This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Soccer series.
There's a seven-game slate on tap Saturday with a lot of similarly-lined favorites. Six of the seven favorites have win odds north of 60 percent. Manchester City and Newcastle lead the way, but I don't see this as a slate where you just jam as many pieces from one team as possible. The closest projected game has the slate's largest implied total at around 3.5 involving Tottenham and Liverpool.
MATCHES (ET)
- 10:00 am: AFC Bournemouth vs. Arsenal
- 10:00 am: Everton vs. Luton Town
- 10:00 am: Manchester United vs. Crystal Palace
- 10:00 am: Newcastle United vs. Burnley
- 10:00 am: West Ham United vs. Sheffield United
- 10:00 am: Wolverhampton vs. Manchester City
- 12:30 pm: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS/MIDFIELDERS
Julian Alvarez, MCI at WOL ($21): Alvarez and Phil Foden ($20) are still splitting sets for Manchester City and have great floors in almost every matchup. Add in their goal upside, which has favored Alvarez of late, and it makes them top plays on the slate. I like taking the slight discount from Erling Haaland ($25)l who has much more goal upside, but if he doesn't score multiple times, then the floors from the other two will likely make up the difference. Mohamed Salah ($22) is another one of my favorites in the top range of pricing as he's been involved in tons of goals for Liverpool and as mentioned, that matchup has the higher-impliest total, which means it's most likely to be back and forth.
James Ward-Prowse, WHU vs. SHU ($20): West Ham are the third-biggest favorite on the slate and Ward-Prowse has taken almost all set pieces for West Ham since the transfer. He has a great floor in this matchup to go with a lot of assist upside. He's also always live for a stunning goal straight from a set piece. Son Heung-Min ($20) has flashed a couple times for multiple goals in the early season and in this matchup, I could see goals for both sides, making it a decent contest to stack.
Dominik Szoboszlai, LIV at TOT ($18): Szoboszlai will likely be in a three-way set split if Trent Alexander-Arnold starts, but he's in my favorite game for stacks and has a strong role, making him a solid GPP pivot. You can pair him with Salah and then jump to the other side and grab a Tottenham run back in hopes that this match plays open. The price may be slightly too high for me in cash games where I prefer some of the bigger favorites.
Hannibal, MU vs. CRY ($12): In his first start, the 20-year-old scored double-digit fantasy points. If he starts again, I like the price discount and he's already shown his ability to score in a bench appearance against Brighton. He wasn't a prolific goalscorer in the Championship in 2022/23, but he was a heavy crosser which could add to his floor. Matheus Nunes ($15) has produced over 20 FanDuel points in back-to-back straight starts and makes some appeal at a value tag for Man City. Elliot Anderson ($13) is also a strong option for the price in a home matchup against Burnley.
DEFENDERS
Kieran Trippier, NEW vs. BUR ($16): The price is a little prohibitive, but Trippier has the best floor of any defender on the slate. He takes pretty much all sets for Newcastle and his assist upside showcased in the last game when he had three of them. Alexander-Arnold ($13) is expected to return against Tottenham and is at a fair price for his floor. He will be in a split of sets but still can give you good fantasy upside in open play. His teammate, Andrew Robertson ($15), is just too high in price with Alexander-Arnold expected to return. Pedro Porro ($13) took more of a role on set pieces once James Maddison left the pitch last match and is in play if Maddison doesn't start, especially in game stacks.
Craig Dawson, WOL vs. MCI ($11): Dawson and teammate Max Kilman ($12) are in a good spot for defensive work against Man City. There are plenty of teams you can target for this type of play this weekend like Sheffield United, Burnley and Bournemouth. Ameen Al-Dakhil ($9) and Jordan Beyer ($11) are solid options at the back for Burnley, while John Egan ($13) and Jack Robinson ($11) are the options for Sheffield United.
GOALKEEPER
Jordan Pickford, EVE vs. LUT ($12): A lot of the favorites have similar win and clean sheet odds and I like the idea of taking a slight discount. Everton actually have the best clean sheet odds on the slate and are solid favorites against Luton Town. Ederson ($13) is obviously in play with Man City being the biggest favorite, but I actually prefer Nick Pope ($14) for Newcastle at home if paying all the way up. If you need salary relief, I don't hate going with Neto ($8) at home in hopes that it's an underwhelming Arsenal performance.
