The Champions League returns this evening when the Group Stage Matchday Five gets underway with DraftKings offering a top prize on Tuesday of £550*, as part of a £11k prize pool.
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Things kick off on Tuesday night where we are tasked with picking the very best eight-man squad from the seven fixtures taking place from 7:45pm onwards, which means the early fixture between CSKA Moscow and Bayer Leverkusen is omitted from the slate.
The Wednesday list has six 7.45pm fixtures to select players from, missing out Bayern Munich’s visit to FC Rostov and the clash between Besiktas and Benfica.
If you’re new to DraftKings, check out our strategy guide which should help you get to grips with the concepts of Daily Fantasy Football and the key elements of squad selection.
Here are our player picks to aid your selection process for both the Tuesday and Wednesday ties.
Tuesday Player Picks
Group E
Monaco v Tottenham Hotspurs
Group F
Borussia Dortmund v Legia Warsaw
Sporting v Real Madrid
Group G
Copenhagen v Porto
Leicester City v Club Brugge
Group H
Dinamo Zagreb v Lyon
Sevilla v Juventus
Sergio Rico – Goalkeeper – Sevilla – $4,700
There are several tempting goalkeeper picks on the Tuesday slate. Dortmund’s Roman Weidenfeller ($5,800) and Leicester City’s Ron-Robert Zieler ($5,600) will replace their injured team-mates between the sticks and have favourable fixtures.
The Sevilla shot-stopper is a riskier pick but saves some funds. The young Spaniard has put himself on the radar by keeping four consecutive Champions League clean sheets. Juventus visit next having been held to a goalless draw in Turin on Matchday 1.
Four saves against the Italians shows Rico is capable of turning in a performance and another will likely be needed if Sevilla are to pick up a result. Gonzalo Higuain has been ruled out which should certainly blunt Juve’s threat.
Alex Telles – Defender – Porto – $4,900
The Brazilian has accrued 46 crosses over six European appearances this term. Eleven of those arrived in the 1-0 victory over Club Brugge last time out in which he assisted the winner.
The full-back travels to a Copenhagen side whose main strikers Andreas Cornelius and Federico Santander are sidelined, which bodes well for a clean sheet. The Danish team could struggle to break through a Porto rear guard that have conceded only two goals in their last seven league matches.
Corentin Tolisso – Midfielder – Lyon – $5,800
The Frenchman’s late header from a free-kick secured a point for Lyon against Juventus. It was his second goal in the Champions League after he scored the opener and assisted the third in the 3-0 win over upcoming opponents Dinamo Zagreb on the opening Matchday. An 11.7 Fantasy Points Per Game (FPPG) over four Champion League matches indicates he’s a potentially good value differential pick against a side that have conceded 12 goals while failing to score in Europe this season.
Radamel Falcao – Forward – Monaco – $6,900
The Colombian missed two Champions League matches with an injury but returned with a brace against CSKA Moscow. In his previous outing, Monaco won 2-1 against Spurs at Wembley on Matchday 1 and can go through to the knock-out stages with a draw or a win in France. The budget forward scored against Lorient at the weekend to maintain his resurgent form, making it five goals in the last five outings.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Forward – Borussia Dortmund – $9,300
Cristiano Ronaldo’s ($10,700) hat-trick against Atletico at the weekend will make him a popular pick against his former club Sporting. Aubameyang is our cheaper in-form alternative and has netted 15 goals in 13 league and European matches this campaign. Visitors Legia Warsaw have looked well out of their depth so far, conceding 16 goals in four Champions League matches, including six in their previous encounter with Dortmund.
Wednesday Player Picks
Group A
Arsenal v Paris Saint Germain
Ludogorets v FC Basel
Group B
Napoli v Dynamo Kyiv
Group C
Monchengladbach v Manchester City
Celtic v Barcelona
Group D
Atletico Madrid v PSV Eindhoven
Jan Oblak – Goalkeeper – Atletico Madrid – $5,800
Clean sheets look more difficult to predict for the Wednesday night fixtures. The 3-0 loss to Real Madrid at the weekend was a third league defeat in four for Atletico, but they’ve conceded only one goal in four Champions League outings. Visitors PSV won’t provide the same kind of challenge and Atletico’s Slovenian shot-stopper should pick up the DraftKings win bonus.
Faouzi Ghoulam – Defender – Napoli – $5,600
The Algerian has served up two assists in four Champions League matches and also created three goals in the league this term. Napoli can be vulnerable but visitors Dynamo Kiev have not scored in their last two matches in Europe, so a shut-out is on the cards. Even if the defence is breached, the left-back has registered 153 crosses in 18 matches this term so he should make up for it in attacking returns.
Ilkay Gundogan – Midfielder – Manchester City – $6,000
The German scored a brace against Barcelona in City’s landmark 3-1 victory to make it five goals from 33 shots in 14 appearances this season. An assist against upcoming opponents Monchengladbach has also helped contribute to a solid 11.5 points per match average. The midfielder should start after being left out of the squad at the weekend and provides an in-form budget route into Pep Guardiola’s side.
Dries Mertens – Midfielder/Forward – Napoli – $7,800
The Napoli asset has contributed attacking returns in all four European outings so far, netting three times and providing as many assists. All three of those goals have arrived in the two home matches at the Stadium San Paolo so the Belgian looks a strong pick for the visit of Dynamo Kyiv.
Neymar/Lionel Messi – Forwards – Barcelona – $10,000/$10,400
Barca’s trip to Celtic, who they dispatched 6-0 in Spain, means fitting in one of their big hitters looks a must. Neymar has scored twice in the Champions League this campaign but has displayed more of a creative influence overall, serving up six assists. Four of those arrived against Celtic.
However, it’s difficult to ignore his Argentine team-mate after he scored two hat-tricks in Europe already this season. The consolation goal against Manchester City was Messi’s seventh in three outings, while he also provided assists with each of those hat-tricks and should be worth the outlay for the encounter in Scotland.
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