Scout Notes – Matchday 1, Day 2

Wesley Sneijder creates chances aplenty but Holland’s poor finishing sees them come undone against underdogs Denmark thanks to a Michael Krohn-Deli goal. Mario Gomez is given the nod over Miroslav Klose and notches the only goal of Germany’s encounter with Portugal, as Joachim Low’s side get their Group B campaign off to a winning start:

Denmark 1 Holland 0
Bert Van Marwijk’s starting XI for the Denmark clash was as expected. Jetro Willems (priced at 5.0 in the McDonald’s game) got the nod at left-back, while Ron Vlaar stepped in alongside Johnny Heitinga at centre-half in light of Joris Mathijsen’s absence with a hamstring injury. Ibrahim Afellay shook off reports of a hamstring problem to start on the left of the attacking midfield three, getting the nod ahead of Dirk Kuyt, while Robin Van Persie led the line.

In despite of the Danish resilience, a look at the game stats highlights that the Dutch only have themselves to blame. They managed 27 shots at goal, with Van Persie and Arjen Robben producing eight and six efforts respectively – Wesley Sneijder provided an incredible 10 goalscoring opportunities for his team mates but Holland’s profligacy saw them waste chance after chance and leaves them in a dangerous position with one game gone. Up next is a match against Germany on Wednesday and defeat would see them out of the tournament already, if Denmark take a point against Portugal in the earlier kick-off. Van Marwijk will now need his strongest possible side for the next two games, meaning rest and rotation will not be an issue in the Holland camp – a factor which may influence those Fantasy managers who were mulling over playing a wildcard ahead of Matchday 3. If they are to proceed to the knockout stages, the contribution of Sneijder, Van Persie and Robben will be vital over the next two games.

From a Fantasy perspective, Michael Krohn-Deli followed the lead of Russia’s Alan Dzagoev yesterday evening. Classified as a midfielder in the McDonald’s game but playing in a front three, Krohn-Deli’s 24th minute winner turned the form book on its head and boosted Denmark’s chances of progressing to the last eight. With many Fantasy managers opting for Christian Eriksen as their Danish midfielder of choice, Krohn-Deli was overlooked – he has a mere 0.3% ownership but an eight point return for yesterday’s display will have many taking note of this out-of-position mid-price differential.

At the back, Stephan Anderson made a mockery of his 4.0 price tag in goal. The cheapest nailed-on option between the posts in the McDonald’s game, he produced a clean sheet and five saves to harvest a seven point return for his 3.2% owners – Daniel Agger and Lars Jacobsen both equalled Andersen’s haul thanks to the recovered ball rule.

Germany 1 Portugal 0
Joachim Low’s starting lineup for last night’s game with Portugal was eagerly anticipated by Fantasy managers. After weeks of uncertainty, the Germany boss finally revealed his hand and opted for Mario Gomez to lead the line – the Bayern man vindicated his selection by nodding home the only goal of the game, meaning birthday boy Miroslav Klose was afforded no more than a late sub appearance. Elsewhere, Low chose Mats Hummels to partner Holger Badstuber in the heart of defence; this was perhaps as big a surprise, given the consensus of opinion seemed to be that he preferred Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker. Hummels was superb at the back and picked up seven points in the McDonald’s game after producing eight recovered balls.

The 1-0 triumph, combined with Holland’s defeat, leaves Low’s men in a real position of strength in Group B. A win over the Dutch, in conjunction with a victory for Portugal over Denmark, would leave Germany needing just a point to win the group in their final game against the Danes on Sunday June 17. Depending on how confident Low feels, this could see rotation come into play; the likes of Mario Gotze, Andreas Schurrle, Toni Kroos and Marco Reus could all be handed game time in Matchday 3 if this proves to be the case.

Portugal were perhaps a little unlucky to leave empty-handed last night. Paulo Bento’s side hit the woodwork twice and could have equalised had sub Silvestre Valera shown a little more composure when handed a gilt-edged opportunity to score in the dying minutes. Bento opted for Helder Postiga up front but he failed to impress, with just a single attempt over his 70 minutes.

Intriguingly, the highly-rated Nelsen Oliveira was preferred to Hugo Almeida as Postiga’s replacement with 20 minutes left on the clock; priced at a mere 4.5 in the McDonald’s game, he could be an absolute steal if Bento decides to start him against the Danes. As mentioned above, given that Denmark conceded 27 efforts against the Dutch, Portugal will be in confident mood heading into Wednesday’s showdown –Cristiano Ronaldo looks the standout armband candidate for day 2 of Matchday 2 in the McDonald’s game as the Portuguese go in search of a vital three points.