DraftKings Daily Fantasy Football – Tips for the EPL Sweeper & Golden Boot (Week 6)
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
$27,000 Premier League Sweeper and $15,000 Premier League Golden Boot!
Gameweek 6 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 Sweeper” gives you seven fixtures to select your eight man fantasy team from, all for an entry fee of just $4 (deposits and withdrawals will be converted at a competitive rate). $4 entry can potentially scoop you a huge chunk of the $27,000 prize pool, which has a $2,500 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 have 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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Sergio Aguero or Manchester City’s Attacking Midfielders
Sergio Aguero will be available for selection again this Saturday following his three match suspension for violent conduct against Winston Reid. Not much more explanation is required for including the Argentinian. His hat-trick in the 4-0 win against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League last week was the performance of a player in peak form and earnt him a massive 42 point haul in just one match, bringing his average up to 26 fantasy points per game (FPPG). He’s the most expensive player available at $10,500 but should prove to be worth every penny against Swansea.
Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling or Leroy Sane are also all viable candidates for the cheaper price tags of $10,000, $8,000, and $6,200 respectively. KDB looks better than ever with 32 point and 26 point hauls from two goals and an assist in his last two Premier League matches. Sterling also scored one and assisted one last time out for a 28 point haul and seems revitalised under Pep Guardiola. Leroy Sane will likely get his first start for Manchester City with Noltio suspended and David Silva injured.
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Nacer Chadli or Salomon Rondon (West Brom)
West Brom found themselves 4-0 up against West Ham before the half time whistle was blown last weekend. Nacer Chadli, who is the Baggies’s record signing, has already began to pay off his fee with a masterclass performance on his debut which saw him score two and assist two, earning him a huge 38.3 points. He’ll likely continue to be a vital cog in Tony Pulis’ side moving forward and an absolute bargain in the DraftKings format for just $5,700.
Salomon Rondon’s DraftKings salary is slightly higher at $6,700, but it’s likely that fewer people will choose him after his 18 point haul, from one goal and one assist, was largely overshadowed by Chadli last weekend. He looked in decent form and with West Brom facing the out-of-form Stoke this Saturday, we expect either of these players to be valuable assets for any DraftKings side for a much smaller portion of your budget.
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Andros Townsend or Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace)
Andros Townsend earnt himself “Man of the Match” on Sunday for his performance against Stoke City. He scored his first goal since his transfer over from Newcastle United and is arguably the most appealing attacking midfieder available for selection this weekend. Townsend wasn’t awarded an assist last weekend but still managed to earn himself a whopping 25 points – made up from 1 goal, 3 shots, 2 shots on goal, 10 crosses, 1 foul drawn, 1 tackle won, 2 interceptions – thanks to the DraftKings scoring system which generously awards attacking play.
Jason Puncheon is another Palace midfielder whose highly productive wing play racked him up a decent number of points for the smaller price tag of just $6400. The majority of his 19.5 point haul also came from a huge number of crosses (+0.75 points per cross) along with an assist and a few shots. Both of these players are mid-tier midfielders who have potential to earn even more points when Crystal Palace face Sunderland on Saturday.
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Roberto Firmino or Liverpool’s Attacking Midfielders
Jurgen Klopp is spoiled for choice when it comes to attacking midfielders at Liverpool. Roberto Firmino, Coutinho, Mane, Wijnaldum, and Lallana are all decent selections for the DraftKings format, though Coutinho’s time on the field is often cut short with a mid-second half substitution. Firmino was absent from the Liverpool lineup last time out due to injury. In their 4-1 win against Leicester City in gameweek 4, however, he looked in fine form and took away 26 points from 2 goals, 3 shots, 3 shots on goal, and 1 cross. He is currently the second most expensive Liverpool player at $7,600, but still decent value compared to other forwards in the Premier League, especially considering Liverpool play Hull this weekend.
Most of Liverpool’s attacking midfielders benefit under the DraftKings scoring system, which rewards not just goals and assists. From them, Sadio Mane has the highest average “fantasy points per game” (FPPG 12.3) of all the Liverpool midfielders and is the 3rd most expensive at $7,500.
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Tottenham Hotspur Players
Spurs are in top form and despite the absence of Harry Kane this weekend (see below), we still expect them to take all three points away against Middlesborough on Saturday. We’re spoilt for choice this weekend with regards to midfielders and forwards and for us only Toby Alderweireld has made it into our starting eleven. However, Son Heung-Min is a steal at $5,900 and racked up a crazy 23 points last weekend against Sunderland, despite neither scoring nor assisting. He registered 7 shots, 2 shots on goal, 15 crosses and 3 fouls drawn throughout this performance which has taken his fantasy points per game up to 18.6.
Who to Avoid
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Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that striker Harry Kane will be sidelined for the meantime after he picked up ankle ligament damage in last weekend’s 1-0 win against Sunderland. This injury comes as a huge blow for Tottenham as Kane was starting to look back in form with two goals in two games. Kane will not be fit for this weekend’s trip to Middlesborough, though he still remains available for selection in the DraftKings format, so be aware!
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Alvaro Negredo (Middlesborough) or Middlesborough Players
Alvaro Negredo’s strong start to the season has overshadowed his disappointing performances over Middlesborough’s last three matches. Negredo earnt 15 points in Boro’s first match of the season against Stoke City, scoring their only goal in the 1-1 draw, and another impressive 14 point haul in their 2-1 win away to Sunderland, assisting both of Cristhian Stuani’s goals. Since then, however, the Spaniard has earnt just 10 points over fixtures against West Bromich Albion, Crystal Palace, and Everton, registering just one shot on goal in the process.
Middlesborough face the in-form Tottenham on Saturday, who are one of only three teams to remain unbeaten after five matches. We expect this to be a tough challenge all around for Boro.
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Swansea Players
Swansea’s 2-2 draw at home to Chelsea in gameweek 4 was, admittedly, an impressive feat with Gylfi Sigurdsson and Leroy Fer taking away a goal each and respective 21 point and 12 point hauls. However, even though Sigurdsson is the type of player who benefits from the DraftKings scoring system, which generously rewards creative players, Pep Guardiola’s Man City are playing impressive football at a level no side is yet to perform well against, including Manchester United.
We just can’t justify, for example, $9,500 on Sigurdsson or $7,100 on Fernando Llortente when considering the above and taking Swansea’s overall form in account either. We’re staying clear of the Swans for this week.
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Stoke Players
We rattle on about Stoke every week, but their performances are weaker with every passing match and will likely not improve rapidly any time soon thanks to injuries. Veteran Shay Given has stood in for the injured Jack Butland, a favourite of fantasy managers last season, who isn’t expected back until mid-November. Stoke are yet to keep a clean sheet and have conceded 4 goals in each of their last two matches, a fact that is clearly reflected in the points earned from Stoke’s back four.
Stoke have also suffered without Glen Johnson and Xherdan Shaqiri, lacking creativity down the right hand side. The Potters will benefit from new signing Wilfried Bony in time, but while Bony is certainly a decent signing, he’ll likely take a while to acclimatise himself to Stoke’s style of football and would definitely benefit from the creativity of a fully fit Arnautovic, Bojan, and Shaqiri trio going forward.
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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 who’s sole responsibility is to reclaim possession and pass it onwards will earn you very few points. Any winger from a weaker side, such as Nacer Chadli from West Brom, will often earn more points and be involved with more of the action than the best central midfielders, such as N’golo Kante or Paul Pogba.