This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (ET)
- 10:00 am: AFC Bournemouth vs. Fulham
- 10:00 am: Arsenal vs. Leeds United
- 10:00 am: Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Brentford
- 10:00 am: Crystal Palace vs. Leicester City
- 10:00 am: Nottingham Forest vs. Wolverhampton
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS
Morgan Gibbs-White, NFO vs. WOL ($7,800): Because of price, I don't think any of the Arsenal players are musts on this slate. Bukayo Saka ($11,500) has been awesome, but he's more expensive than anyone else by a good margin. The return of Gabriel Jesus ($8,300) also means that Gabriel Martinelli ($8,600) and Leandro Trossard ($8,100) are again sub risks. Arsenal are most likely to score three or four goals, so there's clearly some risk, but you can find similar floors and upside for cheaper on this slate.
Surprisingly, that resulted in Gibbs-White being the first forward for me. He'll take the majority of sets for Forest and I don't truly believe they should be home underdogs against Wolves. Sure, you can pay the few extra on an Arsenal guy because that's what everyone will do, but I really like this spot for Gibbs-White.
Dominic Solanke, BOU vs. FUL ($5,200): Are you exiting out of this article because I'm suggesting a Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth forward on the same slate with Arsenal as a big favorite? Yeah... that makes sense.
Solanke is cheap, seems likely for a full 90 and this is the best matchup Bournemouth have had in months. At $5,200, you not only get goal upside but also a floor that should be near five points from shots alone.
Obviously, if you want to go Saka or one of the Arsenal guys, that's reasonable. And there are a couple players who will make it easy to get Saka into your team, so it'll be a popular route. Otherwise at forward, Eberechi Eze ($7,000) might move back into the XI under Roy Hodgson and Wilfried Zaha ($6,300) is underpriced in this spot, so I'll definitely throw him into at least one of my lineups. If you're thinking goals in Hodgson's return, you can also get a cheap Patson Daka ($5,600), who won't be popular.
Carlos Vinicius ($4,000) will likely be popular, as he could be set for 90 without Aleksandar Mitrovic or Willian in the squad. Bobby Decordova-Reid ($4,200) is also down here if you want a mini-Fulham pivot. Those two are probably better cash plays if you need the money, but I'm more on Bournemouth for this matchup.
MIDFIELDERS
Alexis Mac Allister, BHA vs. BRE ($6,500): Mac Allister is $1,800 cheaper than he was for the home matchup against Crystal Palace, so he seems like a better option than Solomon March ($8,700) in terms of value. As an attacking midfielder at home, Mac Allister's floor is close to 10 points and he probably has as much upside as anyone else in the team.
Hamed Traore, BOU vs. FUL ($6,400): If you spend down at one of your forward spots, you should be able to get up to James Maddison ($9,200) or March, though I don't think they're musts. Marcus Tavernier ($8,500) is a bit too expensive for me in what would be his first minutes in more than a month. That leads me to the cheaper Traore, who still has a chance to be on all set pieces even with Tavernier in the squad. Traore is cheap, has a 10-point floor against Fulham and has a decent bit of upside.
You could go three midfielders on this slate because there are so many options. Martin Odegaard ($8,000) and Michael Olise ($7,100) are also in the mid-range with Andreas Pereira ($7,000). A big decision may come down to Pedro Neto ($4,100), who is yet to go more than 45 minutes since returning from injury. While he's had the international break to get up his fitness, manager Julen Lopetegui loves to rotate his forwards no matter the situation. Given Neto's unreliability in terms of minutes, I'd rather lock a known player into my midfield or utility spot. Thomas Partey ($4,000) deserves a shout because of price.
DEFENDERS
Renan Lodi, NFO vs. WOL ($4,800): You don't have to spend up at defender on this slate, but if you're fading Saka, it might be easy to do so. Still, the top-end guys may not be worth it with Pervis Estupinan ($6,400), Kenny Tete ($6,300) and Oleksandr Zinchenko ($6,100) all solid but not amazing options. The bonus for Zinchenko is that Kieran Tierney may not be available and a full 90 could be there for him.
If you don't have the money, Lodi makes the most sense from a value perspective, since he has roughly the same floor as all of the expensive defenders and will rip shots if the matchup is right.
Nelson Semedo, WOL at NFO ($3,400): In the cheaper range, Semedo stands out, assuming he's fit enough for a full 90. I've been on some Forest guys in this matchup, but it's not like they're dominant and Semedo is cheap enough to consider. He'll get you eight points if everything goes his way, which, again, isn't that much different than the high-end defenders.
It's a weird slate in which half the defenders are viable and no one truly stands out. So, take your pick and hope you don't select the one who finishes negative after getting injured and subbed off early.
GOALKEEPER
Keylor Navas, NFO vs. WOL ($4,300): Why not? I've already mentioned every relevant Nottingham Forest player in this article (Brennan Johnson, Jonjo Shelvey, Neco Williams, Serge Aurier), so it makes sense to back Navas. Outside of the Arsenal-Leeds and Brighton-Brentford matchups, the other six goalkeepers have about the same odds to keep a clean sheet. Forest are notably better at home and could easily secure a win and clean sheet for Navas. Plus, he's cheap.
