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Champions League September 15

UEFA Champions League (UCL) Fantasy 2024/25: Best defenders

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The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign begins this week – and so does the competition’s official Fantasy game.

We’ll have plenty of UCL Fantasy coverage in preparation for the big kick-off, plus regular articles throughout the season.

Here, our European football contributor Crisk goes through some of the most appealing defensive picks.

The best midfielders for UEFA Champions League Fantasy 2

How to play UCL Fantasy 2024/25

SIGN UP TO PLAY UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FANTASY HERE

BEST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DEFENDERS

The Scout Squad: Our best players for FPL Gameweek 3

Trent Alexander-Arnold (€6.0m)

In Fantasy Premier League (FPL), we sometimes argue whether Alexander-Arnold’s price is lower than it should be.

Although UCL Fantasy doesn’t have a similar Bonus Points System (BPS), the Liverpool star’s ceiling remains high enough to justify such pricing.

Liverpool had started the season well, only conceding their first goal in Gameweek 4.

The Reds’ run of UCL fixtures, against mostly offensive teams, also perhaps elevates the prospect of potential attacking returns, with fewer low blocks to bypass.

Alexander-Arnold has almost double the volume of expected goal involvment (xGI) as any other Premier League defender this season:

Alejandro Grimaldo (€5.5m)

 

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The rest of this article below is completely free to read but requires a Fantasy Football Scout user account for access – you can get yours at no cost here

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SIGN UP TO THE FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT MINI-LEAGUE – AND WIN PRIZES

Join our UCL Fantasy mini-league - and win prizes!

SIGN UP HERE FOR ALL THE TOOLS YOU NEED TO WIN AT FPL!


199 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Pornchef
    • 1 Year
    6 months, 21 days ago

    Watkins Vs Palmer who do you prefer to have?
    Is Palmer underperforming? Didn't watch the game yesterday
    Is he going to be as good an asset in this new style Chelsea team
    Boils down to Watkins Vs Palmer for me can't afford to have both

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    1. SpaceCadet
      • 11 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Tough one. Currently own palmer and tempted to switch to Watkins with 2 fts. Still very unsure though.

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    2. Greg F
      • 15 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Both will end up with similar points long term.

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      1. Pornchef
        • 1 Year
        6 months, 21 days ago

        So Watkins might represent better overall squad value at 1.5m cheaper then

        Watkins and mbeumo would likely get more points than say Palmer + cheaper fwd

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        1. Greg F
          • 15 Years
          6 months, 21 days ago

          yes I think that's fair to say.

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  2. JÆKS ⭐
    • 10 Years
    6 months, 21 days ago

    Anyone here contemplating bringing in Diaz(C) over Salah for next gw?

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    1. Athletic Nasherbo
      • 8 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      On my radar - wait and see for Diaz’s minutes in the week.

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    2. Greg F
      • 15 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Diaz my cap next week yep.

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  3. camarozz
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    6 months, 21 days ago

    Jota isn't great is he ?

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    1. Greg F
      • 15 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      he's still great. Liverpool weren't losing when Jota and Diaz came off. Narrative is still good.

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    2. Pornchef
      • 1 Year
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Diaz looks better
      Best bang for buck at Liverpool

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    3. Pornchef
      • 1 Year
      6 months, 21 days ago

      I've currently got Jota so it's an annoying sideways waste of a transfer but I'm considering it this week after seeing what happens in the champions league game

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  4. Greg F
    • 15 Years
    6 months, 21 days ago

    Onana
    Porro De Ligt Trent
    Gordon Diaz Jota Mbeumo
    Havertz Isak Pedro

    Raya Eze Gabriel Lewis

    3m ITB 1ft

    gw5 Save
    gw6 Gordon to Amad
    gw7 Isak and Eze to Haaland and 5.5m (McNeil?)

    WC14 when Everton and Brentford runs come to an end.

    Gonna be scary waiting for Haaland till 7 but hey ho.

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    1. Pusey Patrol
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      No Haaland & no Salah wow.

      How could you?

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      1. Greg F
        • 15 Years
        6 months, 21 days ago

        BB GW1 and not changed the team significantly yet. doing alright so far.

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    2. MissouriMarten
      • 9 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Genuine question, was De Ligt even in your thinking before yesterday?

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    3. MissouriMarten
      • 9 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Ignore that. If you're wildcarding in 14, you presumably already had him. Fair play.

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      1. Greg F
        • 15 Years
        6 months, 21 days ago

        yeah started season with him.

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  5. Ser Davos
    • 9 Years
    6 months, 21 days ago

    think I'll need to sell Palmer to afford Mbeumo & Havertz and upgrade Rogers as well to someone like an Eze/Bowen/Semenyo

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    1. No Kane No Gain
      • 6 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Keep palmer. Will be good for gameweek 6 and 7

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    2. Kiwivillan
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Rogers will be fine as 8th attacker

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    3. Greg F
      • 15 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Bowen.

      Will be interesting if DCL and McNeil end up good differentials.

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  6. No Kane No Gain
    • 6 Years
    6 months, 21 days ago

    If my sub keeper has been transferred to another league, does that mean he cannot drop in price for remainder of the season?!

    Liz at 4.0 from Ipswich before he left for Turkey

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    1. Studs Up
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      correct

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    2. Greg F
      • 15 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      that's right. Just leave him alone. you have won!

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  7. Saka White Rice
    • 10 Years
    6 months, 21 days ago

    Hopefully this week serves as a lesson to those kneejerk people...there has been way too much kneejerking lately compared to other years

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    1. Greg F
      • 15 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      It's because usually the pricing is a joke and people can fire their way easily to a good template team.

      This season...more ways to skin a cat.

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    2. Pusey Patrol
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Kneejerking or template influencing panic attacks?

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    3. MissouriMarten
      • 9 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Hopefully it hasn't & the patient are rewarded in the long run. But the game is a cruel mistress, so who knows?

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    4. Kiwivillan
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      I'll learn my lesson and take it on the chin with -4 Saka and Isak to Salah and Pedro but the 4 premium WCers must be spewing

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      1. Ausman
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 1 Year
        6 months, 21 days ago

        Yep, same. Hoping once Pep roulette kicks in the Haaland crowd will slide backwards. Playing the long game, one bad GW just take the uppercut and reset. Another bad GW might be a knockout blow.

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    5. Qaiss
      • 9 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Way too much following the herd*

      Most people just make the same moves nowadays

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  8. Pusey Patrol
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    6 months, 21 days ago

    Interesting outcome for the template yesterday.

    The standard move
    Watkins => Pedro
    Saka/Palmer => Salah
    didn't pay out.

    With Haaland pretty much nailed now until injured or sold it will be tough to decide on the other right premium players.

    From my point of view, Salah, KDB and Son are all over their peaks and might struggle with minutes or returns week by week. However, they are still great and could deliver huge hauls from time to time.
    Most nailed player is probably Palmer as not involved in mid week games. But Chelsea is not as strong yet in general, so could backfire. Other popular players like Watkins, Isak, Solanke and Saka cannot all be owned without sacrificing Haaland, normally only 1-2 of them per team.

    On top you get dilemma in

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    1. Pusey Patrol
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Pressed the wrong button sorry.

      Was going to say, lots of headache in defence as well with premium assets.

      Therefore, I guess there will be more rotation this season and hits will be taken. On the other hand, building up FTs is another option maybe by holding on to players like Rogers and ESR even if they don't deliver each week.

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      1. Greg F
        • 15 Years
        6 months, 21 days ago

        on WC get Greaves O'Shea and Tuanzebe and play them every week. That triple Ipswich 12m clean sheet will feel like Elixir.

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        1. Pusey Patrol
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 3 Years
          6 months, 21 days ago

          You could mix them up with some Forest players.

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      2. MissouriMarten
        • 9 Years
        6 months, 21 days ago

        It'd be nice if Rogers delivered ANY week.

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        1. Kiwivillan
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 10 Years
          6 months, 21 days ago

          Will return as soon as you sell. That's the FPL way

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          1. WiredWeasel
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 6 Years
            6 months, 21 days ago

            He's going to become my new Digne, I can feel it. Good player, no reason why he shouldn't score points but only does WHEN I DON'T OWN HIM!

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  9. Pusey Patrol
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    6 months, 21 days ago

    Just went through some statistics.

    Interesting the quite low xG for DCL yesterday. Just from the eye test, I would have guessed at least 1.0 but it was not even close. Maybe I got distracted as some of his attempts looked very close. Hope he is staying fit this season. Currently, my favorite player in that range between 5-6 mio.

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    1. Enzology
        6 months, 21 days ago

        Lame, pitiful, useless, irrelevant. These are far more suitable terms for x flipping g.

        If my aunty had .....

        Totally pointless.

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        1. GreennRed
          • 13 Years
          6 months, 21 days ago

          She'd be your Traunty.

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      • Kiwivillan
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        6 months, 21 days ago

        Hitting cross bar is 0xG I think. Should've scored a hat trick. Took too long rounding Martinez and Konsa kicked the ball out. Thankful as a Villa fan

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        1. TorresMagic™
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 15 Years
          6 months, 21 days ago

          0.12 it looks like.

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          1. have you seen cyan
            • 5 Years
            6 months, 21 days ago

            Have you got a rough idea of the safety score so far? When’s it next open?

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            1. TorresMagic™
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • Has Moderation Rights
              • 15 Years
              6 months, 21 days ago

              https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/comment/26766756

              Probably Thursday.

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              1. have you seen cyan
                • 5 Years
                6 months, 21 days ago

                Thanks. Wow 78 highest

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        2. The Mentaculus
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 3 Years
          6 months, 21 days ago

          It's not. I haven't seen the game yet but it sounds like you're suggesting that shots off target = 0 xG, which is not how it works

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      • _Freddo
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 15 Years
        6 months, 21 days ago

        That’s why it helps to watch the games and don’t just look at the numbers, he looked a threat.

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      • Baps hunter
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        6 months, 21 days ago

        Muniz has to go and DCL is the main man. He has scored twice now, is threat from set pieces and opponents are getting easier. Not on his best form yet, but the other possibility for me would be getting Watkins, who is showing similar signs, but that would mean ditching Palmer for a hit. I don't know why Palmer was so bad and deep, but I expect him to improve. And downgrading Palmer to get Watkins makes getting Foden/Son if needed costly.

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    2. kamdaraji
      • 15 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Isak will score mark my words

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      1. Kiwivillan
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        6 months, 21 days ago

        Hoping he doesn't

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      2. Greg F
        • 15 Years
        6 months, 21 days ago

        Oh yeah I'm super regretting capping Diaz this week over him now.

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    3. Wild Rover
      • 14 Years
      6 months, 21 days ago

      Tottenham XI: Vicario, Porro, Van de Ven, Romero, Udogie, Bentancur, Maddison, Kulusevski, Johnson, Son, Solanke.

      Arsenal XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Partey, Jorginho, Havertz, Saka, Trossard, Martinelli.

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