Fantasy Football: Champions League tips for free Yahoo giveaway contest
Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy platform is offering new users the chance to enter a free contest ahead of the Champions League quarter-finals this week, with a prize pool of £500 up for grabs.
With points awarded for a pass (0.05 points), a goal (8 points) and almost everything in between it takes a real football brain to pick a winning team, and we’re putting ours to the test, selecting the following XI.
Jan Oblak (ATLETICO vs Leicester)
Diego Simeone’s side are strong favourites with the bookies and understandably so, both given their strong home form and Leicester’s struggles on the road despite a recent revival under Craig Shakespeare. Last season’s runners-up have conceded just once in four home matches in the tournament to date and another clean sheet for Jan Oblak on Wednesday would earn the Slovenian 6 points.
Dani Alves (JUVENTUS vs Barcelona)
Alves’ reunion with his former Barca teammates is a real talking point ahead of tonight’s game and having spoken of his displeasure at the way he was treated by the Catalan club’s hierarchy he will no doubt feel he has a point to prove. He’s played his part in Juve boasting the best defensive record in the tournament to this point, conceding just twice in 8 games, and Enrique’s side have struggled on their travels. No player has delivered more accurate crosses from open play than the Brazilian in this season’s Champions League (17), with each worth 0.5 points.
Diego Godin (ATLETICO vs Leicester)
A rock at the back for Atletico, more than capable of chipping in with the odd goal from set pieces, Godin is a fantasy football manager’s dream. He’ll be tasked with keeping an in-form Jamie Vardy out on Wednesday so may not have a quiet night himself, having produced the most tackles (22) and interceptions (19) for Simeone’s side in Europe.
Giorgio Chiellini (JUVENTUS vs Barcelona)
Speaking of defenders that know where the goal is from set pieces, Giorgio Chiellini will hope to exploit any shortcomings in the Barcelona defence tonight. The Serie A champions will look to play out from the back where possible and the experienced Italian has completed 92.6% of 67.3 passes per game in the Champions League. He’ll be kept busy, but if any side is capable of keeping MSN at bay it’s Juventus.
Franck Ribery (BAYERN vs Real Madrid)
A fully fit Ribery has been turning back the clock lately, scoring with just four minutes on it to set Bayern en route to a Klassiker rout over Dortmund on Saturday. It was his fourth goal of the season while he also registered his ninth assist and if Dani Carvajal is unable to recover from injury the Frenchman would certainly fancy his chances against understudy Danilo tomorrow.
Thiago Alcantara (BAYERN vs Real Madrid)
The battle in the middle ground between Kroos and Alcantara will be key at the Allianz and the latter has been in sparkling form in both the Bundesliga and Champions League. The Spaniard has scored twice, registered two assists and completed 92.6% of 86.7 passes per game in the tournament so far, and he’s bound to be at the heart of the action once more.
Thomas Lemar (Borussia Dortmund vs MONACO)
It was 50-50 between Lemar and Silva, but with opted for the former because of his ability over a dead ball. Statistically ‘very strong’ at taking set pieces, he has the benefit of the likes of Kamil Glik to aim for and Monaco may need to make the most of such situations at Dortmund. A threat on the break against a side sure to dominate possession, the young Frenchman could well add to his two goals and two assists in the tournament so far.
Christian Pulisic (BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs Monaco)
The absence of Marco Reus has been a blow to Dortmund but teenager Pulisic has stepped in admirably and should start against Monaco tonight. The American international scored one and registered an assist in the 4-0 drubbing over Benfica last month and could be a bargain option for the hosts as they look to exploit the absence of Jardim’s two first choice full-backs.
Ousmane Dembele (BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs Monaco)
For similar reasons to the Pulisic selection, we’re backing Dembele to shine against Monaco who will be without both Djibril Sidibe and Benjamin Mendy through injury. The teenager can terrorise even the best of full-backs so whomever deputises will have a tough task on their hands, with the Frenchman having registered 5 Champions League assists already this season.
Robert Lewandowski (BAYERN vs Real Madrid)
The Poland international will have fond memories of facing Real Madrid in Germany having scored 5 goals against them in three matches at home with Dortmund, which included one of the finest individual performances in the tournament’s recent history, scoring all 4 goals in a 4-1 win. He’s unlikely to be quite so prolific tomorrow but with Varane and Pepe sidelined the Bayern hit man will certainly be in confident mood, having scored a whopping 12 goals in his last 5 matches at the Allianz Arena.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs Monaco)
Having scored a hat-trick to earn Dortmund’s quarter-final place against Benfica last time out, Aubameyang will hope to fire the Schwarzgelben into the final four tonight. Up against a weakened Monaco defence that proved vulnerable to fast counter attacks at Manchester City, the 27-year old should return to the scoresheet having failed to do so for the first time in eight matches in Der Klassiker on Saturday.
