FantasyLabs now has soccer projections for the Premier League!
Things are heating up in the English Premier League with just over a month remaining in the season. There are multiple compelling races to watch coming into Matchweek 32, including the four games on DraftKings main slate on Saturday, which kicks off at 10 a.m. ET.
A quick reset for those new to the Premier League: the season consists of 38 Matchweeks and runs through May 28. Each team will play a total of 38 matches. At this point, teams have seven to nine matches remaining in the season. The top five finishers qualify for European competitions, and the bottom three teams are “relegated” to the Championship League, which is the next league below the Premier League.
The biggest matchup of the four games on the main slate this Saturday is Aston Villa visiting Brentford. Villa has climbed all the way to sixth in the table, while Brentford is also in the top 10 and has been playing well.
In the battle to avoid relegation, Leicester City has sunk to 19th but will try to turn things around as they host the Wolverhampton Wanderers. Nottingham Forest sits 18th headed into their road fixture against Liverpool, and Everton will visit Crytal Palace as they try to climb up from the No. 17 spot. Palace was in the relegation discussion not long ago but has played their way up to 12th after three straight victories.
Inside our soccer Player Models, you’ll find median and value projections, along with our Lineup Builder and Lineup Optimizer. The Lineup Builder is great for those of you that like to hand-build your teams — or you can utilize the Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 300 lineups.
Now, let’s get into the slate!
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Premier League Forward DFS Picks
Top Play: Mohamed Salah vs. Nottingham Forest, $11,900
Liverpool is by far the heaviest favorite on this slate, and the Reds should be in a smash spot at home at Anfield. This will be a favorable spot to stack against Forest, who have gone winless in their last 10 EPL contests with three ties and seven losses over that span.
Salah is the most expensive player on the slate, but he also has the highest projection. He also comes with a great floor since even when he isn’t scoring goals, he’s very involved in the team’s offense. He had two goals and 25.8 DraftKings points against Leeds in his most recent EPL match, and prior to that, he had 10 shots and 27.8 DraftKings points in Liverpool’s huge tie against Arsenal.
He has an even higher ceiling than what he demonstrated with two goals and two assists on his way to 45.7 DraftKings points against Man United at the beginning of March. Salah is an expensive centerpiece, but as long as you’re smart in other spots, his ceiling is worth the price.
Top Value: Matheus Cunha at Leicester City, $5,200
In his first season with the Wolves, Cunha has spent most of the season coming off the bench. The Brazillian scored his first goal of the season in mid-March in Matchweek 28 and has started each of the three games since then. He had 15.8 DraftKings points off the bench in the game in which he scored and then posted 3.8, 8.2, and 3.9 DraftKings points in his three starts while helping the Wolves to two wins and a tie in those contests.
He is projected for the most Pts/Sal of any forward on the slate on Saturday, partly due to his great matchup against Leicester City, who have allowed eight goals in their four-game losing streak this month. They have also surrendered the fourth-most goals per game on the season. Cunha could definitely find the back of the net
Other value plays at forward who rate highly in our model include Leicester’s Kelechi Iheanacho on the other side of that matchup, Thiago of Liverpool, and Emiliano Buendía of Aston Villa.
Premier League Midfielder DFS Picks
Top Play: James Maddison vs. Wolverhampton, $8,100
Maddison continues to be a top option each week in the projections despite his team’s continued struggles. He has over 13 DraftKings points in three straight games and in nine of his past 10 contests.
Most people expect Maddison to move to a higher-profile team after this season, but first, he will try to drag his team out of the relegation zone. Since he’s the centerpiece of everything that the Foxes do on offense and usually takes plenty of corners and crosses, he has a very high floor. He hasn’t scored in eight matches, but he should have a good chance against the Wolves in a home game his squad desperately needs.
Maddison has the second-highest projection at midfielder on this slate, behind only Salah for the top spot. He also comes quite a bit cheaper and brings the highest Pts/Sal in the midfield as a result.
Top Value: Kevin Schade vs. Aston Villa, $3,600
Schade brings the third-highest Pts/Sal of all midfielders on this slate, and he could end up being a steal if he plays a significant role for the Bees at this salary. Schade is a speedster from the Bundesliga who brings big-play ability when on the pitch. The 21-year-old started each of the past two games for Brentford. He had 4.6 and 1.7 DraftKings points in those contests, but he has the opportunity to do much more if he sticks in the starting XI.
While he is a little bit of a punt play, his cheap salary can help you counter-balance Maddison and Salah while still bringing a good ceiling.
Other value options to consider in the midfield include Everton’s Idrissa Gueye, Leicester’s Youri Tielemans, Liverpool’s Fabinho, and the Wolves’ Matheus Nunes.
Premier League Defender DFS Picks
Top Play: Andy Robertson vs. Nottingham Forest, $6,000
Liverpool defenders Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have the two highest projections at the position by a wide margin, but since Robertson is a lot cheaper, he gets my pick here. He also brings the highest projected Points per salary of all defenders on the slate.
Robertson had four straight big games with over 9.0 DKFP at the end of February, highlighted by a monster 24.2-DKFP performance against Man U. He has cooled off a little bit since then, but he is usually involved as one of the Reds’ set-piece takers and one of their options pressing forward from the back to create opportunities.
Top Value: Ezri Konsa at Brentford, $2,800
Konsa is in the top five of Pts/Sal of all defenders on this slate and has been a key contributor for Villa lately. Villa has won five straight EPL matches and is undefeated in their past eight contests. With their recent results, Villa has a legitimate shot at European competition if they can continue this run. They got a huge win last weekend at home when they knocked off Newcastle United 3-0. They’ll have to go on the road to get another win Saturday, taking on the Brentford Bees, who have dropped three straight EPL contests after a nice run of their own.
The shutout last week was against a strong Newcastle squad, and the defense as a whole has only allowed two goals in eight games. Konsa has averaged 6.3 DraftKings points per match over his five most recent contests.
Other highly-rated value options in the model include Timothy Catagne of Leicester, Aaron Hickey of Brentford, along with Joachim Andersen of Crystal Palace.
Premier League Goalie DFS Picks
Top Play: Allison vs. Nottingham Forest, $5,900
Anything short of a clean sheet would be a surprise against Forest, so Allison is too good to overlook, even though he’s the most expensive keeper on the slate. He has the highest projection at the position by almost a full point.
Allison has multiple saves in four straight games and has averaged 6.8 DraftKings points in his past three outings. The only thing to be careful of with Allison is that he did allow a goal in a blowout win last week, and this week’s script could be similar if things get one-sided and he loses his clean sheet.
Top Value: Emiliano Martínez, $4,700
Given how good the Villa defense has been, it isn’t surprising that their goalie has been an outstanding play. His six clean sheets in his last eight EPL contests have helped him average 14.6 DraftKings points per game over that stretch.
He also shut out Brentford earlier this season on his way to 18.4 DraftKings points, but the Bees have scored 47 goals in 31 matches this season. Only Keylor Navas has a higher Points per Salary projection on this slate since he’s expected to be very busy against a strong Liverpool offense.
