DraftKings Fantasy Soccer: Sunday UEFA Euro 2020 Picks

MATCHES (ET)

• 9:00 am: England vs. Croatia
• 12:00 pm: Austria vs. North Macedonia
• 3:00 pm: Netherlands vs. Ukraine

FORWARDS

Sasa Kalajdzic, AUT v. MKD ($6,900): It's rare when a three-game slate features three teams that have almost identical odds to win. Nothing separates Netherlands, England and Austria from each other, which means there should be a decent variety in lineups. Instead of touting either Memphis Depay ($11,600) or Harry Kane ($10,600), I'm going with the forward who has the third-best odds to score. Kalajdzic isn't as big of a name, but he notched 16 goals and five assists with Stuttgart this past campaign. He's expected to lead the Austrian attack against maybe the weakest team of Sunday's games. Similar to Kane, he doesn't have much of a floor, but he's not nearly as expensive, so you don't need a goal from him to have success, as a few shots could be enough to hit value. Of course, there is downside when going against the best goalscorers because if Kane bags a brace in that opening match, you'll need something from Kalajdzic. 

Memphis Depay, NED v. UKN ($11,600): I thought I'd find someone else to write about, but after staring at the forward list for a couple hours, Depay kind of makes sense in cash games even with the price. There isn't anyone else that stands out unless you're heavy on England. You could back Andrej Kramaric ($7,800), but even then he's expensive for an underdog. Christopher Trimmel ($7,400) is viable if he starts and other than that you're backing an underdog. The main reason Depay is by far the most expensive player on the slate is because he also has a role on set pieces for Netherlands, meaning in addition to being most likely to score, he'll have one of the better floors. The price is up there, but you should be able to compose a decent roster around him given how cheap the Austrian players are. If you want to dip into punt territory, Milan Ristovski ($3,900) plays on the wing and is really cheap.

MIDFIELDERS

David Alaba, AUT v. MKD ($6,400): No matter the position Alaba plays, he'll be popular in cash games. He's favored and expected to take the majority of set pieces for Austria, who arguably have the most favorable opponent. North Macedonia have the big win against Germany, but they also lost 3-2 to Romania and 1-0 to Estonia before that. The only worry with Alaba is that Austria may not get a ton of corners if you base that off North Macedonia's recent results. They allowed just seven corners in three recent qualification matches, including against Germany, who controlled possession and had only two corners. In comparison, Joshua Kimmich had four crosses in that match and he kind of plays a similar role to Alaba in the Austrian side. He'll be popular because of price and he's a logical correlation play to Kalajdzic up front. Teammate Marcel Sabitzer ($8,100) is a tad too expensive for cash games, but both Christoph Baumgartner ($6,800) and Valentino Lazaro ($4,800) are a little more reasonable. Lazaro is most intriguing because he plays on the wing and is priced like a defensive midfielder.

Jack Grealish, ENG v. CRO ($7,500): If Grealish starts, I'm not sure why you'd spend on Phil Foden ($10,200), Jadon Sancho ($9,800), Mason Mount ($8,600) or Raheem Sterling ($8,300). No one has an exclusive role of set pieces for England, which means spending up for them is probably a bad strategy, at least in cash games. Foden will likely split with multiple other players and it'll be hard to spend over $10,000 for that. Grealish started each of the recent friendlies and his ability to draw fouls (11 in two friendlies) makes up for a lack of set pieces, something the others can't say. Fortunately, England are the early match, so if Grealish doesn't start, you can swap him with any number of players in this range like Marko Arnautovic ($7,200), Baumgartner or Ukraine set-piece taker Ruslan Malinovskyi ($6,600). The benefit of looking at mid-range midfielders is that it'll allow you to have enough money for either Depay or Kane.

Marcelo Brozovic, CRO v. ENG ($3,400): I could write about another Austrian player because most of their team seems underpriced, but I'll instead go to Croatia, who could have some intriguing plays against a Harry Maguire-less back line. Ivan Perisic ($5,500) kind of burst onto the scene last World Cup when he had three goals and an assist. He had six crosses in a recent friendly against Belgium and scored in Croatia's game before that. But instead of taking that route, Brozovic is at a nice discount despite having a split role on set pieces with Luka Modric. He's a defensive midfielder, but as seen with Inter the last couple seasons, he gets forward when needed, totaling five goals and 12 assists the last two campaigns. If you don't like spending on underdogs, Brozovic is the play over Perisic, or really anyone else on Croatia. I almost wrote about Declan Rice ($3,200) because he isn't afraid to shoot from distance, but I'd rather bank on a few corners from Brozovic instead, even on an underdog. Mykola Shaparenko ($3,000) is another value play with a role on set pieces if he starts. There's a method to backing expensive forwards and punting on cheap midfielders who take set pieces, and while I'm not recommending that strategy, it's definitely viable.

DEFENDERS

Owen Wijndal, NED v. UKR ($5,300): There isn't much of a reason to spend up at defender, especially since the four-most expensive players are English. While Kieran Trippier ($5,700) and Reece James ($5,500) could take set pieces, they'll likely be splitting with someone else. I'm kind of worried Wijndal won't go the entire way, but you can say that about a lot of players. He's set to play as a wing-back with a corner or two and is only $200 more than Denzel Dumfries on the other side. Wijndal has been at AZ Alkmaar the last couple seasons, but he's likely headed somewhere bigger in the future. Even though he didn't cross much in Europa League, his floor was fairly consistent because of defensive stats, something that popped up in the last friendly when he had three tackles and a block with a shot on target and three fouls drawn. He may not have a ton of crossing upside, but he seems like a fairly safe cash play if you have extra money, and he's someone who could correlate with Depay up front.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, UKR v. NED ($3,900): When people see Zinchenko playing midfield with a small role on set pieces, there will be a lot of late decisions made. He's listed as a $3,900 defender and while Ukraine are technically the biggest underdog, there's a path for them to steal a point in this matchup. Zinchenko will play as either a wing-back or central midfielder, which leads to some upside even if Ukraine struggle to keep possession. At this price, you're either looking at favored center-backs or dipping to the bottom and punting on someone else. Maybe more important is that Zinchenko is one of the more important players in the side and is set for a full 90, whereas someone like Wijndal or any of the England full-backs are all at risk of being subbed off early due to the quality on the bench.

GOALKEEPER

Dominik Livakovic, CRO v. ENG ($4,100): Given that I've rarely backed England in this article, Livakovic is a reasonable play. He'll surely get a few saves and I'm still not sold on England being that big of a favorite against Croatia. If you're stacking cheap Austrian players, you might as well go with Daniel Bachmann ($4,900), who is considerably cheaper than the other favorites despite having just as good of a chance to secure a clean sheet.