SOCCER

FanDuel Premier League Value Plays for Matchweek 7

West Ham are the surprise outfit of the season with Andriy Yarmolenko a big part of their resurgence. He is one of the best value options in Matchweek 7.

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 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


Harry Kane ($24)
is the highest-priced player on the slate, edging out a trio of Manchester City players. The highest salary you can pay for a defender is $16, and there are five players from five different teams sitting at that high-water mark. Ederson ($16) continues to sit atop the list of keepers.

Let's look at where the value lies in Matchweek 7.

Forward/Midfielder

Andriy Yarmolenko, West Ham ($12)

Yarmolenko leads all healthy players priced at or below $12 on this slate in average FanDuel points. In his fixture this weekend, he is third overall behind each team's respective center forward. He is coming off his best game of the five in which he has featured. Yarmolenko scored his second goal of the season while recording a season-high three shots on goal last weekend. He also created at least one chance for the fourth straight match. Bournemouth are missing several players on their back line for this clash. They also allow nearly 17 shots per match, one of the worst marks in the league.

Ashley Westwood, Burnley ($11)

Westwood has showcased his creative abilities to start this season and has put together back-to-back efforts that indicate he is rounding into form. He is also coming off his best game and has created three chances in each of his last two matches. Westwood recorded his first assist of the season last week and nearly hit 20 FanDuel points. He also has at least one tackle in all but one appearance, with a season high of three last week. There is a narrative at play as well with Westwood playing against his former team.

Marvelous Nakamba, Aston Villa ($9)

It took Nakamba a few weeks to work up his fitness, but he seems to be a larger part of the Villa game plan moving forward. In his two games, he is averaging 5.5 tackles and eight total defensive actions per match. The tackle numbers are higher than his average as a professional in the Netherlands, but he had better clearance and interception numbers there. He is also someone easy to pull for as he is being called a diplomat for Zimbabwe. Please note that Nakamba is not yet a guaranteed starter as Conor Hourihane ($9) scored in cup competition this week. Nakamba has been impressive in his minimal playing time, but Villa do have depth in the midfield. They are expected to hold possession, so they have multiple value options depending on their starting XI.

Moritz Leitner, Norwich City ($8)

Leitner sits at the lowest salary for any forward or midfielder and is slated to start at deep-lying midfielder this weekend. Leitner is this week's flyer with Norwich having lost his last two appearances, but the price is very tempting. His game is defensive, although he is averaging over two successful dribbles per match and nearly a 90% pass success rate. The one stat that sticks out and shows that Leitner may have more influence on offense is chances created. He has created at least one chance in three straight games and created three chances last weekend to post his second-best FanDuel total of the year. Crystal Palace have scored just four goals this season, so their lack of offensive threat could also allow Leitner to be more involved on both sides of the ball.

Defenders

Danny Rose, Tottenham ($11)

It has not been the start that Tottenham wanted. They are without a win in their last three matches across all competitions, but Rose is another value player coming off his best match of the season. He was involved on both sides of the ball and has a matchup with Southampton that should allow him to keep up the momentum. Tottenham are heavy favorites in the match, so Rose should make this the third match in a row that he creates at least one chance. He has also drawn at least one foul in all but one Premier League match. Rose had a season-high six clearances against Leicester City last weekend and averages four over the last three games.

Kevin Danso, Southampton ($9)

Danso will likely be under more pressure than Rose in this fixture with Tottenham needing to turn around their fortunes, so he will have value through defensive actions. He did not play the full match upon return from a suspension last weekend but averaged slightly more than 12 FanDuel points in the previous two starts. He did manage two tackles and one cross in one half of play last Friday. He had three crosses from his right-back spot against Manchester United in his previous start, which is promising as Tottenham have similar possession numbers to United. Southampton have played Tottenham tough recently as they won the last Premier League meeting between the sides and have taken four points in the last three matchups. Danso is a bigger value play, but watch the starting lineup as Cedric Soares ($13) could start and be evaluated by nearly the same criteria.

Adam Webster, Brighton ($9)

Webster is still a bit of an unknown commodity. This is his 10th professional season, but his first in the Premier League after playing in England's lower levels before this. He has started the last three matches for Brighton, two of which have been draws in which the team has allowed a total of one goal. Webster is averaging 11 FanDuel points per game after creating two chances and completing six defensive actions last weekend. The fixture with Chelsea this weekend may be Webster's biggest test as Brighton are hit hard by injuries and will likely be on the back foot all day. He should rack up the defensive actions and look to best his season-high 18 FanDuel points.

Keeper

Rui Patricio, Wolverhampton ($9)

Wolves and Watford are engaging in a very early season relegation battle. Neither keeper has been good, but Patricio is coming off his best Premier League game of the season, saving four of the five shots he faced against Crystal Palace. It was a great bounce back after allowing eight goals across the previous two games. Wolves are favorites in this match, and it is expected to be low scoring. Watford are coming off one of the worst clean sheet losses in Premier League history and have scored just four goals all season.



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.