AND WE’RE BACK!… Welcome to the new season of the Barclay’s Premier League. I’m excited about it and I hope you are too. Let’s start with what’s new this season. Middlesbrough, Hull, and Sunderland are out. Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Huddersfield Town are in. Newcastle had to spend 1 year down in the championship, but they are back for more and are a hardened team with experience. They are not your usual promoted team and I bet they fly high above the relegation zone.
BHA has some talent and could stick around beyond this year. Huddersfield has been extremely busy acquiring players to give them a shot at competing but I would be surprised if they weren’t back in the championship next season. Beyond that, there are many major signings and a lot of player movement that I will try to highlight as we go along. I suggest looking up the player tracking to see where your favorite players may have gone.
For the first weekend of the season, we have a 6 game slate on Saturday and a 2 game slate on Sunday. Fanduel even has a 3 game Friday/Saturday slate. This season, our VIP Team Sheets will include the minor slates. That’s in addition to the focus in our #soccer-talk slack channel. This is a good time to pause and tell you that if you are not part of the DFS Army, you are not maximizing your potential for DFS success. While I hold down the soccer aspect of things, the big draw this fall is, of course, NFL. In honor of the NFL returning, check out what we got going on.
Get Your First Month of VIP Membership Free
If you have been thinking of joining the DFS Army team but aren’t quite sure – this is your chance to get a month of free membership ($29 Value). Just sign up for a new account and make your initial deposit of $20 or more on any of the following sites. You must use the links below to qualify:
Every one of these links includes the latest and best promotional offers from the sites listed. Most have a deposit match rake back offer and some number of free entries to various contests for new depositors. I’m not detailing them above because they change on occasion. Just know they are juiced up with the best current promotions. We also give all of our new members links to download two Daily Fantasy Football full-length strategy books which you will have access to as well.
**Remember these must be NEW depositing accounts via the above links. Existing accounts are not eligible for the free month.
In order to qualify for the free month of DFS Army Membership (This applies to current DFS Army Members as well) you simply click through one of the links above and set up a new depositing account on that site. Then email us at [email protected] with the site you registered for and the username you chose. We will get back to you with a code for a free month of DFS Army VIP membership. It’s that simple.
DFS Army VIP Membership – Limited time offer
We are rolling out a pre-season special for the month of August. My first suggestion is to take advantage of one or more of the free month offers above. I’d rather you put some cash in your bankroll rather than giving it to us up front. If you already have existing DFS accounts or just don’t want to add any new ones – simply go to DFS Army VIP Membership Registration – and use promo code: PRESEASON to get 20% off your monthly membership. Remember that our VIP memberships include coverage for all sports and your 20% discount locks in for as long as you remain a member.
Register For DFS Army VIP Membership
On to Gameweek 1!
Saturday’s Key Matches
Chelsea v Burnley
We have to start with the defending champs. I mean it’s only right. Despite reloading for the new season, Chelsea will open their campaign down a few key pieces. While we hope they won’t be out too long, this shouldn’t slow them down against a Burnley side that didn’t do enough to prepare for the new season. The “problem” we have in a matchup like this, is the overwhelming possession Chelsea will maintain. Think of it like the difference between a fast pace, up and down offense vs a half-court offense in basketball. This game should read more like the latter, considering Burnley averaged 47% possession numbers last season. The key word there was “averaged”.
Burnley’s biggest transfer was the loss of Michael Keane at center back. Burnley was weak on the road and strong at home but the loss of Keane will likely put too much on the shoulders of Ben Mee. So much, that I cannot even recommend Tom Heaton. Whoa, Trey! Are you hating on the best keeper from last year? I’m not hating on him so much as the combo of no defense and Chelsea’s high goal conversion. I won’t recommend anyone from Burnley on DK. Ben Mee is viable on FD, but I will likely go elsewhere.
So where do we go in this one? We will need to watch the formation and setup for Chelsea; but with hazard out, there is much talk of Willian. Yes, please. He will get set pieces from the left side and should get a couple shots off, too. In addition, Burnley struggled to prevent goals coming from the attacking left. This makes Marcos Alonso an interesting option, especially, now that he is listed as a defender.
Manchester City v Brighton & Hove Albion
Welcome to the Premier League, BHA! Your prize is opening the season at Man City, the team that just spent over £200 million retooling. City had issues last year with defense and they made sure to address that. They brought in 3 fullbacks and it looks to be an all-out attack this season.
On the attacking side of things, City should have the lion’s share of possession and that could make anyone viable. Last Season, only Watford had more fouls, on a per game basis, than Brighton. Routinely, many came from around the box. Kevin De Bruyne, City’s set piece taker, has been on fire in the preseason. There is a perfectly good reason why he is over 10K, and worth it.
IMPORTANT! You will want to avoid stacking on Draftkings except when you believe the scoring will warrant it. DK’s scoring system doesn’t help with stacking unless you can nail the goalscorers or you get lucky on nailing the assist. Not all Goal/assist combos are as easy as Eriksen to Kane. This is the biggest difference in team formation compared to other DFS sports. Fanduel’s version is made for stacking since there are so many ways to make value.
Best of the Rest
Chelsea and Man City are the obvious plays, and you will want to get a piece of them, but you didn’t come here for the obvious. Here are 3 plays that I like outside of the aforementioned matches.
Christian Benteke, FWD – Huddersfield was not the most defensive team in the championship, last year and they will likely be mediocre this year. Benteke is a threat to score in open play, as well as on set pieces. Huddersfield allowed 12 set piece goals on the road, last season.
Tom Ince, MID – While Huddersfield has issues on the back end, they do have some talent in their attack. Palace did not do enough to solidify their defense and while everyone likes them to win, their defense can be had. Ince should occupy the number 10 role in the center and take corners. I like this play even for DK, where you typically take wide mids over central ones. Wanna know why? Join the #soccer-talk slack channel to find out.
Geoff Cameron, DEF – This is more of a Fanduel play than a Draftkings play. Everton is solid at home and has a lot of momentum going from the summer. I expect Stoke to be under siege a little bit and the guy who will likely need to quell the attack is Cameron. With the likes of Sandro Ramirez and/or Wayne Rooney bearing down on the defense, shot blocks and clearances could be in abundance.
These are just a few of the plays I like from the Saturday Slate. You can find the remainder of my picks in our slack chat and on our VIP Team Sheets, as well as picks from the Friday/Saturday and Sunday slates.
Between the Sticks
Here are my top 5 choices for Goalkeeper this week.
- Fraser Forster, SOU – Sigurdsson is on his way out (and many thought he would be gone by now) so he hasn’t trained much with the team. Sounds like some rust to shake off. Last season Swansea had the 3rd highest shot on target percentage in the premiership. Shots and clean sheet upside here.
- Asmir Begovic, BOU – Bournemouth should give up plenty of shots. He is an upgrade over Boruc. I like the save potential and it could be the highest on the slate.
- Jack Butland, STK – Everton will want to put on a display at home, having lost Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United. Butland broke out towards the end of last season. Very good goalkeeper who can make the day difficult for the home side desperate to break into the top 6.
- Wayne Hennessey, CRY – Huddersfield has a lot to learn about how to play in the premier league, and they will, but it could take time. Huddersfield had a 33% on target rate last season and palace allowed 12 shots per game last year. I expect a bit of a back and forth match
- Jonas Lossl, HUD – He had a little bit of a rough year last year but he has the chance to regroup against a team that can struggle to score at times. Crystal Palace did get better towards the end of the season but the main threat would come from Zaha in the midfield and Benteke on the finish. Most definitely a GPP play but Benteke takes a lot of shots and is a big target for the Palace offense.
You will notice I did not say the likes of Courtois or Pickford. I like those guys, obviously, but the possession doesn’t look that good for their opponents and you could see a 1 or 2 save clean sheet. Some days this works fine, but others it lacks needed upside. Plus, they will get higher ownership. Fine for cash, I suppose.
Remember that no matter who you choose to roster, you want to evaluate their floor, especially for your core guys. On DK, you want guys who shoot and guys who cross, even better if they do both. On Fanduel, you have so many ways to build but the most stable players are ones who are involved in the middle of the pitch tackling and intercepting, as well as defenders who make clearances. Only shots on goal count for Fanduel, so we want guys who shoot but it is a rather variable stat game to game. Lastly, and this is paramount, be available an hour before lock! You don’t want to spend the money only to find your high price midfielder is on the bench.
Ok, that’s all I have for you. Good luck!