Let’s be honest: do we even need a Scout Picks for Matchday 7 of FIFA Club World Cup Fantasy?
Only two teams remain (there’s no third/fourth-place play-off), and by now we know who the most coveted players are from both Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.
But for those Fantasy managers perhaps newer to short-format, tournament Fantasy Football, it’s worth covering a few pointers before we reveal our chosen XV ahead of tonight’s 19:00 BST deadline.
HOLDING RANK VS. GOING FOR ONE LAST GREEN ARROW
Your final-day strategy will likely depend on where you are in terms of overall rank/mini-league position.
Looking to hold rank? Then, covering most of the most-owned players below is the ‘defensive’ route to go:
Going all-in on one team is, of course, the bolder approach. Club World Cup managers are allowed up to eight players from one team in the final (aka Matchday 7), and most will be leaning towards a PSG-heavy side given the match odds:
| Chelsea win the CWC | PSG win the CWC |
|---|---|
| 27.5% | 72.5% |
The Hail Mary punt is, therefore, to back eight Chelsea players. The probability is that you’ll suffer a red arrow as a result. But if the Blues win and it comes off, you’re looking at a much more handsome green arrow than a victorious PSG ‘stack’ will deliver. An all-or-nothing approach.
The same thinking applies to the captaincy. Backing the 70%-owned Achraf Hakimi ($6.2m) will be the play for many after four successive double-digit hauls. Lower-owned options with a high upside include Désiré Doué ($8.2m), who exploded into life in the UEFA Champions League final. A so-so Club World Cup has kept his ownership down to 34% this summer.
ONLY THE STARTING XI MATTERS – BUT HAVE A SUB READY
Unlike the previous rounds/Matchdays, Fantasy managers won’t be able to make manual substitutions or change captaincy.
So, only your starting XI is really important tonight.
The line-ups for each side should be relatively easy to second-guess, plus we might get a heads-up of the team news before the 19:00 BST deadline.
It’s worth having playable substitutes, though, rather than just fodder. We’ve already seen Reece James ($5.8m) pull out of one starting XI this tournament, for instance.
Luckily, the $105.0m budget stretches quite a long way with Chelsea especially not having a whole load of heavy hitters.
So one substitute with good game-time prospects (the other two will likely be non-starting forwards) will be easily affordable.
ANY SCOUTING BONUS DIFFERENTIALS?
Scouting Bonus differentials are few and far between now.
Beraldo ($4.3m) might be the only one of the PSG XI to be under 5%. Even then, he may rise above that figure before the deadline.
Levi Colwill ($5.3m) remains only 3.5% owned and should be the first centre-half name on the Chelsea teamsheet.
Moises Caicedo ($5.7m) is the only other probable Chelsea starter under 5% owned, although you’ll likely be relying on just tackle bonus from him.
SCOUT PICKS – MATCHDAY 7
Here is our squad of 15, then, with the substitutes marked with a line through them.
Most managers will have to go with a 4-5-1/5-4-1, simply because there just aren’t the forward options there in Matchday 7.
PSG likely won’t start with a player listed as a forward in the Fantasy game, while Chelsea will probably only start with one of theirs.
That might be Joao Pedro ($6.5m) but we’ve got the other two options here poised if we get a heads-up that they’re starting.
It’s clear who we fancy to win tonight: an all-in on PSG.
The perceived wisdom that tournament finals are tight, edgy affairs has led some to back defensive midfielders and defenders in the past. That goes with the captaincy, too.
But PSG blew that theory out of the water in the Champions League final with a 5-0 win over Inter. And again, in the high-stakes Club World Cup semi-finals against Real Madrid, they swatted aside Xabi Alonso’s side 4-0.
So we’ve opted for their front three, penalty taker Vitinha ($6.1m) and four of their backline – two of which, Hakimi and Nuno Mendes ($6.2m), carry plenty of attacking potential, too.
Joao Neves ($6.5m) and Fabian Ruiz ($6.5m) might have been worth the punt when they were under 5% owned but now that they no longer qualify for Scouting Bonus, you’d question the value of backing either central midfielder – unless you’re chasing rank, of course.
Both players average a shot at a slower rate than even full-back Hakimi at this summer’s tournament, so expecting a repeat of their double-digit hauls of earlier rounds is a long shot.
We’re ‘only’ allowed eight PSG players, of course, so we have to have three Chelsea assets in our XI.
One is Pedro, given the lack of forwards from the European champions on show.
And we’ve rounded off our selection with the penalty-taking Cole Palmer ($9.6m) and the defender most likely to bag an attacking return, Marc Cucurella ($5.8m).
