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Champions League September 17

UCL Fantasy expert’s Matchday 1 team reveal + differentials

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

Make sure you check out our complete UCL Fantasy guide below in preparation for the big kick-off – and stay tuned for regular articles throughout the season.

Here, FPL Milanista, another one of our European football experts who finished 31st in the world in 2022, gives us his UCL Fantasy Matchday 1 team reveal – and three differentials.

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

MATCHDAY 1 DIFFERENTIALS

UCL Fantasy kicks off today, so let’s jump straight into discussing three players who are less than 5% owned but have the explosiveness trait that could jump you up the ranks.

PEDRO GONCALVES

First is Pedro Goncalves of Sporting, owned by just 3% of total managers. The 26-year-old Portuguese has started his new season from where he ended last, contributing seven goals (four of his own and three assists) in the opening five games.

He chipped in with 23 goals in the Primeira Liga last season and was instrumental for his team’s successful campaign, which saw them crowned as champions.

Sporting have a juicy Matchday 1 fixture at home to Lille, who have had a shaky start domestically, losing twice in their first four Ligue I games. They then face PSV and Sturm Graz in Matchdays 2 and 3 – fixtures that the Portuguese side can prosper in too.

I’ve had some success owning Goncalves in previous seasons and he is very likely going to make it into my final 15-man squad later this evening.

RICCARDO ORSOLINI

My second pick is Riccardo Orsolini from Bologna, a player who is being reported to have 0% ownership in the game!

The Italian winger has 43 goals over his Bologna career. Unlike our previous pick, Riccardo has had a slow start to this season, finding the net just once via a penalty on Serie A’s opening day.

However, the talent is there and in fact he was one of the players that Luciano Spalleti got criticized for leaving out of the Italy squad that went to Germany for Euro 2024.

Bologna kick-off their UCL campaign on Wednesday, hosting Shakhtar before two tricky trips to England to face Liverpool and Aston Villa.

ADEMOLA LOOKMAN

My third and final pick is Ademola Lookman of Atalanta. The hat-trick hero of last season’s Europa League finals features just 3% of teams, a percentage that I believe is highly affected by his difficult opening game hosting the Gunners on Thursday.

The Nigerian winger had a controversial summer with his club but returned to the starting XI and contributed with a goal and an assist in his team’s victory over Fiorentina.

Last season, Ademola scored 11 goals and assisted seven in Serie A from 31 appearances. Gasperrini’s side is usually entertaining to watch with a lot of attacking potential so it wouldn’t surprise me to see them score past Arsenal in Matchday 1.

The fixtures beyond Matchday 1 are really good for the Black and Blues, with Shakhtar, Celtic, Stuttgart, and Young Boys to come in Matchday 2-5. This cements Lookman as at least a shortlisted player in case a UCL Fantasy manager couldn’t justify bringing him from the start.

FPL MILANISTA’S UCL FANTASY MATCHDAY 1 TEAM REVEAL

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


93 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Tazah
    • 7 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    Weird question but will Raya or Bowen get more points over the season?

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    1. Pusey Patrol
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Weird answer, I don't know.

      I guess it might depend on injuries and things like that.

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      1. Tazah
        • 7 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        thank you

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    2. Kiwivillan
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Bowen will get less save points

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      1. Tazah
        • 7 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        never thought of that

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    3. JIMMY TUGGINS
      • 6 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      dont know

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      1. Tazah
        • 7 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        its okay, wasnt expecting much from you Jimmy

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        1. JIMMY TUGGINS
          • 6 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          What do you mean?

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          1. Tazah
            • 7 Years
            6 months, 18 days ago

            dont know

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        2. JIMMY TUGGINS
          • 6 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          maybe you need to get a life instead of living on here

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          1. Tazah
            • 7 Years
            6 months, 18 days ago

            maybe

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    4. OLDHERMAN
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Bowen.

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      1. Tazah
        • 7 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        yh im thinking this - i basically have 1mil to upgrade one of my keepers to Raya or mid to Bowen.
        Last season they both did well and Bowen greatly outscored Raya, so i think ill go for Bowen

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  2. trequartista
    • 9 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    Bowen.

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    1. Tazah
      • 7 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      thank you for answering my question

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  3. HadiSLIM
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    Question on rules -

    So we can carry forward transfers if wildcarding. Do we gain a transfer for that week too?

    Ex: I have 1 FT right now. If i WC, will I have 1 or 2 next week?

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    1. Kiwivillan
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      WC counts as 1 FT. If you have 1 FT and WC next you will have 1 FT 0+1

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    2. Tazah
      • 7 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      WC counts as one transfer essentially best way to think about it

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    3. Kiwivillan
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Basically whatever FT you have when you WC you will have same number of FT next week up to max 5

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  4. FPL Sanky
    • 1 Year
    6 months, 18 days ago

    Hi everyone, I am on a WC. Who should I pick as my 8th attacker?

    A) Schade
    B) Rogers

    Already going with both Mbeumo and Watkins

    This is my WC team as of now

    Raya
    Gabriel TAA Davis Aina Mosq
    Mbeumo ESR Eze Gordon xxx
    Watkins Haaland Havertz

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    1. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Rogers. Cheaper.

      I'd go Diaz over Gordon personally but I quite like that team.

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      1. Camzy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Only thing I don't like about this team is the timing. It's not a good week to WC to this since you have no Liverpool and no Salah (who looks like the best captain on paper). Your plan is to cap Watkins this week?

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        1. FPL Sanky
          • 1 Year
          6 months, 18 days ago

          Yeah will be captaining Watkins.....my initial plan was WC6 only but had to change that because there were a lot of issues especially with Muniz, Isak...Bruno will also drop in price this week....the players that I want are rising in prices so thought I'll WC one week early.

          The only issue with WC5 is the City vs ARS fixture but I won't be surprised if that ends up a low scoring game and ARS keep a CS

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      2. FPL Sanky
        • 1 Year
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Cheers thank you....Diaz and Rogers look like a better combo.... Considering I am wild carding early, I am mainly looking for nailed players who are day in day out playing 90 mins.....Diaz is a bit of a mins risk but definitely has a higher upside

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    2. Ser Davos
      • 9 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      fascinating team

      I'm wondering, Wissa injury aside, if the value will be in the cheap forwards for the forseeable, rather than the cheap mids/defenders

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      1. Camzy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        I don't know. I really like Havertz from GW6 onwards. He's the starting CF for Arsenal with LEI SOU bou. I'm not gonna overthink it. He stays.

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        1. Ser Davos
          • 9 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          oh if you've got him, particularly at 8, he stays for sure, great pick

          I'm on Raya only atm and toying with which Arsenal to get from 6

          I'm conflicted, but leaning towards Saka and a DCL/Vardy

          but I'm also keen to upgrade that ESR/Rogers pivot

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    3. Tazah
      • 7 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      get mcniel

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      1. Ajax Hamsterdam
        • 10 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Good shout

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    4. Nickyboy
      • 14 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Rogers

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  5. Tazah
    • 7 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    wow, we really are suckers as football fans - they just made a European super league under our noses under a different name.

    They made a conference league and now added more teams and matches to all of the european competitions all to make sure that fans keep buying those tickets and for the rich to get richer.

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    1. x.jim.x
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Not really

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  6. Prinzhorn
    • 4 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    Why are so many already selling Joao Pedro?

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    1. Tazah
      • 7 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      bad fixtures coming up anyway

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      1. IPSWICH
        • 4 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        maybe they will work out better than the good fixtures last weekend

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        1. Tazah
          • 7 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          maybe

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    2. Jimmy B
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Perhaps a bit of hindsight here but they focused on one good fixture for him which he didn't even play in and then realised the Forest one probably wasn't that good.

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    3. Letsgo!
      • 8 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Because he sux

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  7. Pep Roulette
    • 7 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    Did my WC last week. 2 FTs, 0.2 ITB. Save FT?

    Raya
    TAA Robbo Davis
    Salah(C) Eze Minteh Rogers
    Haaland Jackson Welbeck

    Fab Semenyo Lewis Faes

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    1. Tazah
      • 7 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      crazy how out of all those players only 3 got any sort of points last week

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      1. Cruyff's Eleven
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        And that, champ, is the perfect summary of FPL. Innit.

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  8. Ajax Hamsterdam
    • 10 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    Players close to going on strike according to rodri. Some players should really think before they talk....

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    1. Greg F
      • 15 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      I'd prefer it if they just played one game a week August-May, every Saturday, June off, July pre season. Straightforward. 44 games a year is plenty. When they start playing 60+ games a year it gets a bit ridiculous. 50 should be absolutely max to allow for cup replays and international tournaments. If they want cup competitions then everyone should have to select a completely separate XI for those matches, Domestic and Europe.

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    2. x.jim.x
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Yeah he only played 60 games last season, what's he doing talking about fixture congestion...

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      1. Greg F
        • 15 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        I'd rather watch well rested footballers give their best quality rather than knackered lads just getting by. No excuses.

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        1. x.jim.x
          • 10 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          Have to blame Pep (and other managers) a bit too though - if it wasn't for suspensions, would Rodri ever get rested?

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    3. ᶠᶦˡᵗʰʸLucre $$$
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      I doubt if players are going to sacrifice their hundreds of thousands a week for this cause, but surely something has to give at some point. The question is who will instigate it and how. Quick solutions like "just dump the League Cup" isn't as simple as it sounds either.

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  9. Ser Davos
    • 9 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    for those on 3-5-2 with Rogers/Jebbison I'm thinking a switch to Semenyo is very much a possibility after this GW

    Appreciate Rogers has Ipswich, but Semenyo's shooting potential seems way higher from what I've seen and then with SOU lei

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  10. Emiliano Sala
    • 8 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    was ready to sell watkins, don't know what to do. surprised to see him in WC teams. I wouldn't

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    1. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      I actually really like him. Hold.

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      1. Emiliano Sala
        • 8 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Duran is a super threat

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        1. GreennRed
          • 13 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          He's playing great alright but Emery could find a way for both of them to play together. Don't think he'll impact Watkins gametime too much.

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        2. Camzy
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 14 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          Watkins won't be dropped. He might be played alongside him.

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    2. Ser Davos
      • 9 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      interesting from an owner's perspective.

      As much as I rate that bracket of Isak/Watkins/Havertz, I'm inclined to put cash into mids and defence with your Vardys/DCLs as talismanic-grab-a-scruffy-tap-in-along-with-the-3-bonus

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      1. Emiliano Sala
        • 8 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        haha
        lol at vardy
        I would play 352 but never touch that 60 year old man. been finished for years
        but havertz and solanke are tempting

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        1. Cruyff's Eleven
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          How many premierships have Solanke and Havertz won again?

          Respect, champ

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      2. GreennRed
        • 13 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Looks like he's coming in to form just in time for Champions League. Young Boys bottom of the Swiss Super League, 3 draws in 6 games. Confidence should be boosted further in the early kickoff.

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    3. Rodney
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Was not 100% at the start of the season but still created decent chances. Back scoring goals and has decent fixtures. Don't see why you'd sell now. Emery himself insinuated that he needs to find a way to fit both him an Duran in, rather than rotating them. I wish I had him tbh.

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      1. Emiliano Sala
        • 8 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        CL games, 3 games in 8 days, Duran...
        everything appose to him

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        1. GreennRed
          • 13 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          3 games in 8 days for a professional athlete? WOW!

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        2. Rodney
          • 10 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          Every club playing CL has this issue. You gonna sell Haaland and Saka for the same reason?

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          1. Emiliano Sala
            • 8 Years
            6 months, 18 days ago

            This is aston villa
            CL matches are like final to them. Each one of them
            And duran can easily replace a tired watkins

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    4. Nickyboy
      • 14 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Understand your points, but I'd be finding ways to get him in my team if I could afford him (unfortunately it breaks my structure right now).

      I guess we'll be wiser after the first CL game / first PL game following it for Villa.

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      1. Emiliano Sala
        • 8 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Thanks

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    5. Regista_
      • 9 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      He's always a guarantee to score versus Wolves tbh.

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  11. GreennRed
    • 13 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    Any of ye doing UCL, watch your goalkeeper fixtures after MD1. There's three days football this week but 2 later so some keepers will play on different days this week but on same day in later MDs.

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    1. Greg F
      • 15 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      I probably should because I've not really been interested in it since it stopped being broadcast on ITV.

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    2. Regista_
      • 9 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Nah.

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  12. Charlie Price
    • 4 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    UCL Fantasy

    By Invitation Only

    Code FbDA9n

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    1. Greg F
      • 15 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Good luck.

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  13. Letsgo!
    • 8 Years
    6 months, 18 days ago

    Isak and jota to mcneil and watkins for -4
    Or isak and jota to dcl and son for -4?

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    1. GreennRed
      • 13 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      No,

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      1. Letsgo!
        • 8 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Reason?
        My reason is isak is injured and i dont see jota starting the coming one

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        1. GreennRed
          • 13 Years
          6 months, 18 days ago

          You're giving away 4 points in a season where there should be less hits than before. Dependent on Isak injury could sell him or wait a week, Jota not starting could happen but he's not injured and you have subs.

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          1. Heskey Time
            • 10 Years
            6 months, 18 days ago

            I don’t think that is a valid reason for not taking a hit. However, I don’t think these hits are worth it. Wait for new on Isak fitness

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            1. GreennRed
              • 13 Years
              6 months, 18 days ago

              You can take as many hits as you want but it might not help your rank.

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    2. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      I don't like either of those.

      Roll FT or if Isak is ruled out, switch to DCL/Vardy/Solanke for a one week punt and WC6.

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      1. You Konate be serious!
          6 months, 18 days ago

          That's exactly what I'm doing!

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      2. Greg F
        • 15 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        I'm considering Isak or Joao Pedro to DCL (hit) if Isak or Joao Pedro is injured. I'm not playing Havertz, De Ligt or Lewis this week. I'll be keeping DCL until WC14. it's all team dependant but if you can save a transfer by gambling sometimes it's worth it. Play it your way.

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    3. LeytonOrient
      • 10 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Is Timber a legitimate option? Or too much of a rotation risk?

      Planning how to move to ARS defender in GW6 and a 5.5 option would make life much easier (already have Raya).

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      1. Greg F
        • 15 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        I get the feeling he's pretty nailed to be honest. You can see him on the eye test showing excellent qualities that Zinchenko doesn't possess.

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      2. potatoace
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Aren't they both just placeholders for when Calafiori is ready.

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      3. Regista_
        • 9 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Been very impressed with him, but there's always a rotation risk with UCL matches too.

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    4. Dutchy FPL
      • 1 Year
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Out of the box WC6 draft. All-in longterm on Arsenal defence. Six or seven penalty takers, and good fixtures for most of them. Is this absolutely shite?

      Raya / Fabianski

      Gabriel / Saliba / Mazraoui / Aina / Faes

      Palmer / Bruno / Mbeumo / Eze / Semenyo

      Haaland / DCL / Vardy or JP

      0.2 itb

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      1. Regista_
        • 9 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        It's not terrible...

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      2. Cruyff's Eleven
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Palmer or Salah?

        Would require a downgrade of Saliba, but did you consider that?

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        1. Dutchy FPL
          • 1 Year
          6 months, 18 days ago

          Yeah great consideration, thanks!

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      3. LeytonOrient
        • 10 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        I’d prefer O’Shea / Tuanzebe / Mosquera ahead of Faes

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        1. Dutchy FPL
          • 1 Year
          6 months, 18 days ago

          Already own Faes now and he is 4,1. So can keep some value with him. But especially Mosquera has a great fixtures later on, so I get your point

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    5. Pepe
      • 4 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      Which defender would you go for up to 5.5 price point?

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      1. Mozumbus
        • 3 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        Porro is an obvious mention

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    6. Ser Davos
      • 9 Years
      6 months, 18 days ago

      tumbleweed moment, but does anyone own VVD or is possibly looking at owning?

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      1. Regista_
        • 9 Years
        6 months, 18 days ago

        No.

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