EPL Top Plays Matchweek 29
Welcome back to another week of DFS soccer over on DraftKings. After a goal-heavy midweek Champions League clash of the top teams in Europe, Chelsea is knocked out of Europe, while Real Madrid almost found themselves out of the competition as well. As such, we have a very even schedule this weekend with five games Saturday and a four-game slate Sunday-Monday. The GPPs seem to be geared more towards Saturday tho, so that’s where the analysis will be, however, I will provide a few picks at each position for the Sunday-Monday slate, just won’t go into the analysis. As always, lineups are key, follow me on twitter and I’ll do my best to retweet all starting XI lineups as they show up. Good luck.
Goalkeepers
David Ospina, Arsenal $5,200 – Ospina leads his Arsenal side at home against a reeling West Ham squad that has only three points in their last six games. West Ham has only scored four goals in their last six games which has led to them to drop to 10th spot in the league standings after threatening a top 5 finish most of the season. Ospina is a safe option as he is playing at home against a reeling team and he is slightly cheaper than Hart for City who are on the road this week (albeit against a weak team)
Costel Pantilimon, Sunderland $4,800 – I wrestled with who to pick in the second keeper spot in this matchup as there are several keepers within this price range that are very usable. Pantilimon wins out, however, as he is facing Aston Villa. Villa are a team that doesn’t attack very often on the road, and in their last six matches overall Villa have managed a putrid four goals on 60 shots (10 shots a game) which is the fourth-lowest mark in the league. Villa creates the least amount of chances and have struggled overall in their last six game.
Other Keepers I Like: Allan McGregor $4,100, Joe Hart $5,400, Ben Foster $4,700
Sunday Keepers to Target: Thibaut Courtois $5,500, Hugo Lloris $4,700, Fraser Forster $3,800 (GPP)
Defenders
Patrick Van Aanholt, Sunderland $3,800 – The Sunderland fullback has been used as a sub recently, but he came on with 17 minutes to go in the game against Hull and he managed to deliver two crosses a shot and contribute an assist. I would expect the manager to put him back in the starting XI this time around. Sunderland should pick up a clean sheet in this one, which puts Van Aanholt in line for the bonus as well.
Kieran Trippier, Burnley $4,900 – Trippier is in a tough matchup against Manchester City who are in a race for the title with Chelsea. Burnley are expected to lose this matchup, but they won’t do it lying down. In 14 home appearances Trippier has delivered 135 crosses (9.6 crosses/week) which have led to two assists. He leads all defenders in touches in the final third and is a key part of Burnley’s attack. If they were to mount any sort of resistance to City, Trippier would be key in that effort.
Other Defenders I Like: Hector Bellerin $4,500, Andrew Robertson $4,800, Aaron Cresswell $4,300, Anthony Reveillere $3,900
Sunday Defenders to target: Seamus Coleman $4,900, Daryl Janmaat $3,700, Danny Rose $4,300, Nathaniel Clyne $4,300
Midfielders
Santi Cazorla, Arsenal $8,200 – The game log will tell you to be cautious and the price will also keep you grounded a bit, however, on the season, Cazorla has been Arsenal’s best midfielder (if you count Alexis as a forward). He has provided plenty of opportunities for his teammates through 53 key passes and 145 crosses (27 appearances). Cazorla is also on penalty duty for Arsenal and last scored a penalty against Crystal Palace a few weeks ago. He’s worth a gamble as he should be very active in the Arsenal attack.
Ahmed Elmohamady, Hull City $6,200 – Leicester is not a good defensive team and are currently at the bottom of the table and almost certain to suffer relegation. Hull is looking to stay out of the relegation zone and is currently 15th in the table. This leads me to believe that Hull will be active in attack, and Elmo has been a key passer for this team in recent weeks. On the season, he is fifth in total crosses and in the last four matches he has 10 chances created to go along with 25 crosses. I also don’t mind Huddlestone ($3,700) in this spot for Hull as he takes some corners for them and in the last four weeks Hull has managed to score two goals from set pieces.
Victor Moses, Stoke $6,700 – He’s been excellent the last four weeks with 11 shots, 2 goals, 18 crosses and 11 fouls drawn. His score sheet reads 22, 11, 19, and 12. While a road matchup might scare some away, I believe that Moses is in a great spot to continue to impress fantasy-wise and will provide some opportunities to his teammates as well as take some himself. In the last four weeks he’s been very active in the opponents final third with 128 total touches, I expect him to continue to do so this week.
Other Midfielders I Like: Yaya Toure $7,200, Riyadh Mahrez $5,700, Mesut Ozil $8,100, Sebastian Larsson $5,400, David Silva $8,700
Sunday Midfielders: Christian Eriksen $7,600, Eden Hazard $9,100, Phillipe Coutinho $5,900, Aaron Lennon $5,100
Forwards
Dame N’Doye, Hull $6,400 – Here is a young player who is coming onto the scene for Hull and for the life of me I can’t imagine why his price hasn’t gone up yet. In fact, his price has dropped from last week to this week even though he scored a goal last match and this match is facing Leicester City who have conceded 10 goals in their last five games. N’Doye will be highly owned, and he has a great chance at scoring, so you don’t want to miss out at his price. Just plug him in and move on.
Olivier Giroud, Arsenal $9,400 – If you like Arsenal to score a few goals this week, then you’ll look to Giroud to make that happen. You can obviously spend up and go to Sanchez or Aguero as they are the two elite options on the day, and I wouldn’t fault you for going after either. However, Giroud plays the lone striker spot up front, and over the last six weeks has averaged close to three shots a game and has scored four goals and assisted in two more. Giroud has the potential to exceed Alexis and Aguero this week in his DraftKings point total.
Other Forwards I Like: Alexis Sanchez $10,200, Sergio Aguero $10,100, Saido Berahino $8,300, Brown Ideye $6,000, Jermaine Defoe $6,600, Danny Ings $6,300, Nikica Jelavic $6,000
Sunday Forwards: Harry Kane $9,900, Wayne Rooney $9,800, Daniel Sturridge $7,500, Sadio Mane $6,600, Romelu Lukaku $8,800