FanDuel Premier League Value Plays for Matchweek 8

Value plays are often the difference on the FanDuel leaderboard. With this year's format, value plays will be priced at $12 or lower in most cases. There will be some exceptions along the way.

This article will cover FanDuel's main slate that begins Saturday at 10:00 a.m. EST.

The top salary this week belongs to Sadio Mane ($22) with his partners on the Liverpool attacking line just behind him. The top-prices defender is another Liverpool player, Trent Alexander-Arnold ($17). To complete the sweep, Liverpool's Adrian ($15) sits above teammate Alisson ($13), who is injured, on the keeper list. Overall, pricing is elevated given the teams on the slate with less overall options at or below $12.

Let's look at where the value lies in Matchweek 8.

Forward/Midfielder

Oliver McBurnie, Sheffield United ($12)

There are many matchups of teams in the bottom half of the table on this slate, so there are opportunities for new value plays to step up. McBurnie fits the bill as one of the lead attackers for Sheffield United against Watford. Watford have conceded at least two goals in eight of their last 10 Premier League matches. McBurnie is expected to start up front for the fifth time this season against a team that gives up only 12 shots per game but has seen 20 goals against. Watford have a -16 goal differential. McBurnie has the top odds to score for Sheffield as Watford look for their first win.

Harvey Barnes, Leicester City ($11)

Barnes got off to a slow start despite Leicester playing well through the first two months of the season. He averages only 11 FanDuel points a game, but he just had two of his top three games of the season back to back. He created two chances and drew one foul in each of those matches. Last season Barnes' expected goals total was 3.3. His numbers are lower overall this season, but his goals plus assists per 90 minutes is up. That is encouraging since he has started only 50% of the matches so far. Barnes should start on the outside of the midfield with a chance to get forward and score more points through defensive actions given the opponent is the best team in the league.

Pablo Fornals, West Ham ($10)

Fornals took some time to crack the starting lineup, but his value shot up as soon as he stepped on the field. He has stood over several corners since entering the match on September 24 and created three chances last week. In the last three seasons in La Liga, Fornals scored 11 goals and added 13 assists.

The 23-year-old Spanish midfielder has scored twice in three starts for his country's under-21 team and has a pass success rate inching close to 90%. The West Ham midfielders have been very solid this season, so be sure to check that Fornals does make the starting XI.

Defenders

Matthew Lowton, Burnley ($12)

Lowton's point total has been steadily increasing over the past three weeks. He has at least two clearances in all but one match this season and has a total of eight over the last three matches. Lowton has also been involved in the offense with four chances created and one assist in the last three fixtures. He has scored at least 15 points in every game in that time span. He added three tackles last week against Aston Villa, which tied for his second-best mark in that category this season. Burnley are not a possession-based team, but they still linger in the top half of the league in crosses. Lowton should get his fair share this week while also minding his defensive duties.

George Baldock, Sheffield United ($11)

Excluding the match against Liverpool, Baldock has been solid over the past three weeks. Much like Liverpool is a tough challenge for any other team, Watford are an opposition back line's dream, or at least they have been to start the season, so Enda Stevens ($13) is also appealing as he plays the opposite wing-back role from Baldock. Baldock has an assist this season and averages roughly seven defensive actions per match. While Baldock can get forward given his role, Watford have struggled with the ball at their feet. It may be a good game plan to allow Watford to have the ball as they did last week against Wolves, when they lost 2-0. Baldock can rack up defensive actions and then join the counter attack.

Keeper

Michael McGovern, Norwich City ($9)

McGovern is taking over for an injured Ralf Fahrmann this weekend, and it will be his first start of the season. McGovern started 19 games in 2017 and is in his ninth professional year in net. The kicker to this contrarian play is Norwich are on a bad run of form. He will likely be tested as Villa have been scoring and have 33 shots on target this season. Ultimately it is high-risk, high-reward play as McGovern should be low owned. Consider Vicente Guaita ($12) a safer contrarian play against a good West Ham team as he has made at least two saves in every match and is coming off a clean sheet.

Doug Smith is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Doug Smith also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username aquemini03. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.