SOCCER

3 FanDuel Premier League Under-the-Radar Plays for Matchweek 5

With Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City all in action, Sheffield United's Oliver McBurnie could provide a nice return as an under-the-radar option.

If you have played daily fantasy sports for a while, you know the importance of being contrarian in large-field tournaments. Recognizing which players are going to be owned by the masses and finding others who you think have a similar point projection but will come at much lower ownership can really separate yourself from your opponents.

The same goes for DFS Premier League. Even though the large-field tournaments aren't quite as large as they are for other sports, there is still value in identifying quality under-the-radar plays.

This article will discuss FanDuel's main Saturday slate, which starts at 10:00 a.m. EST and features six matches.

Matchweek 5
Saturday, September 14th
Crystal Palace at Tottenham
Leicester City at Manchester United
Chelsea at Wolves
Burnley at Brighton
Southampton at Sheffield United
Manchester City at Norwich


The Premier League returns from the first international break of the season with a slate full of big-six sides as Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City are all in action. Predictably, Manchester City is the largest favorite on the slate, with an implied win probability of 86.7% on the road against Norwich. Tottenham is behind them, with an implied win probability of 75.6% at home against Crystal Palace. Despite their struggles, Manchester United is still a home favorite against Leicester City, with an implied win probability of 55.6%. On the road against Wolves, Chelsea is slight favorites in a pick'em match against a difficult opponent.

The presence of Tottenham, Manchester United, and Chelsea on this slate may slightly reduce ownership on Manchester City. Stars on those sides may seem like viable alternatives, but the outlook for Manchester City's side is far greater this weekend than it is for anyone else. Even a slight reduction in ownership is enough to make Manchester City the side to build around this weekend, especially since the price discount on stars from the other big-six sides is marginal.

With that in mind, here are three players to consider this weekend -- especially for tournament formats -- who may fly under the radar.

Oliver McBurnie, MID/FWD, Sheffield United

FanDuel Salary: $13

Lineups centered on Manchester City will need to find inexpensive options to round out their squads. McBurnie, who may receive additional playing time due to his teammate Callum Robinson's ($14) hamstring injury, is a great way to gain cheap exposure to a home favorite. With five goals through four games, Sheffield United have found the back of the net in each of their matches this season, and they recently put two past Chelsea to secure a draw before the international break.

Since conceding three goals to Burnley in their season opener, Southampton has been respectable at the back, allowing two goals to Liverpool, one to Manchester United and holding Brighton scoreless. Like Sheffield United, they come into this match off a draw against a top-six side in Manchester United, but given United's form its difficult to know just how impressive that is. Southampton will be without two of their defenders in Kevin Danso (suspension) and Ryan Bertrand (injury), which could open the door for Sheffield United to extend their scoring streak to five matches.

The absence of those defenders is music to the ears of McBurnie, who was signed from Swansea in August for a club-record fee. Playing for the Swans, McBurnie had 24 goals in 49 appearances last season in the Championship and will be in a great position to score his second goal of the season as he makes his first start for Sheffield United against a non-elite side.

Raul Jimenez, MID/FWD, Wolves

FanDuel Salary: $16

Following their exceptional return to the Premier League last season, Wolves 2019 campaign has gotten off to a slow start. Through four matches, they have secured just three total points, with three draws and a loss. Wolves slow start is likely enough for the public to opt for big names on elite sides over Wolves' stars, who routinely commanded high ownership last season.

That dip in ownership is likely to impact Jimenez the most, as his salary range is full of exciting options. Among them are the red-hot Daniel James ($16), the American wonder Christian Pulisic ($16), Paul Pogba ($16), Riyad Mahrez ($16), and Lucas Moura ($16). All of these players are in decent spots and should greatly reduce Jimenez's ownership at home against a Chelsea side that has conceded the second-most goals in the Premier League this season, including two to Sheffield United in their last match.

Further adding to Jimenez's outlook is his good form, which has been masked by the terrible results of Wolves matches. He has a goal in each of his last two matches and has scored more than 20 FanDuel points in three of his four matches this season. Jimenez won't fly completely under the radar, but Wolves struggles, combined with a matchup against Chelsea and the plethora of talent in his salary range should drive his ownership well below what it should be for a player of his consistency.

Ashley Barnes, MID/FWD, Burnley

FanDuel Salary: $19

With four big-six sides on the slate, Ashley Barnes sticks out like a sore thumb in his price range. At $19, he is the seventh-most expensive midfielder/forward on the slate and the most expensive player on a non-big-six side.

Despite his ridiculously impressive start to the season, Barnes is likely to see ownership levels far below what his matchup against Brighton should warrant. Through four matches this season, Barnes has scored four goals on 15 shots, producing FanDuel point totals of 46.3, 33.9, 26.3 and 0. While those numbers are trending in the wrong direction, that can be attributed to the quality of opposition Barnes has faced. He scored on the road against Arsenal and Wolves, and his goose egg came against Liverpool.

Brighton will be the worst side Barnes has faced since the opening week of the season, when he scored a brace against Southampton. Brighton started the season on a good note and appeared to be a team on the rise, taking well to their new manager's possession-based style of soccer. However, since their opening weekend victory over Burnley, they drew with West Ham and lost to Southampton and Manchester City.

Since their opening weekend victory, Burnley has also struggled, but against much tougher competition in Arsenal, Wolves, and Liverpool. They should look the better of these two sides this weekend, much to the benefit of Barnes, who should still be considered despite his high salary.



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