Week 2 of the Champions League is upon us and with some exciting fixtures; Fantasy Football managers are left licking their lips. Will a Messi-less Barcelona deliver, will Arsenal continue to frustrate in Europe, or maybe another Lewandowski show.
Here at Fplbet we handpick our best bets, bargain buys & differential picks for tonight's Champions League fixtures. Our aim is to assist you in your quest towards banking the big bucks on
Mondogoal… So let's cut to the chase; the stage is set, let the games begin.
All prices and daily competitions are provided by our partners Mondogoal.
Tuesday 29th September Fixtures
(All matches kick-off at 7:45pm)
Barcelona vs. Bayern Leverkusen
BATE Borisov vs. Roma
Bayern Munich vs. Dynamo Zagreb
Arsenal vs. Olympiakos
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Dynamo Kyiv
FC Porto vs. Chelsea
Lyon vs. Valencia
Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Gent
Cleansheet Potential
The outright favourites to keep a cleansheet in week 2 are last year's Semi-Finalists Bayern Munich. Followed by a strong trio of Barcelona, Arsenal and Zenit St. Petersburg. We will base our recommendations loosely around these findings.
Goalkeeper Tips
To kick things off our first tip is none other than Ballon d'or nominee
Manuel Neuer (7.5m). This was an easy decision, which is rare in Daily Fantasy Football, but taking his price, fixture and form into account he is our number 1 choice between the sticks. Bayern Munich have secured 3 cleansheets in their last 4 matches and despite the fact Dynamo Zagreb are on a 45-match unbeaten streak, they shouldn't prove much of a handful for a Guardiola side. A safe pair of hands on
Mondogoal.
For a backup keeper, we advise
Oleksandr Shovkovskiy (7.9m). Dynamo Kyiv have 5 wins in their last 6 matches domestically. Shovkovskiy has recently displaced Rybka as the regular first choice and with back-to-back cleansheets he looks to be staying there. Their opposition Maccabi Tel Aviv were toothless vs. Chelsea and to be frank, we cannot see them scoring more than a single goal against the 14-time Ukrainian Champions. Don't expect too many save points on
Mondogoal, but a cleansheet looks on the cards.
Defender Tips
Bayern Munich vs. Dynamo Zagreb is perhaps the biggest mismatch on show tonight; therefore we are inclined to include one of their defenders.
David Alaba (14m) is the premium option, but due to his extraordinary price for a player currently playing at centre-back, we feel that
Juan Bernat (10.9m) is the best bet. With a points per game average of 10.83 on
Mondogoal, it's not hard to see why we recommend the Spaniard. Due to Pep Guardiola's unique formation, which allows almost complete freedom for fullbacks, Bernat is more or less deployed as a left midfielder. His stats back this up; during Bayern's Champions League opener the 22-year-old won 2 fouls, made 3 interceptions, 3 tackles and attempted 2 dribbles. If he can add a cleansheet to his ‘high floor' then a big
Mondogoal score will follow.
Onto our second pick; he's a Brazilian, he's a right-back, he's called Danilo… but wait a minute, Real Madrid are not playing tonight! In fact, it's Dynamo Kyiv's
Danilo Silva (6.4m). Danilo is an athletic fullback who enjoys roaming forward and whipping in dangerous crosses and is seen making Lampard-esque late runs into the box on occasion. In the 2014/15 campaign, Danilo managed 7 assists in 9 matches, during a spell of rich form that highlights his offensive capabilities and a reason in itself to consider selecting him on your side. Being relatively unknown to the majority of
Mondogoal managers, combined with Kyiv's high chance of securing a cleansheet, Danilo appears a superb differential.
Attacking Potential
Looking back at the bookies odds and it's again Bayern Munich who lead the market for scoring potential. Other sides to keep an eye on are Arsenal, Roma, Dynamo Kyiv and Zenit St. Petersburg. We will concentrate our midfield and forward tips on these clubs, while chucking in a couple of differentials.
Midfield Tips
Moving onto midfield and the first name on our list is
Mohamed Salah (11m). The ex-Chelsea winger has been in great form, as of late, with 3 goals in his last 3 appearances. Roma appeared a well-drilled side during their 1-1 stalemate with Barcelona, a fortnight ago and this will have given them a huge confidence boost. They will not be afraid to bring the game to their hosts, BATE Borisov, therefore we expect Salah to have a central role. The Egyptian's style of play suits
Mondogoal's scoring system perfectly. On average this season Salah has attempted 3.8 dribbles per game (third highest in Serie A), meaning he is prone to being fouled… and who doesn't love a ‘foul magnet' on
Mondogoal.
At the same price
Miralem Pjanic (11m) provides a selection headache. If you prefer a more explosive player, who will run at defenders, take risks and shoot on sight, then go for Salah. On the other hand, if you want a player who offers more of a creative output, through defence-splitting through balls and patient build-up play then place your faith in Pjanic. The latter has double-figure totals in his last 2 fixtures on
Mondogoal and has always been a consistently high scorer in the game. We expect Roma to win comfortably, so both players are worth mentioning.
Next up is Arsenal's exceptionally talented, yet heavily criticised figure of
Mesut Ozil (10.9m). In peak form, he is undoubtedly one of the best number 10's on the planet and you don't lose that ability overnight. In our opinion, the criticism is harsh and he will prove the doubters wrong this season. The Germany International makes more key passes per game (4.8) than any other player in Europe and is now aiming to improve his scoring credentials “I think now and then I need to become a bit more selfish; then I'd definitely score more goals.” The intelligent playmaker was directly involved in 4 of Arsenal's 5 goals vs. Leicester, on Saturday, so Arsene and
Mondogoal owners will be looking for a similar output tonight.
Looking for a bargain buy who has sneaked under the
Mondogoal radar, then
Denis Garmash (5.2m) could be your man. The midfielder was Kyiv's top performer in their group opener vs. Porto when played in the hole behind Moraes. The 25-year-old was in the thick of the action making 4 tackles, attempting 5 dribbles and having a shot on goal on 3 occasions. If Garmash can come up with this productivity against the Portugese Champions, then just think of the mayhem he can cause vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv. Well rested for this match and coming in with such great value and differential potential, Garmash is definitely worth a look.
Forward Tips
Zenit St. Petersburg are a strong unit, especially when playing at home and facing a Genk side who finished a fortnight ago with 9 men on the field, are outright favourites. The player in this fixture who stood out like a sore thumb and will perhaps be the highest owned
Mondogoal forward in this slate is
Hulk (17.8m). Messi's huge price tag is no longer a concern, yet Hulk is doing his best to continue this annoyance, valued just 1.7m cheaper. It's safe to say that the sturdy Brazilian is Zenit's ‘main man' and is relied upon heavily to spark things into life. Andre Villas-Boas has utilised Hulk in a similar fashion to how he managed Bale at Tottenham. He freed up Bale during his breakthrough season and now Hulk is reaping the benefits of this fluid setup. The 29-year-old has no restraints and is encouraged to roam into space; this is underlined by his stats this season. Per game, Hulk has taken more shots (6) than any player in Europe, barring Ronaldo. Is ranked seventh in dribbles attempted per game (4) and is ranked 8th for key passes per game (3.4). Taking all of this into account and the fact Zenit are hosting the minnows of their group, Genk, Hulk is a the ‘Must Have' forward on
Mondogoal.
Arsenal scored 5 goals on Saturday with Alexis Sanchez (9.3m) grabbing his first hat-trick in England. As a Mondogoal forward his side's defensive frailties are not a problem and it's safe to say Sanchez is Arsenal's biggest threat in the goal-scoring department. In all competitions this season the Chilean on average is fouled 3 times per game (0.5pts for each on Mondogoal), attempts 3.7 shots (0.5pts for each on Mondogoal). Up until Saturday, 3 goals in 3 shots, his conversion rate has been awful, but now the robust winger is off the mark and his motivation is sky high, to match or better his 19 goals from last season. Be aware that Alexis defines defending from the front and often gives away needless fouls, however, we predict him to win a lot more. Their visitors have conceded 2 goals or more in 7 of their last 8 Champions League games, so we are backing Sanchez to help continue this trend.
5 goals in 9 minutes, 11 goals in his last 6 appearances… Is there anything else we need to say about Robert Lewandowski (14.5m). The Bayern Munich talisman reminded the footballing community that anything can happen and after coming on as a second-half substitute at 1-nil down, to score 5 goals in 9 minutes, he has most definitely achieved that. As we mentioned earlier and looking at the bookies odds, Bayern are the clear favourites to score big tonight and if anyone will be sniffing around the 6-yard box searching for a goal, our money would be on the Polish International. The Bundesliga does not feature on Mondogoal, but looking back at Lewandowski's international form, he has plucked up an incredible points per game average of 25.9 on Mondogoal, in his last three fixtures. If you really cannot afford him and want to take a gamble on one of his cheaper teammates then we recommend Douglas Costa (6.6m). The Brazilian winger is a brilliant alternative, with 3 assists in his last 3 appearances.
