DraftKings DFS Soccer: EPL Picks for Saturday, April 5

It feels like it's been forever since I've written a DraftKings EPL article. It's good to be back at it. Saturday features an interesting five-match slate where Everton, Aston Villa and Bournemouth are slight favorites, but there are only two teams in the top half of the Premier League table. There will be plenty of viable options with no obvious matchup to attack.

MATCHES (ET)

• 10:00 am: Aston Villa vs. Brentford
• 10:00 am: Everton vs. Burnley
• 10:00 am: Fulham vs. Newcastle United
• 10:00 am: Luton Town vs. AFC Bournemouth
• 10:00 am: Wolverhampton vs. West Ham United

For detailed stats and odds, check out the

DraftKings Fantasy Soccer: Saturday EPL Cheat Sheet

FORWARDS

Dwight McNeil (EVE vs. BRN, $8,100): McNeil is the top projecting forward in my personal projections and the matchup looks strong for him. He'll take half of Everton's set pieces against a Burnley side that has conceded 7.9 corners per match on the road this season. I think he'll be a staple in cash games this weekend. In tournaments, I like pairing McNeil with one of Everton's center-backs or the low-priced Dominic Calvert-Lewin ($5,700). Calvert-Lewin has had some shocking finishing this season with three open-play goals from 9.5 non-penalty expected goals. The opportunities are there and underperforming expected goals by that much is not sustainable over the long term, though Everton fans may argue that point.

Jarrod Bowen (WHU at WOL, $8,600): I think there are a few directions you can go at your second forward position in cash games. I was shocked to see that Bowen started taking right-sided corners for West Ham, usurping James Ward-Prowse's ($6,100) set-piece monopoly. Bowen has been excellent this season, scoring 15 goals with five assists in 30 starts, and he's averaged eight floor points per 90 minutes. He's a bit expensive, though, and there are other players at midfield and defender who you might have to sacrifice to play him. Dominic Solanke ($7,400) is $1,200 cheaper than Bowen and has the slate's best goalscoring odds at -135 against Luton Town. At that price, I'll consider him in cash games.

The forward position is fairly weak overall, so in tournaments I think you have a lot of options to choose from. I don't like Brentford's matchup away to Aston Villa and Bryan Mbeumo ($6,700) is coming back from an injury, but he'll take set pieces while on the pitch. He was priced over $9,000 earlier in the season before he got injured. Carlton Morris ($5,200) is cheap and takes penalties for Luton Town and Justin Kluivert ($5,500) remains a cheap forward dart throw on the other side of that matchup, even though he gets subbed at the 65th minute almost every start. Finally, Leon Bailey ($7,300) played 27 minutes as a substitute midweek and has averaged 7.4 floor points in his last 10 starts. He's been playing around 80 minutes per start recently and I like chasing his profile of a player who can get to 20 fantasy points off just one goal.

MIDFIELDERS

Pablo Sarabia (WOL vs. WHU, $9,400): Both the matchup and the role look excellent for Sarabia against West Ham. Wolves have had to deal with a lot of injuries the past few weeks and Sarabia has been playing almost 90 minutes in his recent starts while taking most of Wolves' set pieces and being their main attacking threat. I expect him to take penalties if Matheus Cunha ($9,600) is not on the pitch. His price feels a bit expensive considering the matchup is a toss-up, but West Ham have been a fantasy-friendly team to attack under David Moyes. They play on the counter and have consistently conceded possession (they average 41-percent possession in Premier League play) to their opponents this season, especially on the road. Only Manchester United and Sheffield United have conceded more floor points to opponents this season.

Jacob Murphy (FUL vs. NEW, $7,900): Newcastle have been dealing with a lot of injuries and Murphy has emerged as a strong fantasy option. He's played 90 minutes in his past two starts and recorded 19 crosses with seven of those coming off set pieces. While I'm a bit concerned Anthony Gordon or Lewis Hall may take set pieces if they start, I think Murphy will at least take some and he's been crossing and shooting enough in open play to live up to this price. Alfie Doughty ($7,100) is always a viable option taking most of Luton's corners and I don't consider a home matchup against Bournemouth to be prohibitive if you want to play him in cash games.

Douglas Luiz (AVL vs. BRE, $6,500): Luiz has been quiet in his past four starts, which coincides with Aston Villa's recent dip in form. Still, he's in a good matchup at home against Brentford and he's consistently taken half of Villa's set pieces this season while also serving as Villa's penalty taker. I swore I was never going to play Marcus Tavernier ($6,300) after his shocking 1.3 fantasy-point performance against Crystal Palace, but it's difficult to ignore this discounted price and he still does take some set pieces for Bournemouth. Maybe I should just play Lewis Cook ($5,800) instead. Cook has averaged just under nine floor points in his last 10 starts and has consistently taken corners on both sides of the pitch recently. He's delivering fantasy points like Joshua Kimmich these days and he might even be a bargain for his floor at this price.

If you need some cheap midfielders, I like Tyler Adams ($3,100) if he starts, and Abdoulaye Doucoure ($4,000) and Jack Harrison ($4,400) are reasonable options in a good matchup against Burnley.  I wouldn't expect another 9.5 fantasy-point performance from Adams (he got most of his points off of fouls drawn and defensive stats), but I still think he's fine at this price considering Bournemouth have an implied goal total of 1.88.

DEFENDERS

Rayan Ait-Nouri (WOL vs. WHU, $5,100): I already wrote about how Wolves are in a good matchup against West Ham and Ait-Nouri has been deputizing in an advanced role with all of the injuries Wolverhampton are dealing with. I worry about an early sub for Ait-Nouri, but he's coming off a match where he logged 12 floor points and a goal. I think he's a great option again this weekend. Antonee Robinson ($5,400) has been consistent, averaging 7.9 floor points in his past 10 starts. He's not a priority with Fulham's poor recent form and a matchup against Newcastle, but I'll play him in tournaments.

Vitaliy Mykolenko (EVE vs. BRN, $4,200): I'd highlight Alex Moreno ($4,500), but he is a virtual lock to get subbed around the 60th minute for Lucas Digne. I don't mind targeting Mykolenko instead. Everton enjoy an excellent matchup against Burnley, while Mykolenko has averaged 5.6 fantasy points per 90 minutes played this season. Emerson ($3,900) is a similar play, though he doesn't have as good of a matchup. It's worth stepping back and noting that if I am highlighting Mykolenko as a second defender. That's an indication that your second defender position is not a priority in this slate and spending down is fine in both cash games and GPPs. For example, Jarrad Branthwaite ($2,900) seems fine for his clean sheet odds.

GOALKEEPER

Arijanet Muric (BRN at EVE, $3,900): Scrolling down to the cheapest goalkeeper has been a successful strategy for me in cash games this season, so why stop now? It's as good of time as ever to remember that goalkeeper is extremely random and you can play just about anyone you want in all formats. Check out my goalkeeper article for more info.