This week we get a five game slate that lacks star power but should make for a very fun slate. Right away it is important to know that our boy Gylfi is pretty much a lock in all formats due to his floor and huge upside against Brighton. Lock him in and move on. Ownership should be pretty spread out which could give us a nice edge here. I like the spot here for Everton, West Ham and Leicester and we can focus on those teams in gpp and avoid the game that will probably bring in the most ownership in Arsenal against Liverpool. Here are my picks for this week.
Forwards
Leicester City: Jamie Vardy $8,500
Who is ready for another Vardy party? Last time our Boy Jamie scored was the week that I wrote him up as my top GPP forward and this weekend we are partying again. This week he gets a cake matchup against Cardiff who has allowed 14 goals in their last 4 games including giving up 5 goals at home against Man City. Leicester is not in the same ballpark as City but Vardy should get so many opportunities to find the back of the net in this game that he will be my main forward in my gpp lineup this weekend. Add the fact that he has not scored in the last 3 weeks and this has the makings of a massive Vardy party.
Also, consider West Ham forward Marko Arnautovic $8,300. Arny gets a nice matchup against Burnley and should have plenty of shots and opportunities to rack up points. Ownership on him should be a bit higher than Vardy which is why I lean Vardy as my overall favorite gpp forward on the slate but Arny makes for a very good play as well. I also like a Everton stack here with Gylfi and Richarlison $9,000 going up against Brighton. I think Everton scores a few goals here and these two could easily connect in at least one of them. If you do want exposure to the Liverpool and Arsenal game go with Pierre Aubameyang $7,700 who should come in with really low ownership and has been scorching hot the past few games scoring 5 goals in his last 3.
Midfielders
Everton: Gylfi Sigurdsson $9,600
Gylfi is my top play in the entire slate for both cash and gpp. I think you just lock him in and move on to the next spot. He has a great floor of about 10 points without a goal or an assist and I would be shocked if he was not involved in at least a goal or assist in this spot.
Also, consider Watford midfielder Roberto Pereyra $6,200. Another guy that I wrote up last week and he scored a goal for us. The price just seems too low and he should meet and exceed value going up against Newcastle. If you need a cheaper option you can look at Cardiff’s Callum Paterson $5,000 who faces a leaky Leicester defense and has played very well the past 2 weeks scoring goals against Liverpool and Fulham.
Defenders
Here is the deal with defender this week. If Everton’s Yerry Mina $3,400 starts he becomes my favorite defender on the slate and I would play him in every single one of my lines. I am not sure if this is the day he starts but we are definitely getting close to his EPL debut. I am not too high on the expensive options for gpp but both Digne $6,900 and Holebas $6,400 make a lot of sense for cash. If mina is out I will probably just punt the position which will allow me to get all the pieces I need at forward and midfield. Some other punts I would look at are West Ham’s Fabian Balbuena $3,600 and Everton’s Kurt Zouma $3,600.
Goalkeeper
Liverpool: Alisson $5,000
Alisson comes in as the fourth highest priced goalie on the slate. He is facing an Arsenal team that has been playing much better futbol than they did at the beginning of the season. However, this Liverpool team is a different animal that the teams they have been playing lately. I fully expect Liverpool to get the win points here and the clean sheet is not out of the question. Arsenal should be aggressive enough to keep Alisson busy and rack up save points as well. He is by far my favorite goalie on the slate and gives us exposure to the late game.
As always if you have any questions feel free to send me a message on slack or on twitter. I can’t wait to see all the screenshots after we dominate this week! Enjoy the slate and make sure to tune in to our slack when lineups come out since we usually drop a play or two in there as well.
Written by Jaime (Twitter: @jaimedurand1)
