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Welcome back, RotoBallers! With the first round of midweek Bundesliga games in the book, they're back to a normal weekend slate of games. Saturday features another normal 5-game slate. Bayern Munich are massive favorites, and since they have familiar names of casual DFS players, they will be uber-popular on this slate. Keep reading this breakdown for my DFS soccer picks on RotoBaller and see which non-Bayern plays can help you create some separation with your lineup!
With multiple soccer slates each week, it feels great to be back at the grind and I have been enjoying breaking down these slates for you, our loyal Rotoballer readers! If you want to chop it up with myself and other Rotoballer writers, 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 Bundesliga daily fantasy soccer lineup picks for FanDuel on 5/30/20 for the slate that locks at 8:30 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!
Bundesliga DFS Lineup Picks - Overview
Hertha Berlin vs Augsburg
Hertha Berlin (-0.5) are slight home favorites on Saturday. However, they sit right near Augsburg on the table. Hertha Berlin has been playing well since the Bundesliga returned to action. They cruised 3-0 over Hoffenheim, embarrassed their crosstown rivals 4-0, then pulled off a nice draw on the road against Leipzig 2-2. There are some decent GPP attackers from this game that you can use to fill in empty roster spots after you max out your Bayern exposure.
Wolfsburg vs Eintracht Frankfurt
Wolfsburg (-0.5) is fresh off an impressive 4-1 victory on the road against Leverkusen on Tuesday. They have an outside shot at Champions League qualification with 6 games remaining, so I expect them to be ready to go on Saturday as small home favorites. Sure, Wolfsburg have been uninspiring at home this year, but Frankfurt have the league's worst away record with only 7 points. With Wolfsburg's above-average defense at home, there are not going to be many recommended Frankfurt plays. However, Wolfsburg attackers are in a good spot here.
Schalke 04 vs Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen were one of the worst, if not the worst, teams in the league before the Coronavirus break. They have had 2 positive results since the league returned with a win over Freiburg and a draw against Monchengladbach. Now, they get a Schalke team that has not been good at all lately with three losses. Schalke (+150) is still marginally the favorite on the money line, but if there was ever a time to take a stab at Werder Bremen attackers in a GPP, it would be here.
Mainz vs Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim (+140) are favored on the money line even on the road in this match. Mainz has been poor this season as they only sit 1 point clear of the relegation zone. The 2-month break doesn't seem to have changed their play either as they have still been uninspiring lately. Mainz have allowed the most goals in the league so far, but Hoffenheim struggle to score especially on the road. It is worth noting that the goal total over/under in this game is 3.0, which is second-highest on the slate.
Bayern Munich vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
Bayern squeaked by Dortmund 1-0 in Der Klassiker on Tuesday. A lot of people figured this game would be high scoring, but it was not. However, this is a game where Bayern can make up for that with several goals. Bayern (-3.0) are enormous favorites as they take on a bottom 3 team at on their home turf. The goal total over/under is a slate-high 4.0. Stacking Bayern will be a very popular, and smart, strategy.
FanDuel DFS Forwards / Midfielders
Robert Lewandowski ($23) has been slightly underwhelming fantasy-wise in his last 3 games. He has tremendous odds to score that are highest on the slate near -600. We have seen players blow good odds near -300 recently (looking at you, Timo), but this is another level. All Bayern attackers are priced up for this matchup. Lewandowski is going to need multiple goals to be worth this price tag (or 1 goal and several other shots on target). I won't discourage anyone from playing a striker of his caliber during the season he's having, but there can be other smart ways to spend your salary.
One of those other ways is to go in on other Bayern attackers like Serge Gnabry ($19), Joshua Kimmich ($18), or even Thomas Muller ($22). We haven't seen the best of Serge yet, but a matchup against Dusseldorf, who allows 2.1 goals per game on the road, could be just what he needs to get jumpstarted. Muller costs an arm and a leg on this slate too. Sure, he'll be involved a ton in this game, but he's overpriced for a guy whose scoring is on the decline. Kimmich did score in his last game, but he has not scored a ton this season. Kingsley Coman ($16) can get you some cheaper Bayern exposure after Lewandowski/Gnabry.
Wolfsburg is in a nice matchup here when you take a closer look. They're facing a Frankfurt defense that has allowed three or more goals in all of their games since the Bundesliga returned (11 total). Wolfsburg are coming off a 4-spot against Leverkusen during the week. They beat Frankfurt 2-0 while playing half of the game with 10 men back in November. Plus, they have affordable goal scorers. Wout Weghorst ($15) leads the squad in goals this season with 11, one of which was scored against Frankfurt. He has had an awful return with just one single stat in 180 minutes.
This would be a great time to get him for cheap at super low ownership if you can stomach a seriously low floor. Renato Steffen ($17) has scored well recently with 2 goals, and Maximilian Arnold ($16) is a good play as well. Arnold has the strongest floor of the pack.
Hertha Berlin is a tough team to get right when it comes to goals. They have 7 players with more than 3 goals this season and not a single one has more than 6. Matheus Cunha ($18) has the highest xG/90 of the group, and his 5 goals have come in only 7 games since joining the team. He also leads the starters in SOT/90 at 2.0. Vedad Ibisevic ($20) leads the team in anytime scoring odds at +160 if you want to be different. Marko Grujic ($13) is a good value play. He's got four goals to his name this season, but he has also been collecting a lot of defensive peripherals which boosts his floor.
Schalke have conceded nine goals in their three games since returning. Their skid could stop this week as they face Werder Bremen, the league's lowest-scoring team. However, adding a mid-tier Werder Bremen attacker into your lineup is a big way to differentiate in hopes that Schalke's defense hasn't figured it out yet. Milot Rashica ($14) is the team's leading scorer and has the best anytime scoring odds, while Davie Selke ($11) has decent +240 odds to score what would be a crazy low-owned goal.
FanDuel DFS Defenders
Benjamin Pavard ($15) is going to keep reappearing in these articles often. Bayern as massive favorites, so he is basically going to be an additional midfielder for them to work with. He has real goal/assist upside, especially in this matchup, but he will also add in several defensive stats every game. Pavard will be a popular way for people to round out a Bayern stack especially with a clean sheet bonus likely.
Robert Skov ($15) is another elite pay-up option. He's got four goals and five assists this season. Skov also leads Hoffenheim in crosses. He now faces the defense that has given up the most goals in the league. This is as good of a time as any to dole out the cash for a top defender.
Werder Bremen defenders continue to be solid plays on this slate. They defend more than they attack in essentially every game, and that likely won't change this week. Niklas Moisander ($13) and Milos Veljkovic ($12) rack up the most defensive stats on the team and can fit nicely into most lineups.
Andre Hoffman ($11) and Mattias Zimmerman ($11) are both priority value plays on this slate. Bayern will force the Dusseldorf defense into a ton of action, and these two have done the best at accumulating defensive stats this season. If you really want deep punts, Kaan Ayhan ($9) and Adam Bodzek ($7) can both hit double digits in this matchup.
FanDuel DFS Goalkeepers
Getting the goalkeeper right has been difficult lately. It might be time to pay up for a guy like Manuel Neuer ($15) and give yourself a great chance at both the win and clean sheet bonus. A problem with that strategy on this slate is two-fold. First, his high salary will make it more difficult to stack outfield Bayern players in this matchup. Additionally, having Neuer in your lineup will limit the number of outfield Bayern players you can roster to 3 instead of 4.
Another GK to look at here is Oliver Baumann ($11). He and his Hoffenheim defense have actually conceded the fewest goals on the road this season. Hoffenheim is the third-highest favorite on the slate, plus they get a good matchup against a Mainz team that is barely scoring 1 goal per game at home.
In addition to Baumann, Koen Casteels ($11) is in a good spot, so hopefully, he can finally turn in a good performance after some inconsistent games lately.
Thanks for reading my DFS Soccer column and good luck in your contests, RotoBallers!
