This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Soccer series.
Saturday's Premier League slate will have a lot of decisions geared toward the late game where Manchester City matches up with Southampton as a -400 favorite. Flexibility will be key since Man City's lineup can't be guaranteed ahead of Champions League play. The next biggest favorites are Aston Villa and Leicester City, two teams that I never like to trust, even as favorites.
MATCHES (ET)
- 10:00 am: Aston Villa vs. Nottingham Forest
- 10:00 am: Brentford vs. Newcastle United
- 10:00 am: Fulham vs. West Ham United
- 10:00 am: Leicester City vs. AFC Bournemouth
- 10:00 am: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
- 10:00 am: Wolverhampton vs. Chelsea
- 12:30 pm: Southampton vs. Manchester City
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS/MIDFIELDERS
Erling Haaland, MCI at SOU ($24): Haaland got back on track in Man City's Champions League win against RB Leipzig before the international break when he netted five goals in 63 minutes. He then missed the Liverpool matchup last weekend with a groin injury, but as of Thursday, he looks to be a go for Saturday. He is highly priced but has the biggest ceiling on the slate. You will need two goals from him and in this matchup, I don't really want to bet against it. You can try to stack Man City, but you will need to find some value in the early games to do so. Kevin De Bruyne ($21), Riyad Mahrez ($19), and Jack Grealish ($18) all have some appeal for me, but none are cheap.
Emiliano Buendia, AVL vs. NFO ($15): I have a hard time paying almost the same price for Ollie Watkins ($23) as Erling Haaland, but he has been in super form. Villa are the second biggest favorite on the slate and have been playing well as a team recently. I will side with a discount to Buendia if I am going here and it will help to fit in some of the Man City pieces mentioned above. Villa are an interesting GPP pivot if you want to stack them and grab one or two pieces from Man City. They are 5-0-1 in their last six Premier League matches, which has them seventh on the table. You can mix in plays like Leon Bailey ($15), Jacob Ramsey ($16), or John McGinn ($12) for value prices.
Outside of Manchester City and Aston Villa, one of my favorite high-priced options is Kai Havertz ($20), who is in spectacular form, at least in terms of getting opportunities, for a struggling Chelsea team. James Maddison ($22) falls into the same category as Watkins in that I find it hard to pay up to this price when I can almost just play Haaland, but as always, he has a strong floor with upside. Alexander Isak ($20) and Harry Kane ($21) have similar goalscoring odds and I have to side with Isak in a better perceived matchup against Brentford.
Jacob Murphy, NEW at BRE ($13): Murphy has solid odds to score at +350, only behind Isak for Newcastle. You'll need value plays to fit in high-priced studs on this slate and Murphy fits that bill. He hasn't been going the full 90 minutes, but even when he's not involved in the scoring over his last three starts, he has put up double-digit fantasy points. Newcastle are slight away favorites against Brentford as they continue their battle for a top four Champions League spot.
DEFENDERS
Ben Chilwell, CHE vs. WOL ($13): I think it will be tough to fit in plays like Haaland and still be able to pay up for the best defender, without price being considered, in Kieran Trippier ($16). This makes me want to take a discount down to Chilwell and even though I think Chelsea could struggle to score, he will still put up some good peripherals. He has been taking most of the set pieces for Chelsea, which gives him his strong floor. Pedro Porro ($12) is another solid play and could fit the same bill as Chillwell in that Tottenham could struggle to score in a matchup with Brighton, which would increase his floor quite a bit. Teammate Ivan Perisic ($11) also has some appeal where he should have a solid floor, as well.
Duje Caleta-Car, SOU vs. MCI ($10): It's a fairly cheap price for both Caleta-Car and teammate Jan Bednarek ($11) as center-backs in a matchup with Man City. They will be busy and have a chance to rack up defensive stats. Marcos Senesi ($12) also makes sense as a center-back option against Leicester.
GOALKEEPER
Ederson, MCI at SOU ($14): If you have the salary, I see no reason to go away from the safest option at goalkeeper in Ederson. Kepa Arrizabalaga ($13) and Emiliano Martinez ($13) are so close to Ederson's price that I lean toward finding the extra dollar. You may not be able to get up this high, though, so taking a discount down to Jose Sa ($8) is viable. He gets a struggling Chelsea squad which gives him some big upside for GPP contests for the price.
