The Starting XI: Sunday, May 24th
Sunday’s round of simultaneous matches closes the curtain on the 2014-2015 Barclays Premier League campaign and will surely be a depressing day for soccer fans and daily fantasy players alike. What’s worse is that we won’t get to witness the drama of a final day title win, top four jostling or really any clubs playing for anything significant. With that said, there are still some major events brewing in and around the BPL leading into this weekend’s final matches that could affect lineups…
● Arsenal and Aston Villa square off on May 30th at Wembley in the FA Cup Final. With both of their respective league positions secured (Arsenal 3rd and Villa safe from relegation) do the managers rotate their squad with the goal of going into Saturday’s final with ultimate freshness?
● Newcastle United and Hull City have the most to play for this weekend as they try to avoid being the final teams added to the relegation zone. Newcastle are at home against West Ham while Hull City welcome Manchester United. A drop to the Championship for Newcastle would twist the proverbial knife one final time into one of England’s most prestigious clubs and put the stamp on what has been a dreadful five months.
● The Raheem Sterling transfer saga has boiled over this week in the UK papers (and at Liverpool) and one has to wonder if Brendan Rodgers is willing to axe one of his best players as he lobbies for a move away from Anfield this summer.
Those are just a few of the bigger storylines entering the final weekend where team motivation and player selection is highly unpredictable. The great news is that for the first time this year, we will have all ten matches to choose from in one event on DraftKings.
GK Jack Butland $4,100 – Stoke
Butland and Stoke are at home and he has put in two solid performances his last two times out (13 and 16 FPTS respectively) and face a Liverpool side that will certainly be missing Daniel Sturridge and could possibly see Raheem Sterling benched. Butland was just named to the England U21 team for this summer’s EURO and is a good option for this weekend.
GK Adrian $4,000 – West Ham
Sam Allardyce would love nothing more than to see his West Ham side send Newcastle down after his forgetful spell at St. James Park. Newcastle are completely inept in front of goal and while it’s expected that some of the higher priced GK’s should have decent games, Adrian is a lower salary option that should fare well for West Ham.
DEF Kieran Trippier $5,800 – Burnley
With Burnley going down after one season of Premier League football, hopefully it isn’t the last time we see Trippier in this column. The cross master of the league this season, Trippier is always a good bet for double digit FPTS.
DEF Calum Chambers $3,800 – Arsenal
With Arsene Wenger possibly giving some of his normal starters a rest heading into the FA Cup Final, Chambers could see his first significant time since March. It bears noting that he did send in six crosses in a game against West Ham from his right back position and his salary is more than reasonable when compared to the rest of the available options.
DEF Aleksandar Kolarov $5,100 – Manchester City
Kolarov has been a fixture in Manuel Pellegrini’s City side for six weeks now and it isn’t without good reason. Kolarov has been excellent return for DFS players thanks to two goals and an assist in his last four matches not to mention the 5-6 average crosses he delivers per game.
MF Angel Di Maria $7,800 – Manchester United
It’s not often that someone of Di Maria’s caliber is looking to prove something in a meaningless game at the end of the season but his first campaign in Manchester has been one to forget for the Argentine. Just a year ago, he was being named Man of the Match for Real Madrid in the Champions League Final. Fast forward, and he’s been a fixture on the Manchester United bench since the early stages of the season. With United having a few potential absentees on Sunday in Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young, Di Maria could be given the chance to put in the performance United fans have been waiting for since his big money move to Manchester.
MF Philippe Coutinho $7,700 – Liverpool
With Daniel Sturridge still on the sidelines and Raheem Sterling potentially joining him (of course for different reasons), Coutinho emerges as the only dependable offensive threat in the Liverpool side. His shots per game have steadily increased during the latter part of the season and he’s only been out of double digit FPTS once in his last six games.
MF Yannick Bolasie $6,700 – Crystal Palace
Bolasie went a bit quiet after his 44 FPTS hat trick outburst last month but it can be forgiven considering the opposition in his last three games included Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. It may not be a 44 point effort, but Bolasie should be able to cap off a fine season this weekend and add a few more pounds to his transfer tag as he attracts interest from some of the league’s bigger clubs.
FW Diego Costa $8,700 – Chelsea
Costa returned to the side on Monday of this week after a long injury layoff which had seen his price tag plummet to $8,600. With Sunderland having celebrated their league survival during the midweek, expect a hangover performance from them and Costa finishing the season the way he began it.
FW Romelu Lukaku $8,100 – Everton
At least on paper, Everton at home to Spurs has the makings of being one of the most entertaining games on the Sunday slate. Everton turned their season around after exiting the Europa League and will want to maintain their position in the top half of the table as they build towards next season with tons of young talent getting valuable experience this campaign. Spurs have been known to let in goals but are still vying for a place in next year’s Europa League. Enter Lukaku and his 20 goals in all competitions this season.
FW Jamie Vardy $7,500 – Leicester City
Vardy was named to Roy Hodgson’s senior England side earlier this week as a reward of solid play in keeping Leicester up for another season in the Premier League. We already know QPR’s fate (which would get worse with some hefty financial matters on their hands) so we’re backing Vardy to show up and end a very successful season for Leicester with a solid performance.
SUBSTITUTE BENCH
GK Petr Cech $5,500
DEF Nathaniel Clyne $4,200
DEF Branislav Ivanovic $5,400
MF Eden Hazard $9,400
MF Matt Phillips $5,400
FW Theo Walcott $6,000