Daily Fantasy Premier League GW4: Hot picks
Daily Fantasy Premier League GW4: Hot picks
A new round in Premier League unfolds this weekend, and we have taken a closer look on what may be the best picks for the daily fantasy competition with 20,000 euro guaranteed prize pool. How do our picks compare to your favourites?
Last weekend the 10+1 euro buy-in 20,000 guaranteed had 1511 entrants. Some people would probably argue that this means there was quite a bit of overlay in that competition. And they would be right! So it could be a good investment, but of course, you need to be smart about picking the players too. Here is the most interesting players we found this week. Maybe you can do better?
Captain Aguero
There is no doubt that KUN AGUERO (14.5M) is going to be the people’s choice for captain. Manchester City experienced a highly surprising loss of points last weekend, only managing a 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton, but we are pretty sure that the Pep Machine will be swiftly back on track. Aguero himself hit the woodwork twice and had an off day, but as we know, his record is much better when playing at home. The visiting Newcastle team will surely be hesitant to leave their own penalty box – as they were in the 1-2 defeat to Chelsea, and that is the only argument we have for picking a different captain than Aguero.
EDEN HAZARD (14.2M) is the next best option, as we see it. He has been eased back into the Chelsea team after getting a third place in the World Cup with Belgium, and last weekend was his first in the starting eleven. Surely, he will start every match from now on. Although Chelsea had big trouble getting through to goal with the Newcastle bus parked firmly in front of it, Hazard ended up with a penalty goal and a Man of the Match award. The little guy is clearly finding his form, and as a midfielder he gets 1p more for each goal than Aguero. He could get 1p for clean sheet too, another advantage that Aguero does not have. Finally, the Bournemouth defence is not one of the tightest in the league.
Spurs or Everton?
Many people were sceptical to Tottenham when the season started, as they had a majority of their key players away on World Cup duty, and as a result, the fitness of these guys was in doubt. However, after a shaky initial performance against Newcastle, Spurs have hit the ground running. We believe it is risky not to include some of their players in this weekend’s team. The cheapest one in the attacking quartet is LUCAS MOURA (11.4M). After transferring in from PSG for 28.4M€ in the January window, the Brazilian has not been given a lot of playing time, mostly because Heung-Min Son did such a great job in his place. Now Son is away playing the Asian Games, and Moura has been so good, we are not sure manager Mario Pochettino will let Son back in! Lucas is listed as a midfielder, but against Manchester United he played up front alongside Kane, and was a constant problem for the United defence. He ended up scoring twice. He scored against Fulham too, and got several goals in pre-season. Incidentally, Son is playing the final in the Asian Games on Saturday, so Moura’s spot in the Tottenham XI is 100% secure for now. If Son and his fellow South Koreans can beat Japan, Son will not have to serve in the military for his country. It is normally mandatory for South Koreans to serve 21 months, but an Olympic gold medal or a victory in the Asian Games gives you an exemption!
You should probably have at least one Everton player as well. Hopefully they will escape the red card this time – they have been forced to play with 10 men in two of their three league matches. Everton offers several interesting options in attack, even now when newfound star Richarlison is suspended. CENK TOSUN (12.8M) has been consistently good in all matches so far, even though he has not scored yet. Two assists show some of his potential, but surely the first goal is right around the corner. Theo Walcott (12.5) has shown nice form, too. Two goals so far. Gylfi Sigurdsson (12.2M) is the designated free kick and corner taker, and is favourite to get the most assists in this Everton side. Worth remembering, opponent Huddersfield let in three goals against Chelsea and six against Manchester City! Last weekend they held a clean sheet, even after playing half an hour with 10 men, but it was against Cardiff, who have not scored yet in the Premier League this season.
Budget options
We need some cheaper players too. Let us start with ALEXANDAR MITROVIC (7.2M). With two goals last weekend and three total for the start of the season, why is he so cheap? The reason is, Fulham have a tough away match against Brighton. Nevertheless, we think Mitrovic have a nice chance to score. This guy just has an uncanny ability to show up in the right place. By the way, he almost got another goal against Burnley, when his very measured shot hit the post (and the return ball was picked up by Schurrle, who got the goal instead). ADAMA TRAORE (6.4M) has so far not started for Wolverhampton in the league, only made appearances as a late sub. Already he has made heads spin. This guy is surely the fastest player in Premier League right now, and that is a good ability to have as a winger! We should mention that he impressed everybody in midweek’s league cup encounter with Sheffield Wednesday, where he finally was to be found in the starting eleven. He set up Bonatini for the first goal nicely, and showed big promise throughout the full 90 minutes. Will he be given a debut start in the Premier League on Saturday? We think so, but to make sure check the line up. West Ham will not be easy to beat, but we are pretty sure they will concede, and perhaps more than once. It could be Adama Traore’s big day.
Defend well!
Our approach when picking defenders is different from picking offensive players. If you are playing in a competition with many entrants, you just cannot buy single defenders from several teams. The best option is to get all your defenders from two teams. We call it the 3+3 system. If you want to, you can play 2+3 or even 2+2, but never pick defenders from more than two teams in a multi-entrants competition (if you are playing heads up, you can!).
So, when picking defenders, our focus is more on which teams to pick from, not so much finding single players we like – although one does not prohibit the other. This round we like moderately priced Crystal Palace defenders. The team has been fairly solid in defence, in my view. Southampton struggled to score in previous season, and still do. Odds for clean sheet are around 2.50. Probably the chance is a bit better than that for Palace shutting the door. PATRICK VAN ANHOLT (7.8M) great form, could score. AARON WAN-BISSAKA (6.5M) is back from suspension, big talent, drives up on the right flank and can get assists. Check line-ups, but JEFFREY SCHLUPP (8.0M) is probably playing, and since he is more of an offensive winger than a back, he provides nice attacking potential for a defender.
Good luck!
