SOCCER

FanDuel Premier League Matches to Target in Matchweek 15

While Arsenal and Manchester City grab the headlines, a battle in the Premier League relegation zone may be the best option for your FanDuel team.

The five-game slate on FanDuel this weekend is highlighted by Arsenal and Manchester City.

Depending on the site, those two teams are also in the only games with a three-goal over/under. However, many of the teams sitting 14th or lower in the table are a part of the Premier League competition this weekend.

That makes for an interesting weekend as teams are desperate to separate from the crowd and the busy holiday schedule looms.

Many of Arsenal's players should be on your radar this week, but the match with Stoke seems very one-sided. Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil, and Alexis Sanchez will all cost at least $10,000. Spending $14,200 on Sanchez may be worth it, but this game is not one to target.

The chance for more explosion and more points across the board lies with these fixtures.

Leicester City vs. Manchester City

City are the favorites despite traveling to Leicester. Both teams played Champions League matches this week, but Leicester played one day later. Leicester were already through as group winners, so Claudio Ranieri made plenty of changes only to see Porto destroy Leicester in their own effort to advance.

The one peculiar choice by Ranieri was starting captain Wes Morgan. Morgan will have to regroup to face a new look City attack.


The players in the forward line for City are not new, but Sergio Agüero is suspended for four games. Fernandinho was also suspended for his actions in the skirmish that followed Agüero's horrific tackle. The suspensions open the door for Kelechi Iheanacho and Yaya Toure. Plenty of squads in the FanDuel competitions will have Sanchez and Iheanacho as the strike partnership.

Even without Agüero, this sets up as a good match up for City. They are averaging the most possession per game while Leicester is 17th in the league. City is also fifth in the league in shots, generating over 17 per match while Leicester allow more than 14 per game. Of those 17 per match, nearly 10 come from inside the penalty area.

Another player who should benefit from Agüero's absence is Kevin de Bruyne. de Bruyne scored over 50 points in two matches that Agüero missed earlier in the season. The Belgian midfielder has seven assists in the Premier League this season while averaging almost three shots per match. That number should increase as Pep Guardiola looks for his best attacking options on Saturday.

Although most signs point to a Manchester City win, Leicester has to get on track in the Premier League. They could be playing with desperation as they sit just above the relegation zone. Ranieri has won seven of his eight Premier League matches against the Citizens. Leicester has also scored in each of their last six domestic league matches.

The starting XI for Leicester remains unclear given their run of form in the Premier League. Marc Albrighton and Christian Fuchs bring value because of their status on set pieces. Jamie Vardy has yet to score against City. Riyad Mahrez is only averaging 16 FanDuel points per match, but he did get a rest during midweek action.

Of the top four teams, Manchester City has the worst goal differential. If Leicester can spring a counter or start pressing after they go down in the match, the the aforementioned players' value goes up.

Swansea City vs. Sunderland

This is one of those six-point games that are often spoken of by coaches. The teams are both in the drop zone and are separated by two points.

Swansea have given up 31 goals while Sunderland have allowed 24. Sunderland have won three of their last six games, but have still allowed one more goal than they have scored in that time frame. Swansea have owned more possession throughout the season, but both teams still average below 50%.

Regardless, this may be one of those times that statistics do not tell the story as the teams try to find separation from the bottom of the pack. Swansea manager Bob Bradley has stated that this is the biggest game since he took over.

While Swansea have only lost one of their last eight Premier League games against Sunderland, the Black Cats manager, David Moyes, has never lost to Swansea. If Moyes is going to keep that streak alive, he will need production from Jermain Defoe, who has scored five times in three matches against the Swans for Sunderland.

Defoe is reasonably priced at $7,400 after a 29-point performance last week. There is a good chance he will be on penalty duty with Fabio Borini likely to start on the bench after being cleared to return.


The Swansea attack will likely be led by Gylfi Sigurdsson once again. He is the most expensive player in this match but comes in off one of his worst performances of the year. Prior to last week he scored over 40 FanDuel points in back-to-back weeks. Sigurdsson has been playing as a false nine as Bradley continues to try to find his best combination of players.

Sigurdsson can take over a game, and he may have to as Swansea's best defense seems to be keeping the ball. They have given up a league-high 11 attempts from fast breaks. While the only goal scorers this season for Sunderland are Defore, Victor Anichebe, and Patrick van Aanholt, the holes in the Swans defense could allow someone else to tally. It goes without saying that it is not beneficial to pick any of the Swansea defenders.

However, there will be value around the park as only two players in this match cost more than $7,000. Duncan Watmore is out for the remainder of the season, and his replacement will likely cost less than $5,000. van Aanholt is just $5,600 and has averaged five defensive actions per match while being rated Sunderland's third-best player on the year. Leroy Fer, who costs $6,700, is Swansea's leading goal scorer -- although, he needs to play better defense to help his team's woeful defensive record.

Given the relegation battle, this may very well be the biggest match of the entire Premier League weekend. Sunderland have a chance to crawl out of the bottom three while Swansea could turn their season around with a victory. Both teams will want the three points from the match and be desperate to find goals.