This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (EDT)7:30 a.m: Swansea City v. Liverpool
10:00 a.m: West Ham v. Middlesbrough
10:00 a.m: Hull City v. Chelsea
10:00 a.m: Sunderland v. West Brom
10:00 a.m: Watford v. Bournemouth
ODDS REPORT
EXPECTED CORNER TAKERS
Swansea: Gylfi Sigurdsson, Wayne Routledge
Liverpool: James Milner, Jordan Henderson
Hull: Robert Snodgrass
Chelsea: Willian, Eden Hazard
Sunderland: Wahbi Khazri, Patrick van Aanholt
West Brom: Matt Phillips
Watford: Etienne Capoue, Jose Holebas
Bournemouth: Junior Stanislas, Max Gradel
West Ham: Dimitri Payet, Sofiane Feghouli
Middlesbrough: Gaston Ramirez, Stewart Downing
PLAYER RECOMMENDATIONS
GOALKEEPER
Jordan Pickford, SUN vs. WBA ($4,800): Something I never would have thought I'd say a month ago, but Pickford is the safest keeper on the main Saturday slate. Chelsea are massive favorites, and deservedly so, but their defense has been abysmal and Thibaut Courtois has really struggled. The West Ham defense has been possibly the worst in the league, with Stoke being the only other contender. With Adrian between the sticks, West Ham has allowed at least three goals in each of their last four games. That leaves us with Pickford, who prior to last weekend's match against Crystal Palace had made 20 saves in three games. Giving up three goals to Crystal Palace and Everton is not great, but holding Tottenham and Southampton to just one is solid, and West Brom is worse than all four of those squads. Sunderland, now without Adnan Januzaj, only has one goal scorer in Jermain Defoe. He's been scoring a lot of late, but I'd even give West Brom keeper Ben Foster ($4,500) a GPP look.
DEFENDER
James Milner, LIV at SWA ($7,200): Even as an adamant supporter last weekend, I'd be lying if I said I was expecting 32 fantasy points (in large part to two penalty conversions). Now, Milner is on penalties, and while he converts them at a high rate, you cannot expect him to get those opportunities every game. Maybe overlooked after netting twice, Milner also had 10 crosses, which is certainly the more sustainable stat. In addition to corner taking duties, the fluency of Jurgen Klopp's system allows him to move into a wide-attacking position readily. The price seems ludicrous for a defender, but Milner supplies a fantasy point floor topped by few and goal contribution upside of an attacking midfielder. The matchup against Swansea is good too, as Liverpool finds themselves as the co-heaviest favorites on the all-day slate with Chelsea. Liverpool plays at 7:30 a.m. EDT and not on the main slate, so while I won't discuss them at length, the entire attack is in play.
Jose Holebas, WAT vs. BOU ($4,600): Despite a difficult run of matches, Holebas has consistently been among the more reliable fantasy options at defender. He is lining up as a wingback, which allows him to get involved in the attack and pick up some corners. He averaged 2.0 shots (0.67 on goal), 5.0 crosses, 2.7 tackles and 2.0 interceptions per game over his last three, and he scored a goal. His four yellow cards in six matches is a bit of a concern, however.
Marcos Alonso, CHE at HUL ($4,000): There is large speculation that Antonio Conte will be making some changes to the Chelsea lineup after an abysmal showing against Arsenal last weekend. The most likely changes to come are at the back, with the likes of Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill playing embarrassingly bad over the last couple games. Cesar Azpilicueta ($4,700) could get the opportunity to move back to his more favored right-back position, and while Alonso shouldn't be considered an elite option, in limited appearances this season the Fiorentina transfer has shown enough contribution to be valuable given the price - $1,400 less than Ivanovic.
MIDFIELDER
Dimitri Payet, WHU vs. MID ($10,100): The price is high, but given the favorable home matchup and the abysmal state of the defense, Payet comes in with a floor so high he's hard to fade. The one caveat is Sofiane Feghouli ($6,500), who has yet to play more the 45 minutes, but while on the field has actually snatched a few corners away from Payet. It doesn't put a major dent in Payet's production, but it's an ever so slight downgrade to his floor. Feghouli is unlikely to start anyway, but it's important to watch for his name in the starting XI, as he'll both impact Payet's value and possibly serve as a suitable pivot himself (even if he's unlikely to see anywhere near 90 minutes).
Junior Stanislas, BOU at WAT ($6,500): With his first goal and 90 minutes last weekend against Everton, Stanislas appears to be back close to 100 percent. Averaging 5.6 crosses per game this season (he averaged six per game last term) against tougher company, he now faces Watford, who continue the trend from last season and have allowed the most crosses of anyone in the league (153, Chelsea and West Ham have allowed just 90). The upside isn't all that high (Stanislas never contributed more than three goals or three assists in a single season), but it's conceivable for him to reach double-digit crosses in this spot.
Sam Clucas, HUL vs. CHE ($4,500): Clucas is desirable if he slots in as a right back rather than his regular midfield positioning. Often positioned more centrally, Clucas has been proficient picking up defensive stats, but he has some crossing upside if he starts at right back in place of the suspended Ahmed Elmohamady. Clucas averaged 4.5 crosses per game last season, though he was also on some corners, a duty that has fallen solely to teammate Robert Snodgrass ($6,800), who holds some value in GPPs against a Chelsea defense that has been very exploitable.
FORWARD
Eden Hazard, CHE at HUL ($9,500): I write up Hazard, but the real answer here is "Chelsea goal contributor" as both Willian ($9,000) and Diego Costa ($9,200) are also firmly in play. Hazard gets to take penalties, and combined with what he can do with assists and peripheral stats gives him the mixture of solid floor and considerable upside you won't find in the other top Chelsea attacking options. Willian will cross more, but he simply doesn't have the goal-scoring edge of Hazard. Costa is in masterful goal-scoring form, and is my second favorite of the trio, but the situation in which he doesn't score – or worse he's sent off with a red card depicts such a low floor. Feel free to take more than one of the trio if you can afford it, as there aren't a ton of top options on the abbreviated Saturday slate. You could even throw Oscar ($7,200) into a GPP lineup.
Nordin Amrabat, WAT vs. BOU ($4,900): After being replaced by new signing Daryl Janmaat, an injury to the Dutch international has opened up the right wingback spot back up for Amrabat. Going down two goals to Burnley led to an early sub last time out (58th minute) as Watford instilled more attack in hopes of a comeback that didn't come. A favorable matchup against Bournemouth should lessen the likelihood of an early substitution, as Watford is unlikely to go down by multiple goals. In Amrabat's four Premier League starts (just over 270 minutes) he has 25 crosses, but with only two shots he should not be looked at as an upside candidate. Amrabat is most useful if you're paying up in your midfield (or potentially forwards, as he is also midfield eligible). I', not expecting a goal, but Amrabat comes with a fair amount of seemingly 'guaranteed' production.
