4 FanDuel Premier League Studs to Target for Matchweek 23
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 10:00 a.m. EST Saturday and features seven matches.
| Matchweek 23 |
|---|
| Saturday, January 13th |
| Burnley at Crystal Palace |
| Southampton at Watford |
| West Ham at Huddersfield |
| Brighton at West Brom |
| Everton at Tottenham |
| Swansea City at Newcastle |
| Leicester at Chelsea |
We have two big home favorites this week as both Tottenham and Chelsea are 1.5-goal favorites. Chelsea's clash with Leicester has, as of now, a 3.0-goal over/under, which is tops on the slate and gives the Blues a slate-best 2.25 implied total. Both Chelsea and Spurs should be pretty popular.
Elsewhere, Palace, Newcastle and West Brom are all 0.5-goal home favorites, with the two other matches -- Watford versus Southampton and Huddersfield against West Ham -- both listed as pick 'ems.
Let's get to it.
Forward
Harry Kane, Tottenham
FanDuel Price: $12,000
It's a pretty soft slate as far as the top-end forwards go, with only Kane and Alvaro Morata ($10,500) above $10,000. Morata has some tourney appeal because his ownership may dip after he struggled mightily at Arsenal in his last league game, but it's hard to pass on Kane as a big home favorite.
Kane leads the Premier League in goals with 18, and he's taking 5.9 shots per game, 2.0 more than any other player. Kane is fairly goal-reliant -- he has just one assist this season -- but he scores goals pretty darn often. His upside is insane as he's bagged a pair of hat tricks over his last four matches, totaling 61 and 75.5 FanDuel points in those two.
Midfielder
Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea
FanDuel Price: $9,500
Fabregas isn't always in the starting XI, and Chelsea have a midweek league cup match against Arsenal, so who knows what their lineup will look like Saturday. But if Fabregas starts, a home matchup with Leicester is an ideal spot for him to have a nice outing.
The Foxes' 46.1% possession clip ranks 16th in the league, and Leicester will probably pack in deep for a trip to Stamford Bridge. That means Chelsea will likely need to rely on Fabregas and Eden Hazard -- their creative midfielders -- to unlock the Leicester defense.
Fabregas has scored at least 23 FanDuel points in each of his last seven starts, and he's done it while recording just three assists and no goals in that span. He's racking up fantasy points thanks to his passing volume and chances created as he's been credited with 13 chances created over his last two starts.
The Spaniard has a super safe floor in a match in which Chelsea should have a ton of the ball, and the upside is there, too, because he's bound to fall into an assist at some point if he keeps creating chances.
Defender
Marcos Alonso, Chelsea
FanDuel Price: $8,000
On the top shelf for defenders, you can go one of two ways. You can chase after an attack-minded defender with a decent chance at a goal or assist -- either Alonso or Tottenham's Kieran Trippier ($7,000) -- or you can opt for the high floor of Harry Maguire ($7,000).
Admittedly, with so many "meh" sides in action, it may not be the week to pay up at defender as the mid-table clubs offer some nice values. But if I'm investing a lot of coin in a top defender, I'm going with Alonso's upside this week.
As we just touched on, Chelsea should have a lot of the ball against Leicester, which will allow Alonso to drift forward quite often. Alonso has more offensive upside than any EPL defender, and he's showcased that of late, totaling three goals and one assist across his last four matches. As a bonus, Alonso also handles some free-kick duties for the Blues, giving him even more chances to contribute to a goal.
His floor is admittedly a little scary since he probably won't have to do a lot of defensive work, but his ceiling is as good as it gets at the position.
Goalie
Ben Foster, West Brom
FanDuel Price: $5,000
In a home matchup against Brighton, Foster mixes solid clean-sheet odds with decent-enough save volume, giving him both upside and a semblance of a floor. It's hard to find that combination in any of this slate's other goalies.
Brighton have just 17 goals this year, the third-fewest in the league, and their 9.1 shots per game are the second-fewest. West Brom are a 0.5-goal favorite with the match installed with a 2.0-goal over/under, so Brighton's implied total is a lowly 0.75 goals, giving Foster pretty good odds at a clean sheet.
Even though Brighton doesn't usually generate a lot of shots, they may be able to in this one with West Brom's defense struggling of late. Foster has been called on to make at least three saves in each of his last three matches, so even if he allows a goal, he's unlikely to put up a dud.
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.
