SOCCER

FanDuel World Cup Daily Fantasy Helper: Sunday 6/17/18

With Brazil's attackers likely to draw heavy ownership, Germany's Timo Werner makes for a great pivot. Which other players should you target on Sunday's two-match main slate?

After a four-year wait, the World Cup is back, and FanDuel is offering daily fantasy contests for the entirety of the tournament. For those who played DFS during the Premier League season, FanDuel has made some changes to their scoring system, so make sure you're up to date on how the new settings impact things.

In this piece, we'll cover the two-match main slate, which excludes the Costa Rica-Serbia contest.

Sunday, June 17th
Germany vs. Mexico, 11 a.m. EST
Brazil at Switzerland, 2 p.m. EST


Let's go through the four positions and look at some players to target at various price points.

Forwards to Target

Neymar ($12,500) -- Brazil will likely be pretty popular as the Seleção are a 1.5-goal favorite, per Bovada, with a 2.0-goal implied total for their date with Switzerland. Our models like Brazil even more, projecting them to win this match 2.22-0.56 and ranking them as the runaway favorite to win it all. So, yeah, you need some exposure to Brazil. Neymar is the focal point of their attack, and he's coming off a club season in which he posted a silly-good haul of 27 goals and 16 assists in 28 appearances. Likely to be the highest-owned player on the slate, Neymar is a fade candidate in large-field tourneys, but he's hard to pass on in smaller contests.

Timo Werner ($10,500) -- While Brazil is in a dope spot, Germany is a team we have to get exposure to, as well. They are a 1.0-goal favorite with a 2.5-goal over/under. Our models are eerily similar to Vegas, projecting a 1.76-0.75 win for the Germans. Werner is expected to start at the tip of a 4-2-3-1 formation, and that puts him in a superb situation. He bagged 13 goals with 7 assists in 28 Bundesliga starts for RB Leipzig.

Gabriel Jesus ($11,000) -- Jesus is an appealing pivot off Neymar as he'll play centrally in Brazil's forward line, meaning he should spend a lot of time in dangerous areas. Playing for a rampant Manchester City squad, Jesus netted 17 goals with 3 assists in 26 starts, displaying the ability to link-up play as well as finish, which boosts his floor and ceiling in DFS. If you fade Neymar, you almost have to roster Jesus.

Midfielders to Target

Willian ($9,500) and Coutinho ($10,500) -- These two Brazilians will be tasked with playmaking duties in front of Casemiro and Paulinho. Coutinho will likely spend more time playing centrally with Neymar out on the left, while Willian will be free to roam to the right. Willian's year-end numbers -- nine goals and eight assists in 24 starts between the EPL and Champions League -- don't blow you away, but he ended his Chelsea campaign in dazzling form. Coutinho had 12 goals and 8 assists in EPL and UCL play with Liverpool before notching 8 goals and 5 assists in 16 La Liga starts after his move to Barcelona. Wildly dangerous coming in from the right, Coutinho is a great stacking partner with Jesus or Neymar.


Mesut Ozil ($9,500)
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Ozil should play in the No. 10 role, and he's usually at his best when he's got top-level talent around him, which is certainly the case when he suits up for Germany. He had a somewhat lackluster year for Arsenal, totaling four goals and eight assists in 24 EPL starts. While Germany's pre-Cup form wasn't the greatest, this is a side that's undoubtedly one of the contenders at this World Cup, and Ozil should be at the heart of their attacking moves.

Andrés Guardado ($7,000) -- Mexico draw a tough opening game, but they're worth a dart throw in GPPs. Guardado is coming off a solid La Liga season with Real Betis (2 goals and 8 assists in 25 starts). He'll be surrounded by some decent attacking players -- so there's some upside here -- and he should be saddled with plenty of defensive duties versus the powerhouse Germans, giving him a respectable floor. Guardado had been dealing with an injury, but he started in Mexico's final friendly.

Defenders to Target

Marcelo ($7,500) -- Defenders like Marcelo, which is to say full-backs who get forward as much as -- if not more than -- they defend, get a big lift from FanDuel's new scoring settings. Marcelo offers monster upside in a match we have Brazil dominating since he should be free to get forward versus Switzerland, and he can add a five-point bonus if Brazil keep a clean sheet. Like Coutinho, Marcelo makes for a sweet stacking play with Neymar or Jesus.

Joshua Kimmich ($7,500) -- Kimmich is very similar to Marcelo, and although he does defend more than Real Madrid's famous left-back, he should find ample opportunities to get forward down the right side. He's got rare upside for a defender, and his odds of a clean-sheet aren't too shabby with our models projecting Mexico for 0.75 goals. The only downside with both of these defenders is that they'll likely be very popular plays.

Goalies to Target

Alisson ($5,500) -- The starter for Brazil, the slate's biggest favorite, per our numbers, Alisson is the ideal goalie play in the new scoring format, which awards bonus points for a win (seven points) and clean sheet (five). We have Switzerland scoring 0.56 goals, fewest on the slate, and we project Brazil to win 79.0% of the time. Alisson's got the best floor among this slate's keepers.

Manuel Neuer ($6,000) -- Neuer is immensely talented and one of the world's best goalies, but he's a wild card in this tourney after missing all but four matches for Bayern Munich due to injury. The new format, which removes points for passing, also dings him more than most keepers since he's so adept with the ball at his feet. With all that said, he's starting in goal for a big favorite and our models have Mexico scoring 0.75 goals, so the clean-sheet odds are pretty swell, too.



Austan Kas is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Austan Kas also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username akas247. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.