This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
This slate is a bit different than last weekend's when Manchester City were massive favorites against Ipswich Town. For this one, Brentford and Aston Villa are the biggest favorites, both with implied goal totals below two. That means it's pretty much fair game for who to roster, though some unusually cheap players will likely be more popular than you'd expect.
MATCHES (ET)
- 10:00 am: Brentford vs. Southampton
- 10:00 am: Everton vs. AFC Bournemouth
- 10:00 am: Ipswich Town vs. Fulham
- 10:00 am: Leicester City vs. Aston Villa
- 10:00 am: Nottingham Forest vs. Wolverhampton
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS
You're nuts if you fade Dwight McNeil ($8,900) after he posted 17.5 floor points in a 4-0 loss last week. Then again, he's far from a sure thing and no one on this Everton team has crazy upside. For $8,900 you probably want a little more than a guaranteed 10 points, so maybe you don't have to be crazy to fade him.
In the opposite mold, Rodrigo Muniz ($7,200) has upside and most of his floor comes from shooting having already ripped nine shots in two matches. Matheus Cunha ($7,900) seems a little safer, but the matchup is worse for Wolverhampton.
There are a lot of intriguing Aston Villa players in this slate not named Ollie Watkins ($9,400). Morgan Rogers ($6,300) has gone 90 in each of the first two matches and that might be enough against Leicester City. If there weren't so many solid options, Anthony Elanga ($6,400) would usually be considered a lock if you can expect full set pieces and 90 minutes from him again.
MIDFIELDERS
Marcus Tavernier ($9,300) is the most expensive midfielder and that makes sense, but I don't think you have to spend up for him. Bryan Mbeumo ($7,600) splits set pieces, takes penalties and has a better matchup on paper, though it's unclear why DraftKings moved him to midfield-only. Youri Tielemans ($5,000) is another Villa player who stands out. He's in play for 90 minutes with a split of sets against Leicester. Would you have played Douglas Luiz at $5,000 in this spot last season? If so, click Tielemans.
Andreas Pereira ($8,800) has held the best floor in the league through two matches and a lot of that is because of a ton of set pieces. Away to Ipswich shouldn't prevent him from racking up sets again, which makes him hard to fade in cash games, even for the price. Add a goal or assist to a 15-point floor and he'd quickly become optimal.
Harry Winks ($4,300), Lewis Cook ($4,300), Facundo Buonanotte ($4,000) and William Smallbone ($3,400) are all cheap set-piece takers. You could go any of these routes, depending on the rest of your roster. Smallbone let everyone down last week, so I assume he won't be as popular.
DEFENDERS
Your ability to spend up at defender likely depends on if you use one of those cheap midfielders or spend down at second forward. Kenny Tete ($5,800), Neco Williams ($5,600), Rayan Ait-Nouri ($4,900), Antonee Robinson ($4,800) and Ola Aina ($4,700) all seem reasonable if you have money.
Ashley Young ($4,200) could return to the Everton XI and doesn't have the worst matchup, while Kosta Nedeljkovic ($3,600) may start for the injured Matty Cash at right-back.
GOALKEEPER
I don't think there's one spot that stands out from these five matches and there's little reason to spend on a favorite if you don't have to do it. Alex McCarthy ($3,800) made seven saves last match and should see plenty of work in Brentford. Arijanet Muric ($4,400) could be a sneaky bounce-back play after Ipswich were roasted by Liverpool and Manchester City in their opening two matches.
OPTIMIZER ANALYSIS
One thing most people don't know is that you can tinker with the projections used in the RotoWire DFS optimizer. Simply using "Average DraftKings Points," players like Antoine Semenyo ($8,300) and Alex Iwobi ($5,500) creep into optimal lineups. If you play DFS, that isn't surprising.
If you take the "Ceiling/Upside" route, Yoane Wissa ($6,500) pops up, which again isn't surprising after his opening match this season and with Ivan Toney rumors a constant. Funny enough, Mark Flekken ($5,700) seems to be a favorite of the optimizer if you trust him as the most expensive goalkeeper.
You can also use your own custom rankings and plug them in.
Using my own projections, Abdul Fatawu ($9,100) still seems viable even at a more expensive price. He does a little bit of everything and has hit nearly 12 floor points in each of the first two matches. The projections also point out an original oversight by me in terms of Leif Davis ($5,100). After two matches against tough competition, he may already be an afterthought of some DFS players, however, home against Fulham seems like a prime opportunity for him to reach a floor of 10 points with an assist always in play.
