EPL Top Plays: Saturday, April 11th
Welcome to another week of DFS Soccer with DraftKings providing us with plenty of tournaments to play in. The slate this week is rather interesting, as it includes some teams with nothing to play for against some teams with everything to play for. It also features matchups that could go a long way in determining the battle to avoid relegation. With Hull, Leicester, Aston Villa and Sunderland all in play Saturday morning, it will be interesting to see what strategies these teams deploy to avoid falling irreparably behind. As always, make sure to check out the starting lineups about an hour prior to lock, and as usual, you can hit me up on Twitter for any questions you may have.
Goalkeepers
Kelvin Davis, Southampton $5,100 – Southampton are a heavy favorite and Kelvin Davis has stepped in to replace the injured Fraser Forster without any hesitation. His price is lower than the other big favorites on the board, but I expect this matchup to be a little one sided with Southampton claiming victory. This puts Davis as a favorite to get the Win bonus and the Clean Sheet bonus, but the upside is limited as there shouldn’t be many save chances.
Julian Speroni, Crystal Palace, 4,300 – Speroni should face lots of action this week with the potential to make plenty of saves that would lead to a high score. Crystal Palace will be in a somewhat even matchup with Sunderland, where CP should get the win. I like Speroni as a GPP option, as he can easily make 3+ saves, but could also let all those chances in on goal.
Other Goalkeepers I Like: Michael Vorm (Tottenham, $5,700), David Ospina (Arsenal, $5,600), Boaz Myhill (West Brom, $5,200)
Defenders
Nathanial Clyne, Southampton $4,100 – I was always going to take a Saints fullback, it was just a question of which one was in the prime position this week. Both of them are in relatively positive grounds here, with the game against Hull expected to feature plenty of attacking from Southampton and plenty of defending from Hull. Clyne, however, wins out this week due to his recent form of more touches in the final third (90 vs 77 in the last four weeks). Add to that Clyne’s performance last week at Everton with eight crosses. Bertrand is a good play as well, but for $100 cheaper, Clyne seems to be the safer of the two this week.
Carl Jenkinson, West Ham United $4,600 – At home this season, Jenkinson and Cresswell have both been superb in their attacking prowess and ability to get into the opponent’s half and deliver crosses and key passes. Just looking at his crossing totals from his recent performances, Jenkinson had 7, 10, 6 in his last three home games. These are great cash game numbers and all carry the potential to be converted into goals and thus can add an assist bonus. This game will be inconsequential for both teams, however, pride plays a large factor for some of these teams especially at home, and with Stoke having won this matchup last season. Look for WHU to be on the attack and for Jenkinson to be pushing forward consistently.
Other Defenders I Like: Danny Rose (Tottenham, $4,500), Kieran Trippier (Burnley $5,400), Joel Ward (Crystal Palace, $2,800), Hector Bellerin (Arsenal, $4,800)
Midfielders
James Morrison, West Bromwich Albion $4,800 – Morrison is in a good spot here with Leicester coming to his home turf. Morrison is an attacking mid, and can be in a great spot to score a goal from the midfield for WBA. Leicester are a decent squad but they’ve been up and down, and WBA should have the edge at home against a headed-for-relegation Leicester City.
Mesut Ozil, Arsenal $8,300 – Ozil has started to come into his own and in the last few weeks he’s been one of the top five performers in the midfield in all of the Premier League. With Arsenal’s attack firing on all cylinders, Ozil has played a key role in that surge. Expect Burnley to be under the gun in this one and for Ozil to provide the attack with some chances and for him to take chances himself if they are presented.
Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace $4,000 – Priced at 4K, Zaha is severely underpriced for his potential for this Crystal Palace squad. Zaha will not be highly targeted due to the last matchup with Manchester City in which Zaha had to drop back to defend against City and thus had very limited chances which led to low output and production. However, if you ignore the last matchup, Zaha has consistently been attacking and providing fantasy stat lines that are worth way more than his price tag. This is a good matchup for Zaha where he will have to push forward along with his midfield teammates Yannick Bolasie, and Jason Puncheon, both of whom make good plays as well.
Other Midfielders I Like: Christian Eriksen (Tottenham, $8,400), Dusan Tadic (Southampton, $7,100), Charlie Adam (Stoke, $4,800)
Forwards
Olivier Giroud, Arsenal $10,300 – Arsenal are my favorite team to score this week, and Giroud is the top option for that team as he practically lives in the 18-yard box, with almost half his touches coming in the final-third. He has been involved in over 50% of the Arsenal goals in the last four matches, and he should be easily fit into your lineups with all the value created in midfield and defense.
Harry Kane, Tottenham $10,700 – Over the last month, Harry Kane has scored every other game and he didn’t score his last time out. Kane has taken the Premier League by storm and it’s more surprising when he doesn’t score goals than when he does at this point. Look for him to be equally as active as Giroud, and both count as top options to target in both your cash and GPP teams.
Glen Murray, Crystal Palace $3,000 – He’s priced at the bare minimum and he’s scored five goals in five matches. He makes for an excellent play, as he won’t cost you too much to roster and the upside is extremely high.
Other Forwards I Like: Christian Benteke (Aston Villa, $7,900), Sadio Mane (Southampton, $6,200), Leandro Ulloa (Leicester, $5,500), Saido Berahino (WBA, $8,600), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal, $9,500)