Spain’s top soccer division returns following the international break with a matchup between Real Betis and Las Palmas on Friday afternoon, but it won’t be until Saturday that La Liga makes its return to DraftKings. The La Liga daily fantasy leagues for Saturday will focus on three games with Barcelona taking on Malaga, Eibar clashing with Celta Vigo and Atletico Madrid taking on Real Madrid. We broke down the lineups and player values and built a winning lineup based on what we think will happen in those three games. Here is a look at the optimal lineup for Saturday’s DraftKings La Liga fantasy leagues.
GK: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Barcelona
Salary: $5,900
Barcelona appears to have the most favorable matchup of the weekend at home to a Malaga side that has struggled with consistency this season. Marc-Andre ter Stegen is the most expensive goalkeeper on the board for a reason but it makes sense to lock him in as the most reliable source for fantasy points among La Liga goalkeepers this weekend.
D: Javier Mascherano, Barcelona
Salary: $3,600
Mascherano has produced a decent level for a defender available at under $4K so it makes a lot of sense to lock him in to this top defender spot. There aren’t many defender options available that combine the point production and reasonable price that Mascherano provides so he should be a fairly obvious pick in Saturday’s La Liga fantasy competitions. Barcelona has allowed just 13 goals on the season, which is the fifth fewest in the the Spanish Primera.
D: Florian Lejeune, Eibar
Salary: $3,100
Our first venture away from Barcelona’s roster is for a very reasonably priced option from Eibar in Lejeune. Eibar has conceded just 15 goals through its first 11 games and should have the slight edge in the head-to-head matchup at home versus Celta Vigo this weekend.
M: Neymar, Barcelona
Salary: $9,600
It didn’t take long to head back to the Barcelona roster for one of the best plays on the board in Neymar, who is available at under $10K. Neymar has the potential to put up big numbers as part of Barca’s attacking trident and the fact that we can plug him in at a midfielder position makes him that much more valuable in DraftKings competitions. Barcelona leads La Liga in goals scored as they’ve tallied 32 so far this year.
M: Arda Turan, Barcelona
Salary: $7,000
Speaking of strong value options, Turan has been very consistent for Barcelona so far this season and is still available at just $7K. Turan is very capable of getting in to the action in Barcelona’s attacking third so he represents another strong value play for this weekend’s DraftKings competitions.
F: Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
Salary: $9,300
Real Madrid will certainly have its hands full against Atletico Madrid but it’s hard to ignore Ronaldo’s potential to be a difference maker in this type of matchup. It will certainly be the most entertaining game of the weekend and after finding some strong value options for the other positions it makes sense to take a chance on Ronaldo as one of our top striker options.
F: Gareth Bale, Real Madrid
Salary: $8,200
While we could sacrifice elsewhere in an effort to get Lionel Messi in our lineup, we like having another option from Real Madrid after locking in Neymar and Turan from Barcelona. Bale is available at a very reasonable $8.2K for our second striker position so there is decent value there with Real Madrid attempting to remain atop the La Liga table with a win over Atletico Madrid this weekend. Real Madrid leads the league in points as they have registered 27 in 11 games so far this season. They’ve been an offensive juggernaut as their 31 goals are the second-most in the Spanish Primera.
FLEX: Ivan Ramis, Eibar
Salary: $2,900
With just over $3K left over to address our final FLEX position, we will hope that Ramis can be another strong value pick from the Eibar roster that helps put our roster over the top. We are very confident in our attacking players so if Eibar can shut down the Celta Vigo attack then we should be in an excellent position to cash in with our value picks from the Eibar defense core. We’re banking on him to have a good showing.
