Welcome to our second article of the week that delves into the realms of daily and weekly Fantasy Football, focusing on our partner game, FanDuel.
As usual, we will be rounding up the available contests covering forthcoming matches, plus the prize pots available. We will also be presenting our strongest select XI that will provide the nucleus of all our line-up entries for Monday’s Boxing Day fixtures.
FanDuel are running another promo offer over this period.
Sign up and make a deposit of £10 and FanDuel will give you an extra £20 free credit to play with.
You’ll get £5 free credit in your account to use each week for four weeks.
Use promo code FFS30 when signing up to claim the offer
The festive contests are split over two windows. Firstly, there’s a slate running on Boxing Day only with a deadline of 3 pm. But there’s also a second set of contests, covering the matches that span from Tuesday until Friday. These begin on Tuesday December 27 with a deadline of 5.15 for Stoke City’s visit to Anfield.
Remember that, whatever games you choose to enter, the FanDuel late-swap function means it’s possible to scan the teamsheets and change any non-starters in your squad right up until kick-off.
If you’re starting out with FanDuel, the player picks below will offer a useful first step for Boxing Day but we also recommend that you take a look at our earlier strategy guide for further tips.
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
David de Gea £7.3m
Harry Maguire £6.5m
Steve Cook £7.9m
Ramiro Funes Mori £6.6m
Luis Hernandez £5.8m
Eden Hazard £12.6m
Cesc Fabregas £8.6m
Gylfi Sigurdsson £11.1m
Fernando Llorente £8.5m
Theo Walcott £10.4m
Zlatan Ibrahimovic £14.6m
The Key Picks
As we mentioned in the Weekly Shop, it appeared that low budget options in goal were thin on the ground, so we’ve opted for a big spend and Manchester United’s David De Gea.
Jose Mourinho’s defence have allowed just six goals in eight matches at Old Trafford, with just four goals in their last six overall. Sunderland will turn up intent on repelling the tide of attacks and seem unlikely to pose a major threat. De Gea may not benefit from save points, then, but a clean sheet and ten FanDuel points would appear to be a strong possibility.
Our back four is founded on big potential for clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI) with Bournemouth’s Steve Cook excelling in this area. He is likely to be overworked in his Stamford Bridge meeting with leaders Chelsea and should provide us with excellent value for his £7.9m price tag.
Hull City’s Harry Maguire has been a surprising goal threat since his installation in the Tigers three-man defence. He’s also set for a busy shift against Manchester City at the KCOM, with a strong CBI return on the cards.
The other pair of defenders in our back four meet head-to-head at the King Power Stadium. Both look likely to be bargains.
Everton’s Ramiro Funes Mori is set to be charged with duelling with Leicester City’s Islam Slimani, while at the opposite end of the pitch, Luis Hernandez for the Foxes will likely line up at centre-back and be asked to help nullify the threat of Romelu Lukaku.
That should guarantee reasonable returns from both, certainly enough to warrant the modest outlay involved.
A pair of Chelsea assets claim places in our midfield.
Eden Hazard needs little introduction or justification given that he’s fired six of his eight goals at Stamford Bridge. He will carry the major threat to Bournemouth on Boxing Day in the absence of Diego Costa.
As for Cesc Fabregas, he is destined to start behind Hazard in central midfield in the absence of the suspended N’Golo Kante. When he’s on the teamsheet, the Spaniard delivers, with FanDuel returns of 22.25 and 45.5 in his two starts so far. At just £8.6m, he looks money well spent.
We’ve also opted for a pair of Swansea City attackers, with Gylfi Sigurdsson the first of those.
Another shoo-in, the Icelandic playmaker is so central to the Swans’ cause, it’s difficult to imagine Bob Bradley’s side prevailing against West Ham without some input from his playmaker.
Sigurdsson has blanked in his last two on the road but, in South Wales, he is a different prospect, having fetched 51 and 41.25 points in his last two outings on home turf.
We’ve paired him with striker Fernando Llorente, another pivotal figure in home matches for the Swans.
The Spaniard has scored four in his last two in Wales, while Slaven Bilic’s defence have shipped 17 goals on the road, keeping just a single clean sheet. At just £8.5m, Llorente looks a high-value pick for the Boxing Day slate.
Our final two strikers are more pricey but worth acquisitions.
Certainly, we can’t question the hefty £14.6m outlay on Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Seven goals in his last six and up against a Sunderland defence that is yet to keep a shutout on the road, it’s difficult to build a case against the Swede.
Arsenal’s Theo Walcott claims the final berth. Our budget couldn’t stretch to team-mate Alexis Sanchez at £14.7m but, in Walcott, we have a player who has excelled at the Emirates ahead of the Boxing Day visit of West Bromwich Albion.
Walcott has six of his eight goals at home and, over the last four Gameweeks, has fired in more shots from inside the box than any other player. We feel that he can outperform his 23.1 FanDuel average against a Baggies defence with just a single clean sheet in their last 14 outings.
This Week’s Contests
Monday’s full slate contest – the Fan Favourite – has £4000 on offer, with £750 on offer for the top-ranked team.
There’s also a Boxing Day special which is limited to 58 entries with a £1000 prize pot – £250 goes to the winner in that one.
A free to play Boxing Day game is also available for those looking to dabble in FanDuel for the first time. A £100 prize pot is available in this.
The contests covering the Tuesday to Friday slate include a £1000 special which has a £3 entry fee and pays out £100 to the top participant.
You can register for a free account at FanDuel via this link.
Don’t forget to use promo code FFS30 when signing up to claim your offer.
