SOCCER

2 FanDuel Premier League Under-the-Radar Plays for Matchweek 31

With Liverpool listed as heavy home favorites on a short slate, Stoke City's Badou Ndiaye could go overlooked. Which other players make for good tournament options this weekend?

If you have played daily fantasy sports for a while, you know the importance of being contrarian in large-field tournaments. Recognizing which players are going to be owned by the masses and finding others who you think have a similar point projection but will come at much lower ownership can really separate yourself from your opponents.

The same goes for DFS Premier League. Even though the large-field tournaments aren't quite as large as they are for other sports, there is still value in identifying quality under-the-radar plays.

This article will discuss FanDuel's main Saturday slate, which starts at 11:00 a.m. EST and features four matches.

Matchweek 31
Saturday, March 17th
West Bromwich Albion at Bournemouth
Crystal Palace at Huddersfield Town
Everton at Stoke City
Watford at Liverpool


Matchweek 31 is a short, four-game slate highlighted by Liverpool hosting Watford as massive favorites. Similar to last week's slate with Chelsea, lineup construction begins with deciding how to handle Liverpool. As 2.0-goal favorites against Watford, with an implied goal total of 2.48 goals, Liverpool are the largest favorites on the slate by a large margin and will command the highest levels of ownership.

Unlike last week where completely fading Chelsea was viable, it would be unwise to do the same with Liverpool this weekend. Instead, it might be better to find contrarian ways to gain exposure, such as fading Mohammed Salah and Roberto Firmino and opting for a combination of Mane and Can.

Outside of Liverpool, Bournemouth are the largest favorites with a spread of 0.5 goals at home against West Brom. Crystal Palace and Everton are both slight road favorites in pick 'em matches against Huddersfield Town and Stoke City, respectively.

With that in mind, here are two under-the-radar players to consider for Matchweek 31.

Badou Ndiaye, Stoke City

FanDuel Salary: $7,000

Stoke City have the highest implied goal total of the four underdogs on the slate, and Everton are dealing with a number of injuries, including the recent one suffered by Gylfi Sigurdsson last weekend. Despite his position as a defensive midfielder, Ndiaye has a tendency to take shots on goal from distance and sees an above-average amount of involvement in the final third.

Ndiaye accumulates FanDuel points in all aspects of his play and hasn't failed to reach double digits in any of his five matches for Stoke City this season. Across those five matches, he has four chances created, three shots on goal, an assist, and seventeen tackles. In an even match at home against Everton, he should be able to accumulate a floor of FanDuel points through his defensive opportunities and have a chance or two on goal.

Everton have been atrocious on the road recently with fourteen goals allowed in their last six matches, the second most in the Premier League during that span. While those stats are skewed slightly by two losses to Arsenal and Tottenham by a combined score of 9-1, they have still lost their last three road matches against non-elite opponents by a combined score of 5-2.

While it hasn't been pretty, Stoke have been decent at home against non-elite opposition this season with 13 goals scored in 10 such matches. As an active asset on both ends of the pitch for Stoke City, Ndiaye is worth consideration for large-field tournaments this weekend.

Alexander Sorloth, Crystal Palace

FanDuel Salary: $7,000

Crystal Palace have had a rough fixture schedule recently with their previous three Premier League matches coming against Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham. Before that, in their last fixture against a non-elite side, they lost to Everton, but Sorloth produced 31 FanDuel points in that loss. That production came without a goal or an assist, and considering the fact that he has better odds to score this weekend than anyone on West Brom, Watford, or Huddersfield, Sorloth could surpass that 31-point mark at low ownership.

Factoring out their matches against elite opposition, Crystal Palace have actually been decent on the road this season. They have two wins, three losses and four draws in eight matches with a combined score of 8-8. If it doesn't push Sorloth out of a starting spot, the return of Wilfried Zaha should benefit Sorloth and boost the Eagles' attack as a whole, leading to a competitive match.

On a short slate where goals are expected to be scarce, Sorloth should go overlooked due to Crystal Palace's recent difficult fixtures. However, his limited action has shown signs of potential, and he is well worth his salary on this slate. Pairing him with Zaha, who may also be slightly under-owned due to his recent injury and salary of $8,500, creates a high-upside pairing that fits well with the lower priced Liverpool options of Mane and Can.