FanDuel Soccer: EPL DFS Helper for 1/14/23

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

Slate Overview

West Ham (+175) at Wolves (+165)
Over 2.5 Goals: +120 | Most Likely to Score: Cunha (+230)

Liverpool (+110) at Brighton (+230)
Over 2.5 Goals: -178 | Most Likely to Score: Salah (+150)

Southampton (+230) at Everton (+125)
Over 2.5 Goals: +114 | Most Likely to Score: Calvert-Lewin (+170)

Leicester City (+165) at Nottingham Forest (+165)
Over 2.5 Goals: -104 | Most Likely to Score: Vardy (+150)

Bournemouth (+420) at Brentford (-155)
Over 2.5 Goals: -120 | Most Likely to Score: Toney (+110)

Positional Breakdown
Forwards/Midfielders

Brentford are the side I'm most into on this slate. The betting numbers back it up. The Bees are -155 moneyline favorites over Bournemouth and are -143 to score at least two goals -- both of which are slate-best marks.

The status of Ivan Toney ($22; +110 anytime goal odds) is a big thing to watch. Unfortunately, Brentford play in the late match, so we may not know Toney's status prior to all of the other games locking. If Toney is able to play, he's one of the slate's premier options. If Toney sits, Yoane Wissa ($10; +200) would likely take his place in the forward line next to Bryan Mbeumo ($15; +220). Wissa has the Bees' second-best goal odds and offers a lot of cap relief. Mbeumo is a quality option regardless of Toney's status, and he'd likely be less popular if Toney suits up.

The other go-to spot on this slate is the Brighton-Liverpool match. It is a slate-leading -178 to go over 2.5 goals.

Liverpool are -138 to score at least twice, and Mohamed Salah ($21; +155) has the Reds' top goal odds. While Salah is always capable of a slate-breaking performance, I'll mostly be off him on Saturday. The lack of great high-salary options on this slate -- especially if Toney is out -- will likely lead to Salah being chalk, and I'm not sure I want to swallow that chalk in a difficult matchup versus a Brighton side that has conceded the seventh-fewest expected goals (xG), per FBRef.

I prefer to get my Liverpool exposure through Darwin Nunez ($20; +160) or Cody Gakpo ($19; +210). Nunez has missed a boatload of chances this season, but if he keeps getting into good areas -- as he has -- the goals will come. But Nunez is a fitness question mark, which could force Liverpool to rely even more on Gakpo, their new signing. This would be Gakpo's EPL debut if he gets in the lineup. We saw at the World Cup what he can do, and he was lively in the FA Cup last time out.

On the Brighton side, they continue to be a tough team to target in DFS because it's hard telling where their goals will come from. But they should be able to generate chances versus a Liverpool side that hasn't kept a clean sheet since returning to play after the World Cup. Brighton are listed at +120 to net two-plus goals.

Evan Ferguson ($14; +200) paces Brighton in goal odds and comes at an easy-to-like salary. He's projected to start at striker, according to WhoScored. Kaoru Mitoma ($10; +370), Alexis Mac Allister ($15; +550) and Solly March ($14; +900) are expected to play behind Ferguson.

Things are wide open after that. I mean, wiiiide open. The three other matches are fairly even affairs, and none of the sides in those games are better than +140 to score at least two goals.

Among players in those matches, Dominic Calvert-Lewin ($16; +170) and Jamie Vardy ($14; +150) are my priorities.

DCL gets a home matchup with Southampton. It's an important fixture for both sides as the Saints and Toffees are firmly in the relegation scrap this campaign. Calvert-Lewin has solid goal odds and a modest salary.

As for Vardy, he isn't a lock to start, but if he's in there for Leicester, I think he can have a good day at Forest. Forest have permitted the second-most goals in the league, and Leicester just generated 1.7 xG against Fulham in their last league match. The Foxes can net a couple if they're on their game.

Added time -- The goal odds aren't there for James Ward-Prowse ($16; +490), but he's a much more appealing +195 to score or assist. His set-piece duties give him extra chances to amass fantasy points. ... Matheus Cunha ($12; +230) is a bet-on-talent pick against a struggling West Ham side. Cunha looked good off the bench at Anfield in FA Cup action last time out. ... Morgan Gibbs-White ($15; +400) is having a nice campaign for Forest, and he can take advantage of a Foxes defense that has shipped six goals over three matches since the restart.

Defenders

I normally save salary at defender in order to get the high-salary attackers I want. Given the makeup of this slate, that's not as much of a priority for me on Saturday, which means I'm more open than usual to trying to find the coin for Trent Alexander-Arnold ($13) and/or Andrew Robertson ($12).

Liverpool's star full-backs could thrive in what may turn into an open and attacking game against Brighton. It helps that they're both down a bit in salary from where they usually are. They're each +210 to score/assist, and I love them as a stacking partner with Nunez if he's able to play.

James Tarkowski ($14) doesn't offer the attacking upside that Trent and Robertson do, but he's averaging more FanDuel points per game (16.9) than either of them. A home matchup with Southampton gives him a decent shot at the clean-sheet bonus as the Toffees are +185 to blank the Saints, and he should be in for a solid amount of defensive actions, per usual.

Bournemouth's Marcos Sensei ($10) is a fine play, as well. His FanDuel outputs have been trending in the wrong direction, but prior to his past two outings, he'd scored in double-digits in nine of his previous 10 appearances. Playing at Brentford, Sensei figures to be busy, and he'd actually benefit from Toney playing as that would require Sensei to do more aerial work.

Added time -- Timothy Castagne ($12) offers some attacking upside (+470 to score/assist) in Leicester's matchup at Forest. He's produced double-digit FanDuel points in five straight and can be stacked with a Leicester attacker (preferably Vardy if Vardy starts). ... Vitaliy Mykolenko ($10) is +410 to score/assist and will have chances to push forward at home versus Southampton. He and DCL are a modest-salaried stack that could hit. ... If you want to punt, Jack Stacey ($7) and Levi Colwill ($7) are the lowest-salaried expected starters, and with both playing for underdogs, they will likely be busy defensively.

Goalies

Goalie is going to read a lot like the start of the attackers section -- Brentford is the place to be. David Raya ($13) carries the best win (-155) and clean-sheet (+140) odds in a nice matchup with the Cherries, and the salary isn't bad at all.

However, you can talk yourself into Raya, and you can talk yourself out of him. On one hand, Bournemouth haven't scored in four of their last five matches in all competitions. On the other hand, Brentford have kept only one clean sheet over their past seven EPL matches. Ultimately, this is a great spot for Raya to get a clean-sheet win, and Brentford should be able to mostly mute the Cherries' attack.

Jordan Pickford ($12) checks a few boxes. He's always scary because of how shoddy Everton have been this season. With that said, a home date with Southampton is a fairly soft matchup. As such, Pickford is +185 to keep a clean sheet, the second-best odds on the slate, as well as a serviceable +125 to win. I like the idea of stacking him with Calvert-Lewin.

Jose Sa ($11) and Lukasz Fabianski ($11) have some appeal in the Wolves-West Ham match. They're both +200 to keep a clean sheet. Admittedly, I have zero feel for how that match will go. I could see it being a slog where neither keeper is worked that much, and I could also see the game opening up and each keeper being pretty busy, giving them upside via save volume.

Added time -- This slate doesn't have any top-class keepers outside of Alisson ($12), yet Alisson probably won't be that popular. He shouldn't be, either, given Liverpool's form and their +250 clean-sheet odds. But Alisson makes sense as a GPP play who is capable of putting forth an elite display. ... Southampton's Gavin Bazunu ($8) is a fun low-salary dart. Everton's attack has been brutal, netting only 14 goals in 18 matches. Bazunu has an outside shot at a clean sheet (+260), and the Saints' defense is bad enough that he'll surely offer respectable save volume, too.