This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (ET)
- 11:00 am: AFC Bournemouth vs. Manchester City
- 11:00 am: Ipswich Town vs. Leicester City
- 11:00 am: Liverpool vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
- 11:00 am: Nottingham Forest vs. West Ham United
- 11:00 am: Southampton vs. Everton
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS
Erling Haaland ($10,600) and Mohamed Salah ($10,000) are the slate's most likely goalscorers, but they aren't in elite matchups. Manchester City have, by their standard, a modest implied win probability of 60 percent on the road to Bournemouth. While Liverpool are favored against Brighton, I don't think the Seagulls are a pushover opponent. Both are good GPP options, but there are a lot of forward options with set pieces worth looking at.
Phil Foden (MCI at BOU, $9,600): Foden has played 90 minutes in his past two starts, and Manchester City are struggling with injuries to their attacking players. Savinho is questionable to play, while Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish are all out. Foden should continue to play most of the minutes, and he'll be in a split of set pieces at worst.
Dwight McNeil (EVE at SOU, $8,200): Everton travel to Southampton, who have just one point in nine matches this season. McNeil is questionable with a knee injury, but if he's available he will be on most of Everton's set pieces if Jesper Lindstrom doesn't start, and he is always solid in racking up open-play points. Southampton are one of the best matchups for fantasy purposes. Only Leicester City have conceded more floor points than them this season and they are bottom three in the league in terms of set pieces allowed per game.
Jarrod Bowen (WHU at NFO, $7,400): I'm never excited to play West Ham attacking pieces on the road, but Nottingham Forest are not a prohibitive matchup. Bowen has a good open-play role and he's been West Ham's primary corner taker this season. He's a solid cash-game option in his own right, and he's additionally easy to pivot to if McNeil is unavailable.
Omari Hutchinson (IPS vs. LEI, $5,500): This is more of a tournament suggestion, but Ipswich Town host Leicester City, who have been quite bad defensively. No team in the Premier League gives up more floor and set-piece points than Leicester. Hutchinson missed last week due to illness, but he typically plays at least 85 minutes in his starts. He is coming off of a 10.7 floor point performance against Everton, and he scored more than 10 floor points per game in the Championship. It should be one of the best matchups of the season for Hutchinson and Ipswich Town.
Given Ipswich Town's excellent matchup, I'm interested in Wes Burns ($4,800) and George Hirst ($5,700) in GPP formats, or whoever starts in any attacking role for them. Both are early sub risks, but they have good attacking upside and minutes risk have been factored into their price. A similar case can be made for Everton's Jack Harrison.
MIDFIELDERS
All of the forwards I highlighted above have midfield eligibility, but there are still a couple midfield-only options worth pointing out.
Ilkay Gundogan (MCI at BOU, $6,200): Gundogan should split set pieces with Foden if he starts, which would make him a good value at this price. He's logging 2.1 shots and 2.5 shots assisted per 90 minutes played this season, giving him some goal and assist upside to pair with his set-piece role. Matheus Nunes ($7,100) is also a good option and City's injuries should lead to plenty of playing time for him. I prefer Gundogan since I think he has priority over Nunes for set pieces, but Nunes has been in excellent form with three assists and two goals in his last three starts in all competitions.
Kalvin Phillips (IPS vs. LEI, $3,700): It brings me no pleasure to recommend Phillips, but he's one of the few salary-relief options I feel good about playing. While he doesn't have a great open play floor, he's in a good matchup and has access to a few set pieces. That should be enough to pay off his modest price.
It's almost unbelievable to see a player like Dominik Szoboszlai priced at $4,100. Like many of Liverpool's attacking players, he's seen a dip in fantasy production under Arne Slot. While he doesn't have a great floor, I think that has been more than reflected in his price. Liverpool are strong favorites with an implied goal total over two, and Szoboszlai has a decent chance to get a goal or an assist. If you can't stomach Phillips in cash games, Szoboszlai is a good pivot. He might even be the better play.
DEFENDERS
Leif Davis (IPS vs. LEI, $5,800): A lot of the usual suspects at defense are a bit more expensive than usual and not in ideal matchups. Liverpool are scoring less floor points this season, so while options like Andrew Robertson ($6,600) and Trent Alexander-Arnold ($6,100) are fine, I prefer the role and matchup for Davis. He's in good form, scoring 13 floor points per game in his last five starts and he gets a great matchup against Leicester City.
The defender position isn't particularly strong overall, but there are a few interesting options for second defender. Kyle Walker-Peters ($4,500) has been solid as a wing-back and his matchup against Everton is favorable. His teammate Ryan Manning ($5,400) should take set pieces for Southampton, though he hasn't played more than 80 minutes in any of his starts. West Ham's Emerson ($3,800) is back to playing 90 minutes regularly and he takes some direct free kicks.
GOALKEEPER
Lukasz Fabianski (NFO vs. WHU, $4,200): I'm no fan of West Ham, but I don't really understand why Fabianski is this much cheaper than options like Aaron Ramsdale ($4,800) and Jordan Pickford ($4,700). DraftKings' goalkeeper pricing this season has left us in this situation quite often. Fabianski is technically on the third worst team of the slate in terms of win probability, but their matchup against Forest is slightly worse than a toss-up. I'll try to get to Fabianski if I can in cash, though I'm also fine playing Mark Travers ($3,900) against Manchester City and praying for saves.
