UEFA Champions League (UCL) Fantasy is back, beginning with Tuesday’s two away wins for English clubs Aston Villa and Manchester City.
These Matchday 1 notes could prove useful ahead of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Gameweek 4.
CLUB BRUGGE 2-3 ASTON VILLA
- Goals: McGinn, Buendia, Jackson
- Assists: Pau x2, João Gomes
Aston Villa XI: Suzuki; Wan-Bissaka (Bogarde 68’), Lindelof, Pau, Maatsen; Kamara (Barkley 68’), João Gomes; McGinn, Buendía (Alysson 68’), Hemmings; Jackson (Abraham 81’)
NO CASH WHEN TRAVELLING
Right-back Matty Cash (£4.5m) needed to be left at home due to muscle discomfort, although the club are confident he’ll be fine for Saturday.
It allowed Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) to make his first start since joining on loan, one of three changes as Pau Torres (£4.5m) and João Gomes (£5.5m) came in for Tyrone Mings (£4.5m) and Ross Barkley (£5.0m).
BUENDIA JOY
Speaking of firsts, the evening kick-off brought a much-needed win and some goals for Villa.
“Today was a very important step forward, being resilient when we were struggling. It is very important to start with three points. Hopefully it gives us confidence for the next matches, in the Premier League this Saturday against Nottingham Forest.” – Unai Emery
Centre-back Pau was allowed the space to run quite far with the ball, sauntering to the edge of Club Brugge’s penalty area before laying it off to a John McGinn (£5.4m) curler that somehow snuck in. The Scottish international is now Villa’s all-time leading scorer in major European competitions (12).
Three minutes after Hugo Vetlesen swept in an equaliser, João Gomes twisted around in the box and played the ball across for Emiliano Buendia‘s (£5.9m) close-range goal.
The 29-year-old is yet to deliver an FPL return despite 0.94 expected goal involvement (xGI). Here, his five shots totalled 0.96 expected goals (xG), while George Hemmings (£4.5m) fired out four attempts.
TIME TO BUY JACKSON?
By half-time, Unai Emery’s lot were 3-1 up, as Pau’s long pass drew out the onrushing goalkeeper Yann Sommer, allowing Nicolas Jackson (£6.5m) to go past him and tap in.
When FPL was launched for 2026/27, the club’s main centre-forward Ollie Watkins was priced at £8.0m. Now, in Jackson, managers can buy a Champions League side’s lead striker for considerably less.
Once Villa start scoring league goals, will we soon see his 1.1% ownership escalate?
There was still a Belgian job to complete in the second half, though. Nicolo Tresoldi’s 61st-minute penalty came from a Wan-Bissaka handball and, as seen above, momentum swung in the host’s favour.
Thanks to the five saves of new goalkeeper Zion Suzuki (£5.0m), Villa were able to hang on.
FC PORTO 0-2 MANCHESTER CITY
- Goals: Haaland x2
- Assists: Enzo, Ait-Nouri
Manchester City XI: Donnarumma; Nunes, Guehi, Ruben, Gvardiol (Khusanov 48’); Bouaddi (Kovacic 75’), Enzo; Foden (Ait-Nouri 75’), Cherki (Anderson 62’), Semenyo (Ndiaye 62’); Haaland
BOUADDI IN FOR ANDERSON
Meanwhile, there were also three changes in Man City’s lineup: Elliot Anderson (£6.3m), Iliman Ndiaye (£5.9m) and Abdukodir Khusanov (£5.5m) stepped aside for Phil Foden (£7.0m), Matheus Nunes (£5.9m) and new big-money 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi (£5.5m).
It was the latter’s first start, one which brought an impressive 98% pass accuracy rate.
Centre-back Marc Guehi (£6.0m) played well, but the yellow-carded Josko Gvardiol (£5.6m) was flirting with a second one, causing an early second-half removal. A back issue kept Nico O’Reilly (£6.5m) out.
HAALAND DOUBLE
Days after ‘only’ scoring once past Coventry City, Gameweek 3’s Triple Captain users had to witness Erling Haaland (£15.5m) scoring twice on this occasion.
An early Foden cross found the Norwegian’s head, but Diogo Costa did well to stop it. Another of eight saves came soon after from a low Foden shot that was placed too centrally.
Haaland then struck a cutback straight at the goalkeeper, before breaking the deadlock in the 47th minute when softly heading Enzo Fernandez‘s (£6.9m) cross in off the post.
Then, in stoppage time, Haaland successfully side-footed Rayan Ait-Nouri‘s (£5.3m) pass from the left.
This puts him level with Sergio Aguero as the club’s all-time top UCL scorer (36) and, importantly for FPL managers, he’s scored their last four goals in all competitions.
CHERKI SUBBED EARLY AGAIN
In fact, although Man City’s four post-Community Shield wins haven’t always been convincing, this one was. On a rainy night, they became the first 2026 visitors to win at the Estádio do Dragão, denying Porto any shots on target and restricting them to 0.22 xG.
There was still an uncomfortable moment at 1-0 when Gianluigi Donnarumma‘s (£5.5m) pass hit William Gomes and went wide. But not much else.
This winning run surely makes them favourites for Sunday’s Manchester derby. It’s just about correctly guessing who’ll start in attack.
Will Rayan Cherki (£7.8m) make a third consecutive lineup? He again came off around the hour mark, and Enzo Maresca looked visibly frustrated with him at times.
Antoine Semenyo (£8.4m) attracted some external criticism, meanwhile, for having a heavy first touch, poor decision-making, and generally being a bit wasteful in possession – but you do sense that Maresca, like his predecessor, trusts him more than others.
