SOCCER

FanDuel Premier League Value Plays for Matchweek 4

Fabinho displayed more on the offensive side than usual last week and has a favorable matchup against Burnley to make him one of this week's value plays.

Value plays are often the difference on the FanDuel leaderboard. With this year's format, value plays will be priced at $12 or lower in most cases. There will be some exceptions along the way.

This article will cover FanDuel's main slate that begins Saturday at 10:00 a.m. EST.

Matchweek 4
Saturday, August 31st
Brighton at Manchester City
Watford at Newcastle
Bournemouth at Leicester City
Norwich City at West Ham
Sheffield United at Chelsea
Aston Villa at Crystal Palace
Liverpool at Burnley


Mohamed Salah and Raheem Sterling ($24) are the most expensive players on this slate. Seven players are priced at or above $20. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Emerson ($18) are the most expensive defenders. Ederson and Adrian ($16) share the top keeper salary for the weekend.

Let's look at where the value lies in Matchweek 4.

Forward/Midfielder

Abdoulaye Doucoure, Watford ($12)

Doucoure and Watford got off to a bad start, but there were some good signs last week. Although Watford still suffered a loss, they finally scored a goal. Doucoure created four scoring chances for his team and finished with a season-best 23.5 points. He contributed five defensive actions as well. This would be a good time for Doucoure to be finding form as Newcastle have not played well to start the season and they have an extensive injury list. Newcastle also hold the least possession in the league through three games with Watford possessing the ball over 50% of the time. Doucoure averages over two key passes a match this season, which is over his career average. Doucoure has 12 goals over the last two seasons and will hope to open his account this season against Newcastle.

Fabinho, Liverpool ($12)

Fabinho put in an unusual shift last week. He created four chances and had an assist, not something he is know for, against Arsenal. He scored over 20 points in both of his starts this season with the majority of his points in the opening game coming through eight tackles. He has been the one holding midfielder that frees up others in the dynamic Liverpool lineup, but is often not a big part of the narrative. Given Burnley's 42% possession, Fabinho will be able to play on both sides of the ball. The one thing that is always a part of Fabinho's game is his passing. He had over a 90% success rate against Arsenal after 85% success last season.

Victor Camarasa, Crystal Palace ($8)

Camarasa is arguably the riskiest value play of the week. Manager Roy Hodgson did not have much to say about Camarasa after Palace exited the Carabao Cup early losing to Colchester United this week. Hodgson said that Camarasa is technically gifted, which was on display last year. He did average 13 FanDuel points last season, which would be a good total for a player priced at the lowest total on the slate. Palace have six players facing fitness tests ahead of the game, which gives Camarasa a chance to show what he can do. However, it will be imperative to check the starting lineup.


Defenders

Issa Diop, West Ham ($12)

Diop will be tasked with stopping joint top scorer Teemu Pukki ($20), but the team has shown faith in the center back with him even starting the Carabao Cup match this week. Diop averages two tackles and three clearances through the first three games with a total of eight defensive actions. Diop is nearing his averages from last season, which were the best of his career. Norwich scored twice last week against Chelsea, but only forced nine tackles. Chelsea were good with tackling and winning the ball back, but they lead the league in that stat. West Ham will have to rely more on the back four to thwart any attack.

Javier Manquillo, Newcastle ($8)

Manquillo is also a risk this week, but that is mitigated when the two worst teams in the league are playing. As stated above, Newcastle have held very little possession and now deal with plenty of injuries. Watford should have the ball much of the match and allow Manquillo to rack up defensive action points. His starting role is not secure, but the options on the bench are currently limited. Manquillo played the opening game of the season and created one chance, but had four defensive actions. Over his career, he averages over six defensive actions per match. He should be able to match those numbers with Watford having the ball. The added value is that despite having the ball, Watford have failed to convert so it is still expected to be a low-scoring game.

Keeper

Tim Krul, Norwich ($12)

This pick goes against the grain for several reasons. As stated last week, it is generally the most expensive keepers that are scoring and West Ham are favored to beat Norwich. Krul is averaging less than eight FanDuel points per match. However, West Ham are averaging less than 10 shots per match, which is one of the worst marks in the league. Krul has won three of six matches against West Ham - all in league play - with two victories being clean sheets. He has allowed less than a goal per game against West Ham. Krul fits as a contrarian play as well, so there could be plenty of leverage if he has a great match on Saturday.


Doug Smith is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Doug Smith also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username aquemini03. 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.