Welcome to our regular Friday lunchtime article as we look ahead to the weekend contests offered by FanDuel for the upcoming round of fixtures.
Once again FanDuel make the regular three windows available, with the full Saturday to Monday slate starting later than usual: the deadline for entry is 3pm, with five Saturday kick-offs at that time.
There are also Saturday and Sunday/Monday slates available.
The Saturday contests include the six fixtures from 3pm onwards, ending with the late clash between Watford and West Ham United at Vicarage Road.
Sunday has just one fixture, with Spurs welcoming Stoke City in the 1.30pm encounter at White Hart Lane. That match is paired with Liverpool’s trip to the King Power Stadium on Monday night.
If you’re a newcomer to FanDuel, you can read on for our breakdown of our “strongest XI” to cover the weekend contest matches. We also recommend that you have a glance at our strategy guide, which goes into more detail on the types of players to target across the various positions.
My strongest XI
Joel Robles £6.9m
Lamine Kone £7.2m
Glen Johnson £7.2m
Wes Morgan £7.5m
Jason Denayer £6.1m
Jack Cork £6.3m
James Morrison £7.1m
Sadio Mane £12.5m
Harry Kane £12.7m
Diego Costa £13m
Romelu Lukaku £13.5m
The Key Picks
While we were tempted by Jordan Pickford’s (£6.3m) potential return to the Sunderland line-up, we have decided to play safe and spend the extra on including his Saturday opponent Joel Robles as our goalkeeper.
Four clean sheets and 22 saves over the last six Gameweeks are convincing reasons to back the Everton shot stopper, particularly with David Moyes’ men blanking in three of their last four outings.
When filling our backline in FanDuel, we always search for defenders that promise big numbers for clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI’s), alongside tackles won.
Sunderland’s Lamine Kone ranks top for those vital CBI’s over the last three Gameweeks, registering 42 since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.
A goal at Crystal Palace in their last away outing has helped the centre-half accrue a 26.6 point FanDuel average over that trio of matches. We’re hoping he can reach such heights again, with the Black Cats’ rearguard likely to come under sustained pressure from Everton and Romelu Lukaku.
Likewise, we’re expecting the Stoke City rearguard to be kept busy holding off waves of Spurs attacks at White Hart Lane.
That has us turning to Glen Johnson, who should make Mark Hughes’ teamsheet with Phil Bardsley an injury doubt. The full-back has averaged 17.7 points in FanDuel over his last six starts, picking up 41 CBI’s and 12 tackles in that run.
Liverpool travel to the King Power Stadium on Monday night to test Leicester City’s resolve in the wake of Claudio Ranieri’s dismissal. Wes Morgan’s leadership will surely be a key factor in that clash, with 49 CBI’s over the last four matches ranking him second for defenders.
In midfield, we’ve been forced to opt for a pair of cut-price options plus a mid-range asset in order to preserve funds for a trio of big-hitters in attack.
Some late injury news means that we opt against Hull playmaker Evandro, who misses the visit of Burnley with a calf complaint. Instead, we opt for the identically priced Jason Denayer, who is benefitting from a reverse out of position role in FanDuel. Listed as a midfielder but utilised as part of a back-three in recent matches, the Belgian’s total of 29 CBI’s over the last four Gameweeks is bettered by only the Tigers’ Tom Huddlestone, with 33, amongst FanDuel midfielders. Like team-mate Kone, we can expected him to be kept busy at Goodison.
We’re counting on a combative performance from our next pick, with Swansea City’s Jack Cork travelling to Stamford Bridge having made ten tackles against Leicester City last time out, scoring an impressive 26.25 points.
That demonstrates just how defensive midfielders can play their part and prosper from FanDuel’s scoring matrix. Cork has averaged 16.6 over his last four and should be busy again as he bids to cut off Chelsea’s supply to striker Diego Costa.
Bournemouth have leaked 18 goals over their previous six away ties, which had us seeking out coverage of the West Bromwich attack ahead of the Cherries’ visit to The Hawthorns.
We’ve opted for James Morrison, who has returned three goals and an assist over his last six matches. An 18.9 points average in FanDuel for the Baggies midfielder over that period, plus his reasonable price-tag, makes the Scot a worthwhile investment.
Sadio Mane’s brace against Spurs last time out underlined just how much Liverpool have missed the winger while he was away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Among players that have made over 22 appearances or more, Mane now sits third in the overall averages with 23.58 points per match. Involved in 30% of Liverpool’s goals when on the pitch, he looks primed for points from Monday’s visit to Leicester City, who have lost 3-0 to Manchester United and Chelsea in their previous two home matches.
While Eden Hazard’s (£12.8m) preference for home comforts (eight goals in 12 at Stamford Bridge) tempted us to turn to the midfielder, we’ve opted instead for Diego Costa, with our heads turned by his record against Saturday’s opponents Swansea City.
The Chelsea striker has notched seven goals and an assist in four matches against the Welsh side and also holds a better average (26.55) than Hazard (23.42) in FanDuel.
Spurs’ Harry Kane ranks second for FanDuel average (26.36) among forwards and also finds a berth in our picks having scored a hat-trick against Fulham in the FA Cup last weekend.
As evidenced by a Gameweek 21 hat-trick at home to West Brom, where he registered seven shots on target on the way to 93 FanDuel points, an in-form Kane can be irresistible.
Stoke City could be his latest victims, having recently conceded four to Chelsea and Liverpool on their travels. Spurs have also beaten the Potters 4-0 in their last two encounters, with Kane in the goals on both occasions.
We complete our formidable front-line with Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, who netted four times in his last home outing against Bournemouth to make it six in three at Goodison Park.
A healthy 17 goal attempts over the last six matches includes nine on target (worth five points apiece) for the Belgian. Weekend visitors Sunderland have conceded the most shots from inside the box (138) for away teams this season, so we’re expecting another big score from the 16-goal Lukaku.
This Week’s Contests
The Saturday to Monday full slate contests again offer the big pot of the weekend, with the £2,500 Fan Favourite paying out £500 to the winner, with a £5 entry fee. There are prizes available right down to 120th place in this contest.
There’s a £300 Special on Saturday; this contest has a £3 entry fee with £75 available to the top placed participant.
The Sunday/Monday Special provides a £1400 pot with £280 going to the winning manager. It has a £7 buy-in, with 235 entry places available. Managers ranked down to 47th place win prizes in this contest.
You can register for a free account at FanDuel via this link.
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