As you’ll know by now, we’ve joined forces with Fantasy iTeam (FiT) for this season’s Champions League campaign. With Matchday 5 only hours away – due to two matches (CSKA Moscow vs Roma and BATE Borisov vs Porto) kicking off at 5pm GMT– we’re back with our 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
Sitting in second spot in Group H, Shakhtar Donetsk entertain bottom club Athletic Bilbao knowing that a win will earn them a spot in the knockout stages. Having opted for Luiz Adriano last time around, we turn our attentions to Alex Teixera for this evening’s encounter – the latter has notched three times in this season’s competition and warmed up for this one by netting in Friday’s league win over Karpaty Lviv. Fielded in “the hole” behind Adriano, Teixera sets you back £5.9m in this week’s FantasyiTeam price list.
There’s no doubt that CSKA Moscow have been in poor form domestically but visitors Roma will face a tough task in the wintery conditions later today. Bearing in mind Seydou Doumbia (£6.5m) has scored three of his side’s five goals in this year’s tournament, his display looks vital to the hosts’ chances of clinching a victory that would see them overtake Rudi Garcia’s side in Group E.
After giving their chances of qualification a shot in the arm with a 4-2 home win over Schalke, Sporting Lisbon will be optimistic of another win in front of their own fans as Maribor pay visit. Lone frontman Islam Slimani (£5.8m) opened his account for the campaign in the previous Matchday and will be looking to replicate the form that has seen him deliver four goals and an assist in seven league appearances to date.
Locked in a battle with Barcelona for top spot in Group F, Paris St Germain are in fine form ahead of a home encounter with Ajax. Laurent Blanc’s side have now won seven successive matches in all competitions and have collected a clean sheet in each of the last three in front of their own fans. Raiding left-back Maxwell has racked up a goal and three assists in the league so far and, at a price of £5.9m, offers a decent shout for points at both ends of the pitch.
Wednesday
Group A leaders Atletico Madrid looks poised to strengthen their spot at the summit tomorrow. With Diego Simeone’s side seeking a fourth successive victory at home to Olympiacos, we can’t look past the influential Koke in the centre of the park here. The £7.3m-priced midfielder has already racked up three goals and an incredible 13 assists for last year’s beaten finalists and has the form to wreak havoc on the Greek defence.
Despite taking a single point from their last three, Zenit are still in with a shout of making it out of Group C. The Russians need a big result at home to Benfica to boost their chances and there’s no doubt that Hulk (£8.1m) looks a key protagonist in this one. The Brazil international snatched a weekend winner over Kuban Krasnodar to take his tally to eight goals and five assists in the league this term and is clearly a man in form.
The bottom two in Group D go head-to-head tomorrow as Anderlecht entertain Galatasaray. A win for the Belgians would ensure they at least qualify for the Europa League and they’ll be looking for Aleksandar Mitrovic to deliver again. Emerging from the bench to net against Arsenal last time around, he’s since cemented a starting role up front and has now scored in each of his last three appearances. The Serbian, who now has eight league goals to his name, sets you back just £5.8m.
Finally, we’re backing Bayer Leverkusen to get the better of visitors Monaco tomorrow. Given that a win for the home side would clinch Group C with one match remaining, they’ll be keen to go on the offensive – Karim Bellarabi has yet to open his European account but has racked up five goals and a pair of assists in the Bundesliga to date. The wide man warmed up for this one by finding the net in a weekend win at Hannover and is available for a budget-friendly £4.8m.
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.
