SOCCER

4 FanDuel Premier League Studs to Target for Matchweek 5

At home versus Crystal Palace, Harry Kane could go off this week. Which other studs should anchor your lineups for Matchweek 5?

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 forwards in soccer. Not only are the top-end forwards expensive, they are the ones most likely to put the ball in the back of the net, and goals are often the difference between winning and losing in DFS.

This article will cover FanDuel's main slate, which begins Saturday at 10:00 a.m. EST and features six matches.

Matchweek 5
Saturday, September 14th
Chelsea at Wolves
Burnley at Brighton
Leicester City at Manchester United
Crystal Palace at Tottenham
Southampton at Sheffield United
Manchester City at Norwich City


The slate's biggest favorite -- and it's no surprise -- is Manchester City, who are listed at -600 on the road at Norwich, per Soccer odd. A -600 line implies a win probability of 85.7%. Spurs are also healthy favorites (-300) at home against Palace, holding implied win odds of 75.6%. After those two, it's a fairly level slate, with Manchester United (55.6%) the next biggest favorite.

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.

Also, it's worth noting that FanDuel has retained the format it used for this past summer's Women's World Cup, which I broke down prior to that event. In short, you now have $100 to assemble your roster, and the forward and midfield spots have been combined into one position. You need to roster four forwards/midfielders, two defenders and one goalie.

Harry Kane, FWD, Tottenham

FanDuel Price: $24

This is a smash spot for Kane as Tottenham are massive (-310) home favorites over Palace. Of course, Spurs have struggled in very similar spots this year, losing to Newcastle and needing a dramatic comeback to beat Villa -- two matches in which Tottenham were big home favorites. Despite that, oddsmakers still feel great about Spurs, and you should too.

Kane has a monopoly on spot kicks, and he's bagged three goals through four league matches, making the net bulge on three of his four shots on goal this season.

In the first game back from international break -- and with Champions League matches coming up -- we might see some squad rotation this weekend, but if Kane is in there, he could go off against Palace.

Sergio Agüero, FWD, Manchester City

FanDuel Price: $24

City started the year rolling people, which is exactly what they've done the two years prior. Norwich have looked good so far, and this match is on the road for City. Oddsmakers don't care, though, making Pep Guardiola's group a massive -600 favorite at Carrow Road.

To put it bluntly -- Agüero needs to be on our radar every single time City play. That's how good and dominant they are, and that's how good he is. He hasn't scored fewer than 20.0 FanDuel points yet this campaign, and he's also netted a goal in all four matches, scoring six in all. He's insane. The combination of floor and ceiling (two matches with 50-plus points) is as good as it gets on this slate.

The lone negative here is that City have a midweek trip coming up to Shakhtar Donetsk. That could lead to some squad rotation, and with City playing the late match, you'd be limited for options if Agüero sits, though City will likely have a couple high-priced studs in their starting XI no matter how they rotate.

Marcus Rashford, FWD/MID, Manchester United

FanDuel Price: $20

Rashford and the Red Devils are at home against Leicester City. United boast implied win odds of 55.6%, which -- to me at least -- feels a touch high. Regardless, Leicester have a really stout side, and Brendan Rodgers' attacking style is going to make the Foxes' matches fantasy-friendly ones, which we've seen so far as there have been seven combined goals over their last two matches.

The style of this match -- specifically if Leicester see more possession than United do -- could suit Rashford perfectly, allowing him to spring on the break. United were in a similar spot in their season opener at home to Chelsea, and Rashford finished with a brace. While he hasn't scored a goal since then, he's put up decent FanDuel outputs of 11.3, 9.3 and 16.0 points thanks to at least one chance created in each match, three total shots on goal over the three matches and some defensive work.

If the masses load up on City and Spurs players, Rashford could fly under the radar, making him perfect for GPPs, though he's a lot tougher to stomach in small-field tournaments.

Kevin De Bruyne, MID, Manchester City

FanDuel Price: $21

After dealing with injuries for much of 2018-19, KDB has started this season in pristine form, controlling things in the middle of the park and firing in his trademark crosses.

Here are the Belgian's FanDuel outputs through four matches: 28.8, 47.3, 14.3 and 38.2 FanDuel points.

That's so dang good, particularly when you factor in that De Bruyne has just one goal and only three total shots on goal. He's making a killing with his passing, notching five assists -- at least one in each match -- and 16 chances created. Now nine of those chances created came against Spurs, a match in which KDB put on a truly world-class display, but he's been credited with at least two chances created in each of the other three matches.

He didn't cool off at all over the international break.


I'm not sure why we'd expect this City train to slow now. As we touched on earlier, Norwich have been a decent side so far, and they've shown a willingness -- and ability -- to play. As commendable as that is, it could get them slaughtered versus City, and the most likely score, per FanDuel Sportsbook, is a 2-0 City win (+800), with 3-0 (+950) and 3-1 (+850) City wins not far behind.

A KDB-Agüero stack pretty much takes Kane out of play (unless some unexpected value opens up), but the upside is through the roof, and Spurs offer other appealing options in Christian Eriksen ($18) and Son Heung-min ($17).