EPL Top Plays: Saturday, April 18th
With the Premier League winding down and the title race all but settled, we find ourselves headed to the finish line for this season. With only six more weeks of EPL games on DraftKings, they decided to throw us a bone and introduce MLS in their lobby for this weekend, Now I don’t know much about MLS, but I’ll be following closely and hoping for a quick learning curve as I dive deep into my research and education about this league. As for today, with only five matchups this Saturday, you can expect some interesting decisions in making your lineups. We don’t have Arsenal and Manchester City to deal with, so the majority of the teams in play are cheaper options and thus it will be tricky to pinpoint exactly which cheap forward you want to take into your team. As always, make sure to follow me on twitter as I’ll be tweeting out the starting XI when they are released. Good luck.
Goalkeepers
Tim Howard, Everton $5,200 – Everton are the biggest favorite on the board today, and with Tim Howard being the most expensive keeper, we are ready to revive the Captain America chants this weekend. Howard is coming off several games where he played well, and in his last four weeks the team has only allowed two goals, which is an improvement over their performance early in the season. Moreover, Burnley has only been able to score one goal in their last six games and thus I don’t expect them to bypass an in-form Tim Howard.
Kelvin Davis, Southampton $4,500 – Southampton are on the road and facing a tough Stoke squad in a matchup between two teams in the top 10. Southampton, over the last six road games has only allowed four goals (second-best mark in the league) while Stoke has managed to score nine goals in their last six. This could translate into a lot of opportunities for Stoke and some saves for Davis and potentially a good GPP play.
Other Keepers I Like: Julian Speroni (Crystal Palace, $5,000), Asmir Begovic (Stoke, $4,300), Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea $5,000), David De Gea (Manchester United, $4,300)
Defenders
Leighton Baines ($5,100) and Seamus Coleman ($4,800), Everton – With Everton being such a formidable favorite, I like the idea of going after both full backs for the squad. With Coleman and Baines being so close in salary and with the abundance of cheap options elsewhere, it’ll be a decent day to pay up for defenders and have a more evened out lineup. Baines is my favorite as he’s had nine chances created in the last four games, and while these haven’t translated into assists, we can expect that to change soon.
Nathaniel Clyne, Southampton $4,000 – Clyne missed out last week’s matchup for rest, but this matchup carries some weight for Southampton and the manager has already hinted that Clyne should be back in the starting lineup. I think Clyne should be in a good spot offensively this week as this should be a game that is evenly matched and Clyne should be involved in the offense.
Other Defenders I Like: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea, $5,500), Jordi Amat (Swansea, $2,000), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton, $4,400), Joel Ward (Crystal Palace, $2,500)
Midfielders
Yanick Bolasie, Crystal Palace $7,200 – Bolasie exploded last weekend with three goals in eleven minutes and made those that rostered him appear very intelligent. Well, there is reason to believe that he should continue that attack this week as the touches and opportunities will be there. Now, I’m not promising a hat-trick again, but I am saying that he’ll be involved in an offensive attack that should put some pressure on West Bromwich Albion.
Eden Hazard, Chelsea $9,400 – With the lack of offensive weapons for Chelsea this week without Costa and Loic Remy, Hazard should again be one of the top offensive weapons as the Blues face a tough and in-form Manchester United squad. I expect some goals to be scored in this matchup and Hazard, Fabregas and Willian all carry some merit this weekend against the Red Devils.
Other Midfielders I Like: Dusan Tadic (Southampton, $6,700), Aaron Lennon (Everton, $6,100), Charlie Adam (Stoke, $4,800), Juan Mata (Manchester United, $6,900), Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea, $7,600), Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea, $7,400)
Forwards
Glenn Murray, Crystal Palace $4,000 – Three goals in the last three weeks and six in the last six matches. I really don’t need to say much more, Murray is too cheap to not be in your roster.
Graziano Pelle, Southampton $7,900 – He scored his first goal in 2015 last week and their manager Koeman will look to get him more opportunities to get goals, or at least touches inside the final third. Southampton should be fighting for a spot in Europa League next season and a win in this matchup goes a long way towards achieving that goal.
Other Forwards I Like: Steven Naismith (Everton, $5,400), Jamie Vardy (Leicester, $5,500), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, $9,800), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, $6,500)