It’s time to nail down our Matchday 3 Scout Picks for UEFA Champions League (UCL) Fantasy.
Remember, these selections are for the upcoming Matchday in isolation. UCL Fantasy also allows manual substitutions from calendar day to calendar day, so it’s a strong squad of 15 we want and not a mere starting XI with unusable bench fodder.
For everything else UCL Fantasy-related, check out our complete Matchday 3 guide here.
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Goalkeepers
Newcastle United have been excellent from a defensive perspective in the Premier League, keeping five clean sheets in their first eight matches. They also shut out USG last time out.
This week, the Magpies will be hoping to make it back-to-back Champions League clean sheets, and helping them achieve that will be Nick Pope (€5m), who faces a home match against Benfica.
If Pope fails to bank a good amount of points on Tuesday, then we could look to Atalanta’s Marco Carnesecci (€4.6m) on Wednesday. Atalanta are unbeaten in their previous five matches and head into their home clash with Slavia Praha off the back of keeping a clean sheet against Lazio in Serie A.
Defenders
Inter have continued their solid defensive form of last season into the new campaign, collecting a clean sheet in each of their opening two UCL matches. They could easily make it a third this week, with a fixture against USG who failed to score at home in Matchday 2. Wing-back Federico Dimarco (€5.5m) also offers significant attacking threat, reflective in his recent output of four attacking returns in his previous five matches.
Sporting CP may not have the most favourable fixture from a clean sheet perspective. But, with in-game defender Geovany Quenda (€5.1m) consistently playing in the front three, even against an in-form Marseille, it’s difficult to overlook.
Arsenal sit joint-top in the Premier League for clean sheets this season, and they also kept shutouts in both of their first two Champions League outings. Arguably their best option is centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes (€5.5m) who scored and assisted in his previous three league games.
With seemingly limited opportunities for clean sheets this week, investing as little as possible in defence could help enable funds in attack. One of those players is Barcelona’s Gerard Martin (€4m), who faces Olympiakos at home in the early Tuesday kick-off. Fortunately, if he doesn’t make the starting line-up, we have money in the bank to switch him over to a Catalan defender who does start.
Another cheap option with potential this week is Waldemar Anton (€4m). Dortmund come up against Copenhagen, which should hold both clean sheet and ball recovery opportunity for the centre-back.
Midfielders
As mentioned, Barcelona have a plum home fixture against Olympiakos, which could mean we see plenty of goals. With that in mind, we could look to star Lamine Yamal (€10m) who recently returned from injury. Yamal has produced an attacking contribution in all but two of his matches going all the way back to pre-season, making him one of the Catalans’ most effective attackers.
Bayern have netted at least three goals in a huge nine of their previous 10 matches in all competitions. One of two fantastic routes into the relentless Bavarian frontline is Michael Olise (€8m). The Frenchman bagged a double-digit haul in the previous round, so goes into his home match against Club Brugge in good form.
While Newcastle haven’t been one of the most convincing sides in the Premier League from an offensive perspective, they’re finding goals easier to come by in Europe. That is certainly the case for penalty taker Anthony Gordon (€7m), who has scored three goals in his opening two Champions League matches.
Napoli come up against a leaky PSV defence up next, one of many easy-on-paper fixtures they have on the horizon. Because of this, the Italian side have become a top target for investment this week. Without key attackers due to injury, penalty taker Kevin De Bruyne (€8m) will have even more responsibility to conjure up a win for his side. This is something he did in Matchday 2, contributing to both of Napoli’ goals in their 2-1 win over Sporting CP.
Atalanta have a perfect opportunity at home to pick up three points this week. Slavia Praha have shipped at least two goals in each of their first two Champions League matches, which could suggest potential for Ademola Lookman (€7m) who continues to play out-of-position up front.
Forwards
There may not be a better budget forward option in the game than Ange-Yoan Bonny this week (€5m). With two confident wins in their first two outings, and a 5-0 aggregate, Inter are evidently a side we can back both defensively and offensively from an investment standpoint. USG lay ahead for the Italian giants, and they head into the game after being dismantled at home by Newcastle. Marcus Thuram’s recent injury has opened up the door for Bonny to start again, and with two goals and three assists in his last two Serie A League matches, you wouldn’t bet against him to return big once more.
Completing our deadly Bayern duo in attack is frontman and penalty taker Harry Kane (€10.6m). Kane has amassed a whopping 20+ goals for club and country since August, making him one of, if not the most efficient striker in Europe so far this season.
Another player who could be difficult too ignore is Erling Haaland (€10.5m). The Norwegian has also started the season in scintillating scoring form, scoring three goals in his first two Champions League fixtures and 11 in just eight Premier League games. Villarreal lie ahead, and the Spanish side have conceded at least two goals in each of their previous three games.
UCL MATCHDAY 3 SCOUT PICKS
