00 points with upside in case they control the match. Shkodran Mustafi has had the highest floor because he's doing a little bit of everything in addition to completing at least 50 passes in the last three matches. That pushed his floor above 20.00 points in two of those matches, so he's worth a shot again, especially if Palace can force some defensive action. I'm not sure there are any other defenders at the same level, as most of them have floors below 10.00 points.
Alisson Becker is the best goalkeeper according to the odds, but Bernd Leno may be the best option because in addition to allowing one goal or less in his last eight starts, he's also making more saves. Alisson had 15 points against Chelsea last match, but didn't surpass five points in his previous four. Even then, Vicente Guaita, Neil Etheridge and Jordan Pickford can also be viable because they're all making a ton of saves. Guaita has 22 in his last four starts, Etheridge has 17 in his last three while Pickford is accruing clean sheets at a better rate than Alisson and Leno.
