This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (ET)
- 10:00 am: AFC Bournemouth vs. Wolverhampton
- 10:00 am: Brentford vs. Burnley
- 10:00 am: Manchester City vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
- 10:00 am: Newcastle United vs. Crystal Palace
- 10:00 am: Nottingham Forest vs. Luton Town
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS
Phil Foden (MCI vs. BHA, $8,100): Manchester City are the biggest favorite for Saturday's slate and have an implied goal total north of 2.30 at home to Brighton. I expect that game to be a back-and-forth affair, so it should be a good environment for floor points for City. Not much has changed with the City forwards from a DFS perspective. I think they continue to be underpriced and they are all in play for cash games. Julian Alvarez ($9,000) and Foden continue to split set-piece duty with the former taking direct free kicks. Foden is one of the first names in my lineup for cash due to his bargain-bin price. I'd like to play Alvarez, too, but there are some cheaper set-piece monopolists available with fantastic floors. There is some legitimate opportunity cost to rostering multiple City forwards this slate. Similarly, I'm not sure this is the slate to play Erling Haaland ($9,800) in cash games, but with goalscoring odds of -225, it's justifiable.
Morgan Gibbs-White: (NFO vs. LUT, $8,500): A home matchup against Luton Town is one of the best spots of the season for Gibbs-White, who continues to take almost all of Nottingham Forest's set pieces. Forest have yet to take a penalty this season, but Gibbs-White took their last two at the end of last season. He's a great option in both cash and GPP formats. It's worth mentioning Bryan Mbeumo ($8,800) is in this price range, as well. He's on penalties and splits set pieces for Brentford and their home matchup against Burnley is excellent. I prefer Gibbs-White, Foden and Alvarez for cash games to Mbeumo, but he has brace upside and I'm planning on rostering him in GPPs.
Chris Wood: (NFO vs. LUT, $3,600): It's nice to see a minimum-priced Chris Wood make his way back into this column. Call me a bit skeptical of his anytime goalscoring odds of +120, but even if that is too short of odds, he is still too cheap if he plays 75 minutes against Luton Town. Depending on the defenders that start, I don't think it's outrageous to use him in a utility spot in cash games. There just aren't many good punts this week. I expect him to be a bit chalky in GPPs, so I'm more likely to only play Wood in lineups with Gibbs-White.
I haven't discussed any options from Newcastle yet, but Alexander Isak ($7,800), Anthony Gordon ($7,300), and Miguel Almiron ($6,800) are all relatively cheap and have a positive home matchup against Crystal Palace. I'm likely going to have Kieran Trippier in most (if not all) of my lineups, so I'd like to make sure I roster him with his attacking teammates. Gordon is my favorite option of this group. Isak left Sweden's camp early during the international break due to an injury, so he is a sub risk even if he starts. I think Gordon is more likely to play 90 minutes than Almiron.
How many people are going to roster Yoane Wissa ($7,700) and Jeremy Doku ($7,400) over the options above? I think Doku provides leverage over the certain-to-be-popular City forwards, while Wissa's price will keep his rostership in the single digits. Wissa hasn't scored since the second match of the season, but he's been playing 90 minutes frequently and finding himself in good goalscoring positions. I like taking a flier on him in larger GPPs.
MIDFIELDERS
Pedro Neto (WOL at BOU, $6,800): It's great to see a fit Neto making a difference for Wolves again. Just six months ago, I remember fading him near the min-price due to minutes concerns. Presently, he is back to taking most of Wolves' set pieces and playing 90 minutes regularly. Bournemouth are not a prohibitive matchup for Wolves and I think Neto is underpriced in this spot. If Pablo Sarabia ($4,700) starts, I would expect a set-piece split (for the 60 minutes he is on the pitch), which somewhat downgrades Neto.
Alfie Doughty (LUT at NFO, $7,100): Doughty has played 90 minutes in his last two starts while taking all of Luton Town's set pieces. He's logged an outrageous 49 crosses in his last four starts on his way towards over 14 floor points in each of those starts. Against a tougher opponent, I'd say that I'd expect his floor projection to go down, but Nottingham Forest have conceded just under 21 crosses per match this season. Doughty is a crossing machine and this makes him a scary fade in cash games, though fitting him in may require fading Neto or one of the premium forward options highlighted above.
Nothing really stands out to me in the cheaper range at midfield. The Bournemouth options seem fine to target in GPPs, especially in a home matchup against Wolves. Marcus Tavernier ($5,900) played 90 minutes in his most recent start, which is a positive sign. Unfortunately, he still split set pieces with Joe Rothwell and Lewis Cook ($3,700). Tavernier has had some big floor games in the past, but it's been a while since he has demonstrated that sort of upside. Sticking with Bournemouth, Philip Billing ($4,300) has been getting into some solid attacking positions lately. He's averaging seven floor points per 90 minutes this season and he seems like the cheap midfielder most likely to contribute a goal or assist.
DEFENDERS
Kieran Trippier (NEW vs. CRY, $7,500): Trippier has six assists in his last four appearances, averaging just over seven crosses and four shots assisted per match in that period. I think Newcastle will dominate possession against Crystal Palace who have been plagued by injuries to some of their best players. This makes Trippier a priority in cash games. You can easily afford three premium forwards along with Trippier in GPPs, so I don't see the case for fading him in tournament, either. The extreme price of $6,700 is too much for Neco Williams in a good matchup if he starts, even for my inner contrarian galaxy brain.
Mads Roerslev (BRE vs. BRN, $3,200): I think the dominant construction in cash games and GPPs will be to pair Trippier with a cheap full-back. Based on RotoWire's projected XIs, the most expensive defenders in my current player pool after Trippier are Josko Gvardiol ($4,200) and Matt Doherty ($4,200). Doherty and Rayan Ait-Nouri ($3,300) are solid plays, and it's a nice bonus if they operate as wing-backs. I prefer Ait-Nouri mainly because of price.
I'm a bit worried about Issa Kabore ($3,200) being subbed early if he starts, but Ait-Nouri has been subbed at halftime twice in his past three starts. Kabore has averaged a healthy 3.75 crosses and 0.9 shots assisted per 90 minutes played this season. I'm not exactly thrilled to highlight Mads Roerslev ($3,200) over these options, but at least Brentford are favored at home. Given Brentford's present injury issues, I think he's likely to go a full 90 minutes, but that is certainly not a guarantee.
Finally, Harry Toffolo ($3,400) might enter the starting lineup for Nottingham Forest. I'd rather play him than Chris Wood in a utility spot in cash games, but it's worth noting (at least for tournaments) Toffolo has had some terrible performances at left-back in the past.
GOALKEEPER
Sam Johnstone (CRY at NEW, $3,800): I am more likely to spend down at goalkeeper in cash games on this slate. If you spend up, note that Ederson ($5,900) is overpriced for his clean sheet odds of only 30-percent. I think Nick Pope ($5,700) is the go-to premium keeper; Crystal Palace are struggling with offensive injuries and have the lowest implied goal total of all the teams on the slate. On the other hand, Johnstone is in a good position to rack up saves away to Newcastle.
Opposing goalkeepers to Newcastle are averaging just under four saves per game and I expect Palace to play defensively and force Newcastle into many long shots. Bart Verbruggen ($3,700) (or Jason Steele) is a similar thesis to Johnstone, but he is a bit more volatile since that match has a higher implied goal total. I also prefer not to roster goalkeepers on the road to City if I can avoid it.
