FanDuel Premier League Trends to Know for Matchweek 10

The next Premier League main slate hits FanDuel at 10:00 a.m. EST on Saturday and likely features just four matches. The slate was not published at the time of writing, but smaller slates have become common in Champions League weeks. That also generally means that teams lower in the table are featured.

Let's look at the teams and players that are rising and falling this week.

Hot

Team: Sheffield United

They do not have a long winning streak going, but they are coming off a big win that moved them into the top half of the table. They have two shutout wins in the last four matches, held Liverpool to just one goal, and earned a scoreless draw two weeks ago. Clearly the Sheffield United backline has been playing well. They were able to keep Arsenal off the score sheet after Lys Mousset gave his team the lead in the 30th minute on Monday. They were able to accomplish that despite Arsenal holding nearly 70% of possession. Sheffield will play a West Ham team whose offensive struggles are detailed below. This would be a great time for Sheffield to find top form as they have a stretch through Boxing Day in which all but two opponents are currently below them in the table.

Player: Gylfi Sigurdsson, Everton

Gylfi Sigurdsson is quietly putting together another solid season despite Everton's struggles. He played three minutes last week, had two shots on target, and scored a goal. He played two full games for Iceland during the international break, so even making the field last week was a bit of a feat. He is one of the top-rated offensive players on the team averaging close to two shots per match. He leads the team in key passes per match with over an 80% pass success rate as he continues to be the engine in the midfield. Everton will play a Brighton team that has lost three of their last four games scoring no more than one goal in those matches. In the two matches against Brighton last year, Sigurdsson had an assist, four shots on goal, five crosses, and three fouls drawn.

Cold

Team: West Ham

Is there a curse with this weekly post? Hopefully, that is not the reason West Ham have lost two in a row after flirting with the top six. In the last three weeks, they have drawn with Bournemouth, lost to Crystal Palace, and got shutout by Everton. Everton had more possession, touches, and tackles while also more than doubling the shots on target of the Hammers. That loss moved them to the bottom half of the table. The match against Crystal Palace was fairly even, but West Ham had more fouls and yellow cards. Now they face a confident Sheffield side that produces more shots per match than West Ham.

Player: Jack Cork, Burnley

With news that Cork may be fit to face Chelsea this weekend, it is good to temper expectations. Cork has been very inconsistent in his seven appearances and was substituted off at halftime in Burnley's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at the end of September with a small fracture in his shoulder. Obviously, that will slow his production, but he has just two shots on target and averages less than three defensive actions per match. Cork has not found his groove on either side of the ball. He is more of a defensive midfielder, but he has not done a great job shielding the backline. Cork had just three tackles and four interceptions in the two shutout wins he has appeared in this season. If you expect to be sneaky and stick Cork in upon his return, it does not look likely to yield results.

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.