RADIO
Welcome back, RotoBallers! The English Premier League is continuing their run of mid-week games right now in order to fit a full season in a shortened time frame due to COVID-19. While some clubs are unhappy with this, it makes for extra excitement for us soccer fans. We have a nice four-game main slate on Tuesday, but if you miss lock, there is a smaller late slate that is available on FanDuel. I have another full breakdown for you all. Keep reading this breakdown for my DFS soccer picks on RotoBaller and see how to have success on Tuesday's slate.
The very large majority of my DFS content will be EPL-related, however, there is more soccer than just what is being played in England. If you want to chop it up with myself and other RotoBaller writers about non-EPL leagues or other sports, consider becoming a premium member and joining our ever-growing community of DFS and fantasy sports enthusiasts!
In this article, I will be providing you with my English Premier League daily fantasy soccer lineup picks for FanDuel on 1/26/21 for the slate that locks at 1:00 pm ET. Be sure to also check out our other DFS lineup picks for other active sports. You can always find me on Twitter @vdray5 if you have any questions. Good luck, RotoBallers!
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EPL DFS Lineup Picks - Overview
Crystal Palace vs West Ham
West Ham (+130) are climbing back up the table right now with three straight EPL wins (five straight in all competitions). They travel across town to South London to take on Crystal Palace who are fresh off a 4-0 spanking by Manchester City. This game should be pretty evenly played, and the goal total over/under is the lowest on the slate at 2.5 with the under at -145.
Newcastle vs Leeds
The second early game has Leeds (-115) as small road favorites against a dreadful Newcastle side. Newcastle are plummeting down the standings with four straight EPL losses. In that bad stretch of games, they also had two losses in non-EPL play. They have not won a game of any kind since 12/12, and continue on a major scoring drought. Leeds is the better team here and they're in better form. Leeds just beat Newcastle 5-2 in December, and while this game might not be that high scoring with Leeds on the road, there are still some top-tier Leeds plays today. The goal total over/under is 3.0.
Southampton vs Arsenal
Southampton host Arsenal (+105) in one of the two late games. Arsenal have firmly shut down any silly relegation talk around them with four wins in five EPL games. These two teams have plenty of recent history to go off of having already played twice in a little over a month. Their first meeting was a 1-1 draw on Arsenal's home turf, and they just played last weekend in the FA Cup. That was a 1-0 Southampton win on an Arsenal own goal. This will likely be another tightly contested match. Both defenses are solid and neither attack is that great right now, so this will likely be a low-ish scoring game. The goal total over/under is 2.5.
West Brom vs Manchester City
The clear big favorite of the day is Manchester City (-550) on the road against a West Brom side that look destined for relegation. City have won six straight EPL games and 10 straight in all competitions. They should dominate this game and rip apart West Brom's league-worst defense. The goal today over/under is 3.0.
FanDuel DFS Forwards / Midfielders
Let's start this off with Manchester City. They have been rolling lately with 10 straight wins. They are averaging 1.72 goals per game in the league this year, but that average jumps to 2.17 when you look at their six game win streak. They now take on the league's worst defense in West Brom who is allowing 2.26 goals per game. If that doesn't scream stack, I'm not sure what does.
They will be without Kevin de Bruyne ($20) for several weeks, leaving Raheem Sterling ($21) and Gabriel Jesus ($19) are their two top plays. I have already talked about how great this matchup is for scoring goals. Sterling is -140 to score and Jesus is -125. Jesus has been in horrid goal scoring form, so I would easily side with Sterling here. Phil Foden ($17) is a great mid-tier option to get more City exposure. He is in the best form of the three with 31.5 fantasy points per game in his last three starts. It's unfortunate that FanDuel took away our City value after raising Ilkay Gundogan's ($15). He is still a solid play with his good form in this matchup. He will also likely have more responsibilities with KDB out. He just can't be considered a true value play at this point.
Patrick Bamford ($21) deserves some love on this slate. While he has gone scoreless in three games now, he is taking on a Newcastle defense that is allowing 2.0 goals per game in six games since the calendar turned to 2021. Bamford is -110 to score in this match that Leeds should control. If you need some cheaper Leeds exposure to save salary for City studs, Raphina ($14) remains one of the better mid-tier plays on most slates and Kalvin Phillips ($12) has been playing well recently.
Michail Antonio ($19) might go overlooked on this slate, but he should not. Palace's defense - even at home - is nothing to fear this season with 1.7 goals allowed per game. Antonio has back to full health and has scored in his last two games. When he's hot he's hot, and now is the time to get him before his price continues to rise.
Danny Ings ($17) gets absolutely no respect from FanDuel dating back to last season. He scored 22 goals in the league last year and was rarely (if ever) the most expensive play on the slate. Ings has seven goals this year after battling some injuries. However, he is healthy now and free from COVID-19 restrictions. Arsenal's defense has been far better this year than past seasons, but you won't have many slates with a potent scorer like Ings for only $17.
Said Benrahma ($11), Tomas Soucek ($15), and Eberechi Eze ($12) are some of my favorite cheap, low-owned scorers on this slate.
FanDuel DFS Defenders
Paying up for Joao Cancelo ($15) remains a viable option. He can help you get some additional exposure to City's attack. He has one game under 15 FanDuel points this season with several 20+ point games. Cancelo comes with the added bonus of a possible clean sheet here. He's the top defense on the slate from a raw points standpoint.
With Manchester City forcing a lot of defensive action, some West Brom defenders will be worth looking at on Tuesday. Kyle Bartley ($10) and Dara O'Shea ($9) have gotten the most defensive stats out of their backline recently, and remain way too cheap for this matchup. They are both elite value plays on this slate regardless of position.
Kyle Walker ($10) could potentially return to Manchester City's starting XI after an injury. He would a strong value play as well if he does. He has some attacking upside for cheap in matchups like this where City will dominate ball possession. He also has a nice shot at a clean sheet bonus. He would easily eclipse his price point with a few defensive stats in addition to the clean sheet even without any attacking stats. If he does not start, it will be Oleksandr Zinchenko ($8) instead who will provide some City value on defense.
Southampton could potentially have two minimum price defenders starting on Tuesday. Be sure to take a look at their lineup especially if you are playing the late slate.
FanDuel DFS Goalkeepers
Alex McCarthy ($8) is an intriguing cheap GK play on Tuesday. Southampton's home defense has been above average with only 1.0 goals allowed per game. They're taking on an Arsenal attack that has been better lately but who are still not playing that well either. They're also without their big striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for personal reasons. Southampton might be the underdog, but I see no reason why they can't win this game and keep Arsenal out of the net while doing it. McCarthy is a high-risk, high-reward play on this slate.
Ederson ($14) is a far safer option. It would be a massive upset if City do not win this game, so Ederson is a near-lock for a win bonus. He also looks like a great option for the clean sheet bonus too. City have not allowed many goals all season, and West Brom are the third-lowest scoring team in the league with just 0.79 goals per game. Ederson will be popular on this slate, but he costs quite a bit.
Ilan Meslier ($12) always makes me nervous with how poor Leeds defense is. However, this one is more about capitalizing on a matchup with Newcastle who have just one goal in their last eight games. Leeds should win the game and Meslier will need to make some saves which gives him a nice floor. However, there's always the risk that Leeds do not keep the clean sheet. If he can, though, Meslier will have a great fantasy day.
Thanks for reading my EPL DFS lineup picks breakdown on RotoBaller and good luck!
