This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Soccer series.
It's never easy breaking down a slate with Manchester City as a massive favorite. They are going to be the priority in a home matchup against Luton Town. But Brentford and Brighton are in great matchups themselves against Sheffield United and Burnley, respectively. I think Bournemouth are an under-the-radar option, as well. Manchester United give up a surprising amount of fantasy points for a top third of the table team and the prices on Bournemouth help play some more expensive options.
MATCHES
- 10:00 am: Brentford vs. Sheffield United
- 10:00 am: Burnley vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
- 10:00 am: Manchester City vs. Luton Town
- 10:00 am: Nottingham Forest vs. Wolverhampton
- 12:30 pm: AFC Bournemouth vs. Manchester United
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS/MIDFIELDERS
Kevin De Bruyne (MCI vs. LUT, $22): Erling Haaland's ($25) goalscoring odds are hoverly around -250 at FanDuel Sportsbook, an implied probability of 70 percent. His brace odds of +165 suggest he will score two or more goals more than one third of the time if he had this matchup over and over. So, Haaland is certainly a good play. That said, he's very expensive and you have to punt several times to make him fit. You might have to go without the services of De Bruyne, who has averaged 23 floor points in starts this season. He has a ceiling, as well, with great goalscoring and assist odds. It's possible to play both, but in lineups where I only choose one, I'm more likely to lean towards De Bruyne.
Oscar Bobb (MCI vs. LUT, $16): I'm expecting Manchester City to rotate their starting lineup after an exciting first leg in the Champions League against Real Madrid. This should give some cheaper, non-regular starters a chance for serious time in a great home matchup. I think Bobb is more likely to play 65 minutes than 90 with City still fighting for the Premier League title, but he did play a full 90 minutes last weekend against Crystal Palace. Mateo Kovacic is only $13 and is worth a punt purely on salary and game environment alone. I don't expect either to start, but don't be surprised if Matheus Nunes ($15) or even Micah Hamilton ($10) starts Saturday.
Bryan Mbeumo (BRE vs. SHU, $20): I'm always interested in targeting Sheffield United and Mbeumo seems to be back to full fitness and partial set-piece duty. His goalscoring odds are roughly even money, so he has a massive ceiling against Sheffield United. Mathias Jensen ($15) is cheap enough to consider and capable of scoring a goal or getting an assist.
Danny Welbeck (BHA at BRN, $17): Options like Pascal Gross ($22) and Joao Pedro ($21) are too expensive for me in comparison to Manchester City players, but Welbeck feels a bit too cheap in a great matchup against Burnley. He has the second-best odds to score on the team and the absences of Julio Enciso and Evan Ferguson could mean closer to 90 minutes. Only Sheffield United have conceded more shots per game than Manchester United, who are allowing 17.9 attempts per match this season. I like taking chances on Bournemouth players like Justin Kluivert ($16) and even Ryan Christie ($16) in GPPs.
Bargain Bin ($12 or less)
Oliver Arblaster (BRE vs. SHU, $12): Brentford aren't an elite team and Arblaster created five chances last weekend at home against Chelsea. I'm willing to take chances on him at $12.
Yehor Yarmolyuk (BRE vs. SHU, $11): Yarmolyuk showed he could get forward in a recent matchup against Manchester United, logging three shots. He's playing Sheffield United and you have to afford Haaland somehow, right?
DEFENDERS
Rico Lewis (MCI vs. LUT, $11): With so many good attackers to play, I'm happy to spend down at both defender positions. Lewis didn't play midweek against Real Madrid and scored a goal last weekend against Crystal Palace. Lewis is a frustrating player and it's never quite clear if he has an attacking role, but I think that uncertainty is more than compensated by his ceiling and price in this matchup.
Bargain Bin ($9 or less)
Defender is loaded with cheap options who are projected to start and my preferred strategy on this slate is to spend as little as possible.
Dango Ouattara (BOU vs. MUN, $9): An early sub is the most likely result for Ouattara, but he also started as a winger two weekends ago. So, check the Bournemouth lineup and bench before forcing him into your lineups. Without Marcus Tavernier or Antoine Semenyo, he could be in that more attacking role.
Daiki Hashioka (MCI vs. LUT, $8): Luton Town will spend most of this match under siege by Manchester City, so Hashioka is a cheap route to blocked shots and clearances. He's much cheaper than teammates Reece Burke ($12) and Teden Mengi ($13).
Mads Roerslev (BRE vs. SHU, $9): I'm normally uninterested in Roerslev for fantasy purposes, but targeting full-backs against Sheffield United has been a profitable tactic all season, and nine bucks is a solid price.
GOALKEEPER
Jose Sa (WOL at NFO, $9): Wolves have an implied win probability of nearly 30 percent with clean sheet odds of 20 percent. A $9 salary for those odds is a pretty solid value overall. I don't mind Matz Sels ($11) at home on the other side of that matchup. Stefan Ortega ($14) (or Ederson) is the natural spend-up option with win and clean sheet odds that far exceed all other goalkeepers. Finally, I think it's fine to play Thomas Kaminski ($7) and pray for a lot of saves at his price.
