This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (ET)
- 10:00 am: Arsenal vs. Brentford
- 10:00 am: Aston Villa vs. Watford
- 10:00 am: Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Burnley
- 10:00 am: Crystal Palace vs. Chelsea
- 10:00 am: Liverpool vs. Norwich City
- 10:00 am: Southampton vs. Everton
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS
Mohamed Salah, LIV vs. NOR ($10,200): Liverpool are in a prime spot at home against Norwich City and their 2.67-implied goal total is considerably higher than any other team. We've seen Salah's salary over $12,000 multiple times this season and I was expecting something north of $11,000 here so he feels like a bit of a bargain. His current goalscoring odds of -195 are tops on the slate by a wide margin. Even still, I would normally rather spend up for a forward who has set-piece responsibility, but we don't really have that on this slate. Bukayo Saka ($9,900) will probably split corners, but he didn't take any last time out and you can never really be sure with Arsenal. Regardless, his salary is too close to that of Salah, who even without sets has a decent floor. He also has the most upside, as he's notched 16 goals and nine assists in 22 league appearances. Looking cheaper, I'd expect Liverpool to rotate after beating Inter Milan in Italy on Wednesday. Diogo Jota is injured meaning that Luis Diaz ($8,000) should get his second start for the club. He took four shots and sent in four crosses last week, scoring 11 floor points, and the matchup against Norwich is the perfect spot for him to score his first goal. Other tournament options in this range include Roberto Firmino ($7,100) and Romelu Lukaku ($7,000), who both seem rather cheap for their respective goalscoring odds of -105 and +110. Aston Villa are sizable favorites at home to Watford meaning Ollie Watkins ($6,500) and/or Danny Ings ($5,900) should get a few chances to score. Southampton are in a favorable spot at home against Everton's suspect defense. Che Adams ($6,500) has scored in back-to-back games and Armando Broja ($5,600) has been in good form. All of them have decent goalscoring odds relative to salary and they won't be overly popular.
Maxwel Cornet, BUR @ BHA ($5,100): It's somewhat surprising to see Cornet this cheap, especially because he's been splitting corners with Ashley Westwood over the past three matches. Burnley are underdogs away to Brighton, but they're almost always underdogs and there are much worse spots than this one. Cornet has scored six goals in 13 appearances, so he clearly offers decent upside along with his floor. Elsewhere, Milot Rashica ($5,300) has seen a significant drop in salary but rightfully so as the matchup away to Liverpool is anything but ideal.
MIDFIELDERS
James Ward-Prowse, SOU vs. EVE ($8,700): Ward-Prowse probably has the safest floor on the slate in his role as the monopoly set-piece taker for Southampton, who are favorites at home against Everton. I've been routinely punished for fading him in tournaments recently as he has four goals and four assists in his last eight games. If you've been rostering him, this isn't the time to stop. Because it's a six-game slate, rostership will be lower across the board and another ceiling game from Ward-Prowse would go further than usual. Elsewhere in the top range, Hakim Ziyech ($9,500) has been in great form, as he's splitting set pieces and has scored beautiful goals in consecutive games. Chelsea are in a decent spot away to Crystal Palace and Ziyech is likely to go somewhat overlooked at his inflated salary. Anthony Gordon ($7,800) continues to shine for Everton. He took most of the corners last time out against Leeds while adding a goal and an assist as he topped 35 fantasy points for the second time in five games. You can make a credible argument for prioritizing him on this slate. I chose Ward-Prowse and Mac Allister because they're home favorites while Gordon is an away underdog.
Alexis Mac Allister, BHA vs. BUR ($7,300): Mac Allister has put up at least nine floor points in each of his last seven starts and now his salary is cheaper than we've seen it in recent weeks. He's shown upside as well with two goals and an assist in that same span. He will split set pieces at worst and would have a near-monopoly of them if Pascal Gross isn't in the lineup. He also shoots on sight and loves to get forward from midfield. Brighton are in a great spot at home against last-place Burnley, which was the deciding factor for me. There isn't much in the cheap range at midfield, but if you're looking for a small set-piece floor, Ashley Westwood ($3,600) is cheaper than we've seen all season. Imran Louza ($3,300) would share set-piece duty for Watford if he starts. For GPPs, consider Jacob Ramsey ($5,100). The 20-year-old has been hugely impressive this season and should get an England call-up soon. He has four goals in his last seven games and Aston Villa have quite a favorable matchup at home against Watford.
DEFENDERS
Trent Alexander-Arnold, LIV vs. NOR ($9,200): From a raw points perspective, Alexander-Arnold is clearly the top option at defender. However, it's tough to afford him based on the lack of value at other positions and the opportunity cost of spending all that salary on a defender is high. For those reasons, he makes for a good tournament option considering he'll be less popular than usual and he has the highest ceiling at the position. I'm expecting Liverpool to rotate which could see Kostas Tsimikas ($6,800) start over Andrew Robertson ($7,700). Tsimikas has sent in 25 crosses over his last two starts and would split corners with Alexander-Arnold. From an optimal lineup construction standpoint, I think it'd make more sense to save the $2,400 and roster Tsimikas. Elsewhere, Lucas Digne ($6,200) has been taking most of the corners for Aston Villa, who are in a good spot at home to Watford. Tariq Lamptey ($6,400) and Kieran Tierney ($5,900) have favorable matchups and both have the upside to make them good leverage options in tournaments.
Kiko Femenia, WAT at AVL ($4,500): Femenia has taken the majority of Watford's corner kicks in three-consecutive matches and it's resulted in at least seven crosses each time. More appealing is the fact that he's cheapest of all the defenders who take set pieces by a considerable margin. He makes sense because there is a lot to spend for at the other positions. I don't love rostering center-backs on slates like this where the opportunity cost at the position is high, but you might have to if you want Salah and Ward-Prowse. Antonio Rudiger ($3,200) is relatively cheap and he's always a threat to score from dead-ball situations.
GOALKEEPERS
Robert Sanchez, BHA vs. BUR ($5,300): I'm not necessarily partial to any of these keepers, but Sanchez and Brighton have better clean-sheet odds than Chelsea and Aston Villa yet he's priced below them. Alisson Becker ($5,900) has the best odds on the slate at 54 percent but the 47-percent odds of Sanchez aren't far behind as a matchup at home to Burnley is one of the best spots in the league.
Ben Foster, WAT at AVL ($3,800): Watford have been a bit better defensively under Roy Hodgson and Aston Villa were just shut out by Newcastle. Vicente Guaita ($3,900) is the cheapest home goalkeeper, but I'd rather avoid a matchup with Chelsea. Angus Gunn ($3,500) has the most save upside with Norwich playing away to Liverpool.
