This not the prettiest of slates, but it’s one of those slates that can really make you feel good after you pull a profit. It is also one of those slates where everything is not obvious and that is why I am here. We are gonna walk this road together. Join me Saturday to put it all together in the hour-long blitz that is entering your lineups.
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Each week I will break down the biggest games of the weeks so you can find your cash and core players. I will even throw in some GPP plays. Let’s see what Gameweek 8 has in store for us.
Manchester City v Burnley
Just like how I didn’t want to write up Man United earlier in the season because it was a waste of words, here we go again. Burnley is a good team. That said, their road form tends to give their opponents quite the possession numbers and leaves them to fend off a barrage of shots. The slate doesn’t appear to give up a plethora of goals, so let’s begin our dive with this game.
The biggest wrench that can be thrown in the mix is Sergio Aguero returning. We do not know if he is ready to return after fracturing those ribs a few weeks ago but he has been getting better and training, so it is only a matter of time. While an Aguero return to the starting XI would muddy up the goal predictions, it might actually help City to score more against a defense that features 2 centerbacks who don’t mind taking it in the face to protect their keeper. They have said as much, publicly.
So how does this help us? Well, Man City is a GPP play every day of the week. Kevin De Bruyne should be cash playable. Actually, I like the midfielders for City in this one. Jesus, and maybe Aguero, can bait the centerbacks a little to open up some lanes. Maybe the defenders can get involved, too? Shhh…let’s keep that one to ourselves.
If Burnley gets on the sheet, and they have been known to score on the road, it is likely Chris Wood doing the damage. He just has a nose for the goal. He will be low owned and the only one I would consider playing. I suppose you could use someone else, but I don’t think you need to go that off the board. Remember, with the number of people that play these contests, you only need to be sub-10% on a couple of guys to be contrarian enough to perform well in a GPP.
Swansea v Leicester
I don’t use the words free square too often in a high variance sport but this game sets up to give us someone who is close to that. On DK, Tom Carroll is 5400. He takes set pieces, crosses from open play; and, over the last 3 matches, has put in a cross every 10 mins, on average. Leicester have become very defensive on the road this season. They are giving up over 20 shots per game and conceding all the possession in the world. This is what we call a good place to start. His target will likely be Tammy Abraham, but I wouldn’t expect a brace this time out.
If you play on Fanduel, you can go with the center backs for Leicester but Maguire is expensive. You don’t have to pay his price. I think your best play in this game is to go with Kasper Schmeichel or maybe you take a shot with Jamie Vardy. I don’t think he will be that highly owned with both sides of Manchester on the slate.
Newcastle v Crystal Palace
This game bears a second thought. I think we look back on the weekend and say wow what a game that was. I reserve the right to change my mind closer to lock, but I want both sides of this match. Palace got Zaha back last match and it looks like Ruben Loftus-Cheek should be good to go this week. After beating Chelsea last week, I think they have the boost they need to start catching up to the league in goals scored. To do that, Wilfried Zaha is the most dangerous player they have in terms of running at defenders and he should be on display come Saturday. We will need to see their formation but I bet we see something similar to the Chelsea match until Benteke gets healthy.
Newcastle has had a little bit of a change in how they are attacking. They used to just send everything at Joselu but a formation change has yielded new attackers. The move to the 4-4-2 has allowed the wings to get a little more involved, which is where Palace has struggled to defend. Matt Ritchie will man one wing and maybe Christian Atsu on the other. Ritchie will be the higher owned of the two but he is fairly expensive to bring into your core or use in cash, especially with Carroll’s spot.
I have a couple other thoughts to share, so join us in slack for more on this, and other, game(s).
Between the Sticks
Here are my choices for Goalkeeper
- Fraser Forster, SOU (Both) – Southampton has been giving up a few more shots these days and I see a low scoring affair.
- Kasper Schmeichel, LEI (Both) – Leicester gives up a ton of shots. He has probably the highest save upside on the slate.
- Jack Butland, STK (Both) – Stoke is slightly favored and all this guy does is stop shots. There is some clean sheet upside, too.
If you read this article and you said “Wow, these stats are cool. I didn’t know that before.”, then know that they are only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more inside our VIP team sheets. Come take your game to the next level. See you in slack and good luck in your contests!