World Cup: Group F Preview

MATCHES (EDT)

Sunday, June 17 - 11:00 a.m: Germany v. Mexico
Monday, June 18 - 8:00 a.m: Sweden v. South Korea
Saturday, June 23 - 11:00 a.m: South Korea v. Mexico
Saturday, June 23 - 2:00 p.m: Germany v. Sweden
Wednesday, June 27 - 10:00 a.m: Mexico v. Sweden
Wednesday, June 27 - 10:00 a.m: South Korea v. Germany

Group F figures to be competitive for the second spot in the knockout round, but there is absolutely no doubt that Germany will finish on top. The 2014 World Cup champions have reloaded with excellent youth at nearly every position while bringing back seasoned veterans who have had plenty of international glory. If there was one nit to pick about the team four years ago it's that they didn't have a true center forward. Enter: 22-year-old Timo Werner, scorer of 34 Bundesliga goals over the past two seasons for RB Leipzig. Rumored to be transferring to Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Liverpool and other big clubs this summer, Werner is expected to lead the line for a squad that could be the highest-scoring team in the tournament. The toughest thing about Germany is they have so many weapons that it's possible you could have one or two on your fantasy team and they win 5-0 but you don't have anyone on the scoresheet. Very few teams in the tournament present such problems.

If Germany are the clear favorites of the group, South Korea are the clear long-shots. Expected to finish fourth by the oddsmakers, the Koreans were fairly poor during qualifying and then lost forward Kwon Chang-hoon to injury. They'll mainly rely on their two Premier League stars, Tottenham's Son Heung-Min and Swansea City's Ki Sung-yueng, and while those two are solid contributors, South Korea are heavy underdogs in all their of their matches and could be one of the lowest-scoring teams in Russia.

The battle for second place will be between Mexico and Sweden, two sides that couldn't be more different in terms of makeup. Sweden stunningly beat Italy in a playoff to qualify for the World Cup and will be playing their first international competition for some time without superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Meanwhile, Mexico are filled with old, reliable players for a team that seems to make the knockout rounds every four years. They are also both strong defensively, though the attacking upside may favor Mexico, as the Swedish attack has little flair and fairly limited upside, with Emil Forsberg, who is likely to be on most set pieces, coming off a poor Bundesliga season after his surprising eight goals and 19 assists the season before.

Mexico boasts some familiar names for those who follow the Champions League, including Porto's Hector Herrera and Jesus Corona and Benfica's Raul Jimenez, as well as the now-Los Angeles Galaxy teammates (and brothers), Jonathan Dos Santos and Giovani Dos Santos and their new in-town rival Carlos Vela of Los Angeles FC. However, the most exciting player on the Mexican squad could be PSV Eindhoven's Hirving Lozano, a 22-year-old winger who had 17 goals and eight assists in the Eredivisie this past season.

OFFICIAL ROSTERS

ODDS REPORT

PLAYER GOAL ODDS

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Germany: Playing in the no. 10 for arguably the best team in the tournament, Mesut Ozil's talent really shines for Germany while he often goes quiet for Arsenal. The set pieces are likely to be taken by Toni Kroos, though Ozil could earn a split of the corners, and with the expectation that he could be on penalties as well, Ozil's upside is higher than we usually see during his Premier League appearances. If there's a wildcard to watch out for it's Marco Reus, who could be one of the best players in the tournament (and the world) as long as he stays healthy, as issue that has limited him to just 28 Bundesliga appearances in the last two seasons.

Mexico: The Dutch league is definitely light on defense, but Hirving Lozano's averages of 3.8 shots, including 1.8 on target, 7.6 crosses (including 3.8 corners) and 2.7 fouls drawn per 90 minutes really stand out as a player who can provide a reliable floor on DraftKings. He's unlikely to take set pieces for Mexico, but that actually may be more helpful because we've seen 10 different players take at least one corner in their last six matches, and no one has a monopoly when they play, so we'll at least know we're only relying on Lozano's open-play production.

South Korea: With not much expected out of the Koreans in the group stage, it's tough to rely on anyone except their best player, Son Heung-Min. An exciting attacker for Tottenham, he had 26 goals and 12 assists in the past two years and will be the focal point of their attack. Premier League followers will also not recognize Ki Sung-yueng because of how big of a role he plays for South Korea (unlike Swansea City), but the floor and upside still favor Son.

Sweden:Emil Forsberg is the player many will turn to (at least against South Korea) because of his role on set pieces, but his dreadful 2017/18 Bundesliga season leaves little optimism for a breakout tournament. Lining up on the other wing is Victor Claesson, who scored 10 goals and had six assists while averaging 2.5 shots, including 1.1 on target, and 2.3 chances created per 90 minutes for Krasnodor in the Russian Premier League this past season. The lack of set pieces is a bit disappointing, but he's simply been a more active attacker than Forsberg. For DraftKings players looking for crosses, starting left-back Ludwig Augustinsson is the man for that, and it's possible he could grab a few corners if Forsberg struggles.

EXPECTED CORNER TAKERS

Germany: Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Julian Draxler, Joshua Kimmich, Ilkay Gundogan
Mexico: Andres Guardado, Giovani Dos Santos, Hector Herrera, Miguel Layun, Jonathan Dos Santos, Carlos Vela
South Korea: Son Heung-Min, Ki Sung-yueng, Lee Jae-Sung
Sweden: Emil Forsberg, Oscar Hiljemark, Ludwig Augustinsson, Sebastian Larsson

EXPECTED PENALTY TAKERS

Germany: Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller
Mexico: Andres Guardado, Raul Jimenez, Giovani Dos Santos, Javier Hernandez
South Korea: Son Heung-Min, Ki Sung-yueng
Sweden: Andreas Granqvist, Emil Forsberg

ROUND OF 16 OPPONENTS

• Winner of Group F plays the runner-up of Group E (Brazil, Costa Rica, Serbia, Switzerland)
• Runner-up of Group F plays the winner of Group E