EPL Top Plays: Monday, December 26th
Welcome to the EPL Boxing Day. This week will mark the halfway point of the season, meaning that after this week’s games every matchup after this will be a repeat matchup that we can look back at home the first leg went and use that to analyze. But for this week, we know that there are suspensions, and injuries to reckon with which affects how we look at each matchup and how we handle each team and how we build our lineups.
Heading into this week’s matchups, we have a very large contest that features seven of the 10 matches and 14 teams playing in the main Monday slate; there are plenty of options to consider with the matches offering plenty of elite plays to take on. Because of time constraints, this week’s article will be a general picks article, but never fear: the Grind Down will be back next week for Gameweek 19 along with all the other content you’ve come to expect as part of the soccer package in the Marketplace.
Goalkeepers
David Marshall, Hull, $6,400 FD, $3,600 DK – With a matchup at home against a Manchester City team that is missing their top offensive threat, David Marshall gets a bit of a boost on Boxing Day. Without Aguero, the threat from City is diminished but the control of the team isn’t. The Citizens will have no problems dominating possession and pushing Marshall and Hull into having to make defensive plays all night long, but Marshall will have the advantage of having plenty of opportunities to make saves, giving him a great fantasy outlook for Monday.
Jordan Pickford, Sunderland, $6,900 FD, $3,500 DK – The risk with taking Marshall is of course the same with taking Pickford, they could both get lit up, but Marshall playing at home gives him a slight edge over Pickford, who has to take on the other Manchester club, but this time in Manchester. United are a tough team to face these days, Ibrahimovic is on fire these days (more on him later), but Pickford will have close to 10 shots to deal with, and hopefully handling some of them for some saves to outweigh the goals he will inevitably let in.
NOTE: Stekelenberg is currently doubtful to play Monday. Joel Robles would start in his place if he is unable to play.
Maarten Stekelenberg, Everton, $6,000 FD, $4,500 DK – Stekelenberg is on the road in this one facing a Leicester team that will be missing their striker, Vardy due to suspension. The team is also missing Fuchs and Robert Huth. Everton should have control of this match from a possession standpoint and Stekelenberg may not face as much supply as the other two keepers highlighted in this section, but I like him and his counterpart on the other side of the field Kasper Schmeichel to both face some shots on target in this one. Stekelenberg gets the nod over Schmeichel because of the price differences.
Defenders
Ben Chilwell, Leicester, $3,000 FD, $3,000 DK – When targeting defenders, I like to look for the value. Nobody comes with as much value this week as Ben Chilwell who is deputizing for Christian Fuchs in the back for Leicester. Chilwell is bargain bin price tag and he’s going to be getting the majority of the minutes for this Leicester squad. His production is questionable, but in the one match that he participated in this year he amassed 4 tackles, 5 interceptions, and 6 clearances in the matchup with Porto in the Champions League. Will he pick up a similar amount of points here? It’s unknowable at this moment, but he’s going to get the opportunities, and for minimum price, he’s worth taking.
Antonio Valencia, Manchester United, $4,900 FD, $5,100 DK – Antonio Valencia enters this matchup as one of the two full backs for a Manchester United team that is expected to dominate against a weak Sunderland squad at home. With an average of 16.6 fantasy points per game on FanDuel, Valencia makes for a nice pivot from some of the more popular options at that position. Moreover, he’s averaged close to a chance created in recent weeks and he’s taken 2-5 crosses every week recently. Against a Sunderland team that allows plenty of crosses from the right side (47% more than the average Premier League team), giving Valencia a superb chance at delivering 5+ crosses in this matchup.
Stephen Ward, Burnley, $5,000 FD, $4,900 DK – In a matchup with Middlesbrough, all players from Burnley will go overlooked a bit allowing for some low ownership potential. Ward has consistently gotten the most touches on this team and without Lowton that means that Ward will get extra touches and possible some offensive role as Burnley try to walk away from this home matchup with a tough Middlesbrough defense ahead with at least a point if not all three. Ward has the ability to score goals and I think that taking some Burnley players will come in handy as you build your lineups.
Midfielders
Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City, $11,300 FD, $10,100 DK – One of the top midfielders regardless of the matchup is an even more attractive option with his matchup this week as City visit Hull and look to walk away with all three points despite missing their Talisman Sergio Aguero. Kevin De Bruyne started as a false 9 earlier this month without Aguero and while he may not do so again in this one, he’s one of the most active midfielders in all of Europe, making him worth the price of admission if you choose to target him for your lineups (and you should definitely consider him)
Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea, $8,800 FD, $9,300 DK – This was a tough choice between Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dimitri Payet as they go against each other in this matchup of two teams that are heading in opposite directions. Siggy and Swansea are currently struggling to get wins as the team is bottom of the table tied in points with Hull. Meanwhile West Ham and Payet have climbed all the way up to 13th place but are only 5 points clear of the relegation zone, so the win here matters to both teams. Payet and Sigurdsson both command the utmost respect from both a fantasy standpoint as well as from a tactics on the pitch standpoint. As either of them can turn the tide for the match single handedly. They are the same price on DraftKings, but the cheaper price tag on FanDuel and the fact that Swansea are at home give the nod to Sigurdsson over Payet for my picks, but if you choose to roster them both you cannot go wrong.
Scott Arfield, Burnley, $4,900 FD, $5,200 DK – Arfield is another Burnley option that is worth considering in the midfield. His price tag is very cheap right around 5K, which is the usual asking price for a value midfielder on both FanDuel and DraftKings. What separates Arfield from the rest of those at his price tag is his role on this team which has been elevated since Johann Berg-Gudmundsson had to miss some time because of injury. Of course Gudmundsson might be back this week, so Arfield loses appeal if JBG starts. If that’s the case, I would pivot over to Manuel Lanzini or Yaya Toure.
Forwards
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester United, $13,400 FD, $9,000 DK – Ibrahimovic marks one of the most exciting talents in the Premier League this season and indeed, one of the best bets to score a goal this week. United are heavy favorites and Zlatan has goals in five of his last six matches. There isn’t much to say about him, he’s an excellent player and in a great position to score a goal or more.
Leroy Sane, Manchester City, $6,500 FD, $5,900 DK – If you wish to get some exposure to Manchester City, Leroy Sane makes for an attractive option in that regard. He’s a forward on DraftKings, but only a Midfielder on FanDuel, but his potential impact is big enough to consider him on both sites. Sane scored a goal against Arsenal last time out and will look to add to that as it was just his first goal on the season. Between him, Nolito and Iheanacho, there are plenty of players for Pep Guardiola to choose from, not to mention Yaya Toure, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, the team is full of potential and tough to pinpoint ahead of time which of them will make their mark, for this week I believe Sane might be one of the lucky ones.
Michy Batshuayi, Chelsea, $7,200 FD, $7,300 DK – For Chelsea, they’ve come to rely heavily on Diego Costa in recent weeks and without him in this matchup they’ll turn to their summer signing Michy Batshuayi to deliver the goods. Bats has potential that he flashed early in his Chelsea career by scoring multiple goals off the bench to give Chelsea some early season wins. This week with Chelsea hosting the Cherries, there are multiple options to consider, including Hazard, Pedro, Willian, Fabregas, and Marcos Alonso.