Sunday’s EPL slate features two of the four best teams in the league, and both are solid favorites despite road matchups with top-half sides. Both home teams will be without some of their best attackers, as West Ham hosts Manchester United without Michail Antonio and Son Heung-Min will likely miss out for Tottenham against Chelsea. The third game appears to be a bit more evenly matched, as Brighton, minus Pascal Gross, hosts Leicester. With so many prominent starters out, checking the lineups before each game will be even more important than usual.
| Goalkeepers | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| Kasper Schmeichel | LEI | BHA | 4700 | 9.28 | 10 | 14.25 | |
| I don't love any of the keeper, especially on DraftKings, but Schmeichel looks relatively safe. He has at least three saves in all four games, and while Brighton has been better than last season, I still don't trust their finishing. It also helps that Pascal Gross is out. | |||||||
| David de Gea | MUN | WHU | 5500 | 9.83 | 13 | 14.88 | |
| He has just one clean sheet through four games, and West Ham has scored in three of its four games this season. That being said, Antonio's absence takes quite a bit of the sting out of the West Ham attack, and I do like Manchester United to win this game despite being on the road. | |||||||
| Edouard Mendy | CHE | TOT | 12 | 24.13 | |||
| He has allowed one goal through three games, on the road against Liverpool. He has six saves in each of his last two games. Hoping for a clean sheet against Harry Kane always feels risky but I don't trust the rest of Tottenham's attack, especially with all of the lineup uncertainty heading into this game. I prefer Mendy to de Gea for this slate, especially since he's saving us $1. | |||||||
| Forwards | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| Mason Greenwood | MUN | WHU | 8400 | 17.52 | 19 | 24.88 | |
| Greenwood was a bit disappointing for fantasy against Newcastle last week, but he is still one of the safest forwards on the slate, especially on FanDuel. You could argue he is safer than Ronaldo, though Ronaldo is obviously more likely to score a goal. | |||||||
| Jarrod Bowen | WHU | MUN | 7000 | 11.43 | 16 | 15.38 | |
| Bowen has a good chance to start up front with Michail Antonio out and Said Benrahma questionable. I never really trust him to finish chances, but he should get plenty, even if Manchester United's back line is pretty solid. | |||||||
| Cristiano Ronaldo | MUN | WHU | 10700 | 30.28 | 24 | 44.30 | |
| He's not going to score in every game, but it is awfully tough to fade him, especially with so many ways to save money at other positions. It feels like you either have to be with him or against him and due to the lack of other no-brainer options on the slate, I am with him. | |||||||
| Nikola Vlasic | WHU | MUN | 6300 | 1.66 | 17 | 4.30 | |
| I was hoping to get him at a bit more of a discount since he is such an unknown. Even so, there is a big hole to fill up front with Antonio and possibly Benrahma out. Vlasic had 11 goals and five assists in 26 games for CSKA Moscow last season, and I would rather take a chance on him than either of the Brighton forwards. | |||||||
| Midfielders | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| Leandro Trossard | BHA | LEI | 6000 | 10.43 | 15 | 13.00 | |
| Trossard was on corners last week with Pascal Gross out. Brighton didn't have many corners in that game but it does give Trossard some added value Sunday. | |||||||
| Marc Cucurella | BHA | LEI | 5000 | 8.46 | 7 | 4.30 | |
| Cucurella got his first start of the season last week and had three crosses and created a chance in 82 minutes. He is a solid midfielder for cash games, even if I don't love the matchup. | |||||||
| Marc Albrighton | LEI | BHA | 6500 | 14.42 | 16 | 15.60 | |
| This may be your last chance to play Albrighton as he starts in place of the suspended Ayoze Perez. Albrighton has at least nine crosses in each of his starts, and he looks like one of the safest players on the slate as a result. | |||||||
| Paul Pogba | MUN | WHU | 7500 | 17.1 | 18 | 25.50 | |
| According to his xA, Pogba has been getting lucky, and that luck has to run out. Of course, passing to fantastic finishers like Ronaldo helps. Mostly, I'm just encouraged to see Pogba continue to get forward even with all the other attacking options on this team. | |||||||
| Defenders | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| Cesar Azpilicueta | CHE | TOT | 11 | 15.45 | |||
| The nice thing about Azpilicueta is that he will get defensive stats if Tottenham manages a sustained attack, but he has a good chance at offensive stats if Tottenham struggles. Azpilicueta is safer than Reece James and is a much cheaper alterntive to Marcos Alonso. | |||||||
| Craig Dawson | WHU | MUN | 2700 | 5.02 | 9 | 13.32 | |
| Dawson leads West Ham in Clearances+Blocks+Interceptions this season, and Manchester United has allowed the most CBI of any team in the slate. If Dawson doesn't start Kurt Zouma would be a good, albeit higher-priced, alternative. | |||||||
| Lewis Dunk | BHA | LEI | 3400 | 3.76 | 9 | 9.98 | |
| I was hoping Dunk would be cheaper on DraftKings, but beggars can't be choosers. With Brighton's wing backs being listed as midfielders, most of the viable defenders are quite expensive. In that circumstance, I often play a cheap center back who will be targeted on corners and set pieces. That is where Dunk comes in. He is nicely priced on FanDuel, though his defensive stats have been a bit underwhelming to start the season. | |||||||
| Ryan Bertrand | LEI | BHA | 3900 | 3.3 | 8 | 7.80 | |
| Bertrand did not have a single cross last week in his first start of the season, that I will blame that at least in part on facing Manchester City. Bertrand averaged 3.87 crosses per start last season and that makes him one of the lone bright spots among defenders on DK. | |||||||
| Luke Shaw | MUN | WHU | 6000 | 11.4 | 13 | 13.32 | |
| If I can afford to pay up at defender, especially on DraftKings, I am going all the way up for Shaw. He is more of a GPP on FanDuel, but his consistent crossing makes him a cash play on DraftKings. | |||||||
| DraftKings Core Plays | ||
Top Tier | Cristiano Ronaldo | $10,700 |
| Mason Greenwood | $8,400 | |
Mid Tier | Marc Albrighton | $6,500 |
| Jarrod Bowen | $7,000 | |
Value Tier | Lewis Dunk | $3,400 |
| Ryan Bertrand | $3,900 | |
| FanDuel Core Plays | ||
Top Tier | Cristiano Ronaldo | $24 |
| Paul Pogba | $18 | |
Mid Tier | Leandro Trossard | $15 |
| Marc Albrighton | $16 | |
Value Tier | Marc Cucerella | $7 |
| Craig Dawson | $9 | |