DraftKings Soccer: European Championship Daily Fantasy Helper for Wednesday 6/16/21

Now we've seen every team in the tournament play at least once, so we have a feel for how these teams will play and how the players will be deployed. Let's look at the games, with odds via FanDuel Sportsbook:

Forwards to Target

Lorenzo Insigne ($10,000): Insigne got off to a great start in this tournament. He scored a goal on five shots in Italy's opener. This continues his league form, as he had 19 goals in Serie A for Napoli this season, his highest league total in his career. He also added seven crosses in the tournament opener, as well, as he likes to cut inside and cross on his right foot from his left hand side. He took the majority of corner kicks for the Italians in the game, according to WhoScored.com.

Whenever you can get a player who offers a significant goal threat and will get crosses through set pieces, you have to prioritize them. We've seen the slates be lower scoring because of the defensive nature of some teams who are trying to scrape through to the knockout stage. This makes a player who can produce without scoring valuable. Plus, someone like Insigne adds upside in potentially scoring a goal. Playing for a favored Italian team, Insigne is definitely one of the best plays on the slate.

Artem Dzyuba ($7,400): Dzyuba wasn't able to get much going in the opening game against Belgium, but he should benefit from a much easier matchup against Finland. Dzyuba is coming off a career-high 20 league goals in the Russian Premier League for Zenit. Dzyuba actually has the best goal-scoring odds on the slate at +100 even though his salary is the 13th-highest among forwards. Finland were able to win their first game, but they allowed 22 shots and had just one for themselves. This should set up Russia for a much better showing and could lead to goals for Dzyuba.

Kieffer Moore ($6,900): Moore scored in the first game against Switzerland and will now face Turkey in what looks like a similar matchup on paper. Moore had a great season in the second tier of English soccer, netting 20 league goals for Cardiff City. He's a handful to deal with in the air and had other opportunities to score with his head besides his goal. Crossing toward him seems like Wales' best way to create chances, and he could easily get another goal in this match.

Also consider: Domenico Berardi ($10,700), Burak Yilmaz ($7,600), Joel Pohjanpalo ($5,300)

Midfielders to Target

Hakan Calhanoglu ($8,500): Calhanoglu has been one of the best dead-ball specialists in Europe for a few years now. He didn't get many opportunities to show that against Italy in the first game, but Turkey should have more of the ball in this clash against Wales. Calhanoglu averaged 7.58 crosses per 90 minutes in Serie A for AC Milan this season, according to Rotowire. He's not only a crosser, though, as he's reached up to nine goals in the 2019-20 Serie A season. He's also a big danger from direct free kicks, as he scored some amazing goals in his time in Germany. With a big striker who's good in the air like Burak Yilmaz as his teammate, correlating Yilmaz and Calhanoglu is an interesting strategy in tournaments that may go overlooked.

Aleksandr Golovin ($8,200): Golovin was perhaps Russia's best player on Saturday against Belgium. He crossed seven times and took three of four Russian corner kicks. That was in a game in which Russia had only 34% possession. That number should definitely go up in this match against Finland, who had 30% possession in their first match against Denmark. Russia will again be at home in this match, and they didn't have to travel like Finland did after the last game. This should give Russia a decent advantage and makes Golovin a player who has a high floor.

Daniel James ($6,500): James was a spark plug for Wales in the opening match, helping keep them in a game in which they eventually found an equalizer. He caused Switzerland problems by running at them with the ball, drawing three fouls. He also had six crosses as he took every corner for his team. Wales' attacking strategy is to try to get balls to Moore in the air, which makes James have to cross a lot. This definitely puts him in play on this slate.

Also consider: Cengiz Ünder ($7,300), Nicolò Barella ($5,600), Granit Xhaka ($3,500)

Defenders to Target

Leonardo Spinazzola ($6,200): Spinazzola was extremely active in getting forward from his left-back position in the opening match. He was bombing forward, shooting and crossing. This led to him getting 12.7 DraftKings points without a goal or an assist. Italy likely will rely on the full-backs to provide width, especially against a team they will likely be able to dominate possession against. If Spinazzola is going to get forward like he did in the previous match, he'll be in play for most of the tournament.

Ricardo Rodríguez ($5,800): Rodríguez did his thing in the first match, providing 10 crosses and three shot assists. He shared the set-piece duty and was able to rack up fantasy points because of it. It's not an ideal matchup, but he'll likely be the only defender on the slate with set pieces, so he's definitely a viable pick.

Jukka Raitala ($2,800): Raitala is a punt at full-back for Finland. His salary is lower than most center backs, so he's a good salary-saving option. People may chase the points with Finland's other full back, Jere Uronen, because he picked up an assist. Uronen had just two crosses, and Raitala had one -- so it's not worth the extra $1,100 in salary to get to Uronen. Raitala is the play, and for this salary, if you get more than five points, you can be satisfied with it.

Also consider: Mario Fernandes ($5,400), Kevin Mbabu ($4,800)

Goalkeepers to Target

Anton Shonin ($5,400): Shonin looks hard to click because of the negative number next to his last game, but it's hard to overstate how big of a gap there is between playing Belgium and playing Finland. Finland had just one shot in the entire game against Denmark. Russia has -116 clean sheet odds, and Shonin isn't even the keeper with the highest salary on the slate. That makes him a decent value and a keeper you can feel good about.

Danny Ward ($4,500): Ward was solid in the first match against Switzerland, conceding just one goal. Wales have the best chance of winning of any of the underdog teams, and they are the only underdog who isn't playing in the favored team's country. This match is heavily favored to go under 2.5 total goals, with those odds currently sitting at -198. If Ward concedes only one goal again, he'll likely be a fine play.

Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. 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.