This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
Make sure to check out RotoWire's DFS podcast, as Adam Zdroik and Ryan Belongia delve deeper into the DraftKings slate.
MATCHES (ET)
- 2:30 pm: Crystal Palace vs. Brentford
- 2:30 pm: Fulham vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
- 2:45 pm: Southampton vs. Chelsea
- 3:00 pm: Leeds United vs. Everton
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS
Tuesday's mid-week slate includes just one heavy favorite in Chelsea who have a win percentage sitting around 60, though none of the four games includes an implied goal total above three. Still, Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Brighton enter Gameweek 5 as greater than 40-percent favorites to secure victories. With the quick turnaround, several squads could be shuffled to keep players fresh early in the season. In terms of goalscorers, potential returnee Patrick Bamford ($5,200), who has been dealing with a groin problem, is the biggest favorite to bend the twine, but he probably won't start after having missed the last two. Additionally, the most expensive player on the slate, Wilfried Zaha ($10,400) is also in danger of missing out due to a leg problem.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, CRY vs. BRE ($6,300): Mateta has exclusively played off the bench but could be in line to make his first start of the league campaign (he started last Cup match) with Zaha potentially missing out and on a short week. Despite having played a combined 68 minutes in three appearances, the forward has still managed one goal on three shots (one on target). However, if Odsonne Edouard starts again, he'd be a much better option given his $3,900 price.
Raheem Sterling, CHE at SOU ($10,200): After going goalless in the opening three contests, Sterling came on strong with a brace versus Leicester City on Saturday. Even in that contest, the forward managed 75 minutes, his lowest mark of the season. He obviously won't come cheap, so if you need to save some salary, Kai Havertz ($6,700) could be a significantly cheaper option, though he hasn't registered a shot in either of his previous two contests despite playing in an attacking role. If you want to play the Chelsea route, it may be better to go with the wing-backs in cash games than banking on one of the forwards.
Speaking of cash games, Pascal Gross ($9,700) and Eberechi Eze ($8,000) figure to be the most popular because of set pieces. Gross is at an extreme price away from home and rotation could mean Eze is off set pieces, so deciding on those players may have to wait until lineups are released.
MIDFIELDERS
Mason Mount, CHE at SOU ($8,400): In terms of corners this season, there has yet to be one standout for Chelsea with Mount, Reece James ($8,100) and Marc Cucurella ($6,800) all taking their share of the team's 33. As such, getting a share of that workload without having to break the bank for Mount is a solid value in this spot for a heavily favored team. Mount is at risk to be subbed off early and since he doesn't have a guarantee for sets, he's probably more of a tournament option.
For cash games, Jack Harrison ($8,300) and Brenden Aaronson ($6,000) may be the safer route, as they are in a decent spot home against Everton and split Leeds corners.
Demarai Gray, EVE vs. LEE ($7,500): Somebody has to take set pieces for Everton and Gray seems to have stepped into that role for the Toffees with a void of attacking options. The addition of Neal Maupay could shuffle roles around a little but probably not early enough to impact Gray's role for this matchup. His price has gone up dramatically since the previous week, so Dwight McNeil ($6,600) could be a lower-priced option if he gets the start, albeit he's at more of a risk to be subbed off.
Mathias Jensen, BRE at CRY ($6,100): Brentford are clearly underdogs in this one but not by a large margin and Jensen is one of the few players who seems to have an exclusive role on set pieces when on the pitch. He doesn't represent significant salary savings compared to the top of the board yet remains slightly below some of his contemporaries given his role on the pitch. Alternatively, Michael Olise ($5,900) could also be an option if he starts for Palace after having seemingly recovered from a foot problem that limited him to start the season.
DEFENDERS
Reece James, CHE at SOU ($8,100): It's hard to ignore paying up for James in this spot given the one-sided nature of this matchup and his role on corners and his ability to push the attack. You're always at risk of him staying at center-back all match, but he's yet to stay in the back three for a full 90 this season. On the other side of the pitch, Marc Cucurella ($6,800) could provide some salary flexibility but still sits third on the board in terms of the slate of defenders. If Cucurella doesn't start, Ben Chilwell ($6,400) appears to be nearing a return to the starting XI and could be in the mix given the short week.
Pascal Struijk, LEE vs EVE ($4,600): Looking at all the defenders on this slate, Struijk has the fifth highest per-90 floor at 6.85 fantasy points, which isn't huge but given his cost seems to be a viable option. He hasn't been a factor with crosses or corners this season, but he has managed to rack up plenty of tackles/tackles won in a left-back role in a slate that doesn't have a ton of options outside of the Chelsea defenders. If you want to save money in the same matchup, Rasmus Kristensen ($3,400) is further down the list.
One additional option would be to take the Chelsea central defenders and go clean sheet hunting considering the club has a 35.65 clean sheet percentage, which isn't significantly higher than Crystal Palace at 33.64. This would put Thiago Silva ($3,100) and Kalidou Koulibaly ($4,400) into play without having to go to the top of the board.
GOALKEEPERS
Vicente Guaita, CRY vs. BRE ($5,400): As mentioned above, Crystal Palace doesn't have the projected win percentage as Chelsea but have a near similar clean sheet percentage, saving you $300 compared to Edouard Mendy ($5,700). Outside of Saturday's dismantling at the hands of Manchester City, Guaita had made eight saves while giving up just four goals through the opening three contests.
David Raya, BRE at CRY ($4,200): Between the two low-cost options, Gavin Bazunu ($3,900) being the other, Raya probably has the better chance to pull off an upset winner while still facing plenty of shots, having already made 19 saves in four matches including one clean sheet.
In the end, this is truly a play-which-goalkeeper-you-want slate, as long as it correlates to the rest of your squad.
