As mentioned in our Champions League preview article earlier today, we’ve picked up a couple of TotelFootball teams for tonight and tomorrow evening’s action. Having scoured both the fixtures and classifications for an out of position protagonists, we also took Andy’s “Ones to Watch” into consideration when assessing our options. Read on for details of this new game and details of who we’re backing for this week’s fixtures…
TotelFootball is a Fantasy football game that covers the Premier League, the top leagues in Europe and the Champions League and gives you the opportunity to place a stake on your team selection, with the chance to win cash prizes.
We’ve struck a deal to give our community up to £100 in free bets for those who fancy registering an account and having a dip. When you register your team via this link, TotelFootball will match any initial deposit you make in your account, up to a value of £100.
TotelFootball have also upped the prize pot for the Champions League main pool games over the next two days – there’s a guaranteed prize pot of £400 at stake.
Here’s details on the lineups we’re (ffscout_mark) taking in both Tuesday and Wednesday’s games…
Tuesday’s XI
A couple of early kick-offs means there are six games of the scheduled eight to choose from this evening. Barcelona’s trip to Spartak Moscow and Bate Borisov’s home clash with Lille are excluded, though the upside of this is that we will know the team sheets of every game prior to the 7.45pm deadline.
At the back, we’re doubling up on Benfica ahead of the visit of Celtic. The Portuguese outfit have already kept out Neil Lennon’s troops at Parkhead and registered a clean sheet in the Matchday 4 home clash with Spartak Moscow – Celtic have scored just once in their two road trips so far. Keeper Artur Moraes and former Real Madrid centre-half Ezequiel Garay get the nod, then. CFR Cluj defender Iva Pinto has already registered a clean sheet against visitors Braga and a victory in their final home game of the campaign will ensure progress to the Europa League, at the very least.
Darijo Srna’s attacking threat and dead-ball ability looks a strong option ahead of a trip to FC Nordsjælland, with the hosts scoring just once in their first four. Juventus’ Mauricio Isla is our first out-of-position prospect. The Chilean has produced an assist in each of his last two and his role on the right of the “Old Lady’s” five-man midfield could see him flourish once again.
Juan Mata makes our midfield, with his sensational form too good to ignore. Handed a brief sub role in last weekend’s loss at West Brom, the Spaniard will be fully refreshed as the Blues go in search of a win that would take them through to the knockout stages. With Arjen Robben out and Franck Ribery also a major doubt for Bayern, we’re giving Toni Kroos the nod as the Bundesliga club go head-to-head with Valencia at the top of Group F. Goals are expected in this one – both sides have notched 10 times, joint-top scorers for the tournament over the first four Matchdays. With two goals already accrued, Kroos could come to the fore once again.
Our next two picks are midfielders only in classification. Shakhtar’s Henrik Mkhitaryan has already scored four times up front for the Ukraine outfit and visits a FC Nordsjælland side that have conceded 11 times already. Burak Yilmaz welcomes United to Galatasaray on the back of four strikes in his last two –Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are leaking goals and with many of their experienced campaigners afforded the night off, Yilmaz is worth an out of position punt.
Up top, we’ve opted for Roberto Soldado and Javier Hernandez. As mentioned above, Valencia are firing on all cylinders right now and Soldado has racked up four goals and an assist in his last three. With Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie given the night off, Hernandez’s form looks set to give him another chance to lead the line as United go in search of a fifth victory.
Wednesday’s XI
Zenit’s early kick-off with Malaga deprives us of one of the scheduled eight this time round. Nevertheless, there are some enticing ties available for Fantasy managers’ consideration. Porto have three clean sheets in four and welcome a Dinamo Zagreb side without a goal so far; we’ve opted for Helton between the sticks. Elsewhere in Group A, PSG pay visit to Dynamo Kiev – with a goal and a couple of sheets already accrued, Thiago Silva gets the nod.
Christian Fuchs has impressed domestically for Schalke. The left-back has produced five assists in the Bundesliga already and faces a home clash against Greek side Olympiakos. AC Milan haven’t been particularly strong at the back this season but travel to face an Anderlecht side with a single goal in their opening four – Mattia De Sciglio has turned in a series of impressive performances at right-back and picked up an assist in the weekend draw with Napoli. Finally, we’ve stuck our neck out and opted for Marcel Schmelzer ahead of Dortmund’s trip to Ajax; the left-back has already found the net in this season’s campaign and victory will ensure qualification to the knockouts for Jurgen Klopp’s unbeaten side.
Steven El Shaarawy is an out of position prospect ahead of Milan’s trip to Anderlecht. Classified as a midfielder in TotelFootball, yet playing in a front three, he has notched 10 times in Serie A this term and arrives in Belgium on the back of a weekend double. We were all set to hand Theo Walcott a place but the winger’s omission due to a shoulder injury forced us into a re-think. Instead, we’ve opted for Santi Cazorla, after the playmaker produced a goal and assist at the Emirates last Saturday lunchtime. Depending on results elsewhere, a win against Montpellier could earn Arsene Wenger’s side a place in the last 16 and Cazorla’s scheming should prove integral to their chances tomorrow evening.
With a trip to Ajax on his agenda, Marco Reus has found the net in two of the last three in the Champions League and has been in sensational form for Dortmund this term – five goals and four assists in 10 Bundesliga starts sums up his current level of performance. Our final midfield slot goes to Porto’s Lucho Gonzalez ahead of a home clash with Group A basement-dwellers Dinamo Zagreb. The Argentine has already scored against tomorrow night’s opponents, back in Matchday 1, and looks a strong shout against a side that have shipped six goals without replay on their travels.
We’ve chosen to overlook Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Real Madrid’s trip to City and instead opted for a player of equally sublime skill. Jamie Redknapp may think “the world woke up” to Zlatan Ibrahimovic only last week but many of us have been more than aware of the 31-year-old’s abilities for quite some time. Having assisted all four of his side’s goals in Matchday 4, the Swede travels to Dynamo Kiev, with a win enough to clinch the visitors’ passage to the last 16. Jan-Klass Huntelaar earns the final spot in the XI. The Schalke forward has notched in all four of his appearances so far and is offered the chance of extending his run with a home clash against Olympiakos.
TotelFootball – How Does it Work?
The Champions League game runs every matchday, so there’s a Tuesday and a Wednesday game every round.
You’ll need to register your team before the matchday commences. TotelFootball only includes the 7.45 Champions League kick-offs (so the early kick-offs are omitted) giving you plenty of time to submit your teams each matchday.
There’s no budget for selecting your squad, just pick the starting XI and subs bench that you think will score the most points in a matchday’s round of fixtures. You must select within a 4-4-2 formation with your subs for each position replacing any player in your starting XI who doesn’t play.
You can pick two players per club, although you are permitted to pick more, with a -4 points “quota penalty” applied each time. This is kind of like the extra transfer penalty applied in Fantasy Premier League, only this is applied when you break the two player per team rule.
Placing your Stake & Winning Prizes
Once you have your team selected, you then place your stake money. The amount of stake you invest affects the amount of winnings you claim should your team be amongst the to 10% in the final rankings.
The stake money put in by all the managers entered will add to or create the prize pot. For this round of Champions League matches, TotelFootball have guaranteed a prize pool of £400.
Your team will accumulate prize points depending on how high up you finish in the final rankings.
1st – 100 points per £1 stake invested
2nd -5th – 20 points per £1 stake invested
6th-10th 10 points per £1 stake invested
11th-20th 5 points per £1 stake invested
21st-40th – 3 points per £1 stake invested
41st – Remaining entries – 2 points per £1 stake invested
The prize pool is then divided by the total points collected by the winning managers to discover the dividend paid out per point. Each winning manager will then be paid out the per point dividend x total points accumulated.
For example:
A total prize pool is £25,000 with a total of 5,000 points accumulated by all winning managers. This will result in a payout per point of £5.00.
Payout scenarios:
You finish 1st having invested £1 on team entry, your payout will be £500.
You finish 1st having invested £10 on team entry, your payout will be £5,000.
You finish 4th having invested £10 on team entry, your payout will be £1,000.
You finish 36th having invested £100 on team entry, your payout will be £1,500.
As mentioned, if you sign up a new account with Totel Football today, they will match your initial deposit up to £100.
We’ll be rounding off our experience with TotelFootball on Thursday, hopefully with some winnings to show for the picks above.
Finally, a reminder that TotelFootball is only available to those aged over 18 and over and, if you’re going to take up this offer and play, please gamble responsibly.
