DraftKings Daily Fantasy Football – Tips for the EPL Striker & Golden Boot (Week 30)
A lifelong Birmingham City fan, Tom relocated to Germany for five years after graduating from university, where his interest in the Bundesliga developed. He began writing about and betting on German football for FST in 2016. He's also an avid fantasy football player and closely follows the Premier League and European competitions.
DraftKings are daily fantasy sports giants in the US and they’ve now launched in the UK for the new Premier League season!
For those who don’t know how the DraftKings 1-day fantasy format works, find out all you need to know by following the link below:
DraftKings Daily Fantasy Football Explained
$12,000 Premier League Striker and $15,000 Premier League Golden Boot!
Gameweek 30 of the Premier League is almost upon us and DraftKings have plenty of competitions for those who like a quick return on investment through a 1-day fantasy format.
DraftKings “Premier League Striker” gives you seven fixtures to select your eight man fantasy team from, all for an entry fee of just $3 (deposits and withdrawals will be converted at a competitive rate). $3 entry can potentially scoop you a chunk of the $12,000 prize pool, which has a $600 top prize!
DraftKings “Premier League Golden Boot” follows exactly the same format, just at a higher buy in. $27 is the entry for that competition, which has a $15,000 prize pool and a $2000 top prize!
We’ve put together the following article to help give you an edge over the rest of the field when deciding who should make the cut in your team. See our lineup and read more below!
Who to Buy
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Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) – Price: $6,600
Vardy’s rejuvenation continued with one goal and an assist in Leicester’s 3-2 win away to West Ham last time out. Vardy has now returned either a goal or an assist (one time both) in five of his last six outings for club and country, taking an FPPG (Fantasy Points Per Game) average of 16.7 over the same number. The Foxes have won all of their last four competitive matches (3 Premier League and 1 Champions League), scoring at least two goals in each, and Vardy has an excellent opportunity to continue his top form against Stoke City this Saturday, who have kept just one clean sheet away from home this season.
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Dusan Tadic (Southampton) – Price: $6,400
Dusan Tadic is the perfect answer for managers seeking a midfield differential. Tadic has gone somewhat “under the radar” throughout a decent patch of form, which has seen him take one goal and three assists over his last three outings – an FPPG average of 17.7 over this period. Since mid-February the Serbian international, who’s playing in the number 10 role for the Saints, has more than doubled his average number of chances per match and also improved his accuracy in front of goal. With Claude Puel’s men facing Bournemouth this weekend, who have conceded a massive 12 goals over their last four on the road, Tadic should prove a dangerous asset for Southampton going forward.
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Manuel Lanzini (West Ham) – Price: $7,300
Lanzini has arguably been one of West Ham’s best players this season. Lanzini’s recent performances have seen him exceed his season averages for crosses and shots taken per match and the Argentinian has scored 12 points or more in six of his last seven starts for the Hammers, over which he’s scored four goals and assisted two. West Ham are another side who have a “winnable” match away to strugglers Hull City this Saturday, who have conceded two goals or more in four of their last five Premier League outings.
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Antonio Valencia (Manchester United) – Price: $6,100
Valencia’s popularity and price has risen over recent weeks, but not without reason. The Ecuadorian has returned either a goal (1), an assist (3) or a clean sheet (4) in all but one of his last eight outings. Given that United have a favourable fixture at home to West Brom this Saturday, who have not only conceded ten goals in their last four away matches, but who have also failed to score in two of those encounters, Valencia has huge potential to continue his fine form. Especially as he’s registered more successful open-play crosses than any other FPL defender.
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Tom Heaton (Burnley) – Price: $4,000
It’s important to spend your budget where it matters in the DraftKings format and, simply put, goalkeepers have the lowest potential of all player types to take away high points scores. Hence, you should be using less of your budget on them. Burnley’s Tom Heaton is, for example, $2,000 cheaper than Manchester United’s David de Gea, but he holds a higher FPPG average for a reason. Burnley’s weaker back line means that Heaton will be forced to make more saves (+2 points per save), where the Englishman has certainly proved himself so far this season, and thus grind out high tallies even without the clean sheet bonus (+5 points).
Who to Avoid
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Crystal Palace Players
Crystal Palace find themselves in decent form, heading into Saturday off the back of three consecutive wins “to nil”. However, an away trip to league leaders Chelsea will likely prove too much for them. Chelsea have won 92% of their Premier League home matches, keeping a clean sheet in 54% of them, and hold the joint best defensive record in the Premier League (under 1 goal conceded per match). With “stars” such as Christian Benteke so badly out-of-form, we can’t see Crystal Palace taking much away from Stamford Bridge.
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Stoke Players
Stoke are also in reasonable form if we exclude “expected” defeats against Spurs and Chelsea within their last five matches. However, Stoke have been their best when playing at home, not on the road, so a trip away to the resurgent Leicester City this Saturday could prove troublesome. Stoke have lost five of their last seven Premier League matches on the road, conceding three of more in four of these. Hence, we’d steer clear of the Potters again this weekend.
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West Brom Players
West Brom’s surprising 3-1 win at home to Arsenal last time out is unlikely to repeat itself this Saturday. Opponents Manchester United have been much more solid and consistent than the Gunners – United are unbeaten in 18 consecutive league matches – and West Brom have also been much weaker on the road than at home. West Brom have kept a clean sheet in just 7% and have failed to score in 36% of Premier League away matches.
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Bournemouth Defenders
Bournemouth defenders Charlie Daniels, Adam Smith and Simon Francis made a name for themselves with a few solid performances at the end of last year. However, Bournemouth’s defense seems to have taken a turn for the worse in 2017, in part due to varying injuries, and the Cherries have failed to keep a clean sheet in all but one of their ten Premier League matches so far this year. Notably, Bournemouth have conceded an average of 2.4 goals per match over the same number, which doesn’t bode well against Southampton.
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Defensive Midfielders
Defensive midfielders are simply the lowest point earners in DraftKings fantasy. Though their cheaper price tag may be tempting, players whose sole responsibility is to reclaim possession and pass it onwards will earn you very few points. Any winger from a weaker side, such as, West Brom’s Nacer Chadli ($4,800), will often earn more points and be involved with more of the action than some of the best central midfielders, such as, Chelsea’s N’golo Kante ($3,400).