The UEFA EURO 2020 tournament begins Saturday, with Wales and Switzerland kicking off the matchday. Later on, Denmark hosts Finland and Belgium visits Russia in the last fixture of the day.
Below you’ll find odds, set-piece takers for each team, and roster construction strategies for Saturday’s DraftKings soccer slate.
The DraftKings main contest is a $20 entry with $100k going to first place + King of the Cup entry.
Matches
9 a.m. ET: Wales vs. Switzerland
12 p.m. ET: Denmark vs. Finland
3 p.m. ET: Belgium vs. Russia
Odds report
Wales (+290), Switzerland (+115)
Total: 1.75 ; both teams to score: (+125)
Denmark (-250), Finland (+800)
Total: 2.25 ; both teams to score: (+162)
Belgium (-130), Russia (+425)
Total: 2.25 ; both teams to score: (-110)
Clean sheet
Denmark: 60%
Switzerland: 48%
Belgium: 45%
Wales: 33%
Russia: 22%
Finland: 20%
Anytime goal odds (Top 10)
Romelu Lukaku (-105)
Artem Dzyuba (+162)
Christian Eriksen (+162)
Jonas Wind (+162)
Andreas Cornelius (+187)
Kasper Dolberg (+187)
Martin Braithwaite (+200)
Haris Seferovic (+225)
Eden Hazard (+225)
Gareth Bale (+250)
Set-piece takers
Wales:
Daniel James
Harry Wilson
Penalty taker: Gareth Bale
Switzerland:
Ricardo Rodriguez
Xherdan Shaqiri
Penalty taker: Ricardo Rodriguez
Denmark:
Christian Eriksen
Mathias Jensen
Penalty taker: Christian Eriksen
Finland:
Robin Lod
Robert Taylor
Onni Valakari
Penalty taker: Teemu Pukki
Belgium:
Kevin De Bruyne — OUT
Yannick Carrasco
Dries Mertens
Penalty taker: Romelu Lukaku
Russia:
Aleksandr Golovin
Daler Kuzyaev
Penalty taker: Artem Dzyuba
Cash core
M: Christian Eriksen ($8,200)
M: Yannick Carrasco ($7,500)
D: Ricardo Rodriguez ($5,900)
Eriksen will be the most popular player in cash games and maybe the entire slate. He has almost full control of Denmark’s set-pieces including penalties and his team is the biggest favorite. This game will also be in Copenhagen which gives the Danes the home-field advantage. Lock him in.
Kevin De Bruyne is Belgium’s majority set-piece taker, but he’ll miss Saturday’s match against Russia due to a facial injury. This means Carrasco and/or Dries Mertens will take over corners and direct free-kicks. Carrasco took most of the sets in Belgium’s last two friendlies, so based on that he’s my preferred play.
Rodriguez has a share of set-pieces and takes penalties for the Swiss who are favored against Wales. He’s also a defender which makes him eligible for the clean sheet bonus.
Below I’ll go over my preferred cash plays at each position.
Forward
Romelu Lukaku ($9,900), Dries Mertens ($8,600), Yussuf Poulsen ($6,100)
Lukaku will be highly owned in GPP, but I expect him to popular in cash as well. Yes, he’s fairly goal-dependent, however, he has the best goal odds and a really good matchup against a Russian team that’s expected to bunker. You’re essentially playing him for a goal or more, but he does have a floor. In Belgium’s last friendly he took six shots with four of those hitting the target.
Mertens could have some sets as I stated above, and he’ll be in an attacking role just behind Lukaku.
Poulsen is the cheapest option who is expected to start in the pool. He doesn’t offer a whole lot in attack, but paying for the least expensive forward on the biggest favorite isn’t the worst choice.
Midfield
Aleksandr Golovin ($7,000), Daniel James ($5,500), Mathias Jensen ($5,200), Daler Kuzyaev ($4,000)
Golovin has a decent floor thanks to his shot output and role on set-pieces. Although, he may not get many corners or free kicks against Belgium. Russia will have their home crowd behind them which could give the motivation to attack their opponents who do have an aging defense. His teammate Kuzyaev has taken some corners in the past, so he could be an alternative to Golovin if he starts.
I consider the Wales/Swiss match to be a pick ‘em despite what the odds say. I believe that both sides will have equal opportunities in attack which means a player like James, who has a large role on set-pieces, is in play. He can easily hit value at his price.
Rostering Jensen with Eriksen will give you complete coverage of Denmark’s set-pieces. He doesn’t normally have a role on dead balls, but he split with Eriksen in their last match against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Defender
Thomas Meunier ($5,300), Kevin Mbabu ($5,200), Yuri Zhirkov ($3,800), Jukka Raitala ($2,800)
Belgium uses their wing-backs in the attack, which makes Meunier viable here. The Red Devils will be on the front foot for most of the match which will put him in positions to cross and shoot.
Similar to Belgium, the Swiss also play a system where they deploy wing-backs. Mbabu should be on the right side and he’s an attack-minded defender. In his last World Cup qualifying appearance, he spent a large part of the match in the attacking half of the pitch and put in 4 crosses.
Rodriguez is by far my favorite pay-up option from the defender pool. I think you can pay down at one spot, but if you want to add another high-priced piece at the back then Meunier and Mbabu are your guys.
Zhirkov and Raitala could both finish the match with 2-3 points or worse, but that’s what you get for cheap, underdog full-backs.
GPP exposure
Belgium (Lukaku, Carrasco, Mertens, Dendoncker, Tielemans)
Denmark (Eriksen, Dolberg, Wind)
Russia (Dzyuba, Miranchuk)
Finland (Pukki)
Goalkeeper considerations
Yann Sommer ($5,100) — Win/clean sheet upside
Kasper Schmeichel ($5,800) — Win/clean sheet upside
Danny Ward ($4,300) — Save upside
