FanDuel Premier League Matches to Target in Matchweek 12

Another international break has come and gone, meaning the Premier League returns to action Saturday. FanDuel will have a big seven-game slate that includes three of the top four teams.

There are two games with an over/under at or above three. One of those games will make the list to target, but the other may be a surprise.

Crystal Palace vs. Everton

Despite the larger slate, this is the only other game aside from the match below with odds favoring both teams to score. This matchup is also one of those six-pointer games that are talked about in the relegation battle. Both teams are desperate for a good result.

Another appealing feature is that no player is priced above $8,500. Wilfried Zaha is the most expensive player in the game, which is no surprise. He averages over 20 FanDuel points a match and has scored 35 points twice since returning from injury in mid-October. Zaha is the second favorite in the entire game to score a goal.

The top spot goes to Christian Benteke, who looks set to return from injury himself. Benteke has been out since September and no one has stepped into the target striker role. Benteke scored 15 goals for Palace last season and is priced at $7,000, which would be among the cheapest options at forward.

Everton should be a good team to come back against as they allow over 13 shots per game and are rated as one of the league's worst defensive teams. They still have yet to commit to a new manager despite it being three weeks since Ronald Koeman left. David Unsworth looks set to take the reigns again this weekend against Palace, but he has to be wondering what his future holds.

Fortunately for Unsworth and Everton, Palace also isn't good at defending. They are the only team ranked lower than Everton defensively on WhoScored.com and have given up 22 goals, just like Everton.

Wayne Rooney is the most expensive attacker for Everton, but his production has been on a steady decline over the last four matches. Rooney was subbed out in his last match, a 3-2 victory over Watford. His replacement, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, scored the game-tying goal six minutes after coming into the match. Calvert-Lewin is $1,000 cheaper than Rooney.

Leighton Baines scored a penalty in the win and should continue to be on spot kick duty. Gylfi Sigurdsson will have most of the other set piece duty, so he holds value at $7,000.

This is a match with two teams that need a win bringing plenty of uncertainty. It should go back and forth with a number of chances both ways given these teams' inability to defend. Picking the right attackers at these value prices will go a long way toward a good return on FanDuel.

Leicester vs. Manchester City

The league leaders are in action against a resurgent Leicester City squad. This is the highest total on the slate, but Manchester City is still a clear favorite.

There is concern over Sergio Aguero, who fainted on Tuesday while on international duty. He was cleared to fly back to his club despite heading to the hospital. With Pep Guardiola's tendency to rotate his squad, there is a higher than usual chance that Aguero may be held out for precautionary reasons.

Gabriel Jesus also played on Tuesday, but he was subbed out in the 76th minute in a match that took place at Wembley Stadium. Travel will not be an issue and he seems fit to fill in up top for for Aguero should he miss time.

Kevin De Bruyne was subbed out even earlier than Jesus in his Tuesday match. De Bruyne is averaging almost 30 points per match.

Meanwhile, Leroy Sane was not used in Germany's match against France. Sane's production has been up this year with six goals in 11 games. He averages 0.45 assists per match compared to a 0.11 mark last season. He also has a tackle rate near 83%, so he's putting in more work on the defensive side.

Despite all of the attention on City, Leicester will not back down. They have won two of three Premier League clashes with City and scored four goals against them in one of those wins last season. Leicester did also manage a goal in the loss last season.

As expected, Jamie Vardy leads the line for anytime goal scorer for Leicester this weekend. He is averaging close to 18 points per game at $8,000. He was subbed off just ahead of Jesus in the match at Wembley and should be set to go this weekend.

With City averaging over 60% of possession this season, there is value with the Leicester back line. Harry Maguire and Christian Fuchs are the top average scorers and should be busy against the league leaders.

Odds are that both teams will score, but City should come out on top. Finding the right players from the first match will offset the high costs of the City attackers. These two matches will work well together.

Douglas Smith is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Douglas Smith also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username aquemini03. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.