Euro 2024

Euro 2024 Fantasy Scout Picks: Matchday 1

Euro 2024 Fantasy begins tonight – so it’s time to finalise our Matchday 1 Scout Picks.

There’s only been a small amount of tinkering from the ‘bus team’, with the changes coming in defence.

A reminder that we’ll be rolling out a weekly ‘Free Hit’ selection ahead of every Matchday during the European Championship.

Our captaincy schedule is also included at the foot of this article.

GOALKEEPERS

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It’s all change between the sticks with Jordan Pickford (€5.0m) and Horatiu Moldovan (€4.0m) making way. England’s defence looks more and more like a weak spot, while there’s too much doubt over who lines up for Romania for us to stick with Moldovan.

Diogo Costa (€5.0m) is our main shotstopper.

Portugal were the best side in qualification for clean sheets, goals conceded, expected goals conceded (xGC) and big chances conceded.

No side who made it to the Euros scored fewer goals in qualifying than opponents the Czech Republic, either.

It’s slim pickings in the €4.0m bracket but Patrick Pentz (€4.0m) is effectively a free hit before Costa plays in Matchday 1.

The Austria goalkeeper should rack up the save points against France. It’s also worth mentioning that his nation have conceded only three goals in their five most recent friendlies against countries who will be in Germany this summer.

DEFENDERS

Best €4.5m-€6.0m defenders for Euro 2024 Fantasy 5

With there still some uncertainty over Jeremie Frimpong (€5.5m) and Denzel Dumfries (€5.5m), we’re throwing in our lot with the nailed Virgil van Dijk (€6.0m).

It’s a lot of money to spend but Poland’s attacking injury crisis has cemented our selection of a Netherlands defender. On top of that, van Dijk offers a bit of goal threat from set plays (he has scored in both of the Netherlands’ recent friendlies) and may also have penalty-taking responsibilities for the Dutch.

There are other routes to points, too: van Dijk averaged around 5.1 ball recoveries per game in qualifying.

Budget pair Wout Faes (€4.0m) and Maximilian Mittelstadt (€4.0m) are wallet-friendly starters who you can read more about in our €4.0m defenders article from this morning.

We have changed our €4.5m defender, however.

This has come about due to emerging team news in the week, which suggests that Maxim De Cuyper (€4.5m) will start at left-back for Belgium. He’s a rookie who only made his debut last week but he offers an attacking threat: three shots and three chances created arrived in 165 minutes of action in the two June friendlies.


Above: Maxim De Cuyper’s touch heatmap in Belgium’s two June friendlies, via the Fantasy Football Scout Members Area


Jonathan Tah (€4.5m) makes way, although that could backfire given Germany’s high clean sheet chances. Hopefully, De Cuyper’s attacking threat can make it worthwhile.

We’ve seen so many different predicted Italy XIs this week that it’s difficult to keep up. But Federico Dimarco (€5.0m) has been a fixture of all of them. While there was a shortage of attacking returns in qualifying, there were some strong underlying numbers from the Italian full-back: a minutes-per-shot average of 53.1 was one of the best posted by a defender.

Of the teams to make it to Germany, Albania had the worst rate of xG in qualification.

MIDFIELDERS

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There’s no change to our midfield from our first draft.

Florian Wirtz (€7.5m) and Bruno Fernandes (€9.0m) are captaincy selections at either end of the Matchday, which influenced their inclusion.

Jamal Musiala’s (€8.5m) less affordable price and Ilkay Gundogan’s (€7.0m) indifferent form were also factors with the nomination of Wirtz, who was Germany’s leading player for chances created and recoveries over their last year of friendlies.

Fernandes, meanwhile, is arguably the most well-rounded player in UEFA Fantasy. He created more chances and big chances (37 and 11) in qualifying than anyone else, scored six goals and should get lot of ball recoveries.

Three more mid-price picks are included, namely Dominik Szoboszlai (€7.0m), Rodri (€6.5m) and Hakan Çalhanoğlu (€6.5m). We think that all three are on penalties for their respective nations, with Szoboszlai and Çalhanoğlu on all manner of set pieces. This trio should chip in with regular ball recoveries, too.

There was some umming and ahhing over whether we should include Rodri and Calhanoglu, given their deeper roles. Fantasy flavour of the week Georgiy Sudakov (€6.5m) was also in consideration, with a better-on-paper fixture than Rodri.

We’ve stuck to our guns after a quick comparison of their stats from qualification:

FORWARDS

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We’ll keep this one short and sweet.

Yes, it’s the template(ish) trio of Kylian Mbappe (€11.0m), Harry Kane (€11.0m) and Romelu Lukaku (€9.0m).

We say ‘ish’ because Cristiano Ronaldo (€10.0m) is actually more owned than Lukaku, although not by much.

A combined 31 goals were plundered by our chosen forwards during qualification, with each striker hitting double figures for big chances. Only Ronaldo finished clear of this trio for xG among forwards in qualifying. All of them are on penalties, too.

The one drawback, other than funds, is that Lukaku and Mbappe both play on the same day, so we can only captain one of them.

Mbappe’s illness is something we’re monitoring but with France not in action until Monday, there’s hopefully enough time for him to recover.

SCOUT PICKS TEAM CAPTAINCY SCHEDULE

  • Friday 14 June: Wirtz
  • Saturday 15 June: Dimarco
  • Sunday 16 June: Kane
  • Monday 17 June: Lukaku/Mbappe
  • Tuesday 18 June: Fernandes

MATCHDAY 1: SCOUT PICKS

170 Comments Post a Comment
  1. F4L
    • 9 Years
    6 months, 3 mins ago

    A - KDB and Pedri
    B - Trossard and Saka

    1. idaho23
      • 6 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      I prefer A.

    2. Jonesfromthere
      • 12 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      A

    3. F4L
      • 9 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      cheers both

    4. Roshen
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 2 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      b

  2. fenixri
    • 8 Years
    6 months, 2 mins ago

    Gtg?

    Pentz Costa
    Dumfries Castagne Faes Kristiansen Mittelstadt
    Fernandes Musiala Szobo Eriksen Sudakov
    Mbappe Lukaku CR7

    1. Jonesfromthere
      • 12 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      Dumfries not nailed

      1. RoryzonderR
        • 12 Years
        5 months, 29 days ago

        Dumfries will start but might not play 90

      2. fenixri
        • 8 Years
        5 months, 29 days ago

        Its a risk I am willing to take

  3. Muller Reus Corner
    • 4 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    Which combination?

    A) TAA, De Cuyper, Sudakov
    B) Guehi, Faes, Trossard

    Rest of team:

    Costa, Lunin,
    Dimarco, Gvardiol, Mittelstadt
    Fernandes, Wirtz, Szobo, Jorginho
    Lukaku, Kane, Mbappe

    1. sirmorbach
      • 8 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      A more exciting

  4. sirmorbach
    • 8 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    1 - Grimaldo Pickford
    2 - Theo Verbruggen

    1. Muller Reus Corner
      • 4 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      2

    2. F4L
      • 9 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      2

    3. marcos11
      • 4 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      2

  5. Deulofail
    • 8 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    Team name max characters is 24 instead of the 25 that it says. This is an outrage

    1. They are eating the dogs
      • 2 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      Your team name can't be Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Outrageous!

  6. Bobby Digital
    • 7 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    Any news on Mbappes illness?

      1. Bobby Digital
        • 7 Years
        5 months, 29 days ago

        Nice, cheers!

  7. ★Kuntheman★
    • 9 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    Here’s my team, fairly template with a few deviances but one particular decision is doing my head in:

    Verbruggen (Moldovan)
    VVD TAA DiMarco Mittelstadt (Cancelo)
    KDB Szoboszlai Rodri Cerin (Fernandes)
    Mbappe Doku (Ronaldo)

    Which pair to choose?

    A) VVD+Doku
    B) Faes+Lukaku

    VVD being on pens and against a Lewandowski-less Poland in a game that rewards ball recoveries seems extremely tempting and that’s why I’m leaning that way for now.

    1. Jebiga
      • 12 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      Can not see why is vvd better pick than depay or si ons...

      1. Jebiga
        • 12 Years
        5 months, 29 days ago

        *simons

        1. ★Kuntheman★
          • 9 Years
          5 months, 29 days ago

          On pens + ball recoveries + set piece threat + clean sheets

          Also Simons is a rotation risk and it’s hard to justify spending on Depay vs the other forwards available. And I say that as someone who is currently owning Doku and feels very nervous about not having the big three

      2. puddingbrood
        • 10 Years
        5 months, 29 days ago

        Simons isn't good for the NT at all.

  8. Jebiga
    • 12 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    Do we think verbruggen is the first choice?

    1. ★Kuntheman★
      • 9 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      I think it’s already been confirmed by Koeman

  9. RoryzonderR
    • 12 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    Absolutely

  10. Salahbrate
    • 9 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    I am playing a different kind of fantasy football... This is my team:

    Pickford
    Castagne - Mittelstadt - Guehi
    Doku - Kroos - Vitinha - Pedri
    Lukaku - R. Leao - Yamal

    What do you think? Is there anyone I should swap out and why?

    1. Deulofail
      • 8 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      Congratulations for posting the most unanswerable question on this article. It's been a tough category, but you're in the lead so far. Let's see if anyone can beat it!

      1. ★Kuntheman★
        • 9 Years
        5 months, 29 days ago

        Hey, I took a stab at it 😆

    2. ★Kuntheman★
      • 9 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      It’s hard to respond without the context of player prices, scoring rules, and squad building limitations in your fantasy game, but all your players are likely to start (Leao a risk)

    3. Eze Really?
      • 10 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      Why not triple Georgia Albania and Romania? (Smile)

  11. Deulofail
    • 8 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    For sure!

  12. MShalkz
    • 3 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    Saka, Musiala or Trossard for the first 2 Gameweeks?

    1. dirtmcgirt
      • 8 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      2 or 3 have a hunch Saka won't have a good tournament

  13. idaho23
    • 6 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    Widmer or Guehi? And why there's little love for Eriksen, Slovenia looks beatable imo.

    1. dirtmcgirt
      • 8 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      this is why I've gone for Hojlund as someone different, only 6% picked but I think he's going to have a solid tournament.

    2. marcos11
      • 4 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      Currently on Widmer or Tah as a better option to Guehi, England fixtures aren't great and their defence probably isnt full strength

    3. F4L
      • 9 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      widmer, not convinced guehi plays all 3 matches in group

  14. The Reptile
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    Szoboszlai or Doku?

    1. idaho23
      • 6 Years
      5 months, 29 days ago

      One is MF and the other is FWD.. I think with FWD you have better options than Doku.

  15. They are eating the dogs
    • 2 Years
    5 months, 29 days ago

    A)KDB,Shaqiri,Moldovan
    B)Saka,Gundogan,Lunin