3 FanDuel Premier League Under-the-Radar Plays for Matchweek 26
Stuart Armstrong, Midfielder, Southampton
Salary: $7,000
For lineups that opt to include numerous high-owned expensive options, Armstrong provides salary relief at likely very low ownership. Southampton's other midfielder, Nathan Redmond ($7,500), is likely to be one of the highest owned value plays on the slate due to his role as a forward in Southampton's 3-5-2 formation. Armstrong is a pivot off of Redmond that frees up an additional $500 in salary.
While Redmond's role seems more valuable on paper, he hasn't been producing. Outside of his one-goal performance last Matchweek against Burnley, he has FanDuel point totals of just 3, 1.3, 9.5, and 3.9 in his last four matches, despite playing at least 86 minutes in each of them. Armstrong is less involved in the final third, as a true midfielder, but he actually has one more shot on goal than Redmond over their last two matches and has a chance created in each of those matches as well. In fact, Armstrong has a chance created or a goal in each of his last ten starts.
Outside of their lone one-goal victory over Leicester City at the end of December, Cardiff has been terrible on the road lately, with four losses and a draw in their last six matches. Across those six matches, they played only a single elite side, Arsenal, and conceded three goals each to West Ham, Watford, and Newcastle. Southampton is undefeated in their last five Premier League matches and have slowly started to turn their season around. At home, they have 10 goals in their last six matches, with six of those coming against Manchester United, Arsenal, and Manchester City. With Cardiff sitting in 18th on 22 points and Southampton in 16th on 24 points, this is a massive match in the relegation battle, and Southampton should come out on top.
Zack Bussiere is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Zack Bussiere also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zbuss1. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
