Welcome to our Euro Fantasy Tips for Matchday 2 article where we'll be analysing possible transfers, defensive strategy and captaincy rotation. As usual we'll be using recent form and the bookies odds to back up our opinions.
Matchday 1 was full of lessons for EuroFantasy managers and one thing that stood out to the @fplbet team was how prominent points from defenders were. Only 5 of 24 teams scored more than one goal, 58.33% of fixtures were goalless at H/T and 7 teams kept a clean sheet.
Due to the lack of goals scored by teams, we think that optimising defensive rotation and factoring in defenders to your captain strategy could prove a shrewd move in Matchday 2. After all, a clean sheet is worth the same amount of points to a defender as a goal is to a striker.
As usual, the opening day of a tournament arrived with it's fair share of surprises and multiple managers will have no doubt suffered due to one of their defenders not starting. To name a few, Hector Bellerin (ESP) and Jason Denayer (BEL) seem out of favour whereas Lorik Cana (ALB) and Aleksandar Dragovic (AUT) received red cards in their opening matches and will serve suspensions.
When chasing a clean sheet, the most logical way in Euro Fantasy is to carefully plan your rotations. As we previously mentioned the slate has been condensed into four days, rather than five, which lessens the possible amount of rotation.
Let's take a look at which teams, play on which days. The five teams which the bookies rank the highest have been made bold.
If you're considering transferring out a defender this week, then your best bet is to combine both our clean sheet odds table and defensive rotations table.
Use the defensive rotations table to see which days your defenders play on, whichever day has least is the day that you should bring your replacement in from. For example, if you're looking to transfer out Bellerin and have no defenders playing on day two, look towards ENG, WAL, UKR, NOI, GER, POL for a replacement.
Only Dimitri Payet managed to tally up a goal and assist in Matchday 1, elsewhere, we were dealt with a sea of 6 pointers from attacking players. However, several defenders managed to keep a clean sheet whilst also tallying goals and/or assists.
Therefore, we've decided to restructure our captaincy rotation table to include two attacking and two defensive picks from each day.
If you would like to hear more information about our captain picks for each day then head over to our Captain Tips For Matchday 2 article on Bet4TheBest.
A change in the slate:
Matchday 1 was spread across five days which included an opening day with one fixture and day five with two fixtures. Matchday 2 will be spread across four days, with three fixtures on each day kicking off at 14:00, 17:00 & 20:00 (GMT). This means that the team submission deadline - for substitutions and captain changes - will be at 14:00 each day. Please note, if you substitute out a player you will lose their points and if you change your captain your will lose the x2 multiplier.Clean Sheet Odds:
Odds provided by William Hill.| Team | Vs. | Odds | Implied Chance |
| France | ALB | 1.53 | 65.36% |
| Spain | TUR | 1.75 | 57.14% |
| Ukraine | NIR | 1.75 | 57.14% |
| England | WAL | 1.95 | 51.28% |
| Italy | SWE | 2.00 | 50.00% |
| Belgium | ROI | 2.15 | 46.51% |
| Portugal | AUT | 2.25 | 44.44% |
| Croatia | CZE | 2.25 | 44.44% |
| Germany | POL | 2.25 | 44.44% |
Defensive Rotations:
| Day | Players From | Stick |
| 1 | RUS, SLO, ROU, SWI, FRA, ALB | 6 points (clean sheet) |
| 2 | ENG, WAL, UKR, NIR, GER, POL | 6 points (clean sheet) |
| 3 | ITA, SWE, CZE, CRO, ESP, TUR | 6 points (clean sheet) |
| 4 | BEL, IRE, ISL, HUN, POR, AUS | 6 points (clean sheet) |
Possible Transfers In:
In accordance to our partnership with @Euro2016Fantasy we were asked to list three players to transfer in and three to transfer out. You can see the graphic they produced with our information here. Dimitri Payet 8.0m (50.0% Ownership) The West Ham man got his tournament off to a flyer, assisting Olivier Giroud's header before scoring an 82nd minute winner. Payet ran the show vs. Romania, orchestrating a large majority of France's attacking play. France now face Albania, who are without captain Lorik Cana. Emanuele Giaccherini 5.0m (2.0% Ownership) Classified as a defender, but handed one of three central midfield slots by Antonio Conte, Giaccherini offers attacking potential with an boosted points output. For every goal, just like his smart finish on Monday, he banks an extra point (5) than a midfielder (4) - the perfect out of position pick. Marcelo Brozovic 6.5m (3.0% Ownership) Although Brozovic only managed to score 3 points in Croatia's opening fixture, he was the danger man throughout. Attempting six shots (the most during Matchday 1 of any player), it's clear to see the Inter Milan midfielder has an eye for goal, and with the likes of Modric, Rakitic and Srna supplying, he's an excellent differential.Possible Transfers Out:
Hector Bellerin 5.0m (10.0% Ownership) 10.0% of Euro Fantasy players owned the Arsenal full back, but unfortunately for them Juanfran was given the nod at right back. It's unlikely that Vicente del Bosque will drop the Atletico Madrid man do the Bellerin funds should be spent elsewhere. Mario Gotze 9m (5.0% Ownership) Although Germany won their opening game vs. Ukraine 2-0 there were some doubts over Mario Gotze's performance. The Bayern Munich man was poor in possession and wasteful in the final third, it seems as if Joachim Low's plan to play him as a striker failed, this could lead to Mario Gomez taking his place against Poland. Anthony Martial 9.0m (3.0% Ownership) Manchester United's prodigy is unlikely to start for France anytime soon. Initially he was popular - being classified as a midfielder, but playing very advanced. However, in competition with Griezmann (scored 32 goals for Atletico Madrid this season), and an in-form Payet, Martial is out of his depth - if you don't want a non-starter then get him out, simple as that.Captaincy Rotation:
| Day | Att | Def |
| 1 | Payet, Dzyuba | Schar, Schennikov |
| 2 | Bale, Muller | Dier, Shevchuk |
| 3 | Ibrahimovic, Mandzukic | Alba, Giaccherini |
| 4 | Ronaldo, G. Sigurdsson | Alderweireld, Guerreiro |
