For the serious Fantasy Football player, The International Break has often carried a burden of tediousness, in the past. However, with companies such as our partners
Mondogoal providing Daily Fantasy Football competitions, this is a thing of the past. Instead, another opportunity arises to make use of your footballing knowledge and earn some cash prizes.
This article covers the fixtures that commence on Thursday. Some level playing-field matches appear while a few highly anticipated favourites are also thrown into the mix. Here at fplbet we take pride in offering our best tips to aid you in your quest for glory at
Mondogoal. Without further ado, here are the fixtures and our recommendations.
Thursday 8th October
Republic of Ireland vs. Germany
Scotland vs. Poland
Hungary vs. Faroe Island
N. Ireland vs. Greece
Romania vs. Finland
Albania vs. Serbia
Portugal vs. Denmark
Cleansheet Potential
The bookies are suggesting that Hungary are the favourites to secure a cleansheet. However, with their attacking potential vs. The Faroe Islands, we also advise delving into the Germany and Romania backlines to complete your defence. Other sides that are worth backing are Poland, Portugal and Republic of Ireland, as their oppositions have had trouble finding the net.
Goalkeeper Tips
The Faroe Islands have managed a higher FIFA ranking (74) than ever before this year, largely down to their unprecedented double victory over Greece. Nevertheless, the FIFA rankings are just bizarre; Belgium are currently ranked third, so they are nothing to depend upon. Taking this into account our first pick is Hungary's shot stopper
Gabor Kiraly (7.7m). His opposition, despite their rich form, are the weakest side in this slate and Hungary's defensive stubbornness; conceding just 4 goals in qualifying so far could come into play. With an average of 9 points per game on
Mondogoal, over the last 3 fixtures, the 39-year-old remains a solid choice, even if he does take to the field in what looks like Nike sweat pants!.
Our second goalkeeper pick is the imposing figure of
Manuel Neuer (7.9m). Last seasons Ballon D'or nominee is known as the number 1 keeper in world football and with this value, a high ownership on
Mondogoal is expected. Germany have won 20 of their last 23 matches in the European Championship, in which Neuer has secured back-to-back cleansheets in their last 2 away games. The Republic of Ireland will provide a stern physical test, especially with Roy Keane's involvement in training sessions, but ‘The Green Army' have always lacked initiative in front of goal. It's a big ask, but if Neuer decides to stay inside his box… his quality surpasses any keeper in this roster and a cleansheet appears inevitable.
Defender Tips
Again the majority of
Mondogoal Managers will look to the Germany defence as a route towards a cleansheet. If you decide to go down this direction, our top recommendation is
Jonas Hector (9.8m). The left-back has played every minute (720) of every match (8), in the Bundesliga this season, with 2 assists. He also holds the same number of assists for Germany; both of which came vs. Poland in September. Hector's skill set and stats, this season, are similar to what you would expect from a midfielder; 1.8 dribbles per game, fouled 1.3 times per game and completing 2 key passes per game. Joachim Loew has given the energetic fullback licence to display his attacking potential and he has certainly stepped up to the plate. Jonas Hector is the first player from FC Koln to make it into the German squad since Lukas Podolski, but if the 25-year-old continues to impress on the big stage, a deserved progression at club level looks on the horizon.
There are some great prospects available in the Hungary squad and when playing, with home advantage, against the Faroe Islands, it would be silly to say otherwise. Yes, their visitors have defeated Greece, home and away, nevertheless that's the only points they have picked up in Group F and don't exactly instil confidence, with a goal difference of -7. On the other hand, Hungary have conceded just once in their last 7 matches, in all competitions. The two players we advise considering are
Attila Fiola (7.8m) and
Tamas Kadar (6.6m). The former is a right-back who has demonstrated his reliability and consistency on
Mondogoal with an average of 7.6pts during the past 5 games. He will aim to bomb forward and assist offensively. The latter has managed a respectable 6.4pts per game on
Mondogoal, during the same 5 fixtures. Kadar reads the game intelligently, which is highlighted by his 14 interceptions in qualifying thus far. Both players are odds on to bag a fifth cleansheet in six games.
To round up our defender tips we are backing another duo, this time from Romania. ‘The Tricolours' have now gone 6 competitive matches without conceding, shipping just a single goal in Group F. We propose two alternatives; a consistent points scorer at a reasonable price,
Razvan Rat (7.3m) or a Baragin Buy,
Paul Papp (4.8m), who will free up some cash for the likes of Ronaldo and Lewandowski. Rat has a brilliant points per game average of 8.2 on
Mondogoal, throughout qualifying, and has showcased his dependability with 105 caps and the captains armband for his country. Papp was the hero after scoring a quick-fire brace vs. Republic of Ireland in 2014 and offers less consistency, but more of a goal threat than his counterpart. Excluding his 20.35pts against Ireland, Papp has managed an acceptable 6pts per game on
Mondogoal in his past 4 fixtures.
Attacking Potential
Having taken a look at the bookies odds the outright favourites to score big tonight are Hungary, so stacking up on their attacking options appears a smart move. Other sides to keep an eye on are Germany, Poland and Romania. We advise steering clear of the N. Ireland vs. Greece contest due to both sides reluctance to score more than a single goal per game.
Midfielder Tips
Moving onto the midfield and the player that stood out for us, taking into account the fixture, was
Balazs Dzsudzsak (7.8m). The Hungarian skipper has scored 17 goals in 71 appearances for his country and is, without doubt, their most valuable asset. Dzsudzsak's stats in the Super Lig complement the
Mondogoal scoring system well; per game he attempts 2.3 shots, makes 2.3 key passes and is fouled 2 times. Dzsudzsak is also the designated penalty taker and if you have seen the winger in action, during his Ajax days, you will not be surprised to find he's also a freekick specialised. The 28-year-old possesses a wicked shot and shows fanastic technique when hitting across the ball. Dzsudzsak will look to exploit space behind the Faroe Island's right-back, before using his acceleration to leave him for dead. During a recent friendly vs. Lithuania, Dzsudzsak was directly involved in every goal; scoring 1 and assisting 3, this emphasizes his importance to the side and also his explosiveness; which is vital to score big on
Mondogoal.
It is always a tough decision to select a Germany midfielder, there are numerous world class options and the wrong choice could leave you stranded on
Mondogoal. For now we have narrowed it down to two;
Mesut Ozil (11.8m) and
Mario Gotze (10.6m). The pair are in tantalizing form at club level, both with a goal and assist in their last matches, versus in-form opposition; Man Utd and Dortmund. Ozil is producing more key passes per game (4.4) than any player in Europe, but he did not feature in the first encounter with Ireland, in which they drew 1-1. Joachim Loew is a big admirer of the Arsenal man; he is one of the first names on the team-sheet and will dictate the play tonight. As Pep Guardiola once said “"Mesut Özil is the dangerous one - he's the one to keep the closest eye on.” Gotze brings a different dimension for
Mondogoal, he will play more advanced than his countryman and is favourite to fulfill the false number 9 role. The baby-faced forward has had no trouble finding the net during qualifying with 3 goals. Let's hope Joachim Loew gives another inspirational word in his ear before kick off… just like the old times.
To continue the trend of Hungary, Germany and Romania, we recommend
Gabriel Torge (3.9m) as an enabler. The winger has been in terrific form, as of late, with 4 assists and 2 goals in the opening 7 games of Super Lig. The majority of
Mondogoal managers will throw their money at
Alexandru Maxim (8m) and in our opinion, that's throwing it away needlessly. Despite being half the price, Torge is in better form and a guaranteed starter. Maxim was dropped for Romania's last match vs. Greece and his club form suggests that he still needs time to rediscover his form. Another reason to go for Torge is that his stats all point towards scoring big on
Mondogoal. Per game on average, this season, he manages 2.7 key passes, 2.7 shots, 1.7 dribbles and has won 1.6 fouls. These figures would be suitable for an 8m+ midfielder, let alone 3.9m- overall an absolute bargain package.
Forward Tips
The obvious forward to begin with is
Cristiano Ronaldo (20.7m). He is the highest priced player on show and to put this into perspective he is five times more expensive than our final midfield pick! What can we say, everybody knows just about everything about the man and, for this reason, he will feature in most peoples
Mondogoal team. Despite this being the Portuguese's worst goal scoring start (5) to a season in five years, he is still joint top-scorer in La Liga. Ronaldo will enter the field with fire in his belly, not just to put things straight, but also to demonstrate that he can fulfill the limelight, in which Lionel Messi has departed. A big night for Ronaldo and at this price, nothing more than 20pts+ will be sufficient on
Mondogoal.
Another forward who will have extremely high ownership on
Mondogoal, espeically with 12 goals in his last 4 matches is
Robert Lewandowski (15.9m). Poland's captain, target man and talisman comes up against a Scotland side, who need the 3 points. This could work to the striker's advantage, as space becomes available… and we all know that he can and will punish ANY side when afforded time on the ball, so Grant Hanley and Russell Martin will not intimidate Lewandowski in the slightest. Although Lewandowski grabs the headlines his strike partner
Arkadiusz Milik (7.8m) is also a major threat. The 21-year-old is a clever player who will play just off Lewandowski. He shows great awareness and with all the attention on his strike partner, Milik will recognise that chances could be presented for him on a plate.
To complete our European Qualification article, we again forage into Germany's luxurious squad to pluck out a forward. However, there is only one choice, who stands head and shoulders above his fellow countryman and that is
Thomas Muller (15.6m). We were discussing last night that he's got to be one of the most unique, yet odd forwards in World Football; know one can state his favoured position, he doesn't seem to excel in any particular area, but nevertheless he is World Class and irreplaceable for both Germany and Bayern. For
Mondogoal, Muller's consistency is a huge factor, during his last 3 international matches he has managed an outrageous 19.3 points per game. The amount of times you will be stubborn enough to not select him on
Mondogoal, just for him to come back and bite you, with a 20pts+ score, is unbelievable. I can say this from experience after all, so don't let it happen to you and get Muller into your side as soon as possible.
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