SOCCER

DraftKings EPL Daily Fantasy Soccer Helper for 12/19/20

This is the busy time of the year in the Premier League, and we’ve got another three game slate on Saturday. Let’s look at the games, with odds from Soccer odd:

HomeDrawAway
Southampton (+550)+360Manchester City (-210)
Everton (+145)+240Arsenal (+185)
Newcastle (+160)+220Fulham (+180)

Forwards to Target

Raheem Sterling ($9,300): Sterling has not been scoring like he did last season, but he should return to form at some point. He plays for a Manchester City team that leads the league in possession rate and shots per game, according to WhoScored.com. All of the shots and possession should lead to peripheral points for Sterling if they don’t directly come from goals or assists. Man City are the only odds-on favorite on the slate, and Sterling is a -105 favorite to score in this game. He should be getting back into form sometime, and this could be the game when it starts.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin ($7,400): It may be a surprise for some people to see Dominic Calvert-Lewin among the top goal scorers in the league, but he has been in great form this season. His 11 goals are tied for the most with Mo Salah and Son Heung-Min, yet his salary is only $7,400. He's not the same fantasy player as those guys, but this salary is a discount for the goal-scoring upside DCL has shown this season. Everton are facing a struggling Arsenal team at home. They are slight favorites in this game, and with not too many obvious goal-scorers on the slate, Calvert-Lewin is a nice play for a good salary.

Ivan Cavaleiro ($6,900): Cavaleiro is a good option at forward as a player with a floor. He's been Fulham's set-piece taker of late, taking 100% of them in the past two games. The matchup is good against a Newcastle side that allows the most shots per game and the second most crosses per game. Cavaleiro was good against Liverpool with 14.9 DraftKings points without a goal or an assist, so he should be able to do the same against a much worse team. He also took and scored Fulham's last penalty kick, and given the struggles they've had from the spot this season, he may continue in that role. If he scores a penalty, he'll be a great play to go with his floor.

Midfielders to Target

Kevin De Bruyne ($11,100): This week, like every week that Man City are on the main slate, is a Kevin De Bruyne week. He's similar to Christian McCaffrey last season, where the DraftKings scoring system is so perfect for the way he plays that you are going to start most lineup builds with him. Earlier this week, De Bruyne had 24 DK points without a goal or an assist. That's the equivalent of two goals, meaning it's so hard for any other player to match KDB's output unless they have a huge outlier performance. De Bruyne also has been on penalties for City, so if he adds a goal to his high floor, he's very likely to be the highest scorer on the slate. It's hard to make any lineups without him on these three-game slates, where not many players have a realistic path to outscoring him.

Gylfi Sigurðsson ($7,100): The old days of playing Gylfi Sigurðsson on DraftKings are back. With injuries to James Rodríguez and Lucas Digne, Sigurðsson has been taking the set pieces for Everton and has produced fantasy points. He inherited the role two games ago, and since then he has generated 13 crosses and nine shot assists. These are the kind of accumulation stats that we used to pay in the $8,000 range for, so now at $7,100, he's a decent value. He also scored a penalty two games ago against Chelsea, so he's another player with set pieces and penalties, making for a high floor/ceiling combination. He is viable in all formats.

Ryan Fraser ($6,600): It remains to be seen exactly who will be available for Newcastle United as the club is still struggling with a previous COVID outbreak. If Ryan Fraser gets the start again like he did on Wednesday, he should be a good play. Depending on which other teammates can play, Fraser could be on set pieces. However, even if he isn't over the dead balls, Fraser has always been a crosser from open play. He's averaged more than seven crosses per 90 minutes over the past two league campaigns, according to Rotowire. Newcastle are slight favorites in this match against Fulham, so they're in a nice spot. Fraser can also link up with old Bournemouth teammate Callum Wilson, as the two combined for goals 10 times in the 2018-19 season.

Defenders to Target

Antonee Robinson ($5,000): There isn't much reason to spend up at defender this week, and the best play with an upper-tier could be Antonee Robinson of Fulham. He's been pushed forward a bit more on the left side for the Cottagers, which should see him involved in the attack more. The crossing numbers haven't been great of late, but he did have an 11-cross game in October against Crystal Palace, so the upside is there. Against a side like Newcastle who don't like keep the ball, it should allow Fulham and Robinson to push forward to get crosses into the box. It's not the best $5,000 defender play we've seen this season, but if you have the salary, it could be worth it.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles ($3,300): Maitland-Niles has misleading game logs and stats because he has lined up at different positions this season. If he is going to play as a right midfielder/wing back as he is slated to in WhoScored.com's projected lineup, he's a value at this very low salary. It's tough to know exactly what to expect from him, but there should be opportunities to cross given his position. This salary allows you to pay up at other positions with the opportunity cost at defender not being very high this week.

Jonjoe Kenny ($3,100): Everton have been shorthanded with many injuries, which could lead to a start for Jonjoe Kenny at left-back. In the one game he started earlier this season, he had six crosses. If he can do anything like that, he'll hit value at this $3,100 salary. Note that if Ben Godfrey ($2,600) starts in Kenny's stead, he would also be worth rostering.

Goalkeepers to Target

Jordan Pickford ($5,100): Pickford comes at a huge discount from Ederson and arguably gets a better matchup. He'll host an Arsenal team that has scored just 11 goals in 13 league matches, while Ederson will be away from home against Southampton, who have scored 25 goals. This is enough of a reason to save the $700 and go to Pickford.

Alex McCarthy ($3,900): Given how Man City have struggled to score this season, playing the goalkeeper against them isn't crazy. City have scored 18 goals in 12 matches, including just six in six away games. McCarthy has five clean sheets and seven wins in 13 matches, so he's been a fairly solid keeper this season. For this low of a salary, you can take a shot on him and feel decent about it not blowing up in your face -- or at least better than you would've felt in recent campaigns. Note that you can comfortably play De Bruyne and McCarthy in the same lineup because of the way De Bruyne scores fantasy points.


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