Fantasy managers back Godin as Salah benched

Just over a fifth of Fantasy managers will be happy to see Mohamed Salah (£8.5m) named on the bench for Egypt v Uruguay today.

That’s because 21 percent of those playing McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy own defender Diego Godin (£5.5m) ahead of the 1pm kick-off.

The Uruguay captain, the most owned player in this fixture, found the net four times in qualifying and recorded seven clean sheets. Oscar Tabarez’s men have also managed shut-outs in four of the five friendlies played since booking a place in Russia.

Without Salah in their side, Egypt went goalless in both of their World Cup warm-up matches and have managed just two in their last five friendlies.

So while Godin has soaked up most of the attention for Uruguay’s defence, six percent have goalkeeper Fernando Muslera (£5.5m) in their squad, three percent went with centre-back Jose Gimenez (£5.5m) and three percent like the look of right-back Guillermo Varela’s £4.5m budget price.

12 percent of McDonald’s players will be hoping to see Salah impress from the bench. Despite missing Egypt’s recent warm-up games through injury, the Egyptian is still more popular than both of Uruguay’s premium forwards Luis Suarez (£10.5m) and Edinson Cavani (£9.5m), largely, we expect, due to his cheaper price.

Suarez and Cavani look good value even at higher prices, though. The pair combined for 29 goal involvements in Uruguay’s international matches since October 2015. Suarez found the net seven times and provided assists on nine occasions, while Cavani combined 12 goals with two assists.

They seem the most likely to break the deadlock in Yekatringburg today, although 12 percent still invested in Egypt defender Ahmed Hegazi (£4.5m).

STARTING LINE-UPS

EGYPT 4-2-3-1: El-Shenawy; Abdel Shafy, Hegazy, Gabr, Fathy; Hamed, Elneny; Trezeguet, El-Said, Warda, Mohsen.

URUGUAY 4-4-2: Muslera; Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Varela; De Arrascaeta, Vecino, Bentancur, Nandez; Cavani, Suarez.