FanDuel Focus – Gameweek 5

Welcome to our regular lunchtime article looking at FanDuel’s games and key picks. Each round we’ll be putting forward a proposed eleven who we think should prosper in the Gameweek’s action, according to FanDuel’s unique scoring system.

There are three deadlines on FanDuel for entering line-ups into contests this weekend. The Friday night 8pm kick-off at Stamford Bridge marks the start of the games that cover all ten fixtures of the round. The Saturday only contests begin at 3pm, while Sunday’s four-match slate starts at 12 noon.

We’ve focussed on players from Manchester City, Arsenal and Spurs in forward positions with all three having favourable fixtures, though their midweek Champions League exertions may limit their appeal.

Everton’s convincing second-half performance at the Stadium of Light has also put Toffees assets on our radar, ahead of the Goodison Park encounter with Middlesbrough.

For our-back-line, we’ve once again pinpointed some centre-backs that have tough opposition, which should see them make strong defensive contributions, a crucial factor in FanDuel where only goalkeepers gain clean sheet points.

To get started register for a free account via this link. When you sign up, enter the promocode “SCOUT” and FanDuel will refund your first paid entry fee, up to £10, as free entry credit if you don’t win cash.

There’s also a strategy guide available that examines which players to target in the various positions based on the average scores they would have accrued if the scoring was applied to last season.

My Team

Claudio Bravo £5m

Papy Djilobodji £5.5m

Steve Cook £7.4m

Curtis Davies £9.3m

Yannick Bolasie £7.7m

Dusan Tadic £9.9m

Christian Eriksen £10.1m

Kevin De Bruyne £15.3m

Alexis Sanchez £13m

Kelechi Iheanacho £6.6m

Romelu Lukaku £9.2m

Key Picks

Claudio Bravo marked his home debut for City with a clean sheet in the midweek clash with Borussia Monchengladbach, the Chilean keeper’s budget price-tag combined with visitors Bournemouth failing to impress in front of goal so far makes the ex-Barcelona shot-stopper difficult to overlook between the sticks.

We also like the look of Everton’s Maarten Stekelenburg (£6m) who may be worth the extra investment as he looks for a third straight clean sheet in the Goodison Park clash with ‘Boro.

Sunderland’s summer signing Papy Djilobodji looks well-suited to the FanDuel scoring system, demonstrated by a 21.75 point average over his three appearances so far. The Senegalese centre-back made seven interceptions and six clearances in the defeat to Everton and at £5.5m should provide value for the visit to White Hart Lane.

Bournemouth may not be facing the suspended Sergio Aguero on Saturday but Steve Cook is still likely to be kept busy at the Etihad. Just three defenders have registered more than the centre-back’s 47 clearances, blocks and interceptions this term.

Curtis Davies continues to top that list by some margin (recording 84 clearances, blocks and interceptions in total). While in such resilient form he appears to be indispensable in the FanDuel format, with visitors Arsenal giving him ample opportunity to add to his impressive defensive statistics.

We’ve gone with Everton’s Yannick Bolasie in midfield based on his performance in Monday’s 3-0 win at the Stadium of Light, where the winger created five chances, earned an assist and had three attempts on goal. The ex-Palace player looks a potentially explosive prospect this Gameweek.

There’s lots tempting selections in the £9.5m to £10.5m bracket for the upcoming round, with Dusan Tadic among our differential recommendations. The Serb proved his capability of scoring well in FanDuel with a 34.25 haul in Southampton’s opening day fixture with Watford. After some disappointing performances, we’re hoping for a return to similar form here as the Saints host Swansea.

Christian Eriksen makes the cut after posting a score of 35.25 against Stoke. His two assists and three chances created shows the Dane is hitting form and we’re expecting the Spurs playmaker to be involved again for the visit of the Black Cats. Dele Alli (£9.8m) also demonstrated some of last season’s threat at Stoke, creating three chances and netting his first goal of the campaign.

Both Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla (£9.8m) and Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling (£9.1m) have had bright starts to the season and are worth considering for their favourable fixtures this Gameweek. However, we’ve managed to fit in their more expensive team-mates, who we believe are worth the extra outlay.

Alexis Sanchez, classed as a forward in FanDuel, has highlighted his goal threat on the road, scoring in back-to-back away matches for the Gunners against Watford in the league and PSG in Europe.

Kevin De Bruyne has created a table-topping 14 chances in the league this season and put in a man-of-the-match performance against Manchester United last weekend. With Bournemouth visiting Gameweek 5 looks an ideal time to invest in the midfield maestro.

Being able to afford those two big-hitters was largely down to the bargain price-tag of City’s Kelichi Iheanacho. The young forward scored against Borussia Monchengladbach after opening his account for the term in the Manchester derby. He looks set to lead the line again in Ageuro’s absence.

We complete the XI with Romelu Lukaku, whose goal drought was broken in style with an 11-minute hat-trick on Monday night. The Toffees front-man now leads the league for shots-on-target (worth five points apiece in FanDuel), alongside Diego Costa.

This Week’s Games

The all-weekend time-frame has the biggest pot of the weekend, the £7500 Fan Favourite contest which has a £5 buy-in and a £750 first-place prize.

There’s also a £25 free game on offer which covers the full-round as well which is ideal for newcomers to test out the format.

Our own contest covers the Saturday matches, the Fantasy Football Scout Challenge is £1 to enter with a guaranteed pot of £150 available, this contest starts at 3pm on Saturday.

The main game for the Saturday only slate is the £1500 special, it has a £3 entry fee with £200 going for first place, the deadline is 3pm though late swap is available for players you select in the 5.30pm kick-off at Goodison Park.

On Sunday there is a similar contest available, also with a £1500 guaranteed and £3 buy-in.

You can register for a free account at FanDuel via this link. When you sign up, enter the promo code “SCOUT” and FanDuel will refund your first paid entry fee, up to £10, as free entry credit if you don’t win cash.