SOCCER

4 FanDuel Premier League Studs to Target for Matchweek 14

Liverpool's Sadio Mane was rested last weekend and is in a dope spot as the Reds take on a struggling Stoke City side that has allowed 26 goals in 13 matches.

As is the case when playing any sport on FanDuel, it’s imperative to hit on high-priced studs, the players in which you’ve made the biggest investment. This is especially true with strikers in soccer as goals are often the difference between winning and losing in DFS.

Let’s take a look at some high-priced players -- all across the pitch -- who, despite costing a good chunk of change, are worth the investment.

This article is geared toward FanDuel's main slate, which begins at 2:45 p.m. EST Wednesday and features six matches.

Matchweek 14
Wednesday, November 29th
Burnley at Bournemouth
Swansea City at Chelsea
Huddersfield at Arsenal
Southampton at Manchester City
Liverpool at Stoke City
West Ham at Everton


This is our first mid-week slate of the season, and it's a six-match slate with three big favorites as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City are all 2.0-goal home favorites. City boast the highest implied total at 2.75 goals while Chelsea and Arsenal are both installed with 2.5-goal implied totals. Bournemouth are a 0.5-goal home favorite, Liverpool are a 1.0-goal road favorite and the Everton-West Ham match is a pick 'em.

Even more so than usual, it's imperative to check starting XIs Wednesday afternoon. Midweek games are a prime spot for squad rotation, especially for the big favorites.

Let's get to it.

Forward

Sergio Aguero, Manchester City

FanDuel Price: $12,000

Aguero has been a DFS monster this year, racking up nine goals and three assists in a mere eight Premier League starts. His game log from his past six matches is comical.

OpponentGoalsAssistsShots On GoalFanDuel Points
Liverpool11246.00
Watford31485.00
Crystal Palace11238.75
Burnley10332.75
Arsenal10128.00
Huddersfield10336.00


Aguero has an eye-popping eight goals across his last six matches, averaging a whopping 44.42 FanDuel points per match in that span.

As a 2.0-goal home favorite over Southampton with a slate-best 2.75 implied total, City will be very popular, and for good reason as they lead the EPL in goals (42, 14 more than any other side) and possession (66.1%). Aguero is a candidate to be rested (he hasn't played in back-to-back league matches since mid-September), which would make Gabriel Jesus ($11,000) the striker to target for City.

If both Aguero and Jesus play, you could pivot to Chelsea's Alvaro Morata ($11,000) or Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez ($11,500), but it's dangerous to fade City's strikers at the moment.

Midfield

Sadio Mane, Liverpool

FanDuel Price: $8,000

There are some superb midfield plays this week -- the likes of Kevin de Bruyne ($11,000) and Eden Hazard ($10,500), plus Mane's Liverpool teammates Mo Salah ($11,500) and Philippe Coutinho ($10,000) -- and ownership will likely be pretty spread out. The abundance of stellar high-priced options in midfield means that we may be able to get Mane at less ownership than we normally would when Liverpool is a 1.0-goal favorite. Oh, and Mane offers significant savings over the elite options, which could allow you to fit in another stud forward.

Mane didn't start against Chelsea last weekend, so he should avoid any squad rotation Wednesday at Stoke. He would also benefit greatly if Salah or Coutinho -- both of whom started against Chelsea, with the former playing the full match -- were rested for this game against the Potters. Salah has been the main man this year for the Reds, but Mane has been his usual potent self, scoring three goals with two assists in seven starts.

If we remove the Manchester City match, a contest in which he was sent off early in the first half, Mane has scored at least 22 FanDuel points in four of his six starts, including three outings of at least 29 points. He has had a hand in five goals in those six starts (three goals and two assists), and with Liverpool owning a 2.0-goal implied total against a struggling Stoke squad -- a side that has allowed 26 goals through 13 matches -- Mane is in a superb spot this week and could fly under the radar a bit.

Defender

Christopher Schindler, Huddersfield

FanDuel Price: $7,000

With so many big underdogs on the slate, there are a plethora of routes to take to find guys who should be able to rack up defensive actions. Admittedly, it's not a great week to pay up for a defender, since you'll want to save as much coin as possible to load up on goal-scoring threats and the underdogs should offer some safe cheaper defenders.

However, if you choose to spend on defenders, Schindler offers a sweet floor for his match at Arsenal. Huddersfield is a 2.0-goal underdog, and they rank 14th in possession (46.7%) while Arsenal checks in 3rd (57.4%). The Gunners should have the Terriers pinned back for much of this fixture, and that means Schindler will be busy. Schindler has played four matches versus top-six clubs, and he's averaged 22.25 FanDuel points in those outings. For the season, Schindler is averaging 8.0 clearances, 3.3 tackles and 2.2 interceptions per match.

Schindler doesn't offer the goal-scoring or assist upside of Marcos Alonso ($7,500) or Kyle Walker ($6,000), but his floor is as safe as there is, especially when Huddersfield are facing a top-tier side.

Goalie

Asmir Begovic, Bournemouth

FanDuel Price: $5,500

The keepers for the big underdogs offer save volume, but they're unlikely to get a clean sheet. The keepers for the favorites have a good shot at a clean sheet, but their upside is limited by a probable lack of saves. The keepers in the Burnley-Bournemouth matchup -- Begovic and Nick Pope ($5,500) -- dip their toes into both save volume and clean-sheet upside.

The match has a 2.5-goal over/under, tied for the lowest of the slate, and both sides are allowing a lot of shots on goal. Burnley leads the league in shots allowed per game (17.5) while Bournemouth is third (14.8). So there's the save volume.

The clean-sheet upside stems from the fact neither the Clarets nor Cherries have been putting the ball into the net very often this campaign. Through 13 EPL matches, Bournemouth ranks 16th in goals scored (11), with Burnley coming in 14th (12).

Both keepers are good plays, but the edge goes to Begovic. Bournemouth have allowed just three goals across their last six matches, and Begovic has recorded three straight clean sheets in EPL play. At home, he's given up just six goals in six matches.



Austan Kas is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Austan Kas also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username akas247. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.