The Premier League returns with seven games on the schedule for Saturday. That means plenty of Daily Fantasy League action on DraftKings, including the featured EPL $25K Bicycle Kick that has a guaranteed $5K prize for the winner. Here is a look at our optimal EPL fantasy lineup for Saturday’s Premier League DraftKings contests.
GK: Fraser Forster, Southampton
Salary: $3,900
Southampton stretched its undefeated run to five games with a 1-0 win over West Ham United last week and Forster needed to make only two saves to preserve the clean sheet in the victory. Next up for the Saints is a matchup against one of the lowest scoring clubs in the Premier League in Swansea City, so it only makes sense to roll with Forster.
D: Maya Yoshida, Southampton
Salary: $2,300
Picking up low priced, value players off of Southampton’s roster has become somewhat of a trend over the weeks and it will continue here with Yoshida logging valuable minutes at under $2.5K.
D: Bryan Oviedo, Everton
Salary: $3,000
Everton is coming off consecutive 3-0 wins over Newcastle United and Stoke City, and there is every reason to think they will keep on rolling when they host West Brom on Saturday. Oviedo is priced reasonably enough that we have no problem making him the highest paid defender on our roster.
D: Phil Jagielka, Everton
Salary: $2,300
Jagielka is in a similar position to Oviedo only he is available at $700 less and that makes the decision to roll with him as our third defender an easy one.
M: Willian, Chelsea
Salary: $8,000
Chelsea is coming off an inspired draw against Manchester United that extended its undefeated run to nine in a row. Now they get the chance to get back in the win column on Saturday when they host a Newcastle United side that is buried at the bottom of the Premier League table. The Blues have certainly had their share of low points throughout this season, but they have slowly started to turn things around.
M: Oscar, Chelsea
Salary: $5,500
It’s only a matter of time before the skilled Brazilian finally breaks through with a strong performance for Chelsea. The matchup with Newcastle and his extremely low price point make him worth taking a chance on this weekend.
M: James Ward-Prowse, Southampton
Salary: $4,000
Ward-Prowse has contributed on corner kicks as well as set pieces and we have no problem adding him to our running list of players from Southampton at just $4K.
F: Romelu Lukaku, Everton
Salary: $7,600
The money saved at the defender and midfield positons allows us to spend big on the forward spots, and it starts with the highest priced player on the board in Lukaku. The Everton striker ranks second behind only Leicester’s Jamie Vardy in goals scored this season with 16 and there is a good chance he produces the best fantasy stat line of any Premier League forward again this Saturday.
F: Diego Costa, Chelsea
Salary: $6,800
Costa delivered the game-tying goal in added time against Manchester United to send Chelsea fans in to an absolute frenzy and he has now scored nine goals in 20 Premier League games this season. That isn’t bad at all for a player that is heating up and available at under $7K, – especially when you consider the favorable matchup.
FLEX: Charlie Austin, Southampton
Salary: $4,000
It should be no surprise that after spending big on Lukaku and Costa, we are turning back to Southampton’s roster for two more strong value plays with high potential. Austin was signed from QPR to provide goals for the Saints and after finding the back of the net already once, we will take a chance on him this weekend hoping that he can find the back of the net again for Southampton.
FLEX: Jose Fonte, Southampton
Salary: $2,600
It isn’t necessarily on purpose that we are turning back to Southampton here, but Fonte joins Yoshida as strong value plays with high upside. His $2.6K price tag maximizes our available cash that we have left over for this final spot. The possibility of Southampton’s defenders receiving clean sheet bonuses makes them that much more attractive so we have no problem adding one more to the list for our EPL fantasy lineup.
