4 FanDuel Premier League Studs to Target for Matchweek 35

As is the case when playing any sport on FanDuel, it’s imperative to hit on high-priced studs, the players in which you’ve made the biggest investment. This is especially true with strikers in soccer as goals are often the difference between winning and losing in DFS.

Let’s take a look at some high-priced players -- all across the pitch -- who, despite costing a good chunk of change, are worth the investment.

This article is geared toward FanDuel's main slate, which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday and features five matches, none of which include any of the top-six clubs.

Let's get to it.

Forward

Christian Benteke, Crystal Palace

FanDuel Price: $8,900

Palace are 0.5-goal favorites for their home match with Burnley. That ties them with Stoke City as the slate's second-biggest favorite, and their 1.5-goal implied total is also tied for second (both trail Southampton, a team we'll get to in a hot minute).

It wasn't long ago that Palace was battling relegation, but manager Sam Allardyce did what he does and pulled the club to safety. The Eagles have netted 10 goals in their last six matches, and prior to Wednesday's 1-0 home loss to Tottenham, Palace had scored 5 goals in their previous two home matches.

Benteke is very goal-reliant, recording a mere two assists in 32 appearances, but he's been in great goal-scoring form of late. The former Liverpool man has scored 5 goals across his last six matches, totaling at least 35 FanDuel points in four of those fixtures, and he bagged a brace against his old mates two games ago.

Getting Burnley at home is pretty much as good as it gets this year in the Premier League. The Clarets aren't having a terrible season and appear to be staying up, but they've been a DFS dream.

Burnley are allowing a league-worst 18.1 shots per match, and that number jumps to 20.2 shots per contest when they're away from home. They see just 42.2% of possession, per WhoScored.com, so Palace will likely control this one, meaning there should be plenty of chances to send balls toward Benteke, their striker and a superb aerial threat.

Midfielder

Dusan Tadic, Southampton

FanDuel Price: $6,900

Midfield is a kind of a wasteland this week, at least among the top-end plays, so we'll go a little cheaper than usual and focus on Tadic. When a quality side is at home against Hull City, we need exposure to that group, and Tadic gives us just that.

Hull have surrendered a whopping 67 goals in 34 matches (nearly 2 per match), and they've given up 41 goals in 17 away fixtures. As we touched on above, Southampton is the slate's biggest favorite (1.5-goal favorites), and the Saints sport the largest implied total (1.75). We'll want a piece of Southampton.

Striker Charlie Austin ($5.700) is an injury question mark, but whoever they start up top will be appealing. The same goes for midfield, where Tadic and Nathan Redmond ($6,300) make for good plays. Tadic only has 3 goals and 5 assists in 28 total appearances (25 starts), but his all-around production gives him a safe floor as he's scored at least 14 FanDuel points in 4 of his last 5 outings.

Defender

Harry Maguire, Hull City

FanDuel Price: $6,700

Maguire and center-back partner Andrea Ranocchia ($6,700) are in a great spot this week with Hull City (again) a big underdog. The duo have been DFS monsters this year as the Tigers have absorbed a lot of pressure from opposing teams, putting Maguire and Ranocchia in position to rack up defensive statistics.

Ranocchia is averaging 22 FanDuel points per match through 12 fixtures while Maguire has put up 20.6 fantasy points per game in 26 matches. At home against Watford in their last match, Maguire had 10 clearances and Ranocchia was credited with 9 clearances as each scored a touch more than 18 FanDuel points.

While we can't count on much offensive production from either player, over the past three matches, Maguire has scored twice while Ranocchia has a goal and assist, lifting the lid on their upside.

Goalie

Artur Boruc, Bournemouth

FanDuel Price: $7,100

It's difficult to find a keeper in line for a large amount of saves -- Tom Heaton ($7,400) may be the best bet there -- so that leaves us dreaming on clean sheet, which brings us to Boruc.

Boruc will be on the road against Sunderland. The Black Cats have scored 26 goals, the second-fewest in the Premier League, in 33 matches, and they've recorded a meager 2 goals in their last 6 home fixtures.

Sunderland are a little scarier than usual since they're fighting to stay up (although it's looking like a lost cause at the moment), but an inspired performance by the Black Cats could give Boruc a shot at some decent save volume.

In his last match, Boruc notched a 2-save clean sheet at home versus Middlesbrough, totaling 17 FanDuel points. Admittedly, the lack of expected volume makes him something of a boom-or-bust play, so I can't blame you if you pursue Heaton's floor, but Boruc is $300 cheaper has a decent chance at the clean-sheet bonus.