K-LEAGUE DFS SLATE 

May 16th, 2020, lock is at 1 AM EST

With the recent success I (@YaBoySavage_) have been having playing K-League DFS (Korean Soccer), a tweet was posted on Simple Slates Twitter (@SimpleSlates) that if it gets 25 likes, I would post a free write up on this Saturday’s K-League Slate.

Now I would first like to start this off by saying no, I am not a religious K-League fan, last weekend was the first time in my entire life I had watched Korean soccer aside from the national team in the World Cup. However, I am a huge soccer fan, I have been following soccer since 2014, so when it comes to knowing who to roster in DFS, with the right research, crafting a lineup is rather ‘simple’. I think a big reason that roster creation is quite easy is due to soccer being similar to basketball. 

 

MATCHUPS AND SPREADS

There are three games on this Saturday’s K-League slate: Busan IPark vs. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Sangju Sangmu vs. Gangwon, and Daegu vs. Pohang Steelers. 

The first thing I did when constructing lineups last weekend was find the spreads for each game. With that said, I did the exact same for this Saturday’s slate. There is only one true favorite, and it is a heavy one to say the least, and that is the Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. They are -161 favorites over Busan IPark. From what I noticed last weekend, taking the goalkeeper from the heavy favorite is by far the safest lock for a clean sheet. A clean sheet is when your team’s goalkeeper does not allow a goal. There is a +5 bonus to your goal keeper if he manages to not give up a goal as well as a +3 bonus to all defenders on that team. The other two games don’t have a distinct favorite, but, Gangwon FC is only +106 against Sangju, and if they keep at the pace they are playing, they will surely be a top three team in the K-League this season (Gangwon won their last game 3-1 opposed to Sangju losing 4-0). 

 

LINEUP CONSTRUCTION

The worst part about K-League DFS is the up keeping of it. Unfortunately, teams do not put their starting lineups out until 30 minutes before kickoff. This means you have to stay up all night to make sure everyone you expect to start, is starting. I ran into this problem a few times last week, but after keeping track of who played the full 90 minutes, I now have a better idea of who is going to start. 

 

FAVORITE STACKS

 

Hyundai Motors

I briefly touched on lineup construction in the ‘Matchups and Spreads’ sub section, as I brought up the rostering of goalkeeper’s on the heavy favorite. That is exactly what I will be looking to do this week, as I am going to be heavily coring Beom-keun Song, of the Hyundai Motors. Busan did not score a goal in their opener last week against the Steelers, and a big reason for that could be them being such a young team. Their lack of experience could make stacking defense from the Motors huge. To further increase this stack, pairing Song with one of the two wing backs on the team, either Jin-su Kim or Yong Lee is highly recommended. That way, if the clean sheet holds strong, you will not only receive the +5 bonus from your keeper, but also an additional +3 from either of the wing backs. An additional piece to add to the dominant Motors stack is K-Leagues reigning MVP, Kim Bo-kyung. He is the key vessel in the midfield for the Motors and will be looking to take advantage of a young Busan defense. 

 

Gangwon FC

Gangwon dominated FC Seoul last weekend 3-1, however, two of their three goals came in the final five minutes of regulation. The truth of the matter is though, if Gangwon can turn up the aggression in the final five minutes of the game, who knows how many goals they could score if they start like that out of the gate. I want to be on the plus side of that, so having some sort of equity in their midfield or forwards is a must. The lead striker for Gangwon is Seung-dae Kim, who contributed to the 3-1 win with an assist, and a goal of his own. He also recorded two crosses as well, in his 90 minutes of playing. With Seung being the key focal point for attacking, he is a great price to have in any lineup this week, especially going against a team who just conceded four goals. Another key player for Gangwon would be midfield Yeong-jae Lee, who recorded seven crosses this past weekend. Crosses are crucial for DFS as they are worth .7 points each and can lead to possible goals to also add on some points for an assist. Unfortunately, Lee didn’t record an assist, but with him being the key setup guy in the middle, with that much volume in crosses, it’s only a matter of time before one of his passes leads to a goal.

 

Daegu

Daegu drew against Incheon United this past weekend, 0-0, but they have the fire power up front to really do some damage. They are going up against the Steelers this weekend, who are coming into this game with some momentum after beating Busan 2-0, but even with that win, they are still more of a dog in this matchup than Daegu (Steelers +200 opposed to Daegu +139). The Steelers looked good against a young Busan team, but now they face a much harder challenge against Daegu. Daegu has an attack lead by Ceshina in the midfield and Edgar up top. They both played 90 minutes this past weekend, and it is looking like they both will be doing the same this Saturday. Ceshina provides so much equity in the entire offense of Daegu, as he was in charge of all of the set pieces (free kicks, corners, etc.). That allowed him to tally up 12 crosses. With Edgar being the leading attack on the team, and Ceshina being the setup guy, a connection from the two will be made at some point this season, so stacking them together is just a win win. 

 

LET’S CRUSH IT

Hoping to have lightning strike three times in a row for K-League DFS and to have you guys on board. We cannot wait for sports in America to get back rolling so we can get back to winning again together but for the time being, let’s have some fun with some Korean soccer.