UCL DFS Targets: Tuesday, November 3rd
Welcome to another week of Champions League football! With this being the reverse fixtures, we should see some teams open up their game plans a little bit and try to push towards qualification to the knockout stage of the competition. However, there will be instances where teams are still looking for a third place finish in order to move on to Europa League and try to earn European glory through the lesser club competition in Europe.
The Tuesday slate this week features a number of interesting decisions, chief among them is whether to roster Ronaldo, and where to look for value in your lineups.
Goalkeepers
Julio Cesar, Benfica $2,500 – This is the chalk play. Cesar is min-priced while being the starting goalkeeper on a heavily favored team in the Champions League. There is no excuse to not roster Cesar on your cash teams and possibly even your GPP teams, as Cesar would make a great play regardless of price; the cheap discount just makes him much more appealing.
David De Gea, Manchester United $3,700 – De Gea is in great form heading into this midweek fixture. The last goal he did concede was against this CSKA Moscow squad, but since then he’s had two matches in which he’s played well enough to earn the clean sheets. Last weekend against Crystal Palace, De Gea had five saves and was pivotal in his team’s coming away with a point from Palace on the road. This match they’ll be looking for the win to cement themselves as qualifiers from their group to the knockout stage.
Other Goalkeepers to Consider: Andriy Pyatov (Shakhtar, $4,000), Keylor Navas (Real Madrid, $3,900)
Defenders
Serge Aurier, Paris Saint Germain $3,100 – PSG are heading into the Bernabéu to take on Real Madrid. And while Madrid are a solid team and should have a relatively easy win to top the group here, Aurier does provide some promise. Aurier has averaged 4.3 tackles a game with 3.3 interceptions. Those numbers coupled with his modest cross numbers make him a great play, especially given his low price.
Marcelo, Real Madrid $4,400 – For a high end option at defender, you could go with Marcelo or with Aleksandar Kolarov (Manchester City, $4,700). I prefer the choice of Marcelo due to the difference in price and for the fact that Real Madrid should be expected to dominate this matchup at home. Marcelo will bring you crosses and may take some corner kicks too.
Marcos Rojo, Manchester United, $2,600 – Rojo is a great tackling and interception option at defense. Along with the fact that he’s recently been more involved in the Manchester United offense means he has additional value for us in fantasy. For his superbly cheap price tag, Rojo will be a staple on a good number of my teams for this slate.
Eliseu, Benfica $3,100 – Either Benfica full back is an option here, but Eliseu has more crossing potential and may have to do more defensively since he plays on the same side as Gaitan (more on him later). With more defensive responsibility, Eliseu will have more opportunities to tackle and intercept, which should pad his score nicely. Moreover, if Benfica record a clean sheet (which I think they will) he gets three added points for the clean sheet bonus.
Other Defenders To Consider: Aleksandar Kolarov (Manchester City, $4,700), Ismaily (Shakhtar Donetsk, $2,000), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid, $3,300), Alex Sandro (Juventus, $2,500)
Midfielders
Nicolas Gaitan, Benfica, $3,900 – There are plenty of players to like at midfield for this slate. Chief among them is Nicolas Gaitan for Benfica. I’ve highlighted already that Benfica are heavy favorites in this matchup against a Galatasaray team that should be overwhelmed in this matchup. Gaitan is severely underpriced for what he can accomplish with the new scoring. He is very good at drawing fouls (2.7 fouls drawn a game) and tackling (2.3 tackles per game), and he also takes the most shots for his team while crossing the ball from the wings. So far in this Champions League campaign, he has averaged 23.25 points (which was aided by scoring three goals in three games), however, at his price, you can afford to take a chance on him again this week.
Juan Cuadrado, Juventus $4,900 – Other than Pogba, nobody on this Juventus squad was helped more with the new fantasy scoring than Juan Cuadrado. Cuadrado has been playing great for Juventus this season, and while his contributions haven’t translated to many goals (he has one goal on the season), he does contribute in tackles, interceptions and crosses. He’s the type of wing player that gains the most value with the new scoring system and either he or Pogba should be a staple in your cash teams.
Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City $5,200 – With the absence of Silva and Aguero, De Bruyne has stepped up to be the focal point of the City offense. KDB touches the ball more than anybody else on that team and pushes forward, and he always has an eye on the attack. With the team playing away at Sevilla with the home team mired in 13th place, expect that City will try to attack and get three points from this matchup in order to try to keep pace with group leaders Juventus. Expect De Bruyne to get plenty of crosses, shots and have a high potential for goals and/or assists.
Davy Propper, PSV Eindhoven $3,800 – This is a game that I expect to have plenty of goals with PSV Eindhoven playing host to Wolfsburg. PSV are currently in fourth place in their group but only three points behind Wolfsburg, who are leaders. They’ll be desperate to get all three points here, especially at home where they have their only win against Manchester United. Propper is the second-highest shot taker for his team, including 1.7 from outside the box, which shows that he’s not shy to try his luck.
Other Midfielders to Consider: James Rodriguez (Real Madrid, $6,100), Yaya Toure (Manchester City, $6,000), Julian Draxler (Wolfsburg, $4,700), Paul Pogba (Juventus, $4,700), Angel Di Maria (Paris St. Germain, $7,200), Alex Teixeira (Shakhtar Donetsk, $4,100), Zoran Tosic (CSKA Moscow, $3,400), Lars Stindl (Borussia M’Gladbach, $3,700)
Forwards
Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid $10,000 – Even with the new point structure, goals are still king in daily fantasy. You can’t expect to win many games if you miss out on a goalscorer who delivers on his promise. There has been plenty of talk in the last week or so about Ronaldo potentially leaving Madrid and/or his “diminished ability”. Personally, he’s still one of the top strikers in the world at this moment and can score a hat-trick in any matchup. With PSG missing some key defenders, including Marquinhos (PSG, $2,600), look for Madrid to take control of this match and control possession. If you want to fade Ronaldo and go after a slightly cheaper option on the Madrid attack, James Rodriguez is back and at $6,100 has an affordable price. Rodriguez takes plenty of crosses and takes the majority of the corners for this Madrid team when he’s healthy. He’s a risky play though since he hasn’t played since August; however, if he plays the full 90 minutes he should be worthy if you choose to venture away from Ronaldo.
Olexandr Gladkiy, Shakhtar Donetsk $4,100 – Shakhtar are playing Malmo at home, and after losing the reverse fixture will be looking to do something different. Shakhtar have not scored a goal yet in this group and are behind Malmo on goal difference, so they would need a big win here along with counting on Malmo to receive a beatdown from RM and PSG later in the group stage; that would help them finish third in this group and move to the Europa League. Gladkiy is still a GPP play, however, and I wouldn’t put him past that for any of my teams.
Luuk De Jong, PSV Eindhoven $4,400 – PSV forwards are very underpriced for this slate, and I like any of the three forwards. PSV plays at a blistering pace, and currently, they take 19.6 shots a game in the Dutch league, which is a phenomenal pace that currently leads ALL leagues in Europe in terms of offensive firepower. Somehow that hasn’t translated to their Europe performance, but they’ve played on the road, and the only home game they played was against Manchester United, who have controlled possession very well this season. Look for De Jong along with Lestienne (PSV, $4,500) and Narsingh (PSV, $5,000) to put the pressure on the German visitors and try to get a win in what is likely to be a shootout.
Kevin Gameiro, Sevilla $3,900 – Gameiro is appealing for several reasons. He’s playing at home for a team that needs a win. He’s priced at a bargain compared to his ability. And he’s playing as the lone striker against a team that has struggled recently in keeping clean sheets. Those factors alone make Gameiro a play for me in GPPs.
Other Forwards to Consider: Jese (Real Madrid, $3,600), Anthony Martial (Manchester United, $5,800), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG, $7.900), Luciano Narsingh (PSV, $5,000), Bas Dost (Wolfsburg, $6,300), Maxime Lestienne (PSV, $4,500), Mario Mandzukic (Juventus, $6,300), Raffael (Borussia M’Gladbach, $3,900), Wilfried Bony (Manchester City, $5,300)