This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
For detailed odds and stats, check out the Fantasy Premier League: Tuesday Cheat Sheet.
MATCHES (EST)
2:45 p.m: Leicester City v. Tottenham
2:45 p.m: Brighton v. Crystal Palace
3:00 p.m: Watford v. Manchester United
3:00 p.m: West Brom v. Newcastle
FORWARD
Tuesday's slate isn't expected to have much scoring, as the two biggest favorites, Manchester United and Tottenham, are away to Watford and Leicester City, respectively. The United attack is packed with premium options that really haven't been all that great lately, as evidenced by their scoring multiple goals once in their last seven league matches, with their last multi-goal away match coming Sept. 9 at Stoke. Meanwhile, the last time Tottenham scored multiple goals in a Premier League away match was Sept. 30 at Huddersfield.
That doesn't sound so good, right? Well, it's not really that bad. Spurs scored twice at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last week and they beat Real Madrid 3-1 at home at the beginning of the month. Additionally, United smoked Newcastle 4-1 on Nov. 18, so that haven't really been that bad. Nevertheless, they have tricky fixtures Tuesday and we could see some rotation given that they both played this past Saturday, they'll play again this upcoming Saturday and then again next week: United on Tuesday against CSKA Moscow and Spurs on Wednesday against APOEL Nicosia in their final Champions League group stage matches.
With not a lot of scoring expected, you could pay up for Harry Kane ($11,700) or Romelu Lukaku ($10,000) and hope they are the ones who score what few goals we may see. However, there are a number of strong floor players who will be priced out if you pay up for goals that may not happen. Lukaku has found the back of the net once in his last nine games in all competitions while Watford have posted back-to-back clean sheets. Leicester haven't been good defensively, and while Kane has scored in back-to-back matches, it's really the price I am concerned about. At that level, he may have to score twice to make it worth it.
Focusing on the floor players, Marcus Rashford ($8,900) has been taking corners for Manchester United and even sent in nine open-play crosses during their win over Brighton this past weekend, finishing with a season-best 13 overall. Rashford's set-piece duties have a few moving parts, as he could lose out on some corners if Daley Blind ($5,800, defender), Juan Mata ($5,800, midfielder) and/or Henrikh Mkhitaryan ($7,800, midfielder) start. Anthony Martial ($8,100) was looking like he could be a cash play earlier this season, but he's done nothing recently to make me think that will turn back.
Many fantasy players could turn to Brighton's Pascal Gross ($7,600) against Crystal Palace, especially after he scored 12 fantasy points against Manchester United at Old Trafford this past weekend. Gross has sent in at least six crosses in four straight games while taking two shots in each of his last two. His upside isn't overly high, and to be honest his floor isn't that great either. He's scored at least 10 points in five of his last six games but only once did he do it without a goal or an assist and he never hit 20 over that span. On the other side of that match is Andros Townsend ($7,300), who would look a lot better if Christian Benteke ($5,800) started and actually gave him a target in the box for his crosses. Townsend has scored at least eight fantasy points in nine of his last 10 games, including at least 10 in four of his last six. Impressively (or unimpressively, however you want to look at it), he has just one assist and zero goals over those 10 games, showing his solid floor. If Yohan Cabaye ($7,100, midfielder) is rested and Townsend gets to take corners, he could have a huge game. Benteke could be an interesting play in GPPs even if Wilfried Zaha ($7,900) does much more across the stat sheet.
Other than Kane, Son Heung-Min ($8,300) is the Spurs forward to potentially target after he scored 13 fantasy points without a goal or an assist in Saturday's win over West Brom. However, the Baggies took a very early lead in that one which made Spurs go into an all-out attack, helping Son take four shots, send in six crosses and draw three fouls. He's reached at least 13 points in three of his last four games, though two of them required a goal to get there. If you don't think Tottenham are going to play well at Leicester, you could try to get something out of Riyad Mahrez ($5,900) or Demarai Gray ($4,800), but the former is going to be really goal dependent to make value since Leicester don't figure to have the ball much. If you see the counter goal coming, who else but Jamie Vardy ($5,300) is going to score it?
And if you've been playing Richarlison ($8,200) for weeks and are convinced that he's matchup proof, then home against Manchester United is the best time to test your theory. The young Brazilian has at least one goal or one assist in six of his last eight games, though the two shortcomings came at home.
MIDFIELDER
Tottenham's Christian Eriksen ($9,600) is the most expensive midfielder and anyone who played him last weekend is probably throwing up in their mouths a little bit at the thought of running him out there again. Eriksen took four shots and sent in two crosses, but the big issue was that Spurs took eight corners and Eriksen didn't take a single one. Instead, defenders Kieran Trippier ($6,600) and Ben Davies ($6,100) took five and three, respectively. Spurs have been rotating their fullbacks pretty regularly of late, and with the short turnaround from Saturday's match, Eriksen could get some corners back if Serge Aurier ($5,500) and Danny Rose ($5,700) get the starts. Neither player has taken a corner in the Premier League this season, though Rose took three against Dortmund in the Champions League when Eriksen took four. Given the uncertainty, $9,600 is a hefty price to pay to still have to hope that he'll get corners. Teammate Dele Alli ($8,400) is a nice GPP option, coming in with three assists in his last two games.
Manchester United's Paul Pogba ($8,700) reached 10 fantasy points this past weekend without a goal or an assist, finishing with two shots (one on target), three fouls drawn, three tackles won and an interception, and while can do plenty of things, paying that much for a player without set pieces is probably prohibitive in cash, especially with United having a fairly tough matchup away to Watford. Pogba is probably the most trustworthy United midfielder, but I probably won't be the one trusting him.
Crystal Palace's Yohan Cabaye ($7,100) finally saw his streak of scoring at least 15 fantasy points end at three games this past weekend, but he still scored nine thanks to one shot, which was on goal, seven crosses, five interceptions and two tackles won. His price is up $400 from last weekend and $1,300 from the week before, which means he's far from a value at this point. He needs the set pieces to get enough crossing opportunities, and playing at Brighton might give him the opportunities, but I think I still prefer Townsend because he's so active in open play. Playing both seems a little aggressive, but with few goals expected we should target the peripheral stats. Teammate Ruben Loftus-Cheek ($4,700) found the back of the net last weekend while also sending in five crosses, and he preceded that game with a nine-pointer that included six fouls drawn. He seems to have a decent floor, but that price is way too high for me now.
I've been a proponent of Anthony Knockaert ($5,700) in recent weeks, and given the matchup against Palace he's in play Tuesday. He's scored at least eight fantasy points in three of his last four, including an impressive eight at Man United. He's been taking a few corners from Gross, and while he's not the best cash play out there, I could understand fitting him in.
West Brom have been particularly awful, which pushes Newcastle's Matt Ritchie ($7,500) in view. Ritchie has taken two shots in three straight games while sending in at least 10 crosses twice over that span. He's likely to be on most set pieces, and while he'll lose a few corners to Jonjo Shelvey ($4,400), Ritchie has a much stronger floor and a higher ceiling. If Shelvey's potential red card worries you, there's always Jacob Murphy ($4,600), who has scored nine and seven fantasy points in his last two, respectively, thanks to shots and crosses. It's worth pointing out that West Brom have allowed the second-most crosses in the Premier League this season, as well as the second-most shots among teams on the slate. For those willing to gamble on the more defensively minded players, Mikel Merino ($3,500) has had a few games with at least six fantasy points, a nice payoff for the salary savings.
We can't ignore Newcastle's opponent though, as the Baggies have scored just one goal in their last four games while allowing nine. For cash purposes, you could look at Matt Phillips ($6,200), as he's been taking some corners recently, helping him to score at least seven fantasy points in three of his last four. But really, how much can we expect out of West Brom these days? If Phillips doesn't start, there's always a possibility that Gareth Barry ($3,100) is on corners, and that's at least a price worth taking a risk on as opposed to twice that.
For slightly more you could pick up Tom Cleverey ($3,300), who could be taking corners for Watford. Teammate Will Hughes ($4,500) has gotten all the attention of late thanks to a goal in back-to-back games, but Cleverley has been the steady set-piece taker for more of this season. This is also where I would mention that it's a Cleverley revenge game, but I won't go there.
DEFENDER
The Manchester United and Tottenham fullbacks will certainly be in play and it doesn't really matter who they are. I would definitely target Trippier or Davies if they start, and while Aurier and Rose are very viable, I don't like them as much. United's options aren't as strong, though there is a possibility Blind could be on set pieces if four other dominoes fall the right way. Grabbing at least one is doable if you're willing to fade the highest-priced options, and there is enough midfield value where you could spend up at both defender slots.
If you want to go cheaper, Kieran Gibbs ($4,200) could be on some corners for West Brom, and he's been known to win a few tackles. The guys on the other side of that game, DeAndre Yedlin ($4,300) and Javier Manquillo ($4,100), aren't bad, though I'm not sure they are going to provide great returns.
Targeting the other non-United/Spurs match, Gaeton Bong has scored at least six points in three of his last four, including twice with eight. He's shown a nice combination of crossing and drawing fouls, with one game when he won five tackles (that is definitely an outlier though). The other side shouldn't be ignored either, with Joel Ward ($4,000) the better option for me ahead of Jeffery Schlupp ($3,700). I'd probably get sucked into Patrick van Aanholt ($4,400) if he was a little cheaper, though I'll think long and hard about it if he and Benteke start.
Watford's Martin Zeegelaar ($3,700) was great last weekend against Newcastle, picking up an assist on four chances created while also winning two tackles. His matchup against Manchester United is significantly tougher, but it's not often you can pay less than $4,000 for a wingback playing at home. Kiko Femenia ($3,800) isn't a bad option either while lining up on the right side.
GOALKEEPER
Paying up for David de Gea ($5,700) feels like a stretch, but all he's done is score at least 10 points in what feels like every game this season. Everyone always says you can't get certainty with goalkeeper, but I'd argue de Gea has been the most certain player at any position this season.
If you're adamant that paying up for goalkeeper is a sucker's bet, you could pay down for Heurelho Gomes ($3,800) against a United side that has one or zero goals in three of their last four matches. Gomes is working on back-to-back clean sheets, making seven saves over that span. If you're more concerned with saves, Kasper Schmeichel ($3,700) faces a Spurs side that's forced the most saves of any team on the slate while scoring fewer goals than Watford this season despite putting 27 more shots on goal (that's probably more of a point about Watford's absurd conversion rate than anything about Tottenham).
