FanDuel Focus – Gameweek 35

It’s time once again to visit to our partner game FanDuel as we consider the contests and prizes on offer for the upcoming Gameweek. We’ve also scanned the player list to build a suggested line-up and provide some analysis on our key picks for the round.

It was the final of our FanDuel ‘last man standing’ tournament last weekend. Congratulations to therealavb, who was the overall winner with a score of 209.5 points and wins a £30 Amazon voucher as well as a £20 FanDuel credit. Wayne Rooney was his top-scoring player with a 41.75 point haul.

Well done also to James Cox for another strong performance – he finished second after winning the previous round. Paul in third and Talkative made up the rest of the top four spots.

We’re back to the standard ten-fixture window for this Gameweek, alongside separate Saturday and Sunday/Monday slates.

Both the full weekend and Saturday windows begin with the four kick-offs at 3pm tomorrow. The Sunday/Monday five-match window starts with Manchester United welcoming Swansea City and finishes with Liverpool’s trip to Watford.

Our pre-season strategy guide should be helpful for newcomers to Fanduel – it examines which players to target considering FanDuel’s unique scoring system.

My Strongest XI

Wayne Hennessey £7m
James Tarkowski £6.5m
Mason Holgate £7.7m
Ben Davies £7.9m
Andros Townsend £8.2m
Dusan Tadic £8.7m
Leroy Sane £10.3m
Ander Herrera £11.3m
Marko Arnautovic £9m
Josh King £9.6m
Harry Kane £13.3m

The Key Picks

The return of Stoke City’s Jack Butland, available for only 6.5m, provided a tempting budget option in goal for the Potters’ home clash with Hull City. However, we’ve decided to find the extra funds for Wayne Hennessey following Crystal Palace’s excellent run.

Three clean sheets in five at Selhurst Park – including keeping Arsenal quiet – bodes well for the Welsh stopper’s chances of picking up the ten points on offer for shut-outs in FanDuel. The Eagles host a Burnley side that sit bottom for goal attempts (21) over the last four Gameweeks.

The Clarets, meanwhile, provide a potential bargain in defence – James Tarkowski replaced Ben Mee in Sunday’s defeat at Manchester United. Considering Mee’s consistency in recording clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBIs) this term, his stand-in should score well if he starts – particularly when facing a likely steady supply of crosses to Sam Allardyce’s imposing frontman Christian Benteke.

If Tarkowski is overlooked, we’ll be checking the team sheet for the North London derby, with Rob Holding (£6.1m) potentially returning to Arsene Wenger’s three-man defence after Kieran Gibbs (£7m) started the midweek victory over Leicester City. We’ve left enough in the bank to include either of those Arsenal assets as they battle an in-form Spurs attack.

We couldn’t quite afford our preferred pick from the Everton back-line as Phil Jagielka’s £8.6m price-tag proved prohibitive. We’ve settled on Mason Holgate instead – he should be kept busy attempting to limit Eden Hazard’s influence on the left flank as Chelsea visit Goodison Park. The right-back has made 30 tackles over his last six outings – only Bournemouth’s Adam Smith (also priced at £7.7m) has bettered that output with 31.

We had several candidates for our final defender slot, with plenty of appealing options at the £7.9m price-mark. Swansea’s Federico Fernandez has registered a 17.8-point average over the last four and should improve on that at Old Trafford. Stephen Ward offered another route into Sean Dyche’s rearguard at Palace, while Hull’s Andrew Robertson also tempted us as Marco Silva’s side head to Southampton.

From Spurs, both Ben Davies and Kyle Walker are also available for £7.9m and we’ve settled on the former for what is likely to be a typically end-to-end encounter with Arsenal. The left-back has averaged 19.6 points per match in FanDuel over the previous four, creating eight chances and tallying 11 tackles.

Andros Townsend again makes our line-up as we re-visit Crystal Palace for our first midfield selection. The winger’s all-round involvement suits the FanDuel scoring system – alongside 15 chances created he’s registered eight goal attempts, 12 tackles and 23 CBIs over his last six matches. That’s produced a pair of assists and a goal to help him accrue a healthy 25.4 average over that period.

Considering Townsend’s predominantly left-sided role, it’s promising that opponents Burnley have conceded the most attempts down the right flank (162) of any side this campaign.

Hull have yielded the third most attempts from set plays in away matches this term and that vulnerability has placed dead ball specialist Dusan Tadic in our sights as the Tigers roll up to St Mary’s. The Serb has created 15 chances and tallied 13 goal attempts in six outings to make him our pick from Southampton.

This favourable home fixture provides the midfielder with a great opportunity to improve on his three goals and seven assists this season – five scores of 30+ points so far in FanDuel indicates he’s capable of bringing in hauls.

Our next selection makes the line-up based on his recent away form ahead of Manchester City’s visit to the Riverside Stadium. Winger Leroy Sane has provided attacking returns (a trio of goals and a pair of assists) in five of his last six road trips, blanking only at Stamford Bridge. Encouragingly, hosts Boro have conceded 13 goals in their previous six league fixtures, leaking four goals to both Hull and Bournemouth in recent weeks.

Following the news of Paul Pogba joining Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the sidelines, we scanned Manchester United’s squad to pick out an asset for their fixture with Swansea.

Ander Herrera’s numbers stood out. The Spaniard has stepped up of late, with three assists and a goal in the three matches preceding the Manchester derby. In addition, 23 tackles and eight chances created in his last six league appearances has contributed to an average of 28 points per match in FanDuel. That influence should continue with Jose Mourinho’s options limited by a growing injury list – Herrera is set to be a key player against the Welsh visitors.

West Ham travel to the Bet365 Stadium having conceded ten goals in their last four away matches. That’s convinced us to utilise Marko Arnautovic in one of our three forward slots. The Austrian has notched three goals and an assist in his previous four home matches to average 27.75 FanDuel points. In addition, 16 goal attempts and 13 chances created over the last six, as well as potential spot-kick duties, suggest a points haul is on the cards against the Hammers.

Bournemouth’s 4-0 demolition of Middlesbrough means some investment in their attack looks wise ahead of a trip to basement dwellers Sunderland. Josh King remains the go-to pick from the Cherries as the reliable forward has netted 11 goals in 13 matches. In 17 home ties the Black Cats have conceded three or more on six occasions – a record which explains why they appear destined to drop out of the league.

Our biggest investment in this line-up is on Harry Kane. Arsenal visiting White Hart Lane means the Spurs forward will be keen to maintain his impressive run of form at home – he’s scored in each of his last five starts in front of his own fans to tally ten goals and a couple of assists.

The frontman has a strong record against his North London rivals, notching five goals in four derby outings so far. Prior to the Gunners’ 2-1 victory at Middlesbrough, they lost four straight away matches and leaked three goals in each.

This Week’s Contests

The full-weekend slate involves the largest pot for the round. The £2,500 Fan Favourite contest has a £500 first prize, a £5 buy-in and 120 of 588 entries win prizes.

The Saturday Special is a £300 game spread among 24 of 118 potential line-ups. It requires a £3 entry fee and there’s £75 on offer for the winner.

On Sunday, the main pot is the £777 Special. It’s £7 to join and 29 of 131 entries receive pay-outs.

You can register for a free account at FanDuel and enter the tournament via this link.

You must be over 18 years of age, resident in the UK, and of legal capacity to register with FanDuel and open an Account. If you sign up, always play responsibly.