SOCCER

FanDuel Women's World Cup Daily Fantasy Helper: Monday 6/17/19

Alexandra Popp hasn't had a big game yet, but that could come Monday as Germany is a huge favorite versus South Africa. Who else should you target on the tourney's first four-match slate?

The Women's World Cup is here, and FanDuel is offering daily fantasy contests. The Monday main slate will start at noon EST and include all four of the day's matches.

FanDuel has altered its soccer format for the Women's World Cup for the multi-match offerings, and it's important to know how those changes impact things. The single-match slates, however, are the same format as usual.

Group Stage
Monday, June 17
China vs. Spain
Nigeria vs. France
South Korea vs. Norway
Germany vs. South Africa


Per FanDuel Sportsbook, Germany (-1400) and France (-1000) are the two big favorites on this slate while Norway (-220) and Spain (-115) are also favored.

Let's look at some players across different price points who can shine on this slate.

Forwards/Midfielders

Eugénie Le Sommer, France ($24)

Le Sommer has been good through two matches, totaling two goals, one assist, four chances created and four shots on goal on her way to FanDuel outputs of 45.6 and 27.3 points. She handled France's lone penalty thus far, which is a huge boost to her DFS value, and the French are once again healthy favorites, installed at -1000 versus Nigeria.

Alexandra Popp, Germany ($16)

Germany is the biggest favorite on the slate, listed at -1400 against South Africa. Popp doesn't have a goal or an assist through two matches, but hopefully that helps her avoid big ownership in a great spot. She's started at striker in each of the Germans' first two matches, and this German side has been unlucky to score just two goals in the tourney as they've racked up 29 total shots, 11 of which have been on target.

Svenja Huth ($12) and Sara Däbritz ($20), Germany

These two are also nice ways to get exposure to the slate's largest favorite. With star Dzsenifer Marozsan sidelined in their last match, Germany opted to start Huth up front alongside Popp in a two-striker formation after putting Huth out wide in their opening match. Huth played all 90 minutes in that one and was credited with two chances created in a 13.6-FanDuel-point performance. If she's at striker against South Africa, she'll be a great value.

Däbritz has been in central midfield for each of the first two matches, and she's on the ball more with Marozsan out. Over the two games, Däbritz has amassed one goal, two chances created, three shots on goal, two blocks, one clearance, seven tackles and one clearance. Her all-around efforts give her a great floor, and her upside is pretty dope, too, although you'll have to pay up to get it.

Guro Reiten ($20) and Isabell Herlovsen ($12), Norway

Norway needs a good result versus South Korea, and they could go under-owned if the masses load up on France and Germany. Norway put up a decent showing versus France in a 2-1 loss, but they've got just five total shots on target through two matches, with a pair of their goals coming via own goals.

Reiten has been their best attacking threat, scoring a goal, notching an assist and creating four chances over their two matches. If you need cheaper access to Norway, you can check out Herlovsen. Admittedly, Herlovsen hasn't put a shot on goal through two games nor has she created a chance, but she's started at striker in each match, playing every minute of both.

Kadi Diani ($12), France

If they start, Valérie Gauvin ($18) and Gaëtane Thiney ($16) -- France's starting striker duo in their last match -- are firmly in play, but let's focus on Diani. Coming into the World Cup, Diani looked to be fighting for a place in the team, but through two matches, she's played every minute, totaling three chances created. While her FanDuel scores (8.2 and 7.3 FanDuel points) don't jump off the page, Diani netted a team-best six goals in five appearances (four starts) in 2019 friendlies. She looks to have a locked-in role as a starting wide player on one of the tourney's top teams, and that keeps her squarely on the DFS radar.

Defenders

Amel Majri, France ($18)

Majri has an assist in each of France's first two matches, creating five total chances to go along with a handful of defensive actions. She scored 19.5 FanDuel points last match despite missing out on the clean-sheet bonus, and that came after she posted 22.5 FanDuel points in the opener. Majri has solid clean-sheet odds against Nigeria, and very few defenders in this tournament can match her attacking upside.

Noko Matlou ($16) and Janine van Wyk ($14), South Africa

Matlou and van Wyk have been racking up defensive actions at the back all tourney, and that should continue versus Germany. Matlou has outings of 18.2 and 20.8 FanDuel points, averaging 7.0 clearances, 5.0 interceptions and 2.5 tackles. For van Wyk, she has per-match averages of 5.5 clearances, 3.5 interceptions and 2.5 blocks. Depending on how the starting lineups shake out, you may be able to find some high-floor defenders for cheaper -- Nigeria's Ngozi Ebere ($10) being one such player -- but these two are very safe options.

Goalies

Almuth Schult, Germany ($16) and Sarah Bouhaddi, France ($16)

These two are the big favorites on the slate, and both have pretty good odds to get a clean-sheet win. The downside with either is that they may not have to make many saves, so if they do concede a goal, most of their FanDuel output will likely end up coming via the win bonus. That's exactly what happened to Bouhaddi in France's last match as an own goal doomed her to 7.5 FanDuel points.

Chiamaka Nnadozie, Nigeria ($10)

After not starting the opener, Nnadozie got the call for Nigeria's match with South Korea and put on one of the better goalkeeping displays of the tourney thus far, making six saves in a clean-sheet win. That got her a whopping 35.0 FanDuel points. Now, we can't chase that total with Nigeria taking on France. Nnadozie is an extreme long shot to get the win bonus or the clean-sheet points. With that said, she should be called into action often -- if South Korea put six shots on target, France could get near 10 shots on goal -- and that gives her a solid floor at an easy-to-like salary. This is the first four-match slate of the tourney, and every dollar will be precious.