FanDuel Women's World Cup Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 6/13/19

The Women's World Cup is here, and FanDuel is offering daily fantasy contests. The Thursday main slate will start at noon EST.

FanDuel has altered its soccer format for the Women's World Cup for the multi-match offerings, and it's important to know how those changes impact things. The single-match slates, however, are the same format as usual.

Per FanDuel Sportsbook, China (-210) is the biggest favorite on the slate, boasting implied win odds of 67.7%. The Brazil-Australia matchup is expected to be a close encounter. Australia, at +115, is the slight favorite, with Brazil listed at +220.

Let's look at some players across different price points who can shine on this slate.

Forwards/Midfielders

Marta, Brazil ($18)

After sitting out Brazil's opener, Marta is listed as a game-time decision for Thursday's match, though it's not looking promising. If the legendary star plays, she'll warrant consideration, but she's got a low floor since she could be at risk of aggravating her injury mid-game. Marta is one of the best players in the world, and no one has more goals (15) in Women's World Cup history. If she starts, she'll be the focal point for Brazil and will likely handled penalties.

Cristiane, Brazil ($22)

Sans Marta, Cristiane stepped up last week, netting a hat trick and scoring with all three shots she put on goal on her way to 61.3 FanDuel points. Australia will present a much tougher challenge than Jamaica did, but as we saw in their opener, Cristiane is the main attraction if Marta is out.

Sam Kerr, Australia ($20)

Kerr is Australia's best player, and she accounted for their lone goal in a tough-luck 2-1 loss to Italy in the first round. That loss -- in which Kerr totaled 26.3 FanDuel points and missed a penalty -- means the matchup with Brazil is crucial for Australia as two straight losses would make it very difficult for them to advance into the knockout rounds. Even though Kerr missed a pen against Italy -- her goal came when she knocked in the rebound -- the penalty role is massive for DFS, and she's got as much upside as anyone on this slate.

Wang Shanshan ($14) and Wang Shuang ($12), China

China is extremely appealing on this slate since they're a favorite -- -210, per FanDuel Sportsbook -- with some cheap attacking options. These two are at the top of the list.

Shanshan started as part of a two-striker formation in China's 1-0 loss to Germany and is the key cog for this team. She was the top scorer (12 goals) in the 2018 Asian Games. Shuang -- a PSG star in club ball -- was a fairly surprising omission from the starting XI in China's first match, but she came on for Yao Wei ($8) at the break and is listed as an expected starter against South Africa. Shuang finished her PSG campaign with seven goals and eight assists in 18 appearances in Ligue 1. She's in play even if she doesn't start, but if she starts, she's one of the more enticing options on the slate.

It's tough to take much from China's loss to Germany as they were overpowered, getting just one shot on goal, but they should offer a lot more going forward versus a South African side that surrendered 27 shots (12 on target) to Spain last week.

Bia Zaneratto, Brazil ($10)

Zaneratto, also known as Beatriz, started alongside Cristiane in a two-striker formation in Brazil's opener. Admittedly, Beatriz failed to make much of an impact in that one -- failing to create a chance or put a shot on target -- and got the hook just 20 minutes into the second half. But any $10 starting striker, especially on a solid side, needs to be on our radar in DFS. If Beatriz doesn't start on Thursday, it'll likely mean Geyse ($16), who came on for Beatriz in the opener, is in the starting XI.

Defenders

Noko Matlou, South Africa ($16)

Matlou was superb in South Africa's 3-0 loss to Spain, racking up 11 clearances, four interceptions and one block as she finished with 20.8 FanDuel points. While her floor isn't that high in this one since the China-South Africa matchup isn't quite as one-sided as the Spain clash was, but Matlou should once again be busy at the back.

Wu Haiyan, China ($16)

Haiyan had eight clearances, five tackles and one block in China's first-match loss to Germany. The captain, Haiyan will be relied upon to be the team's anchor at the back in each match. Even though China won't be under siege Thursday like they were versus the Germans, Haiyan should still provide a solid floor, and she's got decent clean-sheet odds, too.

Stephanie Catley, Australia ($12)

Cately was active on both ends of the pitch in Australia's opening match. She created two chances in attack from her left-back spot and also generated three tackles with three interceptions -- adding up to 15.1 FanDuel points, a really good output for a defender who didn't get an assist, goal or clean-sheet bonus. As we touched on earlier, this is a crucial match for Australia, and that may add some DFS appeal to Catley. If the Aussies get a lead, they may sit back and play for the clean sheet, giving her ample chances to amass defensive actions as well as a shot at the clean-sheet bonus. If they fall behind, they'll be forced to open up and pour forward in an effort to get a goal, which will probably lead to Cately bombing forward with frequency. In short, she's got a lot going for her at a pretty reasonable salary.

Goalies

Peng Shimeng, China ($14)

All four expected goalies are modestly priced, with each checking in between $10 and $14. Shimeng has the best win odds on the slate, automatically putting her in play, and she was solid in the first match, making three saves against Germany. With Brazil's Bárbara ($14) coming off a huge 26.0-FanDuel-point day and listed at the same price as Shimeng, China's keeper could go under-owned, but the win odds make her a better play than Bárbara with Brazil an underdog to Australia.

Lydia Williams, Australia ($12)

If you rostered Williams in Australia's opener -- a decent number of people did with Australia favored against Italy -- you endured a brutal day as she made just one save while conceding twice, leading to -2.0 FanDuel points. Yikes.

But you can go right back to her here, and her first-match clunker might scare away some people. But Williams is in goal for a favorite, and with Brazil a quality attacking side, she should be called into action pretty often. That puts her in great shape for a multi-save performance, and if she does that in a win, she'll post a big number.