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Welcome to my soccer DFS breakdown for the UEFA Champions League!
There is one marquee matchup on Wednesday’s slate featuring two European heavyweights in Chelsea and Juventus. We also have two of the top teams in the world with easy matchups in Barcelona (Benfica) and Bayern Munich (Dynamo Kiev). Those two teams will most likely be the pay-up spots people flock to, but I think we can find some equally appetizing plays elsewhere on this slate as well.
My goal in this article will be to point out the plays to pair with the top-end players from the big clubs. I will pick out some players in different pricing tiers for DraftKings and FanDuel to help you build your lineups.
Soccer DFS: Fwds/Mid
High Priced Plays:
Joshua Kimmich ($8.2K/$15)
Rightfully so Robert Lewandowski ($11.5K/$23) will be the popular pay-up option for Bayern and I will not talk you out of playing the best goal scorer on the slate but there are other, cheaper, options. Kimmich is one of those options. On the season, Kimmich has 3 goals and 3 assists for Bayern as a defensive midfielder primarily. I believe he will go overlooked on this slate but offers some good value on Wednesday. Kimmich has seven shots with three on target for the German powerhouse, but he also leads the team in shots assisted (14) (DK only category) and takes corners. If you are like me and plan on running a Bayern stack adding Thomas Muller ($8.5K/$21) or Leroy Sane ($8.3K/$20) is the way I would go.
Other Options: Memphis Depay ($9.5/$21) – too cheap on DK, Ronaldo ($10K/$22), Romelu Lukaku ($9.3K/$20), Pizzi ($8.1K/$16)
Mid Priced Plays:
Burak Yilmaz ($7.7K/$18)
Yilmaz is the do-everything man for Lille this season. While he is second on the team in goals Yilmaz leads Lille in assists (2). Yilmaz also leads Lille in shots (20) and shots on target (8). Yilmaz also has eight crosses on the season thus far which is rare to see from a striker. One stat that stood out was Yilmaz’a shot %, which currently sits at 40%. If Lille gets on the board there’s a good chance Yilmaz will be involved. If you go with Yilamz I will suggest pairing him up with Xeka ($4K/$10). I really like using Xeka as a cheap option that offers up fringe points. Xeka is second on the team in corners (10) and 5th in shots.
Paul Pogba ($6.7/$17)
Pogba is not going to score a goal for Man U on Wednesday evening, but there is a pretty good chance he will be involved in a goal or 2 for the Red Devils. Pogba is the clear set up man for United totaling seven assists on the season. Four other United players have registered assists on the season with only one each. Pogba also has 15 shots taken and 12 shots assisted on the season as well. I already mentioned Ronaldo above, but if you really want to three man this you can go with Bruno Fernandes ($9.1K/$20) or Mason Greenwood ($8.9K/$19) if you can’t afford Ronaldo.
Other Options: Federic Chiesa ($7.9K/$17), Rafa ($6.9/$17), Arnaut Danjuma ($6.6/$18)
Value Priced Plays:
Daniel Parejo ($5.3K/$15)
Parejo is similar to Pogba in that he won’t necessarily get on the score sheet but he will get you those passing points. Parejo take corners for Villarreal and also sends in crosses. I don’t know how much offensive possession we will see Villarreal have on Wednesday but Man U has lost two straight matches so they are not in good form currently.
Maximilian Philipp ($5K/$13)
Philipp is one of two Maximilian’s who take corners for the German side (the other is Maximilian Arnold). Both are very similar players for Wolfsburg, but I will take the salary savings and go with Philipp on DraftKings. If you are playing on FanDuel, then Arnold is your man. This play is purely GPP as neither of them has a real safe floor.
Other Options: Leon Goretzka ($5.9K/$17), Ridle Baku ($5.4K/$17), Roman Yaremchuk ($5.9K/$19), Timothy Weah ($4.8/$15)
Soccer DFS: Defensemen
Like with most slates, there is so much top talent on this slate that paying on defense may be difficult. There are two defenders I would play if you wanted to go that route. Both Alphonso Davies ($6K/$12) and Marcos Alonso ($5.9K/$15). They both push forward and have been involved with the scoring and both are unpriced in my opinion.
Alex Sandro ($4.8K/$13), Juan Cuadrado ($5.8K/$14)
Both wingbacks for Juventus are in play on Wednesday depending on what salary you have remaining. Both of them can push up and get involve with scoring and both throw in plenty of crosses. Cuadrado does take corners occasionally for Juve which makes him slightly more valuable.
Below I will list some inexpensive defenders that can be used on Wednesday:
- Gilberto ($3.6K/$10) – Benfica
- Vitali Mykolenko ($3.7/$10) – Dynamo Kiev
- Mehmet Zeki Celik ($4.2K/$8) – Lille
- Alex Telles ($5.7K/$11) – Manchester United
- Oumar Solet ($3.7K/$12)
Soccer DFS: Goalkeepers
If you are playing cash games then I would stick with David de Gea ($5.8K/$12) or Manuel Neuer ($5.9K/$14). Both could pick up both the win and clean sheet bonuses. They are expensive but there is enough value that you should be able to make them fit for cash games.
Yassine Bounou ($5.1K/$9)
Sevilla has either won or drawn their last 5 matches and only conceded three goals in that span. Bounou has stopped 10 of the 12 shots he’s seen on target this season with three clean sheets. Wolfsburg has only scored five goals in their last five games and only scored more than one goal once in that span.
Odisseas Vlachodimos ($4.7K/$9)
Barcelona is not the same team they were a year ago and Benfica has yet to lose this season. Vlachodimos has played every minute between the woodwork and that should be the case on Wednesday. In his seven games this season, Vlachodimos has saved 18 of 21 shots on target and has three clean sheets. Vlachodimos might be my favorite GPP play on this slate. I see him going overlooked because of the club he is facing, but there is an outside chance he gets the win and CS bonus in this match.
Thank you for reading my breakdown for the UEFA Champions League! Make sure to be in discord after lineups release (approximately 1 hour before kickoff) to see if any changes are needed to your lineups! Make sure to follow both, @mvecchio81, and @windailysports on Twitter!
