Welcome to our regular Friday lunchtime article looking at FanDuel’s contests and key player picks. As usual, we’ve compiled our “strongest XI” – a line-up that we feel is well equipped to perform in FanDuel’s unique scoring matrix.

Once again, there are three deadlines for entering lineups into FanDuel contests this weekend.

Remember that, whatever slate you choose, FanDuel’s late-swap feature makes it possible to tweak your squads and change non-starters in later matches, right up until kick-off.

The weekend’s full ten-fixture slate gets started with Arsenal’s visit to Old Trafford at 12.30pm on Saturday. There’s also separate Saturday and Sunday/Monday slates.

The Saturday only contests begin at 3pm, with seven matches included. On Sunday it’s a later start, with the 4pm clash between Middlesbrough and Chelsea on offer, with West Brom’s encounter with Burnley on Monday evening also included.

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.

If you’ve yet to play FanDuel, we recommend reading on for our latest player picks and would also urge you to check out our strategy guide. This examines the type of players to target in the various positions, based on the average scores they would have accrued if the FanDuel scoring was applied to last season.

My Strongest XI

Lee Grant £5.8m
Michael Keane £7.6m
Emre Can £5.9m
Marcos Alonso £6m
Yannick Bolasie £6.9m
Matt Phillips £5.3m
Eden Hazard £12.6m
Kevin De Bruyne £15.3m
Romelu Lukaku £10.4m
Sergio Aguero £16.2m
Jermain Defoe £7.8m

The Key Picks

We’ve opted for value in between the sticks once again, with Stoke City’s Lee Grant getting the nod.

Valued at just £5.8m, he’s shipped a mere four goals in six appearances, while the Potters rearguard have only allowed a single big chance over their last four matches. To compound matters, visitors Bournemouth have struggled on the road, failing to score in three of five away outings.

Burnley’s Michael Keane has become a mainstay in FanDuel for us. As we mentioned in Wednesday’s Weekly Shop, he has recorded more clearances, blocks and interceptions (82) than any other defender over the last four Gameweeks. A titanic tussle with West Brom’s Salamon Rondon would seem to guarantee him a further big haul on Monday night.

Emre Can‘s classification as a defender makes the Liverpool asset a tempting prospect for the clash with Southampton.

The German tends to pick up points across FanDuel’s scoring matrix, producing five key passes and eight tackles over the last four Gameweeks. A 25.5 average during that period has been boosted by back-to-back goals and supplies us with a good value pick from Jurgen Klopp’s pack.

Our final defender has excelled in a wing-back role for Chelsea, as an average of 25.33 FanDuel points earns Marcos Alonso a spot in our line-up.

A goal and assist over the last four highlights that the Spaniard is capable of attacking returns, while he’s also posted 17 tackles in FanDuel over that spell.

Alonso’s team-mate, Eden Hazard, is a shoo-in given his recent form: five goals and a pair of assists in four outings can’t be ignored.

Passed fit for the trip to Middlesbrough, Hazard should be granted plenty of opportunities to continue his goalscoring run on Sunday. Intriguingly, only Burnley have conceded more chances down their right flank than ‘Boro (49) this season.

Fellow Belgian Kevin De Bruyne is another in-form midfield heavyweight that’s hard to ignore. He comes packaged with a hefty £15.3 valuation but, given his influence on Manchester City’s attacking ploys, we’re willing to swallow that ahead of the trip to Crystal Palace.

Alan Pardew’s men are without a clean sheet and have conceded 14 goals in their last six encounters, indicating that City will surely be amongst the goals. De Bruyne has to be a factor in that scenario, having registered an average of 26.63, with a 34.5-point return against Middlesbrough last time out.

With Hazard and De Bruyne recruited, we needed to preserve funds with our next two midfield selections.

We’re first turning to Yannick Bolasie‘s pace and trickery against Swansea City at Goodison Park. Over eight outings the winger has created 13 chances, serving up four assists and scored once from 16 attempts. He’s even hinting at consistency in Everton colours this season.

While we wanted to earmark West Brom’s Nacer Chadli in our lineups, his £11.0 million price tag, coupled with the injury doubt, nudged us towards his team-mate, Matt Phillips. The winger would seem assured of his start against the Clarets on Monday evening after his goal and assist returns at Leicester City earned him 46.5 points in FanDuel.

Despite De Bruyne’s selection, we couldn’t look beyond Sergio Aguero for our attack. The City striker looks primed for further returns, having produced three braces already on the road this season. He appears to be back in the groove, firing three goals over his last two outings from 13 attempts; six of those efforts were on target, indicating a renewed sharpness in front of goal.

Romelu Lukaku looks to be a dependable source of points for Swansea City’s visit to Merseyside. In eight matches, the Belgian has netted seven goals and created another three. He may have blanked against Chelsea last time out but retains a strong average of 29.3 FanDuel points per match. In addition, Bob Bradley’s side have conceded 14 goals over their last six outings: only Hull City have been more porous.

The final spot goes to Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe, who will take on Hull City at the Stadium of Light seeking out his 150th Premier League goal.

Defoe is key to the Black Cats’ hopes of chaining back-to-back victories following the win at Bournemouth last time out. He has played a part in seven of Sunderland’s nine strikes, while Hull arrive on Wearside having conceded the most goals and attempts in the box so far this season.

This Week’s Contests

Once again, this weekend’s ten-fixture timeframe has the biggest pot on offer: the £6000 Fan Favourite contest has a £5 buy-in with the first-place prize increased to £1000.

There’s a £1000 contest for Saturday, which has a £3 entry fee and pays out £100 to the top participant.

The Sunday Special is a £1400 pot with £280 going to first place with a £7 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 miss out on a cash prize.