SOCCER

4 FanDuel Premier League Value Plays for Matchweek 27

With Southampton in a favorable spot, Ryan Bertrand is a great value target at defender. Who else should you look to for cheap production?

One of the crucial aspects of daily fantasy soccer is unearthing cheap production, allowing you to spend up for the high-end studs without sacrificing production elsewhere in your lineup.

A lot of times, the top value plays come as a result of injury situations, meaning it's imperative to check starting lineups an hour before kickoff.

Matchweek 27
Saturday, February 22nd
Newcastle at Crystal Palace
Bournemouth at Burnley
Aston Villa at Southampton
Brighton at Sheffield United
Manchester City at Leicester


Looking at the slate as a whole, Southampton -- yes, Southampton -- are the slate's biggest favorite, according to Soccer odd. The Saints are -160 to win at home versus Aston Villa. Manchester City (-135) are the next-biggest favorite away to Leicester while Crystal Palace (-105) and Sheffield United (-110) also have implied win odds of more than 50%.

When looking for a salary-saving option for this main slate, check out some of these players.

Ryan Bertrand, DEF, Southampton

FanDuel Price: $11

As we mentioned in the intro, Southampton are the slate's biggest favorite, listed at -160 to win at home against Aston Villa. The Villans have been miserable defensively in their return to the top flight, giving up a league-worst 50 goals -- allowing 26 in 13 road fixtures.

This may be the only time we say this all year: it's a great slate to load up on the Saints.

One of my favorite ways to get exposure to Southampton on this slate is via Bertrand. The left-back has been getting it done lately in DFS, creating 10 total chances across his past six matches. He should be able to get forward plenty versus Villa, and he's a great stacking partner with any of the Saints' attackers.

George Baldock, DEF, Sheffield United

FanDuel Price: $10

Sheffield United are another team we don't flock to often but can target heavily on this slate. The Blades, who are in sixth and are one of the best stories in the EPL this season, are -110 favorites at home against Brighton.

Baldock plays as a wing-back in Sheffield United's three-at-the-back system, so while he's a defender on FanDuel, he actually spends a lot of time in the midfield and attacking areas. The ceiling isn't too sexy as he hasn't gone for more than 15 FanDuel points in any of his last 10 outings, but Brighton have given up three goals apiece to Bournemouth and West Ham in their past two EPL away matches.

Baldock offers two-way stacking appeal as he can be paired with any Sheffield United attacker or with keeper Dean Henderson in hopes of double-dipping on a clean-sheet. Three of the five most likely scorelines, per FanDuel Sportsbook, involve a Blades clean sheet.

Jeff Hendrick, MID, Burnley

FanDuel Price: $10

The Burnley-Bournemouth matchup doesn't look all that enticing from a fantasy perspective, with under 2.5 goals listed at -150. But Burnley are dealing with a few injuries (Ashley Barnes is out and Chris Wood is questionable), so they offer some value. Plus, the Clarets are slight favorites (+115) over the Cherries, a team that's been in poor form.

Hendrick has played well recently, recording a pair of chances created in each of the last two matches, with one assist in that span. That's led to FanDuel outputs of 15.1 and 19.5 over those two matches, and he's got two goals and two assists in 19 starts on the season.

Bournemouth have been in a funk since the festive period, and they haven't kept a clean sheet in any of their last nine league matches. In that time, they've surrendered two goals to Sheffield United, two to Brighton, three to Watford and four to West Ham -- so it's not like they've run up against the cream of the crop.

Burnley have some sneaky-good appeal on Saturday, and they're a great place to go to for a cheap, one-off play like Hendrick.

Vicente Guaita, GK, Crystal Palace

FanDuel Price: $9

This doesn't have to be too complicated -- Palace have the fourth-best implied win odds on the slate, yet Guaita is the cheapest expected starting keeper.

At home versus Newcastle, the Eagles are -105 to win, and three of the four most likely scorelines have Palace keeping a clean sheet, though two of the four are draws. Newcastle have just 24 goals in 26 matches for the season, and they've totaled 12 goals in 13 away matches. Over their past six outings, they've netted only four goals.

Guaita checks a lot of boxes, and he'd still be firmly in play even if he was a few bucks more expensive. Take the savings and invest elsewhere.