FanDuel Soccer: EPL DFS Helper for 2/19/22

As always, we're covering FanDuel's main slate, and that kicks off at 10 a.m. EST on Saturday. All betting lines come from EPL odds, and they may change after the article is published.

Slate Overview

Brentford (+650) at Arsenal (-230)
Over 2.5 Goals: -106 | Most Likely to Score: Lacazette (+110)

Burnley (+470) at Brighton (-145)
Over 2.5 Goals: +126 | Most Likely to Score: Maupay (+130)

Norwich (+2400) at Liverpool (-950)
Over 2.5 Goals: -290 | Most Likely to Score: Salah (-190)

Everton (+260) at Southampton (+105)
Over 2.5 Goals: -122 | Most Likely to Score: Broja (+160)

Watford (+490) at Aston Villa (-165)
Over 2.5 Goals: -106 | Most Likely to Score: Ings (+145)

Chelsea (-155) at Crystal Palace (+470)
Over 2.5 Goals: +102 | Most Likely to Score: Lukaku (+110)

Tottenham (+1000) at Manchester City (-380)
Over 2.5 Goals: -166 | Most Likely to Score: Mahrez (+110)

Positional Breakdown
Forwards/Midfielders

Whew -- what a slate this is. Not only is it a seven-gamer, but we've got five of the bix-six clubs on it.

The sheer size of the slate impacts things. It should keep draft percentages fairly spread out other than a couple of exceptions. It also makes it a lot scarier to stack one team as the opportunity cost is much greater on a larger slate. That doesn't mean stacking is off the table, though. And overall, we just have so many options across the board -- more high-salary studs, more potential value options, more of everything. There are so many viable routes to roster construction. It's fun.

Liverpool are in their own tier. They are -950 to win at home against Norwich, and the Reds are -600 to score at least two goals and -175 to net three-plus -- all of which are slate-leading marks. When looking for teams to stack, we want sides who are at least -233 to win, per a study I did, so, yeah, Liverpool are plenty stackable. They're a fairly concentrated attack, too, which helps.

Mohamed Salah ($21; -190) will likely be the slate's most popular player, especially with Diogo Jota ruled out. Since we have so many good options on this slate, I'm hesitant to swallow the Salah chalk. With that said, it's possible the size of the slate keeps Salah's draft percentage from being crazy-high, and he could absolutely feast on a Canaries defense that has conceded 50 goals in 24 EPL matches.

Two of Sadio Mane ($18; -130), Roberto Firmino ($17; -105) and Luis Diaz ($17; +115) will likely start alongside Salah and won't be as popular as the Egyptian star. Any of them work as a stacking piece alongside Salah, or you could fade Salah and stack the Reds' other two forwards, which is what I'm tempted to do. I'm into Mane. He isn't having the top-shelf seasons Jota and Salah are having, but in a match in which Liverpool could score three or four, Mane has a good chance to get in on the fun with his -130 anytime goal odds.

Manchester City are the other standout side. City are -380 home favorites against Spurs. They're -290 to score two-plus goals and +135 to get at least three. On most slates, we could feel good about stacking the Cityzens, but with six other games on the slate -- one which features Liverpool in the aforementioned sublime spot -- I won't stack City much. However, a fun way to be unique on this slate is stacking two City attackers while getting just one Liverpool forward.

City flexed their muscles midweek at Sporting Lisbon, putting five past the Portuguese side in the first leg of their Round-of-16 meeting in the Champions League. Taking over penalty duties and in sparkling form, Riyad Mahrez ($19; +110) has become the best fantasy option on Man City, but they have a total of eight players who are +200 or better to score. Any of them are quality options if they start.

Arsenal (-230 to win) and Chelsea (-155) are comfortable favorites against smaller London clubs.

The Gunners are -170 to tally two-plus goals versus Brentford, the third-best such clip on the slate. Alexandre Lacazette ($18; +110) boasts Arsenal's best goal odds while Bukayo Saka ($17; +280) and Emile Smith-Rowe ($16; +290) offer playmaking upside.

For Chelsea, they are favorites at Palace, but the match is just +102 to go over 2.5 goals. Palace have been really solid defensively this season, permitting the fifth-fewest expected goals (xG), per FBRef. Of the sides we've touched on so far, the Blues are the one I'm most willing to fade. However, if they're on their game, Chelsea could score a couple. Romelu Lukaku ($18; +110) and Kai Havertz ($14; +170) own the best goal-scoring odds for the recent Club World Cup winners. Havertz is easy to like at his salary.

Liverpool, City, Arsenal, and Chelsea figure to overwhelmingly be where the masses look for forwards/midfielders. Hitting on a goal from anywhere else will get you some leverage.

Among the remaining squads, I want to give a shoutout to Aston Villa. The Villans are home against Watford -- who have allowed 41.0 xG in 23 matches -- and are -165 to win. Ollie Watkins ($17; +150) and Danny Ings ($16; +145) have the best goal odds for Villa while Emi Buendia ($13; +185) is a good way to save salary. Philippe Coutinho ($20; +240) and Jacob Ramsey ($14; +210) have been red-hot of late.

Added time -- Brighton are -145 to win versus last-place Burnley. Neal Maupay ($18; +130) has team-leading goal odds for the Seagulls and will surely slip through the cracks. ... Armando Broja ($16; +160) has team-best goal odds for Southampton, who are slight home favorites against Everton. ... We should at least be interested when there is a chance to get Harry Kane ($17; +240) or Son Heung-min ($18; +380) at a low draft percentage. Just not sure Spurs will generate much against City.

Defenders

I'll get this out of the way at the jump -- I want to plug in at least one low-salary defender. I'll probably use two. That's how I like to do things and how I'm going to roll on this slate. I want all the salary I can get for my attackers, so I'll be looking at every backline once lineups come out and will be searching for viable low-salary defenders.

That puts me on Tariq Lamptey ($8). The Brighton full-back is among the lowest-salaried expected starters, and he offers a good threat going forward against a Burnley side that usually allows a lot of crosses. Lamptey has created a chance in five straight games and notched an assist two matches ago.

Guys like Ben Davies ($10), Cristian Romero ($11), Joachim Andersen ($10), Joel Ward ($9), Ben Gibson ($11), Brandon Williams ($9), and Calum Chambers ($8) are fine lower-salary plays. Williams and Gibson are part of a Norwich back-line that will get bombarded at Anfield. Williams has scored at least 12.8 FanDuel points in four straight and had 14.7 in a similar matchup last time out versus Man City. Gibson had 16.7 FanDuel points in that City game.

If you want to spend up at defender, Trent Alexander-Arnold ($15), Andrew Robertson ($14), Joao Cancelo ($14), Marcos Alonso ($14), Lucas Digne ($13), and Kieran Tierney ($12) are high-upside full-backs. Each plays for a favored side and should have chances to push forward. Alexander-Arnold is a great stacking partner for any of Liverpool's front three, and his work on dead-ball situations lifts his floor and ceiling.

Added time -- Watford's Craig Cathcart ($10) has recorded double-digit FanDuel points in seven of his past eight games. ... Kyle Walker ($7) typically doesn't offer much upside but is a way to save salary and has respectable clean-sheet odds for City. ... Oleksandr Zinchenko ($9) would be enticing if he starts for the Cityzens. ... Grant Hanley ($12) is a high-floor option for Norwich.

Goalies

The keeper salaries are sharp this week.

Alisson ($15) and Ederson ($14) are the standout options in terms of win and clean-sheet odds, and they are salaried as such. Alisson is a slate-high -130 to keep a clean sheet, and Liverpool are -950 to win. Ederson is -380 to win and -106 to keep a clean sheet. Either is a superb option if you can find the salary to get to them.

Aaron Ramsdale ($13) and Edouard Mendy ($12) are the next-best plays. I think a lot of people end up on one of these two. Mendy is a top talent at a very affordable salary while Chelsea are +120 to blank Palace and -155 to win. As for Ramsdale, Arsenal are -230 to beat Brentford and -102 to keep a clean sheet. I side with Mendy between the two.

I like Robert Sanchez ($11) and Emiliano Martinez ($12), as well. Sanchez offers good clean-sheet chances (+104) and solid win odds (-145) at a modest salary. If you use him, you could pair him with Maupay. You can say a lot of the same things for Martinez, who is -165 to win and +120 to keep a clean sheet. He can be stacked with a Villa attacker.

Added time -- Among the keepers we've yet to mention, Southampton's Fraser Forster ($10) holds the best clean-sheet odds (+210). ... Burnley's defense has taken a step back this season, but Brighton routinely struggle to score goals despite creating a good amount of chances, giving Nick Pope ($9) some appeal. ... Hugo Lloris ($7) and Angus Gunn ($6) are longshots to win or keep a clean sheet, but they will get save volume. If they can, for example, make six saves while allowing two goals, they'd total 13.0 FanDuel points, which definitely works at their salaries. They could also get toasted and finish with negative points.