4 FanDuel Premier League Players to Avoid in Matchweek 18
Ayoze Perez, Forward, Newcastle United
Salary: $11,000
As mentioned in last week’s article, Perez is a floor play -- fine for cash games -- but does not offer the type of ceiling DFS players will need from a top-priced forward to win a large-field tournament. Perez scored 15.5 FanDuel points in Matchweek 17 and has now scored under 16 FanDuel points in two of his last three matches.
In a plus matchup against Fulham, Perez’s anytime goal scoring odds rose from 23.3% last week to 32.3% for Matchweek 18, and the Magpies have a 50% chance of winning the match, per oddsmakers, while the match has a 51.9% chance of totaling under 2.5 goals. Newcastle return to their home pitch -- where Perez has scored his only two goals -- and the attacking-midfielder has compiled 16 of his 24 chances created while taking 13 of his 19 shots this season at St James’ Park.
Fulham have the edge in overall possession, maintaining 49% compared to 42.8% for Newcastle, but the Cottagers do relinquish a large number of attacking statistics. They have allowed the third-most shots (270) and third-most chances created (189) to all positions this season.
Perez looks especially bad when compared head-to-head with Anthony Martial, who is priced at $10,500 and is a direct pivot option.
| Stat | Ayoze Perez | Anthony Martial |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 2 | 8 |
| Assists | 1 | 0 |
| Shots | 19 | 29 |
| Shots on Target | 10 | 14 |
| Crosses | 9 | 31 |
| Chances Created | 24 | 25 |
Locked in as a pure floor play (again, he's fine for cash), Perez is $500 more expensive than Martial ($10,500), who also has a plus matchup -- albeit on the road -- and has offered more upside than Perez.
