Thursday's early UEL slate on DraftKings runs eight games: RBS @ AND, OL @ RSO, BOU @ ACS, JAG @ LEV, PLZ @ LSK, TSG @ CRY, FTC @ MIL and OMO @ NEC. The salary cap is $50,000, and the slate locks at 12:45 p.m. ET (9:45 a.m. PT).
Two midfielders lead our model's ranking. Tjaronn Chery (NEC) costs $10,300 with a ceiling of 34.4 and a DraftKings average of 22.4. Yeremy Pino (CRY) is the priciest of the group at $11,200, with a ceiling of 34.0 and an average of 20.3. Sergio Gomez (RSO) is the best defender on the board at $7,700, with a ceiling of 29.1 and an average of 20.8. Keito Nakamura (OL) adds a forward option at $9,900 and a 29.8 ceiling.
The value plays are where this slate gets interesting. Veljko Birmancevic (FTC) is just $4,700, yet he carries a 25.8 ceiling and a 22.4 DraftKings average, the same as Chery's. Ali Maamar (AND) costs only $4,000 and averages 22.1, with a ceiling of 24.5. Both free up real salary for the expensive spots.
The crowd will be heavy on the top names. Pino is projected at 42% ownership, Adrien Rabiot at 40% and Chery at 38%. Nakamura sits at 37% and Cisse (MIL) at 35%. Birmancevic is projected at only 17% and Maamar at 14%, so anyone looking to separate from the field can find that edge in the cheap midfielders.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,900 of the $50,000 cap. It starts up top with F Reinaldo ($6,300) and F Goncalo Guedes ($6,400), then adds M Yeremy Pino ($11,200) and M Veljko Birmancevic ($4,700). The back line is D Zachary Athekame ($4,300) and D Sergio Gomez ($7,700), with GK Thomas Kaminski ($4,000) and UTIL Josimar Alcocer ($5,300) completing the build.
Get your lineups set before the 12:45 p.m. ET lock.
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