A series of evenly-matched games make this week’s Fantasy Bundesliga Scout squad a tough one to select. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object as Freiburg visit Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig host Borussia Dortmund and out-of-form Frankfurt visit bottom-placed Greuther Fürth.
Here is our selection of the best Matchday 11 (MD11) options.
SIGN UP TO FANTASY BUNDESLIGA AND PICK A TEAM HERE
GOALKEEPERS
MANUEL RIEMANN (5.6m), MARIUS FUNK (1.0m)
VfL Bochum have kept three clean sheets from their four home games this season. Of course, they’ve also conceded 15 goals from six away games, but who’s counting? Manuel Riemann seems to reaffirm his club legend status at the Ruhrstadion week by week, from his penalty save in the victory over Frankfurt to scoring the winning penalty in the Pokal win over Augsburg. Riemann is the highest-scoring keeper over the last five matchdays, grabbing 20 points in Matchday 9 (MD9), and hosts a Hoffenheim team who lurch from fantastic to dire and back again every week. It’s hard to predict which Hoffenheim side – or indeed Bochum side – will turn up for this clash but, either way, there should be clean sheet or many save points in it for Super Manu.
I’m starting to worry that it would be better to have a non-playing 1.0m keeper, given Marius Funk has now totalled -1 points from his four Bundesliga appearances for Greuther Fürth. However, I’m nothing if not a dreamer, and the visit of a Frankfurt side not too far ahead of Fürth in the table could give Funk the perfect opportunity to redeem himself.
DEFENDERS
MARC-OLIVER KEMPF (7.4m), JEREMIE FRIMPONG (7.8m), PAULO OTAVIO (10.2m), TUTA (5.4m), JOE SCALLY (3.0m)
Stuttgart’s Marc-Oliver Kempf has the joint-most shots by a defender this season (14) and also joint-most goals (3). Whilst Stuttgart may have one of the worst defences in the league, having conceded nearly two goals-per-game, they face the worst attack of Arminia Bielefeld. In a week of hard-to-predict games, going for a defender with high attacking threat seems like a sensible option.
Jeremie Frimpong has been great at both ends for die Werkself this season and has a good fixture against Hertha Berlin, who have conceded 23 goals from just 10 games. Leverkusen are still unbeaten away from home, even though they’ve been poor of late. Frimpong has a great price and he gets the nod this week. Paulo Otavio is back to full fitness and has slotted perfectly into Florian Kohfeldt’s new look Wolfsburg side. Winning duels made him a Fantasy fans’ favourite last season and four points from won duels in 45 minutes against Leverkusen suggests that he’s going to return to that form. Wolfsburg have a great game versus Augsburg and Otavio is a top differential in such a tough week.
Tuta grabbed the late equaliser at Leipzig in Matchday 10 (MD10) and is a very cheap route into the Frankfurt defence for their visit to Greuther Fürth. The young centre-back is definitely a left-field choice, having only started three games all season, but he has picked up 12 points for duels won across those three and will have a great chance at keeping a clean sheet in Fürth. At that price, he’s a cheap differential which could pay off big. Joe Scally is becoming as much of a staple in this team as Robert Lewandowski. He is the second-highest scoring defender over the last five matchdays, aided by a goal and assist. The American visits Mainz, which certainly isn’t the easiest fixture, but given his massive involvement in everything that happens on Gladbach’s right-hand side, he could grab points from anywhere.
MIDFIELDERS
CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU (15.9m), FILIP KOSTIC (15.6m), MAXIMILIAN ARNOLD (12.8m), JONAS HOFMANN (13.8m), FLORIAN WIRTZ (12.6m)
Christopher Nkunku is cementing his status as RB Leipzig’s talisman this season. He ranks in the league’s top ten for goals (four), shots (27), passes to a shot (20), fouls won (19), top speed (35.54 km/hour) and sprints (300). Leipzig have won four from five at home this season, scoring 17 times in the process. As shown by their draw with Paris Saint-Germain in midweek, die Roten Bullen are getting better and better under Jesse Marsch, especially going forward. They’re now unbeaten in their last six Bundesliga games. Even against second-placed Dortmund, Nkunku is a great option.
Despite being an injury doubt, Filip Kostic still makes it into this squad. There isn’t a better fixture in the league than against Greuther Fürth and there are very few players in the league better at scoring points than Kostic. His six goal contributions from Frankfurt’s ten is the highest proportion in the league and, in a game where Frankfurt might finally score some goals, he could feast. They play in the last game of the MD11, giving more time for Kostic to get fully-fit.
Wolfsburg’s record appearance holder, Maximilian Arnold, looks to be a massive beneficiary of Florian Kohfeldt’s appointment. He grabbed 15 points in MD10, getting a goal and picking up points for goal attempts, passes to a shot and won duels. Kohfeldt is seemingly helping him return to his role as an all-action midfielder and Augsburg should provide a kind opposition for him to build on that.
Jonas Hofmann has taken Lars Stindl’s crown as Gladbach’s talisman. The German has four double-digit hauls in his last five games and is second only to Nkunku in points amongst midfielders in that period. Hofmann is also averaging ten points-per-game over his last four away league games. Mainz will provide tough opposition for an inconsistent Gladbach but that shouldn’t bother Hofmann in such form. Florian Wirtz’s form, on the other hand, has dipped of late. However, a visit to Hertha Berlin gives him a great chance to get back to the level that won him September’s Bundesliga Player of the Month. We all know what the young German can do and Hertha will give him plenty of space to do it.
FORWARDS
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI (19.1m), ANDREJ KRAMARIC (15.9m), ANTHONY MODESTE (8.0m)
Robert Lewandowski got a hat-trick and an assist against Benfica in midweek, taking his tally so far this season to a remarkable 22 goals from 16 games in all competitions. Yet Bayern are against Freiburg – one of just four unbeaten sides left in Europe’s top five leagues. The Pole has scored 19 goals in his 18 career meetings against Freiburg, including all of the last five. Furthermore, Bayern’s 38 Bundesliga goals after ten matchdays is the highest ever total. Don’t bet against Lewandowski, however tough the opponent.
Andrej Kramaric finally got his second goal of the season in MD10 and now has double-digit hauls in four of his last five Bundesliga games. Again, it’s hard to predict where the game between Bochum and Hoffenheim will go but that doesn’t seem to matter to Kramaric. His 37 shots are second only to Lewandowski and he is the fourth-highest scoring forward in the game with 94 points. Anthony Modeste has been reborn for Köln this season, with his six goals joint-fifth in the league and his 36 shots ranking him third. Hosting Union Berlin is a tough game for Steffen Baumgart’s men but the Frenchman can be trusted to score points regardless of opponent. Modeste picked up eight points last week, despite Köln losing 2-0 to Dortmund. Köln are also unbeaten at home in the league.
