FanDuel Focus – Gameweek 2

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

There are currently two deadlines in FanDuel for Gameweek 2. The full weekend slate’s deadline is 8pm tonight, which is the last chance to make changes to the starting XI. With the Man United versus Southampton match team sheet announced an hour beforehand, this means we have access to their lineups before the deadline.

Meanwhile, the deadline to make changes for the Saturday only matches is 12:30pm tomorrow, meaning we get to see the Stoke versus Manchester City team sheets before teams are locked.

As mentioned, the seven matches on Saturday begin at 12.30pm with Manchester City’s trip to the Britannia. Pep Guardiola’s side demonstrated their attacking potential in the 5-0 away win at Steaua Bucharest so will be heavily backed for another victory here. The matches at White Hart Lane and the Liberty Stadium have drawn our attention from the 3pm kick-offs. Spurs face Crystal Palace and the Swans host Hull, and both have a host of options to consider.

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

Michel Vorm (£4.3m)

Curtis Davies (£5.7m)

James Collins (£4.3m)

Kyle Walker (£9.0m)

Gylfi Sigurdsson (£10.5m)

Christian Eriksen (£11.0m)

Dimitri Payet (£12.5m)

Eden Hazard (£11.0m)

Salomon Rondon (£7.4m)

Wayne Rooney (£9.0m)

Sergio Aguero (£14.0m)

Key Picks

A clean sheet at Burnley in the Swans’ opening fixture helped Lukasz Fabianski (£8.3m) to the second-highest keeper score (23.75) of the round and the Pole will be a popular selection for the home tie with Hull. Michel Vorm, however, offers a bargain route into the Spurs defence as the Dutchman deputises for the sidelined Hugo Lloris. The kind pricing and lack of cutting edge from visitors Crystal Palace makes him our primary pick in FanDuel between the sticks.

We’ve doubled up on Mauricio Pochettino’s backline. Kyle Walker’s robust display against the Toffees, which saw the full-back create three chances, earn an assist and pick up defensive points make him worthy of the steep price tag. To complete the defence we’ve gone for two budget centre-backs. With no points for clean sheets available for defenders in FanDuel, we favour those that will be busy picking up clearances, interceptions and tackles. Both James Collins and Curtis Davies fulfill this criteria having picked up 18 and 22.5 FanDuel points respectively from those three actions in their previous outings.

Other budget options in defence include Liverpool’s £4.0m priced defender Ragnar Klavan. He’s set to start and made eight clearances and two tackles against Arsenal in Gameweek 1. Swansea’s Jordi Amat (£4.0m) is another cheap enabler to consider.

A strong midfield trio of Eden Hazard, Dimitri Payet and Christian Eriksen all have favourable fixtures and suit the FanDuel scoring system with their ability to both create chances and threaten goal. While Gylfi Sigurdsson didn’t start last weekend, the Icelander should begin against Hull and will be the main playmaker and set-piece taker for Francesco Guidolin’s side. Budget enablers to consider in midfield include Marouane Fellaini (£5.7m). He scored 22.25 points against Bournemouth and we will know whether he has made the starting line up before the deadline and teams are locked.

Sergio Aguero’s midweek hat-trick confirmed his indispensable status and the City striker is our first pick up top, despite the hefty price tag. As we mentioned in the Weekly Shop, we think Wayne Rooney provides more value than team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£11.8m). For the Saturday contests, Salomon Rondon looks in good shape for the upcoming home tie against Everton, having fired six shots and scored the winner in the away clash at Selhurst Park. Jermain Defoe (£7.6m) looks a good alternative for the full weekend slate. The Black Cats forward netted at the Etihad and faces promoted Middlesbrough on Sunday. Swansea’s cut-price forward Fernando Llorente (£6.0m) failed to net on his debut last weekend against Burnley, but four shots on target and an assist at Turf Moor bodes well for the home tie with the Tigers. Confirmation yesterday that new Swans signing Borja Baston will not play bodes well for Llorente’s pitch time.

This Week’s Games

As mentioned above, there are two time frames for contests on FanDuel this week. The full weekend contest with all ten fixtures start at 8pm, then there’s the seven-fixture slate on Saturday which has a 12.30pm cut-off.

The main event for the Saturday only contests is the £10k Fan Favourite, which has a £5 entry, and 536 of the entrants will win cash. Finishing first place lands £1000.

There’s also a £3k Saturday Special which has a £20 buy-in and a £3.5k Big One which has a £200 buy-in for the high rollers out there.

There’s a few £180 top half wins game which have £5, £10 and £20 buy-ins.

For the full slate the biggest pot is a £500 contest with a £6 entry fee.

We also have our own Fantasy Football Scout Challenge that covers the full weekend, it’s £1 to enter with £150 up for grabs. There’s also a £25 free game, which is ideal for those looking to try this format for the first time.

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. Further games covering other matches over the first set of Premier League fixtures will also be launched later this week.