As you may know by now, we’ve joined forces with Fantasy iTeam (FiT) for this season’s Champions League campaign. Having supported their popular World Cup game, we’ve teaming up once again to cover Europe’s elite club competition and with Matchday 3 only hours away – due to City’s early match in Moscow at 5pm GMT– we’re back with out latest round of picks for your perusal.
A free Fantasy football app, FiT is available on a number of mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android. It’s free to download and play, so you can already go in and start drafting up your starting XI, with unlimited transfers right up until 10 minutes before this evening’s first kick-off.
We’re supporting FiT throughout the competition and have an official Fantasy Football Scout League, with an iPad mini available to the winner. There’s also a VIP European Match Day Experience for two on offer for the overall winner of the Fantasy iTeam Champions League game.
Having rolled out a Rule Guide and taken a look at some of the best budget options in the player price list, we now get to grips with the upcoming schedule and offer four player tips for the next two evening’s matches.
Tuesday
Chelsea’s home clash with Maribor looks filled with potential this evening. With Diego Costa sidelined due to his ongoing hamstring injury and Didier Drogba still edging his way back to full fitness, Loic Remy (priced at 7.9m) seems likely to keep his starting place as the lone striker as Jose Mourinho searches for a first home win of the campaign.
Buoyed by their win over Barcelona last time around, Paris Saint Germain roll up to APOEL Nicosia in confident mood. Star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains out with a heel injury but Laurent Blanc can call upon Edinson Cavani to hopefully do the business – the Uruguayan netted his fourth league goal of the season last weekend and sets you back 9.1m.
The Catalans, meanwhile, need to bounce back from their defeat in Paris as Ajax make their way to the Nou Camp. Luis Enrique’s side will be hoping the Matchday 2 defeat was no more than a temporary blip as he looks to replicate the resilient displays that have racked up eight back-to-back clean sheets in La Liga. Opting for one of their raiding full-backs could be a canny tactic, then, with Dani Alves (6.4m) warming up for this one with an assist against Eibar at the weekend.
Having drawn their opening two Group D matches, Schalke are in need of a victory at home to Sporting Lisbon to boost their prospects. Roberto di Matteo’s side have picked up in form in recent weeks and have won three of their last four in the Bundesliga – Julian Draxler grabbed a goal and assist in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin and looks an enticing midfield option at 7.0m.
Wednesday
Group A looks perfectly poised right now with all four teams sitting on three points apiece. Having seen off Juventus at home last time around, Atletico Madrid will fancy their chances of triumphing in front of their own fans once again and playmaker Koke looks vital to their prospects – the youngster has already served up a goal and five assists in the league this season and comes in at a kind 7.0m.
In Group B, underdogs Ludogorets have narrowly lost by just one goal to Liverpool and Real Madrid in their first two fixtures. A home clash with Basel gives the Bulgarians the chance to rack up their first win of the tournament and having scored against the holders in the previous Matchday, Marcelino (5.0m) was amongst the goals at the weekend and looks in fine form for tomorrow’s match.
After eight Gameweeks of the German domestic campaign, only Bayern Munich have scored more goals than Bayer Leverkusen. Roger Schmidt’s side look full of attacking potential right now and offer us a number of in-form options at home to Zenit St Petersburg – none more so than Heung-Min Son, who grabbed two goals and an assist in the weekend draw at Stuttgart. The South Korean looks excellent value this week and is priced at just 7.3m in the FiT game.
With just two goals conceded in their last seven matches across all competitions, Monaco’s defence could be worth considering at home to Benfica. Left-back Layvin Kurzawa offers plenty going forward down the flank – the 22-year-old has created more scoring opportunities than any other team-mate in the league this term and also offers a threat from distance. Setting you back just 5.1m, he could be a real bargain.
Fantasy Football Scout League
We’ve already set up an official Fantasy Football Scout league for you to join, with an iPad mini on offer to the winner – the league name is Fantasy Football Scout and the pin is 11155.
