DraftKings Player Selection Guide

As confirmed last week, Fantasy Football Scout are delighted to be working with DraftKings as our Daily Fantasy Sports game of choice over the course of Euro 16.

With just over 48 hours to go before the first ball is kicked we’ve compiled a strategy guide that will help introduce you to the game and some of its finer points.

While DraftKings can be picked up quickly, with knowledge and information easily transferred from season and tournament Fantasy games, there are nuances and strategies that make the game both challenging and compelling.

Firstly, while goals, assists and clean sheets are key to a DraftKings line-up, they aren’t the only factors that will determine your success.

DraftKings incorporates a variety of on-pitch actions into its scoring mechanism and it’s vital to appreciate the role these play and how they shape the profile of players to target.

The game allows for the editing of squads right up until the first whistle of every kick-off, affording Fantasy managers the unique opportunity to use every wave of teamsheets to their advantage. The ability to make any last-minute alterations to selection plans could prove vital in our quest for seeking an extra edge.

On Saturday, for example, your Switzerland and Albania picks will only be locked in when that match gets underway at 2pm. Fantasy managers will still be able to alter their remaining players for the other two fixtures (Slovakia vs Wales at 5pm and England vs Russia at 8pm) right up until their respective kickoffs.

It basically means there’s merit in having at least one player in every match to allow you the freedom to exploit the teamsheets in such a manner.

The first step is clearly to assess the fixtures on offer and identify those match-ups that appear one-sided and are more likely to offer multiple goals for the winning side with a clean sheet.

These teams will then help form your “stacking” strategy.

Stacking is simply the concept of selecting more than one player from any given team – doubling up or even tripling on assets to maximise the potential scoring from that particular side.

While DraftKings have reduced their squad size from 11 to eight, this remains a very viable tactic, bearing in mind that we’re dealing with three or four fixtures in any given Matchday over Euro 16.

Acquire a goalkeeper and defender combination, or perhaps block out your two-man defence with players who offer strong clean sheet potential. Whilst in attack, consider pairings that often combine as creator and match-winner for their teams in a bid to find assist and goal combinations.

While clean sheets are a factor in guiding your defensive acquisitions, these are not anywhere near as dominant compared to other season-long or tournament-long games.

Goalkeepers may earn five points for a clean sheet and another five should their team earn victory but those ten points can be bettered by a keeper who makes 6-7 saves in a match.

The decision to choose a stopper playing in a top side, with a high opportunity of a shut-out and win, or opt for a cheaper option who is expected to be bombarded with shots, can be finely balanced.

In the earlier rounds of Euro 16, with the opening group matches anticipated to be cagey affairs, it would seem likely that clean sheets will be more prevalent and easier to predict. That could have us lean towards more expensive keeper options initially, shifting our strategy as the tournament progresses to spend on the more expensive attacking players as they become a priority.

In defence, attacking full-backs or, better still, wing-backs, are the top targets.

As a rule, any player deployed in a wide position who has the propensity to get forward offers a potentially rich source of points. DraftKings may have recently reduced the points earned from crosses to 0.75 but this scoring metric remains a dominant factor when it comes to shaping our squads.

Full-backs who get forward will earn crosses, draw fouls from opposing defenders and have the potential to earn assists. The full-back is also capable of competing with central defenders when it comes to interceptions and tackles and can often commit less fouls and earn fewer bookings. As such, there’s no doubt that the full-back dominates the centre-back as a source of DraftKings points.

Centre-halves become cheap enablers for those keen to spend big in attacking areas – the only real exception arises when they can offer a potent goal threat from set-pieces.

In midfield, the same rule applies – go with crosses as the key factor in selection.

A winger can register crosses from open play and dead-balls, and earn points from drawing fouls and shots – this is before they’ve earned points from goals and assists.

The “number ten” can surpass them as DraftKings assets if their goal threat is strong and if they also play a prime role on set-plays.

If you target a principal dead-ball taker whose team will dominate possession with attacking superiority, his base-level scoring before shots, goals and assists are added, is likely to be strong.

Defensive midfielders will earn points from interceptions and tackles but will be largely overshadowed by their attacking rivals. They are more likely to commit fouls and earn bookings and their lack of goal threat and creativity will ultimately leave them trailing. Like centre-backs, there will be cases when they do excel but these will generally be outliers.

It’s worth noting that your selection of midfielders could be key when it comes to differentiating your team within a contest.

Clean sheets and goals can be predicted and it’s likely that you’ll share your defence and forward line with other managers. In the centre of the park, however, there are far more variables to consider and a bigger pool of players to choose from – if you’re going to seek out a differential, midfield is often the area to target.

Up front, goals are king along with frequency of shots and attempts on target. Pinpointing these key factors with your two forward slots will cost you big fees but reap the biggest rewards.

Forwards are the players most likely to bring in the big 30+ point hauls with multiple goals and therefore it’s vital to maximise your opportunity at hitting the biggest scores by prioritising and spending on those targets most likely to pepper the opposition keeper.

The final “utility” slot can be another way of differentiating your squad from the pack – more than likely that will be forced upon you by budget restrictions.

As a rule, this slot is used to seek out another attacking assets – preferably a forward. However, the strategy with this slot could change over the course of Euro 16.

As mentioned, it’s anticipated that the early group matches will be tight, with the lesser teams undoubtedly packing the midfield and showing little attacking ambition. This could mean that goals are at a premium, thus leading to most of the stronger teams picking up clean sheets in their opening fixtures.

With this in mind, there could be real merit in not only upping investment at the back but also in using the utility slot to target an extra defender, particularly one that can pour forward and contribute crosses.

Later in the tournament, when we reach the third group match and it becomes clear that certain teams will need to earn victories and score goals, this strategy will change with attacking spend increasing.

Certainly, by the knock-out stages, clean sheets will become trickier to predict and matches are far more liable to feature multiple goals. At this point it’s very likely that we’ll be maximising spend on attacking players and using the utility slot to boost this investment further.

Our members area is also geared up to help with your DraftKings selections. All of the scoring actions discussed in this guide are covered within our Euro 16 statistics and our comparison tool, in particular, will be a key weapon to help steer your strategies.

I’ve even created a public custom stats table here to hone in on the major scoring factors, plotting their per minute frequency for players.

We’ll also be covering DraftKings over the duration of the tournament, providing articles that recommend player picks for each Matchday – starting on Friday when we’ll be looking forward to June 11 fixtures.

That article will bring you news of a special contest offer to Fantasy Football Scouts visitors who sign up to DraftKings for that opening set of Euro 16 matches.