DraftKings Daily Fantasy Soccer Helper for Saturday 8/14/21

The summer was filled with lots of soccer, with the European Championships, the Gold Cup, Copa America, and more. However, the most watched league in the world kicks off a new season this weekend, which is great news for daily fantasy players.

What’s even better news is that for Saturday, we get a five-game slate with all games starting at 10:00 a.m. EST, so we’ll know all the lineups at the same time. Let’s look at the games, with odds from Soccer odd.

Forwards to Target

Jamie Vardy ($8,400): It was another productive season for Vardy last year, as he scored at least 15 league goals for the fourth straight season. He’s a classic goal poacher and won’t generate much fantasy production from peripheral stats, leaving him as an elite tournament play but a guy you probably won’t want to prioritize in cash games. His anytime goal scoring odds are the best on the slate.

His Leicester City side will face Wolves and are the second-biggest favorites. Wolves took a downward turn last season toward a lower-mid table team and were in the middle of the pack in most defensive numbers. Leicester tied for the third-most goals in the league last year and were led by Vardy, so he definitely is in a good spot. For just $8,400, his salary isn’t too restrictive despite his need for at least one goal to reach the desired value.

Pascal Groß ($6,800): Groß ended the season as one of the highest floor players in the league last campaign, finishing with at least 10 DraftKings points in seven of his last 10 matches. His salary reached $10,300 at one point in that stretch, so it's a bit surprising to see him down at $6,800. Groß had 219 crosses in the Premier League, good for the fifth-most. He gets a great matchup to put in some crosses on Saturday.

Brighton will face Burnley in a clash between the two teams that finished just above the relegation zone last season. However, they got there in much different ways. Brighton were a better team than their place in the table indicates, as they were in the top half in terms of possession and shots per game, according to WhoScored.com. Meanwhile, Burnley were the fourth-worst possession team and -- most importantly when considering rostering Groß -- allowed the fourth most crosses per game. The discounted salary and the matchup make Groß a fantastic play in all formats.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin ($6,400): DCL makes for a good tournament option for just $6,400. He had the sixth-most goals in the league with 16 last season. He'll go up against a Southampton team whose form fell off a cliff in the back half of the season as the Saints ended up conceding the second-most goals in the league. Calvert-Lewin is a player who could go overlooked but has a lot of upside with his goal-scoring potential in this game.

Also Consider: Anwar El Ghazi ($8,300), Dwight McNeil ($7,500), Aaron Connolly ($3,700)

Midfielders to Target

Mason Mount ($9,000): Mount flourished last season for Chelsea when Thomas Tuchel took over as manager. He fought off a lot of competition among Chelsea's attacking midfielders to cement his place in the starting lineup. He did the same when it came to taking corners, as he ended up taking the third-most in the league. Mount and the current European champions are big favorites at home against Crystal Palace, who conceded the third-most goals and were the third-worst possession team in the league last season. They did get a new manager in Patrick Vieira, but he's unlikely to be able to impose his style immediately in such a tough matchup. Mount had five shots and 14 crosses in a match against Palace in April, and with nothing changing too much about either team, that should mean that he is set for another big game against the London rivals to start this season.

Youri Tielemans ($7,100): Tielemans took over a lot of set pieces last season for Leicester, and it made him a great fantasy option. He greatly out-produced teammate James Maddison and now comes at a $900 discount off of Maddison. Tielemans had at least 10 DK points in his last six games last season. He also chipped in with six goals and four assists in the league, so he has the upside to contribute to a goal. Without a ton of options who will cost a large portion of your salary cap on this slate, Tielemans can be paired with Mount in midfield to get two high-floor dudes, or he can be paired with Vardy in tournaments in the hopes that they can combine on a goal. Either way, the Belgian midfielder makes a ton of sense.

Ashley Westwood ($5,800): Westwood definitely isn't a sexy play, but he gets the job done more often than not. He started all 38 matches for Burnley last season and was off the pitch for only nine minutes in the entire season. His role on set pieces and the fact that he played so much led to him amassing the 10th-most crosses in the Premier League. If you want to lock in a solid floor play, Westwood is not a bad option for $5,800.

John McGinn ($4,400): Things are up in the air a bit at Aston Villa, with Jack Grealish's transfer to Manchester City leaving a hole in the club's lineup. This projected starting lineup does not have an obvious set-piece taker based on who took them for the team last season. McGinn is a player who has taken some corners in the past but not so much last season. Even without taking them last season, he was able to average 8.4 DraftKings points per game, which is good enough for the low $4,400 salary. If he does get to take more set pieces, this salary is a steal.

Also Consider: Solly March ($5,900), João Moutinho ($5,700), Alex Iwobi ($3,900)

Defenders to Target

Lucas Digne ($6,000): It was a third straight solid fantasy season for Digne at Everton. He had the fifth-most crosses in the league despite playing just 30 games. This salary of $6,000 is a situation we see sometimes on DraftKings, where the defender's salary is a great value compared to the players at other positions. If Digne played in the midfield, his salary might be in the $7,500 range. He also gets a three-point bonus if Everton were to keep a clean sheet in this game. This makes Digne a great play at defender but also suitable at utility if you had two other low-salary defenders you wanted to roster.

Marcos Alonso ($5,500): Alonso may make the left-back position his own for Chelsea -- at least for the time being. He had a great game against Villarreal in the European Super Cup on Wednesday. Alonso was super active from left wing back as he had five shots and also took five corner kicks. Chelsea had 61% of the possession in that game, and we could see something similar in this game. If that's the case, Alonso could be involved in the attack once again, making him a viable option at defender if he starts.

Ryan Bertrand ($4,300): Bertrand transferred from Southampton to Leicester over the summer. With some injuries on the Foxes, he's needed at the left-back position. He made his debut for the club in the Community Shield last week against Manchester City. The surprising part was that Bertrand took four corners in the match. This is encouraging for his fantasy value, and he could get even more corners in this match against Wolves as Leicester should see more of the ball than they did versus Manchester City. For $4,300, Bertrand is one of the best values on the entire slate -- not just at the defender position.

Also Consider: Joël Veltman ($5,000), Matty Cash ($3,700)

Goalkeepers to Target

Édouard Mendy ($5,900): Mendy was a great signing for Chelsea last year, solving their goalkeeping dilemma. He kept a clean sheet in 16 of his 31 appearances last season. Chelsea are by far the biggest favorites on the slate, and they also have -132 clean-sheet odds. Crystal Palace's attack was lacking last year, as they were 14th in goals scored and now have lost Andros Townsend. Mendy is a fine option at goalkeeper if you have the salary to spend.

Nick Pope ($4,600): Pope is an intriguing choice at goalkeeper without having to completely punt. He was tied for fifth in clean sheets in the league last season, which is impressive on a team that finished 17th. The matchup is ideal for a goalkeeper, as Brighton struggled mightily to score, with their 40 goals ranking as the fifth-fewest. However, they do get shots off, as they were seventh in the league in shots per game. A team taking a lot of shots but not scoring much is great for a goalkeeper, as it gives him upside to make a handful of saves and put up an outlier score that you need to win tournaments.

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.