DraftKings Fantasy Soccer: Newcastle Jets v. Melbourne City FC Showdown Preview

Both teams on Monday's lone showdown slate are playing on quick turnarounds after playing this past Friday, with Newcastle losing to Brisbane 1-0 and Melbourne City defeating Central Coast Mariners 4-2. The victory maintained Melbourne City's hold on second place in the ladder, while Newcastle remain ninth, six points out of a Final Series berth. And there's tough news for fantasy players who want to take a random shot on this early morning (at least in the U.S.) slate and not worry about lineups, as Newcastle manager Carl Robinson mentioned he is likely to rotate his squad, while Melbourne City head coach Erick Mombaerts will not travel with the club due to a non-Coronavirus issue.

Despite a firm separation in the table, Melbourne City are only +140 away favorites, with Newcastle Jets sitting at +175 to win. An explosive set of goals isn't exactly expected, with DraftKings Sportsbook showing the over 2.5 goals at -177 and the over 3.5 at +145.

Unsurprisingly, Dimitri Petratos ($11,000) is the most expensive player since he continues to do it all for the Jets, coming off another solid performance Friday against Brisbane when he had nine crosses, two shots assisted, one shot and one foul drawn en route to 11.4 fantasy points. In fact, he was very close to his eighth assist of the season, as Roy O'Donovan ($9,400) hit the post after receiving a tremendous cross from Petratos. With Newcastle the home side and Petratos' dominance of their set pieces, he'll surely be a popular option for many, including in the captain spot despite the high price. O'Donovan has the best odds to score for the Jets at +138, and while his four-game run of putting two shots on goal ended Friday, he's now facing a side that may sit second in the table but have allowed the fifth-most goals in the league. It seems pretty unlikely that O'Donovan will be highly owned in cash games because he's quite goal dependent at that price, but he makes for a perfectly reasonable GPP play because of his goal upside. In fact, he bagged a hat trick against Melbourne City earlier this season, though that was when he played for Brisbane.

If you're looking for a cheaper path to Newcastle than Petratos for cash games, Matthew Millar ($8,000) is the guy. He doesn't have a role on set pieces, but he's still sent in the second-most crosses on the team while also drawing the most fouls, winning the third-most tackles and intercepting the second-most passes. Even better, he's second on the team in goals and shots, trailing only Petratos in both categories; not bad for a right-back. It also seems possible that Millar could take set pieces if Petratos is rested, though that's speculation on all parts. More importantly, Millar isn't a crazy captain option for cash games because of his decent floor and lower salary, the latter of which allows you to pay up for other attacking players on both sides of this match.

Wesley Hoolahan ($7,200) seems to have locked up a starting spot, though he failed to reach even 70 minutes in his last two. Additionally, he doesn't do anything in a volume sense, so spending that much in a cash lineup seems a bit silly, especially since defender Bobby Burns ($6,400) is cheaper and seems to be more active in the attack, at least from a set-up stand point since he's on a three-match run with zero shots taken. On the positive side, he sent in nine crosses, created three chances, intercepted eight passes, won four tackles and drew six fouls over that span.

In terms of guys who might be able to take advantage of the squad rotation, Jason Hoffman ($4,200) has barely been used in the past six games, but he was a regular starter earlier this season and had plenty of games with multiple shots, crosses, fouls drawn and interceptions. He's classified as a defender and is likely to send Burns to the bench if he starts, but he's gotten playing time all over the pitch, including at center-forward and the attacking wing. Even if he starts at left wing-back in place of Burns, that salary will surely make him an option since his floor could even be higher than someone like central midfielder Steven Ugarkovic, who costs $2,000 more. In terms of more attacking upside, Abdiel Arroyo ($6,800) and Nick Fitzgerald ($6,400) could play more, though the former just returned from a nearly month-long injury absence, so even if he starts he seems unlikely to go the full 90 minutes. Fitzgerald, on the other hand, is quite fresh, having played only 45 minutes in the past seven games.

Finding values on the Melbourne City side might not be as easy, though a number of players who we may want to target aren't overly expensive. That doesn't apply to midfielder Craig Noone ($10,200), who had yet another double-digit fantasy-point performance Friday against Central Coast Mariners, putting one of this two shots on goal, sending in 11 crosses and picking up one assist on three chances created. A yellow card limited him to 18.5 fantasy points, but it was still his third time in the past four games with more than 18.0. His role on set pieces is obviously helping that floor, and given that Melbourne City are favored in this match, Noone will get plenty of captain consideration if he starts.

Amazingly, Jamie Maclaren's price seems to be a significant error, as he was $10,400 for Friday's match against Central Coast, and after scoring three goals on 13 (!!) shots, including six on goal, his salary dropped to $7,800. Melbourne City were much bigger favorites in that Friday match, and while Monday's is expected to be closer, there's no reason for Maclaren's price to be so low. Even with no role on set pieces, five crosses, eight fouls drawn and three tackles won all season, Maclaren figures to be extremely high-owned in cash games and GPPs because of that salary. His -106 odds to score are the best in the game, and he's already dominated Newcastle twice this season, scoring one goal on six shots against them on Dec. 15 and then scoring one goal on seven shots (three on target) and picking up an assist on his lone chance created on Jan. 18. Given how easy it seems to be, I'm guessing Maclaren is going to be rested just to spite us.

If that's the case, we could see Adrian Luna ($8,600) start at center-forward, something he did back in November when Maclaren was out. Luna is likely to be a consideration anyway because of his versatility that allows him to score fantasy points in multiple ways, though it's not an easy salary to fit in if you're trying to play Maclaren and set-piece takers from both teams (assuming the regulars start). Instead, fantasy players could turn to Markel Susaeta ($7,000), who was priced at $10,600 on Friday and then paid off that salary with one goal on two shots, one assist on two chances created, four crosses, two tackles won and a foul drawn. I wrote previously that Susaeta's floor just wasn't nearly high enough to justify that price but he was a fine GPP play, but his new lower salary could put him in cash-game consideration. Even then, Florin Berenguer ($6,600) has a safer floor and costs slightly less. I can't see Susaeta being owned enough that paying down for Berenguer will hurt in cash games, but the GPP upside is there.

Then again, Susaeta is a rotation risk himself after playing 89 minutes Friday, which could allow us to get Lachlan Wales at just $6,000. Wales is a decent crosser who took multiple shots and had at least one shot on goal in each of his last four starts, sending in eight crosses in that span. It's not high volume, but starting in the front line for Melbourne City at this price has to put him in play. The City fullbacks are also in this price range and will likely be owned if they start, with Nathaniel Atkinson ($6,000) and Scott Jamieson ($5,000) switched in price from last Friday's game, as Atkinson was $4,400 and Jamieson $6,800. Both are perfectly fine, as is Scott Galloway ($4,800) if he manages a start due to rotation. These guys all theoretically have higher upside than holding midfielder Joshua Brillante ($5,200), whose floor is more dependent on defensive stats, and he comes in with multiple shots in just two of his last 10 games. That being said, if Rostyn Griffiths ($3,600) gets the call in central midfield, he could be an option, even in cash games, because of his lower salary.