EPL Top Plays: Saturday, May 13th
With Chelsea being crowned champions and two of the three relegated teams being decided (Sunderland and Middlesbrough), there is very little intrigue left in the Premier League as we enter the penultimate week of matches. Between Saturday and the next Sunday we have EPL matches on every day except for Friday and Saturday of next week, with Sunday being the grand finale for the long 38 match long season.
Saturday features a decent set of matches though, four in total with two of the eight teams already relegated, there are just two teams that are really battling for something. Swansea are fighting for their lives in the Premier League after a very tough season, and Arsenal are hoping that a late run can propel them into the Champions League as they currently just sit just three points behind Manchester City and a fourth place finish that delivers them a berth into the qualifying rounds in the Premier League. Otherwise, these matches might not carry too much value, but there are still some fantasy games to play, so this week I’ll give you a position by position breakdown trying to guide you along the way to building a strong successful lineup.
Goalkeeper
Jack Butland, Stoke, $6,400 FD, $3,900 DK – Butland should be facing the most shots on target from anybody featured on this slate as he faces Arsenal at home in what should be a must win for the away side. Stoke have been conceding 3-5 shots on target at home against elite competition, and while they don’t normally come away with a win or a clean sheet, they will still be peppered with shots which could end up with Butland being a viable goalkeeping option for the save total. Additionally, he’s very low priced and can make your teams fit much smoother.
Jordan Pickford, Sunderland, $7,200 FD, $4,100 DK – Underdog goalkeepers at home have been fantasy gold all season. Over the offseason I intend to write up a couple of articles detailing some trends and patterns I noticed that we can learn from and take advantage of in the next season. One of those patterns will be identifying just how reliable home underdog goalkeepers have been for our fantasy matches. Pickford is a bit more expensive, but his opponents Swansea are really needing the win to avoid relegation, and Sunderland are already relegated making this match a guarantee that Pickford will be busy all match.
Defenders
Nacho Monreal, Arsenal, $5,900 FD, $4,700 DK – He’s played well in the role he’s carved himself in recent weeks, so he’s unlikely to be sent to the bench with the return of Koscielny and Mustafi. I expect that he’ll shift to the wing back position to displace Kieran Gibbs and thus increasing his fantasy value. The team has played well over the past few weeks and Monreal has helped them achieve three clean sheets in four matches. Look for Monreal to end up with roughly 10 DK points and 20+ FD points and be involved in the attack especially if he ends up in the wing position.
Cedric Soares or Ryan Bertrand, Southampton, $6,100/$5,900 FD, $5,500/$5,100 DK – Either of them would fit into a team that is looking to maximize their offensive production by employing defenders that venture forward. Over the last four matches, these two have averaged more touches in the opponents third than any other duo in the Premier League. Making them ideal for increased offensive opportunities to score goals or be involved in the offense. That said, their price tags are very steep and I wouldn’t blame you for not taking them into your lineups. The very viable alternative this week is to go super cheap with a starter defender that just fits and hope they provide some “luck box” goal or assist that can make up for their rock bottom price tag.
Midfielders
Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea, $10,300 FD, $10,200 DK – It’s going to be very difficult to not employ the services of Gylfi Sigurdsson in this one as the team is looking desperately to win this match in order to save their season. Swansea are currently in the safe zone but are just one point ahead of Hull. This matchup with Sunderland should net them three points, but that would mean that Sigurdsson stepped up and played out of his mind to make sure they walked away with the full complement of points. This would mean shots, crosses, chances created and even assists and goals.
Mesut Ozil, Arsenal, $8,800 FD, $8,000 DK – With 14 key passes in his last four matches, Ozil comes in as an under-performing option that should step his game up when the time is right. Depending on the outcome of the Manchester City-Leicester match, Arsenal may have a valuable opportunity to take advantage of the results of that match and move up to a tie with City if the Citizens lose their match to the newly-supplanted defender champs. If Arsenal take advantage of this opportunity, Ozil may be a sneaky cog in that wheel as they will try to score as many goals as possible against Stoke. Expect lower ownership on Ozil because of the lack of goals or assists (save just one) in the last few weeks.
Junior Stanislas, Bournemouth, $6,100 FD, $6,800 DK – With a goal last week, Stanislas made up for his lack of production otherwise. I am hanging on the thread that his activity will play a part in his production this week and that Bournemouth will net some corners and crosses to increase his fantasy floor by adding to his periphery opportunities.
Forwards
Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal, $10,600 FD, $10,000 DK – Sanchez is a very obvious play on offense for a team that needs the win to secure Champions League football next season, and even a win may not be enough, as the team really needs help from other teams. So Sanchez and company will do their best to win this one outright to do their part. I’ve mentioned Arsenal players in every section of this article (almost) and that’s because this is a team that will likely come away with 2-3 goals and 20+ shots on target if things line up perfectly.
Manolo Gabbiadini, Southampton, $7,100 FD, $7,000 DK – A little bit of a wild card because of his recent bad performances with no goals in six straight matches. However, looking closely, he may not have scored goals, but he’s been getting shots, including four shots in his last match against Arsenal, and in this matchup against a Middlesbrough team that has all but given up after being relegated, Gabbiadini may end up scoring a goal or two here and with his relatively cheap price, he’s going to be worth it.
Josh King, Bournemouth, $10,400 FD, $8,300 DK – He’s very expensive on FD but on DK he’s cheap enough to consider. King has goals for Bournemouth in four of his last six matches. This matchup is a good one for the Cherries as they host a Burnley team that struggles on the road with just one win in 18 tries, and while that win came in their last match against Crystal Palace, there is still not an expectation that this team will be able to put up a fight against a Bournemouth team that has 12 goals in their last five matches.