The return of the Premier League may have been underwhelming for many, but for some it provided a welcome chance to win some cash from FanDuel.
Of course, those of you had selected the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Leroy Fer and Nathan Redmond in their team will have boosted their chances of winning some money last weekend – but they weren’t necessarily the players who got you most value for money.
That’s because while goals and assists will always boost your points scoring, there are 17 other ways in which players can earn, or lose, points throughout the weekend.
This is evident in the fact West Ham’s James Collins scored the highest points per million over the weekend, despite being on the end of a 2-1 away defeat to Chelsea.
Priced at just £4.3m, Collins would have been a shrewd addition to any FanDuel player’s squad. The Welshman totalled 43.25 points against Chelsea, averaging an impressive 10.06 points per million.
This is because he collected vital points via his tackling, interception and clearance statistics – proving there are far more points to be won than just goals and assists.
Collins did score West Ham’s only goal, netting 20 points (5 for the shot on target and 15 for the goal itself), which boosted his points total impressively.
The same can be applied to the likes of Arsenal’s Calum Chambers, who enjoyed a similar game to Collins, and Hull City trio Adama Diomande, Robert Snodgrass and Curtis Davis.
For example, 10.5 of Curtis Davis’ total score 32.75 points came interceptions alone. As players earn 1.5 points per interception, it shows that defenders, and even midfielders, can collect a serious amount of points from deep areas of the pitch.
These cheaper players have already hammered home the fact that spending big money on more recognisable names isn’t always the best way to win at FanDuel. Any player of Fantasy Football games will know all about the importance of getting value for money when putting your squad together – and it’s no different with FanDuel.
So looking ahead to this weekend, which bargain players should you be looking at to get you the best value for money?
It’s important to look at the fixtures being played and then work out where the best value for money is. Players playing at home, or even against sides you know they are going to dominate, should be at the forefront of any decisions. So here are three players we think you should be considering this weekend…
Kyle Naughton (£5.5m)
The Swansea defender totalled 24 points last week, and although that wasn’t exactly up there as one of the highest in the division, it still represented a good total for a player playing away from home.
Swansea host newly-promoted Hull on Saturday, and it’s important not to be deceived by Hull’s shock opening day win over Leicester – their squad isn’t big or strong enough to keep up such impressive form.
Expect Swansea to dominate the game against Hull, which will give Naughton the chance to rack up the points. Last week he picked up 12 points for tackles and six for interceptions, which is where he’ll earn most of his points each week. Additionally, with Swansea expected to enjoy more of the possession, Naughton is bound to build on the 2 points he earned from successful passes this time around.
Simon Mignolet (£6.8m)
Much has been said of Liverpool’s defensive issues after their 4-3 win over Arsenal last weekend, so you’d think picking Liverpool’s goalkeeper would be a strange choice.
However, Liverpool travel to newly promoted Burnley on Saturday and it’s difficult not to look past the Belgium international as someone who can nab a decent points total.
He only collected 12 points against Arsenal, and that was partly down to earning 6 points for saving Walcott’s penalty. It’s unlikely he’ll save another penalty, but you’ll expect him to pick up points for saves (3 points per save) and there’s huge potential for a clean sheet (10 points), making him good value for money at just £6.8m.
Jonathan Calleri (£6m)
The Argentine has just signed for the club, so it’s a bit of a gamble putting him in. However, with West Ham suffering crippling injuries to a number of key players in recent days, there’s a huge chance Slaven Bilic will hand him a Premier League debut for the Hammers.
It will be West Ham’s first Premier League game at the new London Stadium, so they’re going to be eager to impress against Bournemouth in front of 57,000 fans. They were disappointing against Chelsea on Monday night, but you can count on Bilic reverting to his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation at home, which is the system in which the Hammers were so impressive last season.
Calleri is likely to play a huge role give the Hammers’ injury woes and, with 3 goals in 5 appearances for Sao Paulo before arriving in East London, the 22-year-old is already in good form.
Expect him to have a positive impact against Bournemouth this weekend, whether it’s via goals (15 points a goal), shots on target (5 points) and even assists (7 points).
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