Sweeping the Floor: Top 10 Bailouts of the EPL Season

There are few things more tilting in daily fantasy soccer than a bailout goal or assist, whether by a player on your roster or one rostered by your opponent(s) in cash games. There is no exact definition of a bailout goal or assist, but I generally classify it as a player who was having a poor fantasy outing from a floor perspective and just happened to score a goal to make up for their bad production; or, it's a highly owned cheaper player who happens to be chalk and would have been a bad play had it not been for their appearance(s) on the scoresheet.

Choosing the 10 worst (or best, depending on which side you were on) of this season wasn't easy, and while I considered just reviewing my podcast co-host Jordan Cooper's cash lineups for every Premier League slate this season, I decided to review the game logs myself and try to rank the worst (best) bailout goals or assists of the season. And if I missed any, please remind me of the pain in the comments below.

Honorable Mentions:Xherdan Shaqiri ($8,600 - LIV at HUD), Grady Diangana ($4,500 - WHU v. BUR), Demarai Gray ($6,000 - LEI at SOU), Adam Smith ($4,200 - BOU v. LEI), David Brooks ($6,400, BOU at FUL), Andrew Robertson ($5,600 - LIV v. WHU)

10. Ryan Fraser, BOU v. LEI ($7,900) - Sept. 15 - Gameweek 5
The Saturday, Sept. 15 slate was packed with strong fantasy options, as Man City hosted Fulham, Chelsea hosted Cardiff, Arsenal traveled to Newcastle, Manchester United traveled to Watford, Huddersfield hosted Crystal Palace and Bournemouth hosted Leicester City. It's the latter match that turned out to be the highest-scoring of the six games, with Bournemouth and Leicester combining for six goals, two of which were scored by Fraser and another he assisted on. However, he took no other shots other than his goals and he picked up an assist on half of his chances created, not to mention that he had one cross, one tackle, no fouls drawn and no interceptions. All in all, he had 5.75 floor points but instead finished with a slate-high of 31.75.

9. Benjamin Mendy, MCI v. NEW ($7,300) - Sept. 1 - Gameweek 4
Coming in with the fourth-highest classic price of the season for a defender, Mendy was a machine in the first three weeks, scoring at least 8.50 floor points in three straight games, including two with at least 12.25. Coming into a home match against Newcastle, who wouldn't pay $7,300 for that potential production for an overwhelming favorite? Well, Mendy had one of his worst performances of the season, turning in just one floor point because of two crosses and one foul committed, failing to take a shot, intercept a pass, win a tackle or draw a foul. However, an assist on his lone chance created in a 2-1 win at least partially bailed out those who rostered him.

8. Ryan Fraser, BOU at WAT ($8,000) - Oct. 6 - Gameweek 8
It pains me a little bit to include Fraser twice, but he got classically bailed out thanks to an assist on one of his two chances created against Watford on Oct. 6, otherwise finishing with 3.75 fantasy points in a match that saw Bournemouth score four goals from a Joshua King brace and solo efforts from Callum Wilson and David Brooks. Fraser did take almost all of Bournemouth's corners, and while that helped him to five crosses, he failed to take a shot, win a tackle or draw a foul. Thankfully (at least for those who had him), Fraser's assist made it easier to stomach his bad floor game while players in his price range like Paul Pogba (10.25 floor points against Newcastle for $7,900), Gylfi Sigurdsson (18.75 floor points for $8,900) and Kieran Trippier (14.00 floor points for $7,400).

7. Johann Berg Gudmundsson, BUR at CAR (showdown) - Sept 30 - Gameweek 7
Showdown slates can always be tricky when deciding who to pay up for, but for those who decided to shell out for Gudmundsson theoretically got when they paid for since he finished the match with a goal and an assist. However, it was hardly the strong floor play that we're used to from the regular Burnley set-piece taker, as his goal was on his only shot and the assist was his only chance created. He finished with a season-low two crosses (excluding when he left after 19 minutes at Fulham on Aug. 26), as well as finishing with just one foul drawn, one interception and zero tackles won. Six floor points in showdown is pretty weak, and fantasy players were probably thankful it wasn't a classic slate.

6. Jean Michael Seri, FUL at CAR ($5,400) - Oct. 20 - Gameweek 9
Seri's early season role as Fulham's set-piece taker made him a very popular fantasy option because he was moderately priced while still being a key piece for a side ready to attack any opponent. Additionally, his role as a holding midfielder meant he also chipped in defensively, winning tackles and intercepting passes in addition to his crosses and fouls drawn. In fact, he scored at least 5.00 floor points in each of his first six starts, including twice with at least 10.00. His Oct. 20 matchup away to Cardiff wasn't a perfect one, and there were signs that he was losing set pieces, but at $5,400 there were still people who believed in Seri. However, his 2.25 floor points would have been a huge disappointment, but an 11th-minute assist allowed him to hit value despite finishing the six-goal affair with three crosses, zero shots, zero tackles won, zero interceptions and zero fouls drawn in 58 minutes.

5. Mohamed Salah, LIV v. SOU ($10,400) - Sept. 22 - Gameweek 6
A home match against Southampton is always a prime opportunity for a player like Salah, and while he found the back of the net in Liverpool's 3-0 win, he didn't produce much else, putting one of two shots on target (his goal), sending in one cross, winning two fouls and committing another. Scoring 5.25 floor points isn't the worst production, but Salah was the most expensive player on a slate that included Manchester City playing away to Cardiff and Tottenham away to Brighton, two prime opportunities that those with Salah likely didn't have much exposure to because of salaries. Salah wasn't the only bailout candidate from Liverpool, as Trent Alexander-Arnold cost $6,100 and only reached 10.25 fantasy points because of an assist on Joel Matip's 21st-minute goal.

4. Benjamin Mendy, MCI v. BUR ($7,000) - Oct 20. - Gameweek 9
The match against Newcastle wasn't the only Mendy bailout this season, as those who paid $7,000 for the City left-back at home against Burnley on Oct. 20 saw City win 5-0 but got minimal floor production from Mendy. Responsible for only six crosses and two fouls committed, Mendy finished with zero shots, zero tackles won, zero fouls drawn and zero interceptions, but a 90th-minute assist on a Leroy Sane goal helped him to 9.50 fantasy points (plus the clean sheet) instead of 3.50.

3. Leroy Sane, MCI v. SOU ($8,700) - Nov. 4 - Gameweek 11
Sane started in the front line with Sergio Aguero ($9,800) and Raheem Sterling ($8,800), but he took zero set pieces (Sterling three corners, David Silva one), sent in just one cross, won zero tackles and drew zero fouls while his goal was the only one of his three shots that were on target. Now, rostering a Manchester City attacker in a home match against Southampton always comes with some kind of expectation of getting on the scoresheet, but Sane didn't end up having set pieces while Aguero (7.50 floor points) and Sterling (9.75) finished with significantly higher floors.

2. Ben Chilwell, LEI at CAR ($5,600) - Nov. 3 - Gameweek 11
Chilwell has been one of the most consistent fantasy scorers this season, eclipsing 5.25 floor points in all but one start, including six times with at least 7.00. However, his returns decreased as the season progressed, with his five games scoring at least 8.00 floor points coming in the first five games. Failing to reach 7.00 in three consecutive starts, fantasy players still rostered Chilwell away to Cardiff City on a slate that included Jose Holebas ($6,400) away to Newcastle, Trent Alexander-Arnold ($6,100) and Andrew Robertson ($5,700) away to Arsenal and Lucas Digne ($6,900) home against Brighton. And while Chilwell ended up with a season-low 2.25 floor points, he still put up a double-digit score thanks to a clean sheet and his first assist of the season, setting up the only goal of the game.

1. Jeffrey Schlupp, CRY v. FUL ($3,700) - Aug 11 - Gameweek 1
Schlupp starting in an advanced position is one of the biggest traps in DFS soccer, but that didn't stop him from being highly owned in the opening classic slate of the season. Crystal Palace were away underdogs to newly promoted Fulham, but Schlupp's cheap price was just too low for many people to pass on. However, a 41st-minute goal is all anyone who rostered him cared about, especially since he finished the match with 4.75 floor points (1 S, 1 SOG, 1 CR, 1 INT, 2 TKLW, 2 FC), not including a yellow card. Sure, 4.75 fantasy points at that price was very good, but the goal made it tough to cash without him. Joining Schlupp in the bailout was left-back Patrick van Aanholt ($5,200), who had a higher price but assisted on Schlupp's goal to help him reach 10.00 fantasy points, though obviously only 4.0 were scored without the assist.