SOCCER

FanDuel Premier League Trends to Know for Matchweek 7

Even with the lack of any dominating stat lines, West Ham are riding high after beating Manchester United and now have a match against Bournemouth that can be used to prove their hot start.

The next Premier League main slate hits FanDuel at 10:00 a.m. EST on Saturday and features seven matches. Last week's main slate included the fewest number of matches to this point while matchweek seven ties the highest number of matches on a main slate this season.

The slate includes an unlikely early season relegation battle and three of the four team in the league that have not found a win in their last three games.

Matchweek 7
Saturday, September 28th
West Ham at Bournemouth
Norwich at Crystal Palace
Burnley at Aston Villa
Southampton at Tottenham
Watford at Wolverhampton
Brighton at Chelsea
Manchester City at Everton


Let's look at the teams and players that are rising and falling this week.

Hot

Team: West Ham

West Ham are higher in the table than Tottenham, Manchester United, and Chelsea. This is a team that battled at the bottom of the table much of the last two seasons, but now they are coming off a win against United that pushed them into a tie on points for third place. Leicester City and Arsenal win the tiebreakers against West Ham, but fans of the Hammers will gladly take this start from their team. Other than an opening week loss to Manchester City, West Ham have taken points from five in a row and have won three of their last four. There is reason to believe in this year's start under Manuel Pellegrini.


They are a team of efficiency as five of their 11 shots per match are on target as they inch closer to averaging 50% of possession per match. West Ham have allowed just over a goal per game with keeper Lukasz Fabianski ($10) making 20 saves. None of their other stats are outstanding, but they have gelled early in the season and have an intriguing match up with a Bournemouth team that is one point behind them that could show which team is a real contender for European play.

Player: John McGinn, Aston Villa ($18)

McGinn helped Villa get out to the lead last weekend, but the end result was another set back for the newly promoted side. McGinn did his part having his best FanDuel game of the season. He finished with three fouls drawn, three defensive actions, and his second goal of the season. Four of his six shots were on target against Arsenal. The performance pushed his FanDuel average to 25 points, but what may be more impressive is that he has scored at least 16 points in every game this season. He has drawn at least one foul and created at least one chance every match and now averages over three tackles per game. Villa start the week as slight favorites over Burnley with McGinn one of the top choices as anytime goal scorer.

Cold

Team: Everton

Everton have now lost three of the last four after earning four points through the first two weeks of the season. They have been outscored 7-1 in those losses with two coming against promoted sides. They lacked the ability to finish against Sheffield United. Everton dominated nearly every offensive stat category, but failed to find the net unless you count the own goal scored by Yerry Mina ($14). Everton finished with 70% possession and eight times the amount of shots as Sheffield. This week's opponent, Manchester City, just put eight on the board in one of the most lopsided clean sheet victories in Premier League history, so there is no reason to believe that Everton will find the touch in front of goal. Both teams like to play with possession, so Everton may get frustrated if they are chasing the ball against City. Odds say that is the likely scenario with City a heavy favorite.

Player: Andros Townsend, Crystal Palace ($12)

This one may seem like a no brainer as Townsend was back on the bench this past Sunday as the Eagles played Wolverhampton to a draw. This came after manager Roy Hodgson insisted that Townsend should not give up on a recall to the national team. It was also one week after Townsend was named to the starting XI against Tottenham, but he started on the bench for Palace's only two wins of the season. Townsend and Wilfried Zaha ($15) were used as an interchangeable pair in lieu of a pure striker last season under Hodgson. Currently, it is hard to get an idea of where Townsend fits in the system with Jordan Ayew ($16) up front and Connor Wickham ($10) on the verge of returning. Townsend can be a dynamic playmaker, but his time with Palace may be waning.


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.