RADIO
Welcome back, RotoBallers! If you missed it last week, the English Premier League returned with a full weekend of games. We have another great main slate Saturday for our DFS enjoyment. Saturday is going to be a typical five-game slate, but you can play the all day slate if you'd like an additional game. I have another full breakdown for you all here. Keep reading this breakdown for my DFS soccer picks on RotoBaller and see how to have success on Saturday'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 8/21/21 for the slate that locks at 10:00 am 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
Aston Villa vs Newcastle
Both of these teams are coming off disappointing losses in their first games. Villa fell to Watford 3-2 after going down 3-0, while Newcastle went down 4-2 to West Ham. Aston Villa (-125) are favored here as they should be at home. They're still a step above this Newcastle team, and I expect them to bounce back with a win on Saturday. The goal total over/under is 2.5, 3.
Crystal Palace vs Brentford
Brentford won their first-ever EPL game 2-0 against Arsenal last Friday, and they have a pretty decent opportunity to get another good result in this game. Crystal Palace (+160) got rolled by Chelsea last Saturday 3-0, but should have more control of this game. The Vegas oddsmakers have this game very close, and it should be a good back-and-forth game. The goal total over/under is 2, 2.5 with the over at +105. That's a slate-low.
Leeds vs Everton
Leeds' defense got absolutely exposed again after a 5-1 loss to Manchester United. It's very early to start seeing trends, but this is a continuing trend that we saw all last season. Leeds was not even good defensively at home last year, so getting some exposure to Everton's attack will be a good strategy especially after they just netted three times against Southampton. Leeds (+135) is favored at home, but I can see this one going either way. The goal total over/under is 2.5, 3 with the over at -120.
Manchester City vs Norwich City
Manchester City (-950) are ginormous favorites at home Saturday against Norwich. Norwich was in over their heads at home against Liverpool where they lost 3-0. They are 2.5 goal underdogs in this game, and I expect City to avenge their week 1 loss to Tottenham by unloading on Norwich here. City is a great team to stack on this slate. The goal total over/under is a slate-high 3.5.
Brighton vs Watford
Both of these sides pulled off nice wins in their first games. Brighton came back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 on the road against Burnley, while Watford got out to a 3-0 lead against Aston Vill and held on for the win. Both teams will be looking to use their success to get another early win this season on Saturday. Brighton (-140) are pretty decent favorites at home, but Watford is definitely going to make this challenging. Neither of these teams have been great for fantasy recently, and with the size of the slate and the 2, 2.5 goal total over/under, you don't need to have much exposure to this late game.
Set Piece Takers
| Team | PKs | Free Kicks | Corners |
| Brentford | Toney | Jensen, Toney, Mbeumo | Jensen, Canos |
| Brighton | Groß | Groß, Dunk, Trossard | Groß, Trossard, March |
| Crystal Palace | Milivojevic / Zaha | Milivojevic, Eze | Milivojevic, Eze, Riedewald |
| Everton | Richarlison | Digne, Rodriguez | Rodriguez, Digne, Townsend |
| Leeds United | Bamford, Klich | Raphinha, Phillips, Rodrigo | Raphinha, Phillips, Harrison |
| Manchester City | Mahrez, De Bruyne, Gundogan | De Bruyne, Mahrez | De Bruyne, Foden, Mahrez |
| Newcastle United | Wilson | Shelvey, Murphy | Fraser, Shelvey, Ritchie |
| Norwich City | Pukki | Dowell | Dowell, Placheta, McLean, Gilmour |
| Watford | Deeney, Sarr | Cleverley, Chalobah, Masina, Sema | Cleverley, Sema, Louza, Hughes |
FanDuel DFS Forwards / Midfielders
Manchester City was very disappointing - especially fantasy-wise - last weekend, but they have a prime home matchup for a bounce-back on this slate. I'm going to be back on Riyad Mahrez ($22) and Jack Grealish ($17) again. I love the idea of getting attackers who have both a good floor and a good ceiling/goal upside in a matchup where City are favored by 2.5 goals. We could see some people go with less exposure to City attackers on this slate after the burned people last weekend, however, this matchup is 100 times better.
There are definitely ways to spend money and fade City attackers if you wish. Danny Ings ($20) scored a late PK goal last week and has a great matchup at home against Newcastle who just got four goals scored on them last weekend.
Richarlison ($19) also has an awesome matchup. Leeds had one of the worst defenses last year, and that trend looks like it might continue this season after they allowed five goals to Manchester United in their first game. Both Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin ($18) scored last week and are in a good spot to find the net again. They are +255 and +130 to score in this game, respectively.
One of the cheap, low-owned teams I will be looking at on Saturday is Brentford. They were able to score twice at home against a solid Arsenal defense in their first game. Now they get a weak Crystal Palace defense who just got rolled by Chelsea 3-0. The unfortunate part of the matchup is that they will be playing on the road which makes them a little risky. Ivan Toney ($16) did not have his best game against Arsenal, but it's hard to keep a scorer like him shut out for long. He's +145 to score in this game which are the best odds between the two teams. Pairing him with Sergi Canos ($16) or Bryan Mbeumo ($12) could be a winning strategy especially since they are all affordable.
A few of the one-off players in my player pool on this slate are Raphina ($16), Pascal Gross ($14), Conor Gallagher ($12), and Solly March ($8).
FanDuel DFS Defenders
Joao Cancelo ($15) is my go-to defender to spend up on on Saturday. He still had a pretty solid fantasy game with 15.5 points in a tough matchup that did not go well for the rest of his team. Like I have mentioned above, City attackers have an awesome matchup on this slate against Norwich. Liverpool hung three goals on Norwich last week to go along with 19 shots and 13 chances created. As an attacking wingback, Cancelo is in a great position for a big game.
Ben Gibson ($12) had a strong game with defensive peripherals last weekend against Liverpool. He'll have another solid matchup this weekend against Manchester City to rack up some defensive stats.
Aston Villa brought Ashley Young ($11) back for a homecoming after he spent 2007-2011 there. He had a decent first game with two chances created and some other peripherals. Young is still very affordable for a defender with attacking upside, and I like this matchup for him against Newcastle. Newcastle just let in four goals against West Ham and allowed 12 chances created.
I like Christian Kabasele ($10) in the mid-range as well. He's a monster with defensive peripherals and had a good first game. He has an underrated matchup in this game against Brighton who actually allowed more defensive stats than you would think last season.
If Jamaal Lascelles ($6) gets a start for this price, he'll be one of the better value plays available on the slate.
FanDuel DFS Goalkeepers
This is really not a very fun slate for goalkeepers. Ederson ($14) is essentially a lock for the win bonus and you would think he should keep a clean sheet at home. However, Norwich has a formidable attacking group which is slightly concerning. While I do think Manchester City does not get scored on, there is some risk associated with paying this kind of money for Ederson.
Outside of Ederson, there are a lot of painfully average plays at this position on Saturday. David Raya ($10) isn't a terrible play. He's taking on a Palace team that did not look good last week. However, playing an underdog GK on the road against a team that doesn't take many shots is less than ideal.
Daniel Bachmann ($7) is really the only other GK that sparks any sort of interest for me on this slate.
Thanks for reading my EPL DFS lineup picks breakdown on RotoBaller and good luck!
